Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Human Rights - Essay Example The Nuremburg trials shocked most of the world, including the United Kingdom, when the terrible treatment of human beings was revealed to the world. The trials did help to impact the concept that some sort of universal justice is necessary in order to make individuals feel safe, or just, about the world and the law of the world. The atrocities revealed during the trials turned the stomachs of many of the people, as well as the governments, in Europe. It became clear that some sort of restructuring was needed, and that European countries would need to cooperate in order to attain this reconstruction. Therefore, many countries were inspired to start considering aspects of human rights1 The idea of a human rights list in the United Kingdom and Europe is not a new one. Many individuals were pushing for this after World War II. However, the United Kingdom was also aware that Europe was working on a larger-scale concept of human rights in general, which would eventually become the European Convention. This may have been a reason for the United Kingdom’s delay in making its own list of individual rights. The United Kingdom has followed the laws of the convention for many years. Laws were beginning to be laid down by this new, European group, and all of Europe was eager to follow. For instance, at the Congress of the Hague in 1948, delegates and observers from 26 countries breathed life into the Council of Europe – making human rights its guiding spirit. The Council of Europe was officially launched in May 1949 with founder members Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. These member countries then put together a charter of rights as well as a European court system that would help those individuals who had had their rights violated. They were able to use examples from the United States and hammered out a

Monday, October 28, 2019

Steven Spielberg Essay Example for Free

Steven Spielberg Essay It is hard to imagine a person who has not heard of Steven Spielberg. He is one of the most renown, if not the most renown, American filmmakers of the century. His films have captivated and helped develop imaginations of contemporary society and remain among the most successful films ever made. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati on December 18th, 1946. His father was an electrical engineer, and his mother a concert pianist. Steven seemed to get the best elements from both of them. Spielberg had an early fascination with cinema and began making amateur films at a very young age. At 13, he won a local contest for his 40-minute film, Escape to Nowhere. Ironically, Steven was unable to get into a film school, so he settled for majoring in English Literature at California State University. After graduation, he set out to Hollywood, where he was determined to be successful. In 1974, he received his first break for The Sugarland Express. The film went on to win a Cannes Film Festival Award for best screenplay. The following year saw JAWS explode. This very successful horror film, depicting a man-eating shark, captured the attention of the world and has become part of contemporary pop culture. The movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and won several Oscars for technical categories and for its very distinctive score. JAWS was not the only film of his to make the 100 best films of the century list by the American Film Institute. Many of Steven Spielbergs works have been placed on that list, and many are so timeless, they will live in the hearts of generations to come. Such films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E. T. , Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park have become legendary. In Spielbergs down time, he stringed together a personal little film about a suburban boy who befriends an earthbound alien, also known as E. T. for Extra-Terrestrial. It hit theaters in 1982 and became an instant classic and is still the defining film of his landmark-filled career. This magical and exceedingly sentimental film surpassed even George Lucas Star Wars to become one of the biggest domestic moneymakers of all time. He has the unparalleled talent of capturing peoples imagination and dreams, but at the same time tapping into humanities darkest nightmares. In 1993, Spielberg made Schindlers List, a haunting epic that showed the Holocaust in its ugly truth. The film would eventually win him a Best Picture Oscar. It has now become part of the regular curriculum in many schools and is considered by many to be the most significant film of this generation. In 1998, Spielberg came out with Saving Private Ryan, which captured war in gory and shocking detail as his soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy. This again shows his willingness to deal with larger, more serious issues. Further profiting as a producer of other directors its like Poltergeist, Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Spielberg became one of the richest and most powerful players in Hollywood. In 1984, he founded Amblin Entertainment and used the E. T. logo as its trademark. While this was doing well, Spielberg wanted more control over his projects and did not want any other studios interfering with his work. In 1994, along with several other industry hotshots, they created the first new movie studio in Hollywood in over 75 years- Dreamworks. The company covers all its bases and produces live action and animated movies, music, computer games, arcades, television productions, and distribution. Spielberg owns approximately 22% of Dreamworks and he is worth around 1 billions dollars. His average salary is $238 million a year! A defining characteristic of a Steven Spielberg movie is the elaborate costs of making movies, huge box office returns, and many award nominations. For example, Jurassic Park was a special effects-laden adaptation of Michael Crichton dinosaur disaster novel of the same game that cost $70 million to make. But, it grossed $100 million in nine days on its way to completely shattering his own record in E. T. Schindlers List finally earned Spielberg his long-awaited Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture. Most people know that Steven Spielberg is a director, but not all know that he is an amazing producer and writer with endless movies and shows under his belt. Some examples of movies he directed are: JAWS (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E. T. (1982), Twilight Zone: The movie (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World (1997), Amistad (1997), and Saving Private Ryan (1998). There are too many shows and movies to state in this paper that Spielberg has either produced or written. Some of these movies are: Poltergeist (1982), Gremlins (1984), Back to the Future (1985), Goonies (1985), Cape Fear (1991), Twister (1996), Men in Black (1997), Deep Impact (1998), and soon to be released in the Summer of 2001, Jurassic Park 3. Steven Spielberg has also written and produced many cartoon shows like Animaniacs that are still entertaining children five years later. Many of his movies have been cartoons such as: An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and Fievel Goes West (1991). No matter if a person is 5 or 50, every generation can find a Steven Spielberg movie that is to their liking. If a person watches a Spielberg film carefully, one can see many defining characteristics that are basically present in every movie. The storylines never cease to be interesting and deep. He will usually choose characters that the general public can relate to and issues that large groups of people have dealt with. For example, my grandfather fought in World War II and received a Purple Heart for being a POW. He is an avid fan of old war movies and can usually watch them with no problem because he says, they are not realistic enough. I went with my grandfather to see Saving Private Ryan in the theater and after 20 minutes, he starting shaking and crying and said he couldnt bear to watch because it was bringing back far too horrible memories. Many of his other war buddies had a similar reaction and stated that Saving Private Ryan was the most accurate depiction of the invasion of Normandy they had ever seen. Spielberg has a talent of recreating an event perfectly, right down to the exact set and even perfect gun replicas. The sets from Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones, and Schindlers List are extremely elaborate and enormous and cost millions of dollars. Archaeologists and prehistoric experts were brought in to oversee the miniature models of the dinosaurs and even the plants to ensure that they were as close to the truth as possible. Spielberg also uses a variety of camera angles to invoke moods and feelings in his viewers. He is famous for his head shots during an emotional scene and also letting you see through the eyes of various characters in his films. This makes the audience feel more involved in the movie and can keep the audience on the edge of their feet when something unexpected happens. Personally, I cant imagine what movies and television would be like if Steven Spielberg hadnt burst onto the scene some three decades ago. My first movie that I ever saw in the theater was E. T. when I was barely two years old. I can not begin to remember how many times I watched such classics like JAWS, Goonies, Gremlins, The Land Before Time, and An American Tail while growing up. Some of my fondest memories as a child was sitting with my two-year-old brother on my lap and watching little Petrie and Sarah in The Land Before Time. I would explain to him that Sharptooth wasnt really real and that he didnt have to hide under the covers at night. I used to ice skate when I was younger and chose theme songs from Spielberg films like Somewhere Out There from American Tail and the main song from Indiana Jones. In conclusion, Steven Spielberg is arguably the most famous and most recognized producer/writer/director in the world. His list of films is endless, as well as the awards he as been nominated for or won. My generation has grown up with his films and no matter what age a person may be, there is a Steven Spielberg movie out there for them to watch and love. Bibliography References Taylor, P. (1992). Steven Spielberg: The man, his movies, and their meaning. Continuuminternational. Powers, T. (1996). Steven Spielberg: Master Storyteller. Lerner Publishing Company. Brode, D. (1994). The Films of Steven Spielberg. Carol Publishing Group. Crawley, T. (1990). The Steven Spielberg Story. Morrow, William ; Company. McBride, J. (1997). Steven Spielberg. Simon and Schuster Trade. Knight, B. (1998). Steven Spielberg: Master of Movie Magic. Silver Burdett Press

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Reference to a Proposed Production of a play All My Sons :: All My Sons Plays Drama Theatre Essays

Reference to a Proposed Production of a play All My Sons Dear Mr Smith, I am writing to you with reference to your proposed production of my play 'All My Sons'. I, like most authors, have standards and expectations for productions of my writing, which is why I have decided to write to you and inform you of some criteria that might help you in the production of 'All My Sons'. In the 1920's after the First World War, many countries were bankrupt because of the amount of money they had invested into the war. The USA came to their rescue by loaning them vast amounts of money to pay off debts. In 1929, share prices fell and so the USA called back for the loans that they had lent but the countries were still in debt. Many Americans tried to take their money out of the banks but the banks hadn't any money to give to customers. This contributed to the Great Depression, which made a massive increase in unemployment. One of the people who became unemployed was my father, a coat manufacturer. This was the initial inspiration of writing 'All My Sons'. Another reason that inspired me to write 'All My Sons', was the way that events during the Second World War were making Americans live and treat each other differently. I experienced the wave of patriotism and I also saw how fellow Americans were exploiting the war and making profit from other's suffering. By writing this play, I felt that citizens of the world would finally be able to see an image of the real American Middle Class character, reflecting their self-interest. In 'All My Sons', Keller talks about "little men" when describing Steve Deever. This is ironic because Keller himself is a little man. "Little men" are people that always compete with each other so that they would be better than the next person, they don't really think about what they are doing as long as they are successful. When something bad happens, the "little men" don't have the courage to own up to the big men. "Little men" are a problem in today's society, as they don't care to have responsibility over their actions even when the problems could be sorted out simply (Keller could have told Steve not to give the parts to the army and then death wouldn't be the result. The audience can now see Keller in two different ways. To some people Keller may seem selfish and irresponsible and too others Keller may be loving and hard working. Keller's two sides are all at the expense of other people and cause their suffering such as Steve and the airman.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Explain the importance of safeguarding children and young people Essay

We must safeguard children and young people as they are unable to protect themselves alone and are far more vulnerable to things such as abuse and neglect than adults are. It is our duty of care to protect children and young people from physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse and neglect. We must be able to identify early on the signs and symptoms of abuse or neglect before the child is to get in any serious danger. A child’s sudden change in behaviour could be a huge sign of abuse or neglect. For example if a child is to be subject to verbal abuse they may gradually become withdrawn and shy; they may even avoid interacting with other children in fear of being bullied for their differences. We are able to teach children what is right and wrong to a certain degree although this doesn’t necessarily mean they can protect themselves if they are to be in a dangerous situation; they may be frightened to tell someone in fear of being abused/neglected more o r may think the person they tell will not believe them. It is of great importance that we are to safeguard children as they are very vulnerable and as a society it is our duty of care to protect children and young people from any harm or abuse before it ends in serious/fatal injury. A child could be severely beaten up until the point of death or admitted into hospital for a long time due to having obtained serious injury. If we are to notice signs of abuse or neglect we should get into contact with other multi-agency workers such as police and social workers immediately.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Kenneth Slessor Speech: Critical studies of Texts Essay

†The gulls go down the body dies and rots, and time flows past them like the hundred yachts.† Kenneth Slessor, a renowned poet and journalist was born on the 27th of March 1901 in Orange, New South Wales. Throughout his eventful life, Slessor was able to compose an array of poems through which he was able to convey his experiences through life. But why exactly are his poems still considered so relevant and significant in this era? Firstly, Slessor’s poems were widely recognised for their ability to accurately depict his understanding of humanity, life, death and change. Across his oeuvre he conveys a unique yet consistent view of the meaning of life and death. He presents this through the use of poetic techniques such as metaphors, repetition, similes and alliteration which are evident through all of his poems. Good morning/afternoon Mr Younes and Yr. 12. The poems â€Å"Out of Time† and â€Å"Beach Burial† are both compositions of Slessor’s later work that are considered memorable and influential by many of his critics. They are said to reveal his interaction with the environment and clearly depict his immediate emotions. I am sure that you will all agree that Slessor’s work is significant in today’s era because of his ability to cleverly and creatively use features to inter-relate the true essence of his poems. The poem ‘Out of time’ vividly initiates the essence of life and humanity as being primarily dominated and controlled by Time. Many critical analysis of Slessor’s work convey that his perception of time is that of a mystery, something that cannot be clearly defined and comprehended. His personal connection with time is deluded with the fact that it can be both a destructive force and a pleasure found in a moment. The adamant and unstoppable nature of time; causes it to solely control and thus highlight the vulnerability of the human existence. As observed in the first sonnet the destructive nature of time is expressed through the lines â€Å"Or time, the bony knife, it runs me through†¦time takes me, drills me, drives through bone and vein.† Metaphorically, time is referred to as a knife which is usually related with the feelings of betrayal and deceit. Thus, Slessor finds that time is a masked identity victimising humanity the ‘faceless host’ and moving on without hesitation or remorse. Similarly, Slessor’s experience as a war correspondent in El Alamein observing â€Å"†¦Convoys of dead soldiers† rolling to shore led to the inspiration of composing the elegy ‘Beach Burial.’ He explores the nature of time and the unfortunate occurrence of war. The intense and futile nature of war educates Slessor to conclude that time is the conqueror that withholds the universal fate of death. Have you ever felt invisible in a crowded area? Well, this is precisely what Slessor conveys death to be like. Death is commonly interpreted as the termination of life, a force that has an eternal end. Once our time is up we have no link to this world but are rather taken up to the â€Å"Other front.† Slessor clearly states that once death has its grasp, humanity will lose its identity as they will eventually be lost in a memory taken by time. This is reinforced in â€Å"Beach Burial† in the lines â€Å"Unknown seaman- the ghostly pencil wavers and fades†¦the wet season has washed their inscriptions†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The styles of Slessor’s poems are unique yet there is still a relative consistency evident throughout his oeuvre. In the poem â€Å"Out of Time† Slessor presents the poem in a cyclical pattern that imitates the nature of time. The last line of each sonnet is the beginning line of the next thus indicating a link throughout the poem. Slessor makes this style distinctive by beginning the poem with â€Å"I saw Time flowing like the hundred yachts† and ending with â€Å"And Time flows past them like a hundred Yachts.† Wouldn’t you agree that his use of repetition and personification of time clearly expresses the main value of this poem? Through these techniques Slessor cleverly portrays that time is a continuous force that will never come to an end but will always have its command over humanities life. On the contrary, the style of the poem â€Å"Beach Burial† is that of an elegy. By presenting his poem in this style, Slessor conveys the empathy that he felt as a result of his experience in El Alamein. The use of onomatopoeic reference â€Å"†¦The sob and clubbing of gunfire†¦Ã¢â‚¬  accurately depicts the futility and harsh nature of war. He then primarily expresses that death has the last say because in the end all of humanity will ultimately be untied by death through fate. This is portrayed in the line â€Å"Whether as enemies they fought†¦the sand joins them together.† A common technique that I am sure you all are aware off is that of water imagery. Water like time is a vast force that is eternal in nature, its ability to be both rough and calm precisely reflects the nature of time and the gloominess of death. The imagery of water is commonly used throughout Slessor’s oeuvre. It is reinforced in the stanzas of ‘Out of Time’ in the lines â€Å"So time, the wave, enfolds me in its bed†¦.water bends†¦the tide goes over.† And in â€Å"Beach Burial† in the lines â€Å"†¦They sway and wander in the waters far under†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As you may have noticed, the structural integrity of Slessor’s work can be seen as a solid representation of the values that he so intricately portrays. Both â€Å"Out of Time† and â€Å"Beach Burial† are composed with completely different structures yet still effectively portray the values of each poem. Composed of an ensemble of three quatrains and a couplet forming a sonnet, â€Å"Out of Time† is characterised by three sonnets. In each of these sonnets Slessor expresses a different aspect of time, linking them together to form a poem that is similar to that of an anecdote. However, the irregularity of the lines in â€Å"Beach Burial† mimics the movement of waves creating an atmosphere and mood that is both solemn and humble. Don’t you agree that this creative use of imagery precisely delineates the depth of Slessor’s emotions? Hopefully I have given you a thorough insight as to why Slessor’s poems are still relevant and significant today. It is evident to see that the themes and values that he expresses through his poems are off a universal significance and his ability to convey them through poetic devices accurately depicts the central notions of his poems. Thus, readers such as us and even critics are able to relate and recognise the articulate nature of his work and for this reason Slessor’s work will continue to be of a great significance.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Rhetorical Common Sense essays

The Rhetorical Common Sense essays In January of 1776, Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense with the intention of convincing American colonist to establish independence from Britain. Its apparent from the style of his pamphlet that he wanted to convince the masses in a fashion which would make them come to the conclusion that, without a doubt, Thomas Paine must be right. This rhetorical form of writing is evident throughout his pamphlet and obviously present in the title. By titling his pamphlet Common Sense, he was stating to all his readers, that it wasnt necessary for him to explain why the colonies should separate from America. It was common sense that independence was inevitable. Paines Common Sense was a pamphlet that spoke to all types of people and groups that read it. He spoke to the merchants, the loyalist, the religious separatist, and all other who may have seemed skeptical of supporting a war against Britain. As he wrote, he knew his job was to make his ideas and major points simple. He also need to phrase them in ways that made people think there could be no other way to see things. He starts by breaking down the institution of government. He states that society is what is good in man while government is what is evil. Society in every state is a blessing, but government in its best is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable on. However, the first pages of his pamphlet did not directly connected the colonies to his ideas on society and government. He uses a parable to show the evolution of society. This is an extremely important form because, for the reader, by the time they have read a few pages and reached his connection to colonies, they are already engulfed in the idea of the reality in Paines words. How can they not concluded that with such an evolution of society that Paine described in his parable, the distance of Britain and America would soon be to much for the growing co...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Understanding Stockholm Syndrome

Understanding Stockholm Syndrome Stockholm syndrome develops when people are placed in a situation where they feel intense fear of physical harm and believe all control is in the hands of their tormentor. The psychological response follows after a period of time and is a survival strategy for the victims. It includes sympathy and support for their captors plight and may even manifest in negative feelings toward officers who are trying to help the victims. Situations in which the victims have displayed this kind of response have included hostage situations, long-term kidnappings, members of cults, prisoners of concentration camps, and more. Key Takeaways: Stockholm Syndrome People exhibiting Stockholm syndrome become protective of their captors, even to the point of foiling the police efforts at their rescue.The syndrome is not a named disease in any manual but rather a description of peoples behaviors whove been traumatized over a period of time.While hostages and kidnapping victims can exhibit these behaviors, so can people in abusive relationships or members of cults. Origin of the Name The name Stockholm syndrome was derived from a 1973 bank robbery (Kreditbanken) in Stockholm, Sweden, where four hostages were held for six days. Throughout their imprisonment and while in harms way, each hostage seemed to defend the actions of the robbers. As an illustration of the hostages strange thoughts and behavior under psychological distress, History.com presents this example: [T]he hostage recounted to the New Yorker, How kind I thought he was for saying it was just my leg he would shoot.† The hostages even appeared to rebuke efforts by the government to rescue them. They pled for the captors not to be harmed during the rescue and orchestrated ways for that to happen. Immediately following the incident, the victims couldnt explain to psychologists their sympathetic feelings and lack of anger and hatred toward their captors. Months after their ordeal had ended, the hostages continued to exhibit loyalty to the robbers to the point of refusing to testify against them as well as helping the criminals raise funds for legal representation. They even visited them in prison. A Common Survival Mechanism The response of the hostages intrigued behaviorists and journalists, who, following the incident, conducted research to see if the Kreditbanken incident was unique or if other hostages in similar circumstances experienced the same sympathetic, supportive bonding with their captors. The researchers determined that such behavior was common among people whod gone through similar situations. A psychologist whod been involved with the Stockholm hostage situation coined the term Stockholm Syndrome, and another defined it for the FBI and Scotland Yard to enable officers to be able to understand that possible aspect of a hostage situation. The study of the condition helped inform their negotiations in future incidents of the same type. What Causes Stockholm Syndrome? Individuals can succumb to Stockholm syndrome under the following circumstances: The belief that ones captor can and will kill him or her. The feelings of relief by the victim for not being killed then turn to gratitude.Isolation from anyone but the captorsThe belief that escape is impossibleThe inflation of the captors acts of kindness into genuine care for each others welfareThe passage of at least a few days in captivity Victims of Stockholm syndrome generally suffer from severe isolation and emotional and physical abuse also demonstrated in characteristics of battered spouses, incest victims, abused children, prisoners of war, cult victims, procured prostitutes, slaves, and kidnapping, hijacking, or hostage victims. Each of these circumstances can result in the victims responding in a compliant and supportive way as a tactic for survival. It is similar to the reaction from brainwashing. Victims show some of the same symptoms as those who have post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), such as insomnia, nightmares, difficulty concentrating, distrust of others, irritability, confusion, a sensitive startle reflex, and a loss of pleasure in once-favorite activities. Famous Cases In the year following the Stockholm bank incident, the syndrome was widely understood by the masses because of the case of Patty Hearst. Here is her story and other more recent examples: Patty Hearst Patty Hearst, at age 19, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Two months after her kidnapping, she was seen in photographs participating in an SLA bank robbery in San Francisco. Later a tape recording was released with Hearst (SLA pseudonym Tania) voicing her support and commitment to the SLA cause. After the SLA group, including Hearst, was arrested, she denounced the radical group. During her trial her defense lawyer attributed her behavior while with the SLA to a subconscious effort to survive, comparing her reaction to captivity to other victims of Stockholm syndrome. According to testimony, Hearst had been bound, blindfolded, and kept in a small, dark closet, where she was physically and sexually abused for weeks before the bank robbery. Jaycee Lee Dugard On June 10, 1991, witnesses said they saw a man and a woman abduct 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard by a school bus stop near her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. Her disappearance remained unsolved until August 27, 2009, when she walked into a California police station and introduced herself. For 18 years she was held captive in a tent behind the home of her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido. There Dugard gave birth to two children, who were ages 11 and 15 at the time of her reappearance. Although the opportunity to escape was present at different times throughout her captivity, Jaycee Dugard bonded with the captors as a form of survival. Natascha Kampusch In August 2006, Natascha Kampusch from Vienna was 18 years old when she managed to escape from her kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil, who had kept her locked in a small cell for more than eight years. She remained in the windowless cell, which was 54 square feet, for the first six months of her captivity. In time, she was permitted in the main house, where she would cook and clean for Priklopil. After several years of being held captive, she was occasionally allowed out into the garden. At one point she was introduced to Priklopils business partner, who described her as relaxed and happy. Priklopil controlled Kampusch by starving her to make her physically weak, severely beating her, and threating to kill her and the neighbors if she tried to escape. After Kampusch escaped, Priklopi committed suicide by jumping in front of an oncoming train. When Kampusch learned that Priklopil was dead, she cried inconsolably and lit a candle for him at the morgue. In a documentary based on her book, 3096 Tage  (3,096 Days), Kampusch voiced sympathy for Priklopil. She said,  I feel more and more sorry for him- hes a poor soul. Newspapers reported that some psychologists suggested Kampusch may have been suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but she does not agree. In her book, she said the suggestion was disrespectful of her and did not properly describe the complex relationship that she had with Priklopil. Elizabeth Smart More recently, some believe Elizabeth Smart fell victim to Stockholm syndrome after her nine months of captivity and abuse by her captives,  Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. She denies that she had sympathetic feelings toward her captors or captivity and explained that she was just trying to survive. Her kidnapping is portrayed in the 2011 Lifetime movie, I Am Elizabeth Smart, and she published her memoir, My Story, in 2013. She is now an advocate for child safety and has a foundation to provide resources for those whove suffered traumatic events. Lima Syndrome: The Flip Side When captors develop feelings of sympathy for their hostages, which is rarer, its called Lima syndrome. The name comes from a 1996 Peru incident during which guerrilla fighters took over a birthday party for Japanese Emperor Akihito, given at the home of the Japanese ambassador. In a few hours, most of the people had been freed, even some of the most valuable to the group. Sources Alexander, David A.,  and  Klein, Susan. â€Å"Kidnapping and Hostage-Taking: A Review of Effects, Coping and Resilience.† Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, vol. 102, no. 1, 2009, 16–21.Burton, Neel, M.D. What Underlies Stockholm Syndrome? Psychology Today. 24 March 2012. Updated: 5 Sept. 2017. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/what-underlies-stockholm-syndrome.Conradt, Stacy. The Bank Robbery Behind Stockholm Syndrome. Mental Floss. 28 August 2013. http://mentalfloss.com/article/52448/story-behind-stockholm-syndrome.Elizabeth Smart Biography. Biography.com. AE Television Networks. 4 April 2014. Updated 14 Sept. 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-smart-17176406.Inside Jaycee Dugards Terror Tent. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/inside-jaycee-dugards-terror-tent/5/.Klein, Christopher. The Birth of Stockholm Syndrome, 40 Years Ago. History.com. AE Television Networks. 23 Aug. 2013. https://www.history.com/news /stockholm-syndrome. Stump, Scott. Elizabeth Smart on the one question that wont go away: Why didnt you run? Today.com. 14 Nov. 2017. https://www.today.com/news/elizabeth-smart-one-question-won-t-go-away-why-didn-t118795.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Multiple Main Characters in Your Story Follow These 3 Tips

Multiple Main Characters in Your Story Follow These 3 Tips 3 Tips for Featuring Multiple Main Characters in Your Story Writing a novel with multiple main characters   can seem insurmountable. Who’s on stage when, and what do you do with the others at the same time? When your top priority is crystal clarity for your reader, you must somehow weave different perspectives in a way that makes sense. Common wisdom says you get one perspective or point-of-view (POV) character per scene, preferably per chapter, and usually per book. My latest novel, The Valley of the Dry Bones, has one perspective character throughout. Though it’s written in third person, it’s limited to just my lead character’s perspective. He is the camera, so everything that happens on every page is seen through his eyes, heard through his ears, and any internal dialogue is his. That’s the easiest, most direct, and clearest way to handle POV. Using more than one is not for the faint of heart. It’s complex and tricky, and only more so if you go beyond two. I first used two perspective characters when I wrote my novel Left Behind. So why did I do it? Because the scope of my story demanded it. I needed my airline pilot (Rayford Steele) to get around the world- and I told a cosmic tale that also impacted him and his immediate family. But meanwhile, I also needed my globe-trotting journalist (Buck Williams) to be where Rayford wasn’t. If your story likely requires more than one main character to make it work, it’s crucial you learn to deftly navigate featuring multiple main characters. So what’s the secret? A few clear guidelines can make it work. Here are three: Need help writing your novel?  Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide. How to Successfully Feature Multiple Main Characters 1. Think Reader-First You want nothing to stand in the way of the reader’s experience. She should know who your POV character is without having to re-read or ferret it out. When I began a scene Rayford Steele’s mind was on a woman he had never touched, there was no question he was the main character and that we would experience this scene through his lens. For some reason, many beginning writers mistakenly assume that rendering a scene from one character’s perspective means it must be written in the first person from his or her point of view. As you can see from the example above, it can be done just as well in third-person limited. Also, remembering that you get only one POV character per scene should keep you from head hopping- where readers get a peek inside the minds of others. Say Jim is your POV character and he notices Mary is scowling. You can say, â€Å"Jim thought Mary looked skeptical, so†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But you cannot say, â€Å"Mary was skeptical. She doubted Jim knew what he was talking about.† If you do, you have hopped into her head mid-scene and have either switched the POV from Jim to Mary, or you have slipped into an Omniscient Viewpoint where the author is not limited to one person’s perspective. You know all and tell all, and unless you are a master like J.K. Rowling, you’re unlikely to sell such a manuscript. I’ve written 192 books, two-thirds of those novels, and I wouldn’t even attempt such a thing. In Left Behind, when I switched to my second POV character, I added double the space between paragraphs (and some authors or publishers also center a typographical dingbat like * * * between paragraphs, just to make things clearer) and introduced him this way: Next to a window in first class, a writer sat hunched over his laptop. He shut down the machine, vowing to get back to his journal later. At thirty, Cameron Williams was the youngest ever senior writer for†¦ Handling it that way ensured that no reader could miss that I had switched from Rayford in the cockpit to Buck in first class. 2. Make Your POV Characters Distinct In subsequent books in the Left Behind series, I used as many as five different perspective characters for one novel. That made it even more vital to make clear to the reader who my perspective character was whenever I switched. But just as important, my individual perspective characters had to be crisply distinct from one another. I established Rayford as a middle-aged family man, while Buck was younger and single. Another perspective character was female, another an elderly man. The more distinct the better. Some novelists have multiple perspective characters speak from their POVs in the first person. That can make it easier to distinguish between characters, provided you work hard to give each his own voice, pace, vocabulary, and delivery. 3. Choose Carefully The point of having multiple main characters is to allow your story to expand geographically. But you may find, as I did, that eventually your perspective characters wind up in the same scene. Then from whose perspective do you tell it? If one of your main characters is most main, if you know what I mean (in Left Behind  Rayford and Buck were both strong leads, but Rayford was really the star), stick with that character. Otherwise, choose the one who has the most to gain or lose in the scene. You Can Make This Work As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when you try to tell a story featuring more than one main character, but if you’re careful and intentional and always consider your reader first, you can enhance a story this way and make it something special. Our best writing often results from working through such difficult challenges. Need help writing your novel?  Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide. Tell me how you’ve handled multiple main characters, or pose any questions raised by this post. Connect with me in the comments below.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Analyse the human resource issue relevant to an organization intending Essay

Analyse the human resource issue relevant to an organization intending to expand into the global market - Essay Example The intention of this study is analysis of human resource management (HRM) processes in Australia and the United Kingdom that has been carried out in the point of view of political, economic, legal, and socio-cultural systems and the evolving business situations. The organization of the sections has assisted in emphasizing the impact of fundamental aspects on HRM practices and policies in each nation, and the context-focused character of HRM. For instance, the economy considerably affects HRM in both nations, but its effect differs. For example, in Australia the recessionary situations of the earlier years are weakening employment traditions and encouraging reforms in the system. The United Kingdom has seen an explosion in foreign direct investment. By using UK’s Organon Laboratories Ltd. as a multinational company planning to expand to Australia, each section reveals several HRM challenges in Australia, as well as in the parent country, the United Kingdom. Taking into account the infancy phase of human resource management in several Asia-Pacific nations, such as Australia, and the assumption that HRM in a cross-cultural and cross-national perspective could be best examined by exploring the effect of dimensions of natural culture this paper tries to analyze the effect of the major national aspects on international HRM by using the planned expansion of UK’s Organon Laboraties Ltd. to Australia. ... The main offices of Organon are located in Oss, southern Netherlands, and it has 55 subordinate units across the globe, with two in the United Kingdom: (1) management, marketing, etc. in Cambridge, England, and (2) processing, research and development in Motherwell, Scotland (Tayeb 2005, 210). Organon hires 10,000 people all over the world. It was founded in 1948 and its primary goods are human prescription medication and its market is prescription pharmacies. It is one of the major providers of oral contraceptives and infertility drugs (Tayeb 2005, 210). Astra Zeneca and GlaxoSmithKline are its main competitors. Organon’s mission statement is provided by Akzo Nobel. Nevertheless, being the main actor in the pharmaceutical unit, the company aspires to sustain its independence. Hence mention of Akzo Nobel are silenced, for instance the manner personnel answer callers is ‘Organon Laboratories’ (Tayeb 2005, 211). In other branches their image is more strongly identif ied with Akzo. Each of the two sub-divisions in the UK has a human resource (HR) manager. However, there is only one Managing Director in the UK. The employee guidelines of Scotland are slightly controlled by the main office. The HR manager has acquired the practices and guidelines which have progressed since 1948 (BioPortfolio 2011). Employees have been permitted to develop work hours, payment rules and employment agreements that would meet the needs of the firm in the UK. There has been a productive relationship with the directors who have been major guardians of company guidelines in the UK, such as Cambridge’s Managing Director and Motherwell’s Process Director and Research Director (Tayeb 2005). They were somewhat like-minded with regard to employment issues, the parent

Cirque du Soleil Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cirque du Soleil - Case Study Example (Cascio, W. (1998) Modes of communications are extremely open and the authorities that certain hierarchical titles could impose are practically imaginary. And a Cirque du Soleil core value is respect for cultural diversity. Inspite of the incessant growth that the company has experienced, it has always known how to ensure solidity among employees and maintain a strong sense of belonging. Cirque had tried decentralizing management into three regional divisions The management at Cirque Du Soleil aims at providing "presenting a unique blend of creation and the performing arts, of architecture and the arts in general." the company had only one goal with respect to the customer: "When a customer enters the big top, he will have an experience he will never forget." the management by creating an employee newsletter, la boule, composed of employee submissions that were uncensored. The company's basic objective is to provide an affordable form of entertainment to the audience. Basically, by reinventing the concept of circus. By employing new and innovative individuals with unique skills in the business , companies can expect profits to rise . Payne, T. (2000) The casting director for Cirque, said it was a constant challenge to find the right artists Cantin tried to select artists to fit into the currently conceived productions, she also looked for their potential contributions to future productions at Cirque. Recruiting sources are methods used by organizations to transmit information about open positions to potential applicants (Breaugh 1992). Traditionally trained artists learned, often for the first time, to perform in an intensely multicultural background (A.R. (2002). When hiring artists from different countries, Cantin took into consideration what their no artistic needs were. During auditions, Cantin tried to measure two key dimensions besides pure talent: "Can they continue to develop" and "Can they be generous in the show" The paradox of hiring people, who were really good at what they did, for what they did have to be aligned with the primary work of the organization. Management Level: This can actually get pretty complex and in order to carry this out the Staff at human resource department need to carry out staffing activities. This can be done through the training of employees, recruitment of new employees, rotation of the current employees, lying of f of any staff that can be deemed extra. The bottom line is to get the right staff, with the right skills at the right place.' Management is about coping with complexity' (Gabarro, 1992) Thus, it can be concluded that the Strategic staffing process are easy to use and implement and

Friday, October 18, 2019

Cultural Implications Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cultural Implications - Coursework Example Distinctive culture has diverse conduct standard and good limitations for its representatives in an organization. Organizations will apply incredible impact in transit representatives speak with one another. Then; employee voice is an approach to speak to the organization correspondence. What's more, the voice of employees passes on their certain culture. Take the Japan Company and American organization as illustrations. In Japan Company, employees are obliged to hold the statement of faith of order, and they have a superior work framework. Japanese employees ought to be responsible for their own business exclusively instead of participate with others (Johnstone & Ackers, 2015). While in the American organization the culture is truly diverse. The employees typically carry on specifically to others and the greater part of times they will impart to the work. What the distinction of them show in the part of their human administration. In some renowned Japan organizations like SONY, whos e employees will be isolated into diverse gatherings and keep the gatherings as independent as could be expected under the circumstances as per their distinctive societies to maintain a strategic distance from the social conflicts with one another (Johnstone & Ackers, 2015). Yet the input of this framework is that it is hard to hear distinctive voices from representatives, which will obviously requirement the speedier and healthier improvement of the association. Employee voice is accomplished through both direct voice and indirect voice.

Nursing Care Plan. Risk for Secondary Infection Essay

Nursing Care Plan. Risk for Secondary Infection - Essay Example This has been attributed to the added effects of aging and medications. The client’s nutrition status is below the normal level, compared with his healthy physique when the signs and symptoms of HIV infection and epileptic occurrences had not manifested yet. His serum cholesterol is higher than the normal boundary. No respiratory conditions can be traced from his recent medical check- up. Risk for secondary infection Assessment The patient was lying on his bed, conscious and coherent. However, he was not oriented to time, place, and person. Wounds and excoriations were noted on his lower extremities. No breathing difficulties noted upon examination. Nutrition status was noted below the normal level. Increased cholesterol level was appreciated on laboratory results. His vital signs were recorded as: Temperature: 37.4 ?C, Respiratory rate: 24 cpm, Pulse rate: 92 bpm, Blood Pressure: 130/ 110 mmHg. Nursing Diagnosis Risk for secondary infection related to compromised immune syste m secondary to HIV infection Planning Within this shift, the patient will not be able to develop infection, and would learn ways to prevent it. Intervention and rationale Assess the patient for signs of infection including fever, chills, and diaphoresis; cough; shortness of breath; oral pain or painful swallowing; creamy-white patches in oral cavity; urinary frequency, urgency, or dysuria; redness, swelling, or drainage from wounds; vesicular lesions on face, lips, or perianal area. Any sign of delayed wound healing may give clues that the patient is currently having an infectious process (Black & Hawks, 2005). Assess the patient’s cognition and mental status. In the elderly population, the signs of infection may appear initially as changes in the mental status and consciousness (Burke & Laramie, 2004). Teach patient or caregiver about need to report possible infection. Prompt reporting of infection increases the chances of faster recovery (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Do not allo w any fresh flowers in the patient’s room. Fresh flowers carry microorganisms that could cause harm to the immune- compromised people (Burke & Laramie, 2004). Do not allow the patient to eat raw foods, including fruits and vegetables. Raw foods contain considerably increased number of microorganisms that could potentially cause another infection (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Monitor for medication interactions, infections, electrolyte imbalance, and depression. Elderly patients may have other pathological conditions that could necessarily affect hydration status and predispose other medication side- effects (Black & Hawks, 2005). Encourage independence but assist if the patient cannot perform an activity. While it can be necessary to assist the patient in completing activities most of the time, providing opportunities of independence could increase his sense of well- being (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Monitor food and fluid intake. Nutrition status generally affects the rate of wound healing and recovery from infection (Black & Hawks, 2005). Teach the patient about the importance of hand-washing and appropriate hygienic practices. These activities prevent the incidence of infection (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Evaluation At the end of the shift, the client did not develop any signs of secondary infection. In addition, the patient learned of the importance of hand- washing, hygienic practices, eating the right kinds of food, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

How does society influence individual human behavior, and is that Essay

How does society influence individual human behavior, and is that influence greater than the personal and biological forces within each person - Chad Richardson - Essay Example From birth or even before the child is born, humans have to learn to respond and interact to different stimuli unique to his environment. One of the primary influences of the society comes in the way of family structures. This is where the first pattern of behavior is learned outside of the hereditary traits. The family, to a large extent helps to shape the belief system and influence other social habits such as dressing, eating, speaking. Emotional bonding can also be seen as an outcome of the family’s treatment of the individual. Parental favoritism can be an influence. A sibling receiving more love may develop differently from his or her less favored sibling (Rowe, 1994). The school also plays a major part in how the society influences behavior. This usually acts as a measuring stick in determining what are acceptable and non-acceptable patterns and standards of behavior. Through the existence of positive and negative reinforcement humans are guided as to uplifting moral and social behavior and are exposed to a certain way of thinking that should help them to strive toward self actualization. A person’s value system is also developed largely through a combination of home and school influences. The larger society, group alliances and cultural settings also influence human behavior. Religious beliefs also help to set the norm. According to Rutherford and Ahlgren (1990), â€Å"Culturally induced behavior patterns such as speech patterns, body language, and forms of humor become so deeply imbedded in the human mind that they often operate without the individuals themselves being fully aware of them (Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990, p.89). The age old question of whether the influence of society is greater or lesser than the biological influences is really difficult to determine. In many cases persons from the same social and cultural backgrounds and from the same family in some instances end up displaying different behavior patterns. In cases like these

Criminal Liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminal Liability - Essay Example This left the roof in a dangerous position that collapsed killing Serena. Adam can be held criminally liable for the death of Serena. His act of stealing lead connects the link of causation that led to the death of Serena. Criminal negligence represents men's rea. However, the men's rea in this situation is replaced by the recklessness of Adam. The test used to determine recklessness is the standard of behaviour expected of the defendant in such circumstances. A reasonable person in such circumstances would not have committed the act that Adam did and therefore he can be considered to have the men's rea required to find him criminally liable. The test here applies to willful negligence in gross negligence that another person would find it reckless. In criminal law, there must be an actus reus and men’s rea. The actus reus of the defendant was stealing the lead that led to the roof collapsing. Criminal negligence looks at the culpability and recklessness that causes the interme diate seriousness of the resulting actions of a defendant. Adam was reckless in his actions since he exposed other members of the church to damage. This means that he was willful in running the risk. The courts in such a case will apply the test of a reasonable person to analyze his culpability in such a case. This test of culpability and men's rea is an assessment by the courts to establish whether the defendant had the foresight of the consequences of his actions. It applies three elements in these tests.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

How does society influence individual human behavior, and is that Essay

How does society influence individual human behavior, and is that influence greater than the personal and biological forces within each person - Chad Richardson - Essay Example From birth or even before the child is born, humans have to learn to respond and interact to different stimuli unique to his environment. One of the primary influences of the society comes in the way of family structures. This is where the first pattern of behavior is learned outside of the hereditary traits. The family, to a large extent helps to shape the belief system and influence other social habits such as dressing, eating, speaking. Emotional bonding can also be seen as an outcome of the family’s treatment of the individual. Parental favoritism can be an influence. A sibling receiving more love may develop differently from his or her less favored sibling (Rowe, 1994). The school also plays a major part in how the society influences behavior. This usually acts as a measuring stick in determining what are acceptable and non-acceptable patterns and standards of behavior. Through the existence of positive and negative reinforcement humans are guided as to uplifting moral and social behavior and are exposed to a certain way of thinking that should help them to strive toward self actualization. A person’s value system is also developed largely through a combination of home and school influences. The larger society, group alliances and cultural settings also influence human behavior. Religious beliefs also help to set the norm. According to Rutherford and Ahlgren (1990), â€Å"Culturally induced behavior patterns such as speech patterns, body language, and forms of humor become so deeply imbedded in the human mind that they often operate without the individuals themselves being fully aware of them (Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990, p.89). The age old question of whether the influence of society is greater or lesser than the biological influences is really difficult to determine. In many cases persons from the same social and cultural backgrounds and from the same family in some instances end up displaying different behavior patterns. In cases like these

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss Essay - 7

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss - Essay Example ntly the property prices in London have gone up way too high; too high for investors to believe that there is a very high danger of a housing price bubble within London. This essay seeks to present a case for the high level of risk associated with housing prices in London, and it does so by backing up the case with substantial evidence. The property bubble in London is real, and investors need to exercise caution if they want to come out safe from this scenario. Looking at media reports makes one thing very clear – the property prices in London have touched their four year low by the end of 2014. This can be linked to the very basic principle of demand and supply like mentioned above. According to a survey of property agents and surveyors dealing in London based property, there a wide consensus amongst market makers that property value in London is likely to follow its downward trajectory as demand for housing falls has gone down, coupled with new projects being announced by builders, thus resulting in a very low volume of transactions (Edwards, 2014). The high probability of a housing price bubble in London also emanates from the fact that many property holders in London have all of a sudden found their property values going up multi folds. This has made them put their property out in the market for sale and realize profits, as they move to live in county areas. Also, there is a wide believe amongst these investors that the current prices in London are far too high, and the market can crash anytime and therefore it is best to realize profits rather than being a part of the loss themselves as the market witnesses a correction (Bracke, 2014). Besides the information mentioned above, a few other facts also prove the existence of a property bubble in London. The house price to earnings ratio computed by the famous mortgage lender, Halifax, shows how many times or what multiple of house prices are made up income of buyers. It is rather shocking to note that the

Monday, October 14, 2019

Truth and Honesty Essay Example for Free

Truth and Honesty Essay Honesty is defined as the quality or fact of being honest, uprightness and fairness also as truthfulness in speech and action. This term is very important as it is the simple basis of how we carry out routine activities. While this sounds simple, its surprisingly difficult to practice. Being honest implies the presence of an active conscience and a knowledge of ethics at the minimum. Being honest in everyday life means listening to, and obeying, the voice of our conscience. For example, last Monday, I rode past a traffic light that had just switched from green to amber. I should have slowed down and stopped instead I speeded away. Now this may not sound like a big fuss to some of us but the fact remains that it could have been fatal though nothing happened on that day. The consequences could have been very deadly if a pedestrian had darted across the road or an impatient motorist could have speeded away just like me leading to hospitalization or death. This is a simple act of honesty which we tend to forget in our everyday life. Everybody interacts with one another and when honesty is neglected, problems tend to arise, controversies spark like a match. Honesty is the important factor that supports every source of information. Without honesty nobody can understand the simple truth. Each time we hear a person talking, it is assumed that honest words are coming out. Principally, I believe honesty is important because it provides accurate information, reflects good character, and builds lasting, trusting relationships. For instance, the Police Department should be very honest as the population depends entirely on them for security reasons and also for the welfare of the family. Patients go to doctors, undergo operation since they trust these people. Therefore honesty is the root that needs to be strong in every domain. If history were full of lies and false information then we would only be expected to misinterpret details all because someone decided not to be honest. In reality the simple act of telling the truth is so influential because it affects all others around us somewhere down the line. Honesty reflects good character because when people know that someone is honest they feel that they can fully trust that person. It is always comforting and reassuring when you can count on that person no matter the circumstances. One important quality that is absolutely necessary if we are to be honest is courage. This is not about physical courage but courage that comes from conviction, an essential mental quality. For, as Khalil Gibran writes, If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully. That is, if you must speak honestly about your friends, speak honestly about their good points. Use words to uplift, not to tear down. Also, be sure to avoid rumors, for they are acts of betrayal. For many people honesty is the most important quality in a relationship. Being honest, even in difficult times, gives everyone the true information from which decisions can then be taken. It treats all involved parties with respect. Clearly there may well be times when some information should be modified, as with young children perhaps. But in most cases people appreciate being told the truth, even when it is painful. It helps cherish the good memories. Trust is a huge part of the honesty stable. It is often difficult to recover trust once someone discovers that they have been deceived or lied. It can take a long time to build trust in a relationship, and it can be wiped out in a moment. Living an honest life and being true to ourselves help to maintain a clear conscience and a healthy life, free from a lot of stress and tension. That is the value and importance of being honest.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Wealth and Beauty Equals Popularity in Beverly Hills 90210 :: Media Argumentative Persuasive Argument

Wealth and Beauty Equals Popularity in Beverly Hills 90210 Every teenager who has attended high school can relate to the pressures that come from the desire to be popular. It’s normal for teens to feel the need to be in the â€Å"in crowd† and to fit in with the â€Å"beautiful people.† Television shows help contribute to this â€Å"need† to fit in. One such show, Beverly Hills 90210, is based on beautiful teenage characters, most of whom are wealthy and, coincidentally, popular. In today’s society there is a shared cultural belief that in order to be popular high school students must be wealthy and beautiful. The show both challenges and reinforces this cultural belief by offering characters like Kelly Taylor, who is a beautiful, California blonde who seems to lead an ideal life. She is one of the most popular girls at West Beverly High (partly because she was able to afford a nose job). Beautiful people such as Steve Sanders--a wealthy, snobbish womanizer--constantly surround her. A character who challenges this belief is Andrea Zuckerman, an intelligent, middle-class student who is more concerned about her grades than her appearance. And there are also the twins from Minnesota, Brenda and Brandon Walsh, who are not instantly popular; rather, they use their personalities (and their good looks), not their wealth, to fit in. On the outside Kelly, Steve, and even Brandon and Brenda seem to be happy because they are popular and because they lead fairly normal lives. But the well-seasoned viewer knows that these are just transparent beliefs. These beautiful teens do not lead perfect lives. The show has some cultural significance: seemingly superficial characters have complexities that are not obvious at a first glance. In fact, Kelly is ashamed of how she lost her virginity and the fact that her mother is an alcoholic. She is unexpectedly conscientious; she was concerned about her SAT scores. Kelly also proved to be a good friend to Brenda after she threw her a surprise going away party when the Walsh family was planning to move back to Minnesota. Kelly seems so self-absorbed on the outside but at the same time she is constantly trying to help her friends overcome obstacles. Steve also contributed to the going away party.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Information Technology †Wireless local-area Networks (WLAN) :: essays research papers

Information Technology – Wireless local-area Networks (WLAN) In today’s world where organizations need to keep in contact with employees there seem to be more ways than ever to stay connected. This can be a burden for small organizations that do not have a large information technology (IT) staff to keep them updated with the latest technologies (Cisco, 2004). A significant way for employees to stay in touch besides cell phones, laptops and hand held computers is wireless local area networks (WLAN). Also known as LAWN, a wireless local-area network uses high frequency radio waves rather than wires to communicate between computers or other devices (Webopedia, 2004). Business owners are now recognizing the benefits of incorporating wireless network into their organizations. A wireless local area network can be very beneficial because of its mobility and increased employee productivity, but organizations still harbor doubts about its security and reliability. Wireless local area networks (WLAN) provide a variety of benefits to an organization. It can provide mobility and flexibility, which can all lead to improvements in productivity and business opportunities (Wireless LAN, 2004). Wireless local area networks (WLANs) keep mobile workers connected without information technology (IT) professionals having to install wiring through out a building. Temporary workspaces can be set up and internet access can be made available in different meeting locations without the need to rewire. Wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) are also offering access at various locations that would make it convenient to travelers and mobile workers (Public Access, 2004). They are able to connect their laptops or other devices without wires or having to find a data port in airports or hotels. Unlike the past when employees worked from the same location, organizations today enjoy more freedom and flexibility in their workforces because of wireless local area net works (Cisco, 2004). Both organizations and employees enjoy a combination of improved speed, collaboration and accuracy when they invest in a wireless local-area network (Intel, 2004). Wireless local-area networks (WLAN) have given workers the advantage of completing their work away from their office and as a result improve their overall productivity. NOP World through an independent survey discovered that wireless local-area network (WLAN) users stay connected long enough to show an increase in productivity (NOP World, 2003). Different organizations using wireless networks enable their employees to gain access to valuable information pertaining to the business whenever necessary. Not only would vital data be available that could aid an employee in closing a deal, but time could also be saved when correspondences can be answered quickly and at any place via e-mail.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Jo Goodwin Parker. What Is Poverty? Essay

Jo Goodwin Parker’s essay, â€Å"What is Poverty? † is about Parker who has personally experienced rural poverty. She explains her story from childhood to adulthood. Parker’s struggles are overwhelming; look at any sentence, the evidence of her daily struggle is there. From her underwear to living arrangements, and everything in between, Parker resides in poverty. In her essay, she says to listen to the story of what poverty is. Then she talks about the different aspects of poverty. Parker talks about the lack of health conditions she and her three children suffer from. She decides to be a mother even though she has no ability to provide for them. She talks about the government only giving her a small amount of money per month. That is why she cannot afford nutritional foods and soap to clean her kids. She thinks that the outside world will not help and even criticize her for not doing something. After reading Jo Goodwin Parker’s essay, I did not feel pity but instead I felt respect. She was in an unfortunate situation that forced her into a life not easy to live or deal with. But, with three children to care for, plus herself, she continued on with her life no matter what obstacles kept jumping in her path. I had an idea of what poverty was but after reading Parker’s essay, the ideas I had are shattered into a new realization of the true meaning of poverty. Her definition provides vivid images of what poverty truly means. Parker uses an angry tone, imagery, and repetition to inform readers the dehumanizing effects of poverty. She explains poverty in an angry tone so readers can understand the true meaning of being poor. Parker is capable of causing the reader to feel many emotions, mainly guilt. She makes the reader feel guilty for the possessions we may have. â€Å"You say in your clean clothes coming from your clean house, anybody can be clean† (Parker 168). This causes the reader to feel guilty for having the opportunity to be clean when we know that she does not have the same. Parker then goes on talking about how she has no hot water for herself and her kids. â€Å"Hot water is a luxury. I do not have luxuries† (168). Here again, she makes the reader feel guilty that having hot water is a luxury. I agree with her writing about middle class people having things she does not have because it makes the reader appreciate the things they have in life. People do not think about hot water being a luxury, but Parker explains that having things like soap and hot water are something extravagant. Even though Parker makes the readers feel guilty of her situation, I actually appreciate the things I have now. Parker uses imagery in her essay to make the readers actually see what she is going through. She explains what her living situation is like. â€Å"This is a smell of urine, sour milk, and spoiling food sometimes joined with the strong smell of long-cooked onions† (167). The smell of her home is overpowering and the reason is because she cannot wash the mattresses or bathe herself and her kids with soap. Her and her three kids live like this, it sounds miserable and unhealthy. It is just downright disgusting. I could not imagine living a life like hers, but she went through every moment taking care of herself and her children. She had no help, no husband, and no friends. Parker puts all this in the readers mind; she makes you see the physical and mental effects of her life. Physically she looks older than she looks, her back is bent from washing clothes, and she has chronic anemia because of her poor diet. Mentally she is just tired of being poor. She is tired of having no capability to provide for herself and her children. She is always scared that something bad will happen. The use of imagery she uses in her essay shows the dehumanizing effects of poverty. The technique Parker uses in her essay is repetition. She constantly restates what is poverty. â€Å"Poverty is getting up every morning from a dirt- and illness-stained mattress. † â€Å"Poverty is living in a smell that never leaves† (167). Parker uses repetition to hammer an idea, image, or relationship so the reader can pay attention. In this case, she wants the reader to pay attention to the odor and the dirtiness of her living. â€Å"Poverty is staying up all night on cold nights to watch the fire, knowing one spark on the newspaper covering the walls means your sleeping children die in flames. † â€Å"Poverty is hoping it never rains because diapers won’t dry when it rains and soon you are using newspapers† (168). Here, Parker is explaining how she is scared that her children will be hurt if she does not keep one eye open and the inconvenience of rain that troubles her children. All of these phrases create a different image of poverty and each one is successful in evoking sympathy from the reader. Her technique is to force the reader to imagine poverty in a new way. Parker makes us realize how bleak poverty is and she shows us that there is no hope for the poor without understanding. Parker gives outsiders a glimpse into what she goes through on a daily basis. Being a single mother and seeing your children sick and dirty is devastating. I cannot image having to go through this. I think the purpose in writing this is not to give them pity but to understand and help people who need it. I think Parker wrote this essay so we can open our eyes and see the truth. This is happening in our towns and most times people do not choose that type of lifestyle. This essay is devastating and is hard to read. I defiantly have a more clear understanding of what poverty truly means.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Mms Renta a Car

M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 1 W2 APPLICATION CASE W2. 1. 1 Part 1: The Intelligence Phase ONLINE FILE W2. 1 THE MMS RUNNING CASE MMS Rent-a-Car, based in Atlanta, Georgia, has outlets at major airports and cities throughout North America. Founded by CEO Elena Markum several years ago, it has seen fast growth over the past few years, mainly because it offers quality service, fast, at convenient locations. MMS is highly competitive, able to offer cars at slightly lower rates than its competitors because most of its airport facilities are located near but not at the airport.A keen user of information systems, MMS tracks competitors’ prices, stored in a large data warehouse, through its Web-based enterprise information system portal, CLAUDIA (Come Learn About statUs for Deals and Information on Autos). CLAUDIA also tracks sales, fleet status, other internal status information, and external information about the economy and its relevant components. CLAUDIA has been a great success in keeping MMS competitive. The First Meeting Elena calls the meeting to order: ELENA: Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I’m glad that we could schedule this meeting through our new scheduling module of CLAUDIA.I know you have all read my e-mail about our latest problem—sales are off by 10 percent. Basically, this will put us in the red for the year if it continues for another 4 months. CLAUDIA’s forecasting system that links to our RMS (revenue management system) indicates that sales will continue to decrease for the next 4 months, even after we adjust prices. Folks, what’s going on? I want to know what has caused this problem, how we can fix it, and how we can prevent it from happening again. Aside from solving the problem, I want to develop some knowledge about it and use it as an opportunity to improve our business.MARLA: Frankly, Elena, I don’t understand it! I noticed a slight dip in sales 2 months ago b ut was so busy with our new fleet acquisitions that I planned to go back and look into what happened when I finished replacing the fleet later this week. I should have passed word on to our analysts to have a look back then. Sorry. ELENA: No problem, Marla. I should have noticed it myself. I’m glad you were at least aware and ready to move on it. So, we have evidence of a problem. What else do we have? S HARON : My up-to-date reports from the travel industry indicate that over the past 6 months there has been a slight increase in businessProblems Elena has called a meeting of her vice presidents to discuss a problem that she noticed yesterday while tapping into CLAUDIA. Rentals are off about 10 percent nationally from the MMS projections for last month. Furthermore, CLAUDIA’s forecasts indicate that they will continue to decrease. Elena wants to know why. This morning, the following VPs are present: Sharon Goldman, Marketing (CMO) Michael Lee, Operations (COO) Marla Da na, Fleet Acquisitions (CFAO) Tonia van de Stam, Information Systems (CIO) Mark Lams, Knowledge Systems (CKO) Jelene Thompson, Accounting (CAO) Rose Franklin, Finance (CFO) 2-1M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 2 2-2 Part II †¢ Computerized Decision Support overall. More people are flying for business meetings, conventions, trade shows, and pleasure. And the same proportion of them is renting cars in North America. This is true for all of our primary markets—major cities and airports—but not for our secondary markets in the smaller cities, where most rentals are for business. Overall, business should be up. Vacation business is up quite a bit from the central Florida theme parks advertising specials and major conventions. Both political party conventions were held in major cities.Data indicate that our rentals did not increase while the total market did. Our earlier forecasts indicated that business should have increased; our rental rates reflec t this, as does our increased fleet size, by 15 percent. The cars should be moving— but they’re not! ELENA: How about the advertising impacts? ROSE: Our financials indicate that we have been spending more on advertising in our primary markets. Yet those are where our sales are dropping fastest. JELENE: I agree. Though our records were about 3 weeks behind, now they are up-to-date, and they’ll stay up-to-date, thanks to our upgrade to CLAUDIA.I’m looking at the current data right now on our secure wireless network, and we’re definitely down. ELENA: Okay. Our advertising expenditures are up. That’s because we made that deal with GMC (Gold Motors Corporation). We just finished replacing our entire fleet with GMC cars and vans, right, Marla? MARLA: Absolutely! The cars are much more reliable and cheaper to maintain than the ones that had the transmissions burning out every 45,000 miles (72,000 km). These cars and vans are the national best-selle rs, have great reputations, and are of high quality. They have the highest safety records in most categories.All of the standard models came in first: subcompacts, compacts, mid-size, full-size, and minivans. About 6 weeks ago, we started getting in the hot new GMC Spider 1600 convertible. We have an exclusive deal on this hot little number. It looks like the sporty 1971 Fiat Spider but is built to new quality standards. It’s fun to drive—they let me have one for a year before we got the fleet in! They are expensive, and GMC owns the domestic market. We should be able to rent these out all the time. We have 5 at each agency across the country, and by year’s end we should have 10.SHARON: We got an exclusive with them for the next 3 years. They only give the fleet discount to us, we feature their cars in our advertising, and they feature us in theirs. And the Spider came to us right off the new assembly line in Pittsburgh. ELENA: I have one of the Spiders, too. So I suspect that they’re constantly rented out, aren’t they? MICHAEL: Well, no. Only about half of them are rented. The rental rates were supposed to be set pretty high, but our RMS recommends setting it at the same price as a compact. We hedged a little and set the price to about 10 percent higher.Some local agency offices are overriding the system and setting the prices 15 percent less, and they still can’t move them. ELENA : How about the other classes of cars? MICHAEL: Rentals are down about 8 percent nationally on all the other ones. E LENA : So sales are down 8 percent for everything but the Spider, and the Spider, which should be a hot seller, is off by 50 percent. I know from CLAUDIA that our inventory is okay. All the new cars came in on schedule, and we were able to sell the used cars through electronic auction sites and carmax. com. Folks, we definitely have a big problem.M ICHAEL : As COO, I see that this is primarily my problem, though all of you her e are involved. We’ve never had this happen before, so I really don’t know how to classify the problem. But I think we can get at most of the information we need. This situation is only a symptom of the problem. We need to identify the cause so we can correct the problem. I want some time to get my analysts and Tonia’s moving on it. I will need some major help from Sharon’s people, M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 3 Chapter 2 †¢ Decision Making, Systems, Modeling, and Support 2-3 and probably a bit from everyone else.Sharon and I talked before the meeting. We both have a feeling that there is something wrong with how we are marketing the new cars, but we don’t have enough information just yet to identify it. I hope that once we solve this problem, we’ll have a nice piece of strategic knowledge for Mark to put into the knowledge management system (KMS). I’ll tentatively schedule a meeting through CLAUDIA next week, as close to this time as possible, depending on people’s previous commitments. I’ll e-mail the major results as we go. I’m sure we’ll know something before the next meeting. ELENA: Thanks, Michael.Okay, folks! We know we have a serious problem. We’ve seen its effects. Michael will assume ownership and move ahead. I also want our IS analysts looking at data even before anyone requests them. That includes any weird economic trends or events—and look at the underlying structure and parameters of our forecasting models, okay, Tonia? Sharon, you look into the advertising. See if there are any external events or trends or reports on the cars that could affect our rentals. The RMS has been accurate until now. It’s been able to balance price, supply, and demand, but something happened.Thank you all and have a great day. APPLICATION CASE W2. 1. 2 Part 2: The Design Phase Later on the day of the first meeting, Michael Lee has his top anal yst, Stephanie Elberson, look into what might have happened. Michael recognized that it was too early to start looking into criteria, solutions, and more (he had studied decision making in a DSS course in his MBA program). He was still trying to understand the problem and separate the problem that could be analyzed from the symptoms. He wanted to make the connection between the two, but he felt that something was fundamentally wrong, and CLAUDIA could ot identify it. A good decision maker relies on judgment and has a good feel for what makes sense and what does not. Michael is one of the best. Stephanie put together a team of analysts and started formulating areas to investigate. One member of the team, Dot Frank, worked closely with Sharon’s analyst, Phil Abrams, to establish the accuracy of the forecasting model. Amy Lazbin, on Stephanie’s team, looked into databases of operational data available internally and economic data available through subscription services. T he latter data focused on the auto rental, automobile, and general economic areas.The analysis team initially set the data mining tools on automatic to establish relationships in the data. For the most part, Amy was able to verify most of the relationships and assumptions that were already in the forecasting models and the RMS. Nothing new popped up from the artificial neural networks, clustering analysis algorithms, and statistical regression models. The pricing model and the forecasting models were all right, though there were some new fluctuations, and the errors were higher when the team looked into how well they had performed over the past 2 months as this new problem arose.The team noticed that the neural networks outperformed the regression-based systems a bit, so they set up an information system and marketing group to look into how they could improve the regression-based models with neural networks. (This was a new opportunity, which led them to return to the intelligence p hase with a new set of issues. ) Stephanie was puzzled. She met with Michael 2 days later to discuss what she was going to do next. She also invited the marketing team and the IS team to each send someone to the meeting. Phil Abrams and Marina Laksey (from IS) joined the team at this point.The meeting was held in the electronic meeting center (EMC), where they would be able to analyze data and use the group support system (GSS). Here’s how the meeting went: STEPHANIE: Thank you all for coming today. As you know, we are working hard on the problem— or rather the symptoms—to try to get to the heart of the problem. Data mining tools helped M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 4 2-4 Part II †¢ Computerized Decision Support a bit, but there is something fundamentally wrong, and we have yet to find it. Any ideas?MARINA: Stephanie, we used the data mining tools and looked at most, if not all, of the data we normally look at. And we usually look at standard views through our spreadsheet-type interface. I know we have to look â€Å"outside the box. † First off, the four of us need to fire up our new, powerful OLAP (online analytical processing) software, DOT (Data on Time). It taps into our data warehouse and other data, but it goes beyond data mining by allowing us to poke about in the data. We just got the software in 2 weeks ago, and I have already gone through the training course.It has many of the features that CLAUDIA has, but it allows us to look into multidimensional data from any of our data sources in any â€Å"slice† we choose. It also lets us link into other databases and data marts like the one that marketing has. Let me start it up! PHIL: I agree. I learned how to use the OLAP software on my own, and I’ve developed some interesting views of our marketing data that show relationships we did not believe possible. The graphics are almost automatic. Let’s try it! The team saw the bumps in the data but had no idea what had caused them. At least they could see them.When they tapped into the advertising plans, they noticed a slight inverse relationship with sales and advertising. When they asked Phil about it, he said: PHIL: Sales dropped 2 weeks after our new jointmarketing campaign began. We heavily advertised the new cars. Every national and local TV commercial prominently displayed the Spider. We have data on that in our marketing databases. I know you don’t normally look at that. Here, let me bring them up. Hmmm! We show how much air time each commercial played where, and what was in them. Let me do a little slicing and aggregating here. Aha! I see. We are mostly advertising the cars nationally.Sales are very weak in primary markets, but they’re also a bit weak in secondary markets. Ah! Ah! Ah! One problem we have is distribution. We have over half the cars in the wrong places. We need to move all the Spiders from the secondary markets to the primary markets. But I think we have another problem: The pricing, supply, and demand data that we are using to predict rentals don’t make sense. The car officially has an â€Å"insurance† back seat, so it is a fourpassenger car. But you’d be lucky to get a carryon suitcase back there. Since we didn’t have data on it, someone in our group entered it as a four-seat compact with two doors.The system thinks it is a car ideal for a small family or a single businessperson on a budget. These rent well in the Midwest in the secondary markets but badly in the convention areas, where there are men who are going through their midlife crises and single women who like to rent sporty cars. We have a lot of analyses to do here on where we are advertising what. I’m not sure who rents what where, but I suspect that we can target our ads better once we determine our market clusters—like males in Nebraska, 45 years old, traveling to San Diego for trade conferences.We have the data; we just need to apply them better. MICHAEL: Hold on. Before I start moving cars around, we need to analyze this a bit more. We’ve never had a car like the Spider, so we need to investigate its properties and which categories of customers would ideally want it. Part of the solution jumped at us. But what are we trying to do? If I remember correctly, a few years ago we ran a â€Å"try before you buy† promotion in conjunction with our previous car supplier. People could rent our excess stock on our off-days for half the rental rate for up to 3 days.If they bought the car from a dealer in the area, they got the rental price back. If not, they had fun with the car. It worked well. We noticed that people who liked the car they rented had a tendency to rent them again, especially in our primary markets. We have a lot to look into. I want to recap what we have. We know that our goal is to maximize net profit. This is clearly our principle of choice. We need to come up with criteria that describe the impact of alternatives and determine how they affect our bottom line. Our RMS sets prices so that we can ideally do that.We have some errors in our marketing database; we must rethink how we advertise and how we distribute our stock. Okay. I’ll meet with the VP team in a couple of days. I’m going to e-mail them information about what we’ve uncovered and where to M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 5 Chapter 2 †¢ Decision Making, Systems, Modeling, and Support 2-5 find the data. First I’ll talk to Sharon so she can get busy with some ideas on marketing. At a Meeting 2 Days Later: Same Place, Same People S TEPHANIE : Good morning. Those of us in the trenches think we’ve got it! Here’s what’s going on.We have several problems, each of which we have developed some alternatives for. We’re going to discuss what we think are the best ones for each situation. Some we can im plement right away; others will take some time. Let’s start with our objective: to maximize profit. Our principle of choice is profit maximization. This part of the problem was easy. Our RMS recognizes this and adjusts prices automatically to maximize profit on an annual basis. There are some errors in the price elasticity curve for the Spider, but, in general, the real question now is how to manage demand.Our advertising influences demand, as does our inventory. We need for the right product to appeal to the right customers. There are many criteria that we need to measure, from quality to color to size, and customer service, car availability, and so on, in terms of how they affect rentals. We are doing this, but need to do a better job of it in order to track our rentals. We have a team analyzing this right now. In a few weeks, they will have some concrete recommendations for system upgrades to the RMS. Our symptoms indicate the following real problems and alternatives, amon g hich we can choose: †¢ Data accuracy. We need to change the profile of the Spider from a compact to a sports car. We need to develop the RMS profile from what little data we’ve got. Fortunately, we can tap into market data that our faculty consultants at the University of Georgia (UGA) have gathered for us in their research. One of the faculty members drives a Spider as well. †¢ Inventory imbalance. We have done some analysis to determine what the real demand for the Spider is, how it affects the demand for other cars, and vice versa. We built an optimization model and solved it. Based on our urrent advertising, we have determined that by moving about 15 percent of our fleet around (and not too far), we can take care of most of the demand imbalance. We recommend moving all the Spiders from secondary to primary markets right away. We also want to move some of our minivans and full-size cars around. Later, we can adjust advertising to push some secondary market dema nd. †¢ Advertising imbalance. We advertise where our customers are, but they rent elsewhere, and for different reasons. We need to do a better job of identifying customer homes to determine what to advertise where.Our analysis shows rentals are off partly because we indicate that we have the Spider. Young to middle-aged men and single women want to rent it, but we stock out where they are going. For example, we discovered that middle-aged men and women from the Midwest rent compacts in the secondary Midwest markets, but those in the primary markets on the coasts want to rent the Spider. We are still analyzing effects like this and should be able to complete the work in about a week to determine how to realign our advertising efforts. †¢ â€Å"Try before you buy. † This actually is an opportunity, not a problem.When we saturate Spider demand in primary markets, we should get some additional Spiders in the secondary markets and reestablish the â€Å"try before you bu y† campaign. This car will be a real boon in this effort. Sharon’s group has already established a cooperative agreement with GMC. They’re interested, and it should boost our profitability on these cars by 18 percent. †¢ Discount substitutes. We discovered that many customers called or got on our Web site to rent the Spider. When they found out that we didn’t have one for them, rather than rent a different car, many were so annoyed that they rented a car from one f our competitors, usually a Toyota MR-2. This happened in almost all of our primary markets. In our secondary markets, people really didn’t want the Spider but instead wanted full-size cars. Because our advertising features the Spider, they â€Å"forgot† that we rent other cars as well. Actually, we forgot to remind them. Our advertising is backfiring on us. We should immediately M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 6 2-6 Part II †¢ Computerized Decision S upport discount substitutes for the Spider until we get the Spiders in place next week. †¢ Florida theme park demand.We have a unique opportunity here. Florida theme parks have been advertising heavily in Europe because the euro is strong relative to the dollar. We must increase advertising in Europe either with the theme parks or separately. Phil is confident that we can run a joint campaign. Marketing will look into this and how we might be able to get customers to pay in advance in euros. To do this, we may need to move minivans to Florida from as far away as Tennessee. What it boils down to is that we want to be more aggressive in balancing our stock to meet demand and tie this into the RMS and advertising.We also want to refine our advertising model to handle new types of cars, like sports cars, and update demand data more frequently. Michael, this is what we want to present to the VPs on Monday. Is that okay? MICHAEL: Perfect! We have identified the real problems and have good alternatives. I really appreciate the completed staff work. If this all works out, the end-of-the-year bonuses for this team should be excellent. Let’s go have lunch! I’m buying! APPLICATION CASE W2. 1. 3 Part 3: The Choice Phase Monday’s Meeting: With All Vice Presidents, Stephanie, and Her Team ELENA : Thank you again for coming.Stephanie, Michael tells me you’re on to something. Let’s hear what you have to say. STEPHANIE: Well, we think we’ve discovered what to do. But first let me outline what the real problems are and some suggested solutions and why these are appropriate solutions. Next Stephanie essentially outlines the details from the meeting described in Part 2 of the Running Case. There is a little discussion to clarify a few points: ELENA: Amazing. I’m glad Mark recommended acquiring DOT 3 months ago. Though expensive, it’s already paid off. Can you get me specifics on the bottom line for each alternative? STE PHANIE: Not accurate ones for each just yet.Some will take up to a couple of weeks. We do have estimates on all of them. Here are the results in my PowerPoint presentation. ELENA: Hmmm. Okay. I want those data on the Spider updated immediately—and some of them moved to where they’ll rent. MARLA: It’s already done. I took steps right away once Michael told me what happened. After all, it’s my responsibility. I already gave some updated data to IS. They’ve adjusted the RMS. Preliminary data indicate that they have improved our profitability already. In a couple of markets where it was relatively inexpensive, I have moved some cars around based on the DSS model’s recommendation.It worked! I think we should make the major changes recommended by the solution to the model. My estimates, just from these few markets, are that it will work just as the model predicts. SHARON: We’re looking into how to modify our marketing and tie it into the RM S. We’re also running models on how European marketing should work. We’ll know in a week what to do. ELENA: Excellent! Here’s where we stand. We’re going to adjust the profile data of the Spider and all models frequently, move cars around, and discount substitutes until we can get the imbalance fixed.We’ll decide on what to do about the other issues after the rest of the analysis is completed. M02_TURB7293_09_SE_WC02. 1. QXD 12/22/09 2:38 PM Page 7 Chapter 2 †¢ Decision Making, Systems, Modeling, and Support 2-7 APPLICATION CASE W2. 1. 4 Part 4: The Implementation Phase The implementation of the first couple decisions was relatively easy. Transport vehicles were rented, and cars were moved. Discounts were easy to establish for substitute cars because this could be done as routinely as when there was a normal stockout.A customer would first be offered the opportunity to upgrade. If the customer turned it down, the upgrade would be offered free. This worked 95 percent of the time, even in the case of the Spider. Sales were up, and the company was projected to be profitable with these small changes. Elena got the results of the additional analyses. They all made sense. She decided, with the advice of her VPs and the analysts, to go ahead with all the recommendations, but she held back on European marketing until a presence in Europe could be established in major markets.The â€Å"try before you buy† campaign would be started once there were 15 Spiders in each of most of the major markets and 3 in each secondary market. She also approved adding new data and features to CLAUDIA. When the advertising effort was refined and tied to the RMS, profits soared. Every member of Stephanie’s team and all the VPs involved got a generous end-of-year bonus, an extra week’s vacation, and a gift of a free GMC Spider. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION MMS ran into new problems when it changed its fleet.CLAUDIA was not equipped to h andle new cars that were unlike others from past experience, and it did not track events as well as trends. Simon’s (1977) four phases of decision making, along with feedback, were followed, even though the problems were not really identified in the first phase. Successful problem solving was ultimately accomplished using Web-based DSS. Case Questions 1. What is meant by a symptom versus a problem? Relate these ideas to the case. 2. Why is problem ownership so important? 3. Even though the problem was not identified at the end of the intelligence phase, what was? . How was the design phase performed in this case? 5. The choice phase seemed like a combination of design, choice, and implementation. Is this a problem? 6. The implementation phase seemed to involve elements of all the phases. Is this a problem? 7. How were new problems or opportunities handled as they arose? 8. Why do you suppose some alternatives were either modified or postponed? Source: This fictional decision- making case is loosely based on several real situations. Thanks to Professor Elena Karahanna at the University of Georgia for inspiring it.