Why White Collar Crimes are Committed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why White Collar Crimes are Committed - Essay Example By implementing the theory of Individualism in criminology, certain factors that lead to the causation of this form of white collar crime become evident. According to Sutherland (1994), personality and individual characteristics are not sufficient to offer a full comprehensive example of white collar crime. However, these two characteristics should not be dismissed entirely nor should the theory of the individualistic level (Friedrich 2004). The reason this is stated is due to the implied idea that top corporate professionals, within these aforementioned companies are interpreted to the general public as being greedy and self preserving. This is obvious by the fact that if ethic's and concern for other investors had been deciding factors, these criminal actions of fraud and embezzlement (among others) would have never taken place. Many times the individualistic theory in white collar crime points to greed as the main causation for the crime or crimes. What it amounts to is the fact that these executives would rather take the wrong highway to achieve higher positions of importance and financial flare/success than worry about what repercussions for their actions might be later down the road (Friedrich 2004).

Information systems Essay Example for Free

Information systems Essay None -Course objectives Information is perhaps the most important of all business resources, and the ability to manage it effectively on a global level is a essential organizational capability. Information systems are the tools that firms use to manage information, and it is critical for managers to understand how to use them. This course introduces you to key information systems concepts, issues and questions that will help you to accomplish this. The focus of the course is managerial little prior knowledge of  information systems is required, and you certainly won’t be doing any programming! It is assumed that you already possess the basic computer skills needed to use various office suite products (word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, etc. ), or will acquire these skills independently of this course. The objective of the course is to provide a basic knowledge set that will allow you to understand the most common information systems issues that exist in today’s organizations, to ask critical questions, and participate in IT decision making. P a g e | 2 Organization of the Course Pedagogy  This course relies on a diversity of teaching media, including lectures, readings, and case discussions. Inclass discussions are important and quality class participation is expected from each student. It is your responsibility to read the appropriate material before class. Unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor, no late assignments will be accepted. Assigned Reading There is a readings package for this course that contains required articles and cases. As well we have an open source text: John Gallaugher, â€Å"Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology†, Flat World,Version1. 1, 2011. Go to this website to access the text: http://www. flatworldstudents. com/course? cid=453963bid=38086. You can read it online for free. If you pay $29 or thereabouts you can download an e-reader version or a pdf. A printed text is $40 and a color text is $60. We cover a large volume of material in this course. When preparing for class, you should review the overheads, carefully read the assigned articles and cases and try to identify what you believe are key points or issues. Always ask yourself the following question â€Å"As a manager, what issues does this raise for me? † Evaluation of Student Performance. The course grading scheme for Master’s level courses at Schulich uses a 9-value grade-point system. The possible course letter grades for a course (and the corresponding grade points awarded for each grade are: A+ 9 grade points A 8 A7 B+ 6 B 5 B4 C+ 3 C 2 C1 F 0 (Students are reminded that they must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 4. 2 to remain in good standing and continue in the program, and a minimum of 4. 4 to qualify for their degree. Schulich grading guidelines mandate a section grade point average [‘GPA’] of between 4. 7 and 6. 1 for core courses and a section GPA of between 5. 2 and 6. 2 for electives. ) Where instructors use numerical or percentage grades, Schulich grading policy does not require a preset translation of percentages into specific letter grades P a g e | 3 Participation 20 % Individual Assignment 30 % Group Assignment 50% In class Five pages maximum, handed in at the beginning of session 4 Presentation 20%, session 6 Peer evaluation 5%, session 6 Final report 25%, No later than 1 day after final session Participation (20%) Good class participation by all class members is necessary in order to get the most out of the cases and readings. You are encouraged to take advantage of this gathering of your peers to improve your communication skills and obtain feedback on your views in a relatively low-risk environment. Attendance is not participation. Your attendance is expected for the full duration of the class. If you miss more than two classes, you have failed the course. If you feel that you have to miss a class or any part of a class please inform the instructor before the class so that you will not be called upon in class and so that the instructor can advise you on how to keep up with the rest of the class. I expect that you will: a) Be prepared for class. b) Be on time for class. c) Keep me informed. Do not suffer in silence. Let the instructor know if you are having problems. Let it be known if you cannot attend class. With only six sessions, you do not want to miss anything. d) Come to class with a readable name card. This is important for monitoring your participation. Identify all your work completely with student number and name. Both of these actions will help the instructor to get to know you as an individual. In-class participation will be graded on quality not quantity. Timely and regular attendance, comments and questions that demonstrate knowledge of the topic and intellectual acuity can enhance your participation grade. Be respectful of other’s desire to participate, so be brief and relevant. Individual assignment (30%) The course includes an individual assignment, worth 30%. The total length of the individual assignment is 5 pages maximum, including all materials, except an optional cover page, and a reference list (if required). I will provide details on this assignment in the first class. Group Assignment (50%) You will be placed into groups. Each group will be required to perform an analysis of a business problem that deals with IT issues. Details of the group assignment will be provided in session 1. The group assignment includes three deliverables: 1. Final Report Final report (25%) – each group will submit a final report due no later than 1 day following the final class session. The report will be no longer than 20 pages, including all components, except for a title page and references. The following sections are required: Executive Summary (1page only), Introduction, Summary, and Conclusions. Other sections are up to you P a g e | 4 2. Management presentation Management presentation (20%) – each group will deliver a 10 minute presentation during the final class session. No extra time will be allowed. Maximum 10 slides. Please provide me with a copy of the presentation slides the evening before the final class session by 6 p. m. at the latest. 3. Peer evaluation Peer evaluation (5%) – you will be asked to evaluate the performance of your fellow group members. I will hand out a form for this in week 6. Academic Honesty Academic honesty is fundamental to the integrity of university education and degree programs. The Schulich School will investigate and will act to enforce academic honesty policies where apparent violations occur. Students should familiarize themselves with York University’s policy on academic honesty. It is printed in full in your student handbook and can also viewed on-line on the Schulich website, clicking through as indicated: MBA/IMBA. Schulich website ‘Programs’ ‘Master’s Degree’ ‘Learn More’ ‘Academic Policy’ While academic dishonesty can take many forms, there are several forms of which students should be highly aware because they are the ones that are most likely to occur in the context of a specific course. [1] Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the presentation of information, ideas, or analysis generated by other people as being your own. It includes direct quotations as well a substantive paraphrases where the course of that information or idea is not clearly identified to the reader. Students should be careful to present their written work in a way that makes it completely clear in each and every cases where a quotation, a paraphrase, or an analysis is based on the work of other people. (This includes information from all sources, including websites. ) [2] Cheating. Cheating is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in an evaluation. Examples of such violations include (but are not limited to) consulting prohibited materials during an examination or copying from another student. [3] Failure to follow limitations on collaborative work with other students in preparing academic assignments. Each class differs in the mix of assignments and group-versus-individual preparation that is allowed. The instructor will make clear the extent of collaboration among students that is acceptable among students on various pieces of assigned work. Students should abide by those limitations and, if they are unsure about whether a certain level or form of collaboration would be acceptable, to clarify that question with the instructor in advance. [4] Aiding and abetting. A student is guilty of violating academic honesty expectations if he/she acts in a way that enables another student to engage in academic dishonesty. If a student knows (or should reasonably expect) that an action would enable another student to cheat or plagiarize, that student’s action constitutes an academic honesty violation. Illustrative examples include making your exam paper easily visible to others in the same exam or providing your own working or finished documents for an ‘individual assignment’ to another student (even if that other student said that he/she just wanted to ‘get an idea of how to approach the assignment’ or ‘to check whether they had done theirs correctly’). [5] Use of academic work in more than one course. Generally, academic work done for every course is ‘new’ work, done for that course only. If a student wishes to use some or all of the academic work done for an assigned task in one course in another course, the student must get explicit, prior permission from both instructors so that they agree that the scope and nature of the overlapping use of that work is such that it can fairly be counted toward both courses. P a g e | 5 Schedule of Topics and Readings The following list of lecture topics and readings indicate the material to be read, reviewed and/or prepared for the various class sessions. If any changes in this schedule become necessary, notifications will be posted in the course CMD, and where such changes need to be announced between class sessions, an email will be sent to students’ Lotus Notes email accounts, notifying them of the change. Date Topic(s) Session 1 Key question: What is an information system and why is it Feb 27 important? IS Ch 1, Lecture: Introduction to management information systems and enterprise Ch 5 Ch technology management 10 Lecture: Technology fundamentals Reading: A conversation about information technology 1. In your experience, does this conversation ring true? 2. Why are many business managers frustrated with organizational IT? 3. Why are many IT managers frustrated with ‘the business side’? 4. What can be done to improve relations between the two sides? Activity: A group discussion of Open versus Closed systems models. Session 2 Key question: How can you use information systems to get the Mar 5 most out of organizations? IS Ch 11 Lecture: Organizational information systems Enterprise systems Case: Business Intelligence Software at SYSCO Activity: Information structures organizational effectiveness Session 3 How can you manage the balance between security and privacy, Mar 12 openness and access? IS Ch 6, Ch 12, Ch 13 Lecture: IS ethics, privacy, computer crime, and security Case: ChoicePoint (A) 1. What is your appraisal of ChoicePoint’s business model? 2. How legitimate are the concerns voiced by the industry critics? 3. In Derek Smith’s position, what internal changes, if any, would you make to address the issues discussed in the case? 4. In Derek Smith’s position, what would you recommend to the U. S. Congress regarding regulation of the personal data industry? Discussion: Information security vs privacy P a g e | 6 Session 4 Key question: How can you use information systems for a Mar 19 sustainable competitive advantage? IS Ch 2, Lecture: IS for competitive advantage IS Planning and project Ch 7 Ch management 8 Reading: Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference Case: MDCM Inc. 1. Could MDCM fulfill Horizon 2000 without a strong focus on transforming IT? Why or why not? 2. Define MDCM’s overall corporate strategy and business goals, and match these with the company’s high-level IT objectives. Present your findings in a report to the senior management team. *Individual assignment due Session 5 Mar 26 IS Ch 9 Ch 14 Key question: How to effectively manage information systems in a changing global environment? Lecture: IS development and Global IT outsourcing Reading: Outsourcing: From Cost Management to Innovation and Business Value Case: Future Vision Digital Services 1. As Blake Randolph, what would you do to deal with the immediate problem? 2. Does the blame reside with Gregoire for being difficult to manage, or with Randolph, for not being able to manage Gregoire? 3. Would you use Gregoire on another project? Why or why not? 4. If you answered yes to Q3, would you change the way you manage Gregoire? How? Session 6 Apr 2 Apr 3 Group presentations Final reports due.

The Rain Horse By Ted Hughes Essay -- English Literature

The Rain Horse By Ted Hughes 1. Before he sees the horse, the narrator is feeling confused and angry; "anger against himself for blundering into this mud-trap" As you can see from another word in the sentence, 'blundering', the narrator's anger against himself has made him clumsy, and 'blundering' is a very clumsy word. At this point, the narrator is feeling confused because he cannot decide whether to go round a longer journey, or take a shortcut through a farm. It seems as though he has a bad history with the farmer, because he talks of being called a trespasser; "or shouted at as a trespasser deterred him" 2. The sense of fear and mystery surrounding the horse is given because the writer uses many similes to describe it; "running on its toes like a cat, like a dog up to no good like a nightmarish leopard" Because the horse is far away from him, he can only give a description of its appearance, and he can not know any more, this is what gives the horse a sense of mystery and wonder. 3. As the man sits in the wood, covered by his coat, the rain seem... The Rain Horse By Ted Hughes Essay -- English Literature The Rain Horse By Ted Hughes 1. Before he sees the horse, the narrator is feeling confused and angry; "anger against himself for blundering into this mud-trap" As you can see from another word in the sentence, 'blundering', the narrator's anger against himself has made him clumsy, and 'blundering' is a very clumsy word. At this point, the narrator is feeling confused because he cannot decide whether to go round a longer journey, or take a shortcut through a farm. It seems as though he has a bad history with the farmer, because he talks of being called a trespasser; "or shouted at as a trespasser deterred him" 2. The sense of fear and mystery surrounding the horse is given because the writer uses many similes to describe it; "running on its toes like a cat, like a dog up to no good like a nightmarish leopard" Because the horse is far away from him, he can only give a description of its appearance, and he can not know any more, this is what gives the horse a sense of mystery and wonder. 3. As the man sits in the wood, covered by his coat, the rain seem...

Financial Development In 1985 Essay

In 1985, the interest rates were lower and more stable than in other years. 1978 experienced lowest short-term interest rates while long-term interest rate declined to a rate that has never been seen since 1980. The real interest rates- nominal rates adjusted for inflation- were also lower in 1985 than other years though going by historical standards, they remained very high. From January to early march, both short-term rates and long-term rates rose moderately by yearly highs. This is partly because of the strong demand for business credit and the ending of a period during which the Federal Reserve eased the pressure on banks on their reserve positions. Interest rate declined by April and June. The factors behind interest rate ________________________________ 5. Douglas A. Irwin & Joseph H. Davis. â€Å"Trade Disruptions and America’s Early Industrialization,† (2003). NBER Working Papers 9944, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. demand for business loans. Another factor that contributed to the second quarter drop in interest rates was because of the cut in the Federal Reserve’s discount rate. After midyear, the short-term rate fluctuated in a narrow range, slightly above June lows. By early December, the U. S. Treasury bill rate was 7. 10 percent. This was about one percent lesser than that of 1984. The long-term interest rate also fluctuated in the third quarter; however, in the late of October, it dropped rapidly. The continued drop in long-term rate was because of the low rate of inflation, the signs that showed that the economy would remain sluggish and that monetary policies would not tighten. Interest rates in 1985 were more stable than the most recent years. The rate of fluctuations for short-term rates was within the range of one and one-half-percentage points in the year compared to the three percent points in 1984 and considerably less than 1980-1984 periods. The long-term rates were also stable in 1985 and the rate of fluctuations was between a narrow range that was less than two percentage points. Nominal rates and interest rates were low in 1985 but going by historical standards, there were high. Growths in Monetary Policy in 1985 The growth in monetary policies in 1985 was moderately higher than that of 1984. M1 grew faster than most recent years while M2 grew fastest than in 1984. The growth rate of M3 in 1985 was less than that of 1984. M1, known as money supply grew at an annual rate of 11. 6 percent for the first 11 months of 1985. This is more than twice the growth in 1984. The resurgence in the growth of demand deposit and a rebound in the growth of 6. Diebold, Francis X & Rudebusch, Glenn D, â€Å"Have Postwar Economic Fluctuations Been Stabilized? ,† September 1992. American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(4), pages 993-1005. other checkable deposits caused the rapid growth. After exhibiting little growth on balance in the past five years, demand deposit grew to 8. 0 percent rate in the first 11 months of 1985. There was a sharp declination in M1’s turnover in 1985 just as it grew more rapidly than nominal GNP. M2 grew at an annual rate of 8. 6 percent in the first 11 months of 1985. This was somewhat more than that of 1984. In contrast to the growth of M1’s in 1985, M2’ growth was likened to the growth of 1980-1984 periods. Several other components in M2 grew rapidly in 1985 than in 1984. Savings deposit increased in 1985 after contrasting in 1984. Some of the 1985 growths may have come from the expense of small-time deposits. M3 slowed sharply in contrast to M1 and M2 in 1985. M3 grew at an annual rate off 8. 3 percent for the first 11 months of 1985. This is considerably less than that of any recent years. This slow growth was because of the declined growth in large denomination time deposits. Growth of term repurchase agreement and institution-only markets fund were slowed down in 1985. The growth of domestic non-financial debt also slowed in the first 11 months of 1985, growing at a rate of 12. 8 percent, which moderately low than that of 1984. This nonfinancial debt consists of outstanding debts of all governmental units, household, and nonfinancial businesses.

Charles Dickens and Curley’s Wife Essay

A comparison of Nancy from ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens and Curley’s Wife from ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. In the two books both characters can be compared with each other but in many ways they are different in looks, language and personality, but the reasons for which the authors created them is much the same. I believe that Steinbeck created Curley’s wife, so that the reader feels sorry for her because most of the other characters in the book try to stay clear of her and do not get to know her, and in a sense, judge her by the way she dresses. On the other hand Steinbeck is trying to express to the reader that looks do not count for everything. The main reason for Curley’s wife’s creation in my personal opinion is because all of the characters in the book are misfits for example; Lennie is not clever and acts like a child when he is with George by the riverbank and threatens to leave because George becomes annoyed with him. Also Crooks the Negro is crippled and cannot walk very well, but in his own way he is special and well educated. In the same way Dickens creates Nancy as the type of character that the reader feels sorry for but at the same time accuse her for the mistakes she has made, such as running away from Bill Sikes but returning to him because she loves him and cannot bring herself to leave. As the book progresses the reader begins to gain more respect for Nancy but I believe that there is a reason for Nancy’s death, which is brought about by Oliver and this, is that doing the right thing does not always mean that it is not dangerous to yourself. The two characters have different opinions on their partners and are not treated in the same way, but neither of them is happy with her life. Curley’s wife is unhappy with her life and this is most likely because Curly is over possessive of her and all he ever talks about is fighting which makes her a little scared of what he may do to her if he is in a mood. She is always flirting with other men on the ranch like when she is alone with Lennie she says, ‘What you got there sonny boy. ‘ We are also given the impression that she is a ‘tart’ by the way Steinbeck describes what she wears, ‘She wore her bright cotton dress and the mules with red ostrich feathers. Her face was made up and the little sausage curls were all in place. ‘ Curley’s wife married Curley to get back at her mother after her dreams had been broken because the letter, which she had been promised from Hollywood never, arrived. On the other hand the only reason Curley married her was for his reputation and we know that he is vein due to the way he keeps one hand in a glove in order to keep it soft for her. Curley is also worried about what she may be up to when he is absent and therefore is always snooping around after her, which makes his wife feel trapped. Nancy in much the same way is not loved either but she does really care about Bill Sikes. Unlike Curley’s wife, Nancy is assaulted by Bill on many different occasions and is eventually killed by him. The main difference between the two characters is that Sikes is not overprotective of Nancy in the same way Curley is and will let her go out as long as he knows where she is going, the reason for this is that Sikes knows that Nancy is loyal to him. When Nancy meets up with Rose and helps to save Oliver she also offers Nancy a new start but the offer is declined because Nancy does not want to leave Bill Sikes and she says, The main contrast between the two characters is that Nancy loves Bill, but Curley’s wife does not love her husband but she cannot leave him because she lives on the ranch and has no other place to stay. The characters partner’s opinions compare because neither of them really care for their lover. Sikes treats Nancy like a ‘punch bag’ and she is scared of Curley because he has hit many other people and she is suspense waiting to see if he will lash out at her. In ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s wife is known to some of the other characters such as Crooks, George and Candy as a ‘tart’ or a ‘bitch’ and a good example of this is when she walks into the bunkhouse and George says, ‘Jesus what a tramp, so that’s what Curly picked for a wife. ‘ As George is saying this Lennie is admiringly staring at her saying’ ‘She’s purty’ in response to Georges insult. Most of the men on the ranch try to stay clear of her and George warns Lennie about her too, ‘ Listen to me you crazy bastard, don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ’em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be. ‘ Lennie refuses not to listen and ends up not taking any real notice of what George has says to him. Oliver respects Nancy, like Lennie is fond of Curley’s wife and both of them seem to have child like qualities that judge the characters for who they are and not how they dress or look. In the same way as Curley’s wife is despised by the ranch workers, Nancy is looked down on by the upper class people of the nineteenth century. The main reason the upper class residents do not respect Nancy is because she is a prostitute and in the time of Dickens this occupation was the lowest of the low for a woman. When Nancy goes to visit Rose, who is the adopted daughter of the women whose house Oliver broke in to, she is looked down on by the servants and thrown out of the hotel because of the way she looks. ‘Come! ‘ said the man taking her to the door, ‘None of this, take yourself off. ‘ The servants are not the only characters that look down on Nancy, Fagin and Sikes treat her badly and Dickens describes Sikes as using Nancy as his punch bag. Bill Sikes persists this behaviour even though Nancy looks after him when she is ill and says that she would even walk around the jail if he was arrested, just to be with him, but Sikes replies that she would be useless to him unless she brought a file to help him escape. On the whole I feel that neither of the character are loved and they are judged by the way they look, not by the people they really are inside. Each of the characters is special to one person, in Curley’s wife’s case Lennie and in Nancy’s, Oliver. I feel that the biggest difference between the two books is the language and the reason for this difference is the time at which they were written. In John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ the language is simple but strong, the reason Steinbeck’s characters speak in this way is because that’s the way 1930s Americans would have spoken, for example, when George, Crooks and Slim are talking about Lennie, George says, ‘If that crazy bastard foolin’ around too much, jus’ kick him out, Slim. ‘ There is also a large amount of slang used between the characters, like when George and Curly are talking and George replies, ‘He was ‘gunna’ put some tar on a split roof. ‘

Love Served On A Plate essays

Love Served On A Plate essays In one of his greatest hits  ¡Ã‚ °Is this Love ¡, Bob Marley ponders the question all humans ask themselves: is this love that I ¡Ã‚ ¯m feeling? Love is one of the greatest emotions humans experience, but sometimes humans find it difficult to tell the difference between lust and love. Loving someone involves more than the physical attraction between two people that will distort and fade as time passes. Love suffers, love endures, and love conquers. True love exists after the courting has passed, after the honeymoon has passed, after the children are born, after all the bad and good is said: love is still there. Both  ¡Ã‚ °My Mistress ¡Ã‚ ¯ Eyes Are Nothing like The Sun ¡ by William Shakespeare and  ¡Ã‚ °The Bean Eaters ¡ by Gwendolyn Brooks are poems that explore the nature of love. William Shakespeare presents a limited form of love that emphasizes a sexual, masculine, and physical attraction; whereas Gwendolyn Brooks honors comfort, equality, and lasting love i n a relationship. William Shakespeare creates an elaborate description of a woman by using concrete language, which, appeals to the reader ¡Ã‚ ¯s senses. Even though he utilizes this structure to make fun of the extreme wording employed to praise women, he remains focused on the outer appearance of his prospective love interest. Shakespeare ¡Ã‚ ¯s poem shows a very limited perspective on love. Romantic love, a love between two individuals, should be reciprocal. The author allows us to hear one voice, no indication is shown of mutual interest from the other party. This voice clearly that of a male, creates a sexual image, more than that of long-lasting love. Shakespeare uses the colours red and white in his description of body parts and objects. Coral is far more red than her lips ¡Ã‚ ¯ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun ¡ I have seen roses damasked red and white, But no such roses damasked in her cheeks; (2...

Lawmen of the Wild West essays

Lawmen of the Wild West essays During the time of Manifest Destiny, there were many law-breaking son of a guns, so in order to get rid of those scalawags that thought they could rob people, trains, and stores, in this paper I will talk about the four main lawmen of the west, Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was born in Monmouth, Illinois on March 19, 1848, born to Nicholas Earp and Virginia Ann Cooksey Wyatt was the second youngest of the four Earp boys. In 1864, Wyatt moved with his parents to Colton, California, that is where he got a job as a teamster, and a railroad worker. In 1870, Wyatt returned home and married, but after he suddenly lost his wife to Typhoid Fever he traveled to the Indian Territory, working as a stagecoach driver, and a buffalo hunter. In 1875 he journeyed off to Wichita, Kansas to join the police force. From there, in 1878 he went to Dodge City, Kansas where he became a Faro dealer at the Famous Long Branch Saloon, and the assistant sheriff there. There he met Bat Masterson, and Doc Holliday, and there he befriended them. He left Dodge City, with a reputation as a notable lawman and a gambler. Wyatt and Doc Holliday traveled to New Mexico, and California, and got a job as a Wells Fargo Agent, but that didnt last long. In1879, he joined with his brothers and traveled to the new silver mining town of Tombstone, Arizona. Wyatt planned to create a stagecoach line there, but finding that there has already been one, he acquired a job at the Gambling Concession at the Oriental Saloon. And it was there where Wyatt met his new wife, Josephine Marcus Earp. On October 26, 1881, a feud between the Earps and the Clanton gang, led by Ike Clanton broke out, this was the shootout at the O.K.Corral, Wyatt Earp survived. Virgil was the second oldest of the Earp group, he was born on July 18, 1843, in ...

Carrion Beetles, Family Silphidae

Carrion Beetles, Family Silphidae Look no further than your nearest road kill if you want to collect specimens in the family Silphidae. Carrion beetles inhabit the remains of dead vertebrates, munching on maggots and consuming the corpse. As gross as that sounds, its an important job. Carrion beetles also go by the common names burying beetles and sexton beetles. What Do Carrion Beetles Look Like? Unless you’re in the habit of examining carcasses, you may never come across a carrion beetle. Some species will fly to porch lights on summer evenings, so you may get lucky and find one on your front door. While we might find the carrion beetle’s diet rather distasteful, these scavengers provide a vital ecological service - disposing of carcasses. Most of the carrion beetles we encounter fall into one of two genera: Silpha or Nicrophorus. Silpha beetles are medium to large, oval in shape, and usually flattened. They’re typically black, sometimes with a yellow pronotum. Nicrophorus beetles (sometimes spelled Necrophorus) are commonly called burying beetles, thanks to their remarkable ability to move and bury carcasses. Their bodies are elongate, with shortened elytra. Many burying beetles are red and black in color. Though carrion beetles as a family range in size from just a few millimeters to as long as 35 mm, most species we commonly encounter top 10 mm in length. Silphids have clubbed antennae, and tarsi (feet) with 5 joints. Carrion beetle larvae have elongated bodies that taper at the hind end. Carrion Beetles Classifications Kingdom - AnimaliaPhylum - ArthropodaClass - InsectaOrder - ColeoopteraFamily - Silphidae Carrion Beetle Diet As adults, most carrion beetles feed on maggots, as well as on the decomposing carcass they inhabit. The adults’ voracious appetite for maggots certainly helps eliminate competition for their offspring. The carrion beetle larvae feed on the carcass, which would quickly be devoured by maggots without the intervention of the adult Silphids. A few carrion beetle species feed on plants, or even more rarely, prey on snails or caterpillars. The Carrion Beetle Life Cycle Like all beetles, Silphids undergo complete metamorphosis, with four stages of the life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The adult carrion beetles lay eggs on or near a decomposing carcass. The young larvae emerge in about a week and will feed on the carcass for up to a month before pupating. Interesting Behaviors of Carrion Beetles Burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) practice remarkable feats of insect strength in an effort to beat the competition to the carcass. When a pair of burying beetles comes across a carcass, they will immediately go to work burying the body. A couple Nicrophorus beetles can completely inter a carcass as large as a rat in a matter of hours. To do so, the beetles plow the earth beneath the carcass, using their heads like bulldozer blades to push loose soil out from under the body. As more and more soil is excavated from beneath it, the carcass begins to settle into the ground. Eventually, the burying beetles push the loose soil back over the body, effectively hiding it from competitors like blow flies. If the soil beneath the carcass proves to difficult to dig, the beetles may work together to lift and carry the body to another location nearby. The bright bands of red or orange on the wings of many carrion beetles warn potential predators that they won’t make a very delicious meal, so don’t bother tasting them. There’s something to be said for the old adage â€Å"you are what you eat.† Carrion beetles, after all, feed on rotting flesh, and all the bacteria that goes along with it. Silphids apparently taste and smell like death. Where Do Carrion Beetles Live? The family Silphidae is a fairly small beetle group, with just 175 species known worldwide. Of these, about 30 species inhabit North America. Most carrion beetles inhabit temperate regions. Sources: Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th Edition, by Charles A. Triplehorn and Norman F. JohnsonInsects: Their Natural History and Diversity, by Stephen A. MarshallKaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, by Eric R. Eaton and Kenn KaufmanA Matter of Taste – The Natural History of Carrion Beetles, by Brett C. Ratcliffe, Curator of Insects, University of Nebraska State MuseumFamily Silphidae, Bugguide.net, accessed November 29, 2011

Geomorphology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Geomorphology - Coursework Example Retreating of the ice bergs leads to the reduction of the load on the lithosphere and the asthenosphere and they move back to their equilibrium levels. Continuous erosion of mountains washes away all the soil and rock particles that forms the mountains. They are washed to the lower valleys leading to exposure of the underlying basement as the mountains are gradually reduced. Lithology relates to the process of formation of rocks. This affects the topography of the earth surface through altering the texture, color and the fabric. It defines the natural arrangement of rocks and other particles on the earth surface. The earth’s surface in an arid setting is marked by sand and rock covering with small shrubs and herbs while the earth surface in the humid setting is covered by green grass as well as tall trees. The soil texture in arid areas is rough and dry while that in humid areas is soft and watery. Conservation of mass relates to the fact that any given system that is closed to all forms of matter and energy must remain constant over time unless added or removed. On the other hand, mass-balance equation confirms the view that mass can never be destroyed nor created. All rock particles or sediments displaced in a given region will be found in another location. The driving forces are responsible for the smoothening of rock surfaces on a slope of a hill or a mountain while the resisting forces are the forces opposing the erosion of rocks on a hillslope resulting into formation of steady rocks on the sides of hills. The resisting forces prevents complete erosion of rocks by the driving

Individual report on a given case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Individual report on a given case study - Essay Example Disneyland Paris targeted a market that focused on generating images, experiences, and products to customers that highlighted fun, service, and imagination. Its intended to offer a place where visitors could escape the concerns of the actual world through the magic of the mythical fairy tale and characters of the Disney family The Walt Disney Company has struggled to remain faithful to its commitment to producing unmatched experiences of entertainment. The company is built on a rich legacy of quality content that is creative and exceptional telling of stories since its founding in the year 1923. Disneyland was the most expensive single project of construction in Europe’s history and it remains the largest and most ambitious development of its type in the history of Europe (Sehlinger, 2010). It has a single exception of the channel that connects England and France. It took five years to be completed, costing more than 2.79 billion euros. It opened in 1992. Disneyland is a collection of adventures and shows drawn from Disney cartoons and films. However, according to Sehlinger (2010), Disneyland Paris has faced numerous challenges before its inception. One of them was seducing the government of France. A mob of protestors pelted Michael Eisner, the Disney chief executive with farm products from Brie, the day that the stock in Euro Disney was first offered on the Paris stock. Brie was one of the regions next to the future resort site. Moreover, young French communists shouted and heckled. Even citizens who were less radical expressed dismay on the Marne-la-Vallee beet farmers forced displacement. Disneyland Paris was aiming for a market that focused on generating images, experiences and products to customers that highlighted fun, service and imagination. It intended to offer a place where visitors could escape the concerns of the actual world through the magic of the mythical fairy tale and characters of the Disney family. Disneyland Paris

Choose one element that you notice in (Agamemnon, Hamlet, The Love Essay

Choose one element that you notice in (Agamemnon, Hamlet, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock). Explain the similarities and differences as you compare the development in each work of your chosen element - Essay Example To adequately enjoy and gain insights into these works, the reader should endeavor to discern all the notable similarities and differences in these pieces of literature. Hamlet is a story line made famous by William Shakespeare who wrote the plot of the story to be depicted as a play, which makes it a world acclaimed piece of literature and theatrical prose. Hamlet is bent on avenging his father’s death, and this exposes the reader to other aspects of the protagonist’s character that can be construed to be part of the author’s intention and insight to the reader. Hamlet’s vengeance exposes his insecurity leading him to commit incestuous acts with his kin in an effort to secure his dominance and authority. This is an aspect that is present in the ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock’ in the sense that his insecurities lead him to reveal his inner-self unconsciously. The difference between the two is that in Hamlet, Prince Hamlet quest is fulfilled with the murder of his Uncle the focus of his revenge and hatred. Unlike Hamlet, J. Alfred Prufock’s insecurities and inadequacies haunt him for the rest of th e poem, and the reader is left wondering or yearning to know the outcome or the true end of the story. Agamemnon as a play also presents a dilemma, which is also present in all the literal works under discussion (Aeschylu, Raeburn and Thomas 118). Hamlet is in a dilemma on how he is going to redeem himself in the eyes of his people as their king in the presence of his overbearing uncle. He is also unsure of his mother’s involvement in the murder of his father due to her speedy remarriage to his uncle whom he suspects as his father’s killer (Crowl 169). Agamemnon is in a dilemma as to the future of his position upon his return from the Trojan War, an aspects he battles with till his ultimate death or murder. The

Chapter 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chapter 2 - Assignment Example vantages of operating necessity model are that the main project is put on the course by preventing threats though it may reduce the money spend on funding the main project (Page47) Some of the desired result of applying project portfolio process is among other factors; to ensure fewer projects are selected thus easier to manage them, to help reduce competition among the projects and ensuring that the projects selected contribute to the organization’s strategy. To ensure projects benefits are more than the cost and that the projects selected have few risks and to ensure the project is monitored closely. Most firms tend to use SWOT analysis i.e. they can manage their projects basing on their strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The Project portfolio process tends to bring together the goals and strategy of the organization with the project in the context (Page 65). The steps in project portfolio entail; establishing a project council, which should be made up of managers who will spearhead the project and help to plan on how the objectives of the projects will be achieved. The council will be responsible for the funding of the project and allocation of the resources to the various projects in the context. Identifying project categories and criteria comprises subdividing the project i.e. those that are very good and those that are less important. Different criteria’s are used to help evaluate their relative importance. Goals of the projects purpose and missions are listed and discussed to help determine how the goals will be achieved. Assessing resource availability entail; looking into both external and internal resources. Labor resources should also be evaluated and the human resource manager should be able to consider other human needs, In other words, human beings should not be allowed to work continuously over a long time. They should be accorded time to relax. Step 5 entails reducing the project and the criteria set i.e. the number of

U3 Research Project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

U3 Research Project - Coursework Example On the other hand, an Organizational Unit (OU) is also a container object. Its function is to arrange other objects in a way that supports the user’s administrative purposes. An OU organizes objects into a logical hierarchy, making it easier to find and manage. It is used when the delegation of specific administrative roles is needed. Its advantage is that it simplifies the management of objects, enabling administrators to organize Active Directory to match their organization’s needs (Microsoft, 2014). A domain tree comprises several domains linked together in a hierarchical style. The first domain forms the foundation of the naming structure of subsequent domains. The purpose of a domain tree is to classify interrelated objects stored in various domains into hierarchies that match an organization’s needs. Domain trees are used when an organization wants to categorize interrelated domains for easier access. It is beneficial because subsequent child domains can be added to the parent domain. Domains within a tree have a hierarchical naming style in which the child domain name is added to the parent name (Simmons, 2001). On the other hand, a domain forest comprises several trees linked together by their root domains. It acts as the highest container in a specific Active Directory. Its function is to link several domains and domain trees to form an Active Directory. It is used when an organization wants to connect two or more domain trees, which do not share contiguous names. It is advantageous because information is only shared within one forest, increasing data security (Microsoft,

Masters Level - Project Management in Construction Essay

Masters Level - Project Management in Construction - Essay Example However, these ideas remained a distant reality given the technological challenges posed by such a project. Nonetheless speculation thrived on the issue especially throughout the sixties and the seventies. It became clear that the only viable method of bridging up Great Britain to mainland Europe was a tunnel under the sea. The idea seemed simple at first. The project required the boring of three distinct tunnels from one side of the English Channel to the other. Tunnelling or more specifically boring had been carried out extensively even before the Channel Tunnel project so technical expertise was available on the issue. One thing that was noticeable about the Channel Tunnel project upfront was the fact that boring had never been taken up on such a massive scale before this project. While the Channel Tunnel project can be seen as a major achievement in terms of technical progress, by any other measure, it has been seen as a pure project management failure. There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that the Channel Tunnel project was less than a Pyrrhic victory. The initial costing for the project was estimated at some  £3.5 billion but the eventual execution cost the project team some  £9 billion. There was little change in the overall scope of the project but there were myriad changes in the details of the project scope. It was decided initially that the Channel Tunnel would consist of a 32 mile (51.5 kilometres) tunnel under the sea to serve two railway links separately. These two main railway tracks under the sea would be supported by a smaller tunnel in the middle of these tunnels to service shuttle trains carrying vehicles. Once construction commenced, it became apparent that air conditioning was more of a necessity than an auxiliary for the projec t. One of the more troubling aspects of the Channel Tunnel project was the involvement of the governmental machinery

U3 Research Project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

U3 Research Project - Coursework Example On the other hand, an Organizational Unit (OU) is also a container object. Its function is to arrange other objects in a way that supports the user’s administrative purposes. An OU organizes objects into a logical hierarchy, making it easier to find and manage. It is used when the delegation of specific administrative roles is needed. Its advantage is that it simplifies the management of objects, enabling administrators to organize Active Directory to match their organization’s needs (Microsoft, 2014). A domain tree comprises several domains linked together in a hierarchical style. The first domain forms the foundation of the naming structure of subsequent domains. The purpose of a domain tree is to classify interrelated objects stored in various domains into hierarchies that match an organization’s needs. Domain trees are used when an organization wants to categorize interrelated domains for easier access. It is beneficial because subsequent child domains can be added to the parent domain. Domains within a tree have a hierarchical naming style in which the child domain name is added to the parent name (Simmons, 2001). On the other hand, a domain forest comprises several trees linked together by their root domains. It acts as the highest container in a specific Active Directory. Its function is to link several domains and domain trees to form an Active Directory. It is used when an organization wants to connect two or more domain trees, which do not share contiguous names. It is advantageous because information is only shared within one forest, increasing data security (Microsoft,

Mind-Body Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Mind-Body Problem - Essay Example The five theories include behaviorism, dualism, reductionism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism and each of them has its own tenet in explaining the behavior of a person in a certain context (Turner 4-6). According to dualism perspective of looking at human life, there are different sides of life that conflict or complement each other in the process of an individual acting in a context. For example, according to the theory, one person behaves in a certain way because of the moral dualism that exists between the people and which explains that there are two sides of morality. This means that a person’s actions can be either towards morality or against it, which is shaped by the various ways of defining morality from different contexts and societies or societal description of it (Turner 39-41). Behaviorism is a theory that explains the actions of an individual from the context of the past behavioral actions to predict because the theory argues on the bases of human exper ience in society. This theory argues that what is manifested physically by a person can be used to explain the differences that are in the mind of the individual and people can use clear analysis of behaviors to give explanations that are relevant to predicting their behavior. This means that according to behaviorists, the behavior of a person is consistent according to the things they do or the things they engage themselves and if a person can be able to identify the trends of behavior of another, he or she can be able to predict the way the first person will respond to a situation (Turner 76). According to the functionalist theory, the mental constructs exist because of its function it serves and without such, it cannot be important to the individual who has them. This means the beliefs, desires, and pain exist in the mind of a person because that person needs them to perform an action in the context he or she finds himself or herself. This implies that according to functionalist, mental constructs are void and irrelevant if they do not exist to serve any purpose in the person who has them whether they are perceivable to be good or bad (Turner 78). According to the perspective of the reductionist, a system that is complicated and has many constituents has an influence on the small constituents and they can be used to explain the constituent. According to these theorists, for example, in a society, the general culture shapes the behavior of individuals and these individuals can be used to explain the reasons why culture is the way it is. This means that the individuals in a certain context are dependent on the general context of behavior and therefore, one of them in that context can be used to explain why the groups behave the way it does (Turner 93-94). The theory of eliminative materialism argues that there are no neural bases that can be used to explain various contexts of desire or beliefs of a person since they have poor definitions.  

Cross Cultural Studies Essay Example for Free

Cross Cultural Studies Essay Beauty, is anything that appeals, and is incorporated in current fads and trends of the area. Its features drastically vary across the globe where antagonizing manners are adopted. Obesity is such an example, where in the west, obesity is shunned, and admonished, and on the contrary, in the African countries, obesity lures and is considered to be a blessing, exhibiting richness. Beauty may be skin deep, but there are cases when such becomes a paradox. Obesity is not just about the weight, or the physical and genetic rationalities we can derive from it. Obesity can also be derived from its psychological roots. What is obesity and how it affects the reputation, personality, or even the attitude towards it varies across cultures as mentioned earlier. In this paper, obesity is seen as good and wanted physiological trait, compared with as a social cancer plaguing the health in most Western countries. RESEARCH FINDINGS Norimitsu Onish (2001), in his article entitled, ‘On the scale of Beauty, weight weights heavily’, has explained in a formidable manner the craze obesity has amongst teenage girls in Nigeria. He has depicted the ways ladies will employ to go beyond their means so as to become fat, and conducts market surveys determining which types of steroids, pills or chemicals they would use. The paper explains how obese women are idealized and looked up onto. Onish indicates that women would tend to consume harmful chemical to gain fatty tissues, and have become so obsessed with becoming fat, that they would go to ‘fattening farms’ and get massaged weeks before their weddings. Likewise, some of the poorer women would consume animal feed in order to get fat and become attractive, as they cannot afford the rich foods. Historically, fleshy African women were considered well endowed financially, because they can afford food, are healthy and fertile. Women in African culture are revered to as the food provider, the one who plants and supplies food in the community. A fleshy African woman connotes someone from an affluent family or perhaps a potential good provider for her family. The heavy African woman was valued and held in high esteem. However, it is important to note that African women labored diligently, working sun up to sun down, and their laborious tasks were not conducive to being big. The arduous work kept African women basically on the thin side (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). STRATIFICATION: Stratification is an integral part of a community and society that occurs due to a division in the classes which is determined by the economic situation of the household or community. This horizontal stratum is also prevalent among some countries which have a male dominant society, on the pretext of religion. This has been depicted in Onish’s article, where obese women are a status symbol, exhibiting their resources, and that they belong to well to do families, compromising their health in this way. A very good example is quoted explaining how a girl since the age of 11 years, was forced to become obese on the pretext of getting a ‘good match’, and now she suffers from hip dislocation, and bone disorders, as it has become difficult to carry herself around. Culturally, being large was not customary. In the African view, women who are fleshy, had hips, and a voluptuous body are the women to marry. Body size was also perceived to make them excellent mothers. African women who are large have more adipose tissue, and were perceived to carry a fetus to full term and suspend for some time the effects of starvation should there be scarcity of food (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). In a class lecture by Mead back in 1974, culture was defined as the transmission of values and behaviors and concepts. It is the way one eats, the way one walks, and the way one raises a child. In Africa, the cultural level was subtle for little girls to learn that African men and families values large women and was highly acceptable. But being voluptuous was deemed in a different way when slaves were transported to the new world. African women then were viewed and even designated to be breeders and has a duty to give birth as many times as her owner wants to. Alex Haley documented this in his book by relating how large African women beats slave children and hands them to a slave owner as a sexual prize (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). In another article, ‘Culture: A sociological view’, Becker (Becker, 1982) explains the significance of culture in a society and how it is regularly modified in order to meet the modern fashion and fad. Culture is being regularly changed, and newer versions of principles and practices are adopted. Likewise, stratification in terms of race and gender is also now being diluted, as a sense of equality is prevalent within most of the societies across the globe. A society is organized by its cultural values, which is the essence to its development, and thus although newer concepts are adopted, older principles should not be ignored and should be passed onto generations in order to preserve a society’s cultural heritage. The gradual changes in society together with the culture in which one grows takes generations. There are a few and core cultural traits which are passed on from one generation to another, preserved in families, despite the many changes that are constantly happening. In the sociological context, this also reflects how society influences the individual’s views and perceptions with the many changes happening around him/her. At some point, the person knows what his culture is inherently, but also adjusts to fit in and cope up with the many cultural changes in our societies. CROSS CULTURAL STUDIES: Cross cultural studies was a very interesting subject that depicts the various anthropologies around the globe. The primary essence in this study is an element of tolerance which various ethnic groups have to incur so as to accommodate and intermingle with various cultural set ups. A united stand in which people from entirely different cultures will team up and constructive serve towards the progress and development of a society is prevalent in most countries. A good example is depicted by the people of Malaysia, in which various ethnic groups coexist and play their respective roles in order to make Malaysia one of the most rapidly developed nation in the past decade, and it is now a role model for others to follow. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism coexist and temples are built right next to mosques and churches, where people go shoulder to shoulder to preach in tolerance and harmony. The same can be derived when slaves where transported to the New World. As African women became sexual prizes to their owners, some Westerner has fathered a child, and bore an African-American child. In the existing culture, being thin is in. Bulimia and anorexia has become an epidemic amongst teens and younger women because of the images of thin women being cultivated in the new society. The cross cultural examination between how women in Africa in comparison with African-American women view obesity is different and is a reflection of how views and perception change over time and across cultures. CONCLUSION: Culture differ across the globe, meeting the geographical requirements of a region, these can vary and be contrary, like the case of obesity, which is endeavored by some, and admonished by other societies, like the westerners. Likewise, cultural set ups are modified and changed in order to meet modern day requirements, and simultaneously maintaining and preserving the ancient cultural values that have been passed on. Similarly, cross cultural set ups also do exist, and various ethnic groups coexist and serve proactively for the development and progress of nations, thus exhibiting discipline, unity and tolerance. REFERENCES: Becker H. (1982) Culture: A Sociological View, Yale Review, September 2, , 71:513-527 Johnson, R. W. and Broadnax, P. A (2003). A perspective on obesity analysis of trend of obesity in African-American women. ABNF Journal. Onish N. (2001) Maradi Journal: On the Scale of Beauty, Weight Weighs Heavily New York Times dated Feb 12

Relationship Between Service Quality and Client Satisfaction

Relationship Between Service Quality and Client Satisfaction Clients: Satisfaction with the Service and Organizational Justice Researchers consider that the service quality theory is based on the literature of client satisfaction and product quality (Brady Cronin, 2001). Liljander and Strandvik (1995) observed that client satisfaction is determined by the overall perception of the service quality. This overall picture about service quality of the organization is reached easily if a client regularly uses service of the organization (Liljander Strandvik, 1995). Lagace, Dahlstrom, and Gassenheimer (1991) found that by including â€Å"ethics† as component of the quality of the relationship between pharmaceutical buyers and sellers, ethical behavior led to higher levels of relationship quality and ethical behavior has been positively associated with client satisfaction (Lagace, et.al., 1991). Also, the research conducted in bank sector by Emari, Iranzadeh and Bakhshayesh (2011) found a significant relationship between perceived quality and client satisfaction, and testing Gronroos three dimensions model – which consists from technical, functional and image, the research revealed that general perceptions of the service quality is influenced by the technical quality, in other words it is influenced by outcomes what one receives (Straiter, 2005). According to above mentioned, service quality evaluated by the client can be considered as related to their satisfaction level. Similarly, when considering the service quality gap between employees and clients, we assume that, service quality gap decreases the level of client satisfaction with the organization. We want to reveal the service quality gap relationship with client satisfaction with intellectual disability care centers: H2a: Higher is the gap in service quality evaluation lower is the relatives’ satisfaction with the organization (fig I). The relationship between service quality and client satisfaction has been reported to be different in terms of strength between industries as well as between contexts (Ame, 2005, 2009; Sureshchandar et.al. 2002). Accordingly, researchers consider that some factors must be responsible in influencing this relationship. These include, but not limited to, the type of industry studied, nature of service, income levels of client, management culture, client social culture, gender, etc, (Ame, 2005). The various empirical findings on studies about service quality and client satisfaction have suggested that relationships on these variables may be moderated by some factors. Client perceived justice is one of the popular factors among researches in the field of service. Liao (2007) confirmed client perceived justice mediation effects on client satisfaction and service recovery performance. Also the study conducted to determine the influence of emotions on justice for client satisfaction conducted by Ellyawati, Purwanto and Dharmmesta (2012) found that clients’ perceived justice impacts on clients’ satisfaction. According to the one of the Justice theories Equity Theory, the inequality can be observed when person perceives that he/she is putting more and is getting less value, and satisfaction much depends on how one perceives the justice, injustice can lead to dissatisfaction and anger (Adams, 1965). Clients’ perceptions of the input and output, and their perception about the fair distribution of resources, information etc. is expected to have a moderator role for their satisfaction. Accordingly we expect that organizational justic e perceived by the relatives of PIDs can moderate the relationship of service quality gap and relatives’ satisfaction with the center: H2b: Relatives perception of organizational justice moderates relationship between service quality gap and relatives satisfaction with the organization (fig I). We discussed the problems of ethic in service quality from the side of the employees and from the side of the client (relatives). However, the situation is getting more complex and critical especially when considering the primary goal of the organization oriented on mental health care: to increase the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities (PIDs). We review this aspect in the next section. PIDs: Quality of Life and Service Quality Evaluation The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Quality of Life (QoL) as â€Å"individuals’ perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live, and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns† (The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment WHOQOL, 1997, p. 1). We can say that QoL exists when one perceives that lives with dignity, feels that dreams and ideas are respected, and is an active handler and responsible of own life (Tamarit, 2002). QoL as usually includes subjective evaluations of positive and negative aspects of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment 1998). Generally it includes health perceptions at physical and mental level and their relations—including conditions, social support, etc. (Kindig, Booske Remington, 2010). Organizations that provide services to people with intellectual disabilities (PIDs) also contribute to developing their QoL (FEAPS, 2010), and are designed to care the QoL of individuals with intellectual disabilities (Martinez-Tur, Peirà ³, Moliner, Potocnik, 2010). These organizations are the basic sources of QoL for people with intellectual disabilities (Moliner, Gracia, Lorente, Martinez-Tur, 2013). Since QoL of PIDs is directly derived from service quality that is provided for them, we suppose that it can be affected by the ethical challenges in services; service provided from professionals includes dilemma: to whom it must be ethical – to PIDs or to relatives? As we mentioned above service quality perceived by relatives and service provided by employees is related to challenges since they have different standards about how service should be provided. Usually for the mental healthcare service organizations a relevant source of information is the relative of the PIDs; QoL of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities can be evaluated from professionals/employees or from relatives. Since information which comes from external subject is more objective it is more relevant to use family member as the main evaluators to assess QoL of PIDs (Moliner, et. al., 2013). When there is a gap in service quality and QoL is evaluated by the relatives we argue that it can have influence on th e level of QoL of PID. Therefore in order to improve quality for future development in mental care related services the assessment of QoL is an important tool (Moliner, et. al., 2013). Our next hypothesis aims to find out this relationship among gap and QoL: H3a: Higher is the gap in service quality evaluation lower is the quality of life of PIDs’ perceived by their relatives (fig I). Any attempt to judge the service quality provided by mental healthcare services would be less complete not considering the experiences of people who use the product and receiving the service. By finding out what service users think, important information can be obtained which can have impact on other factors (National Institute for Health Clinical Excellence, 2012). National Institute for health and care excellence (NICE) claims that past years are characterized with more initiatives highlighting the importance of considering the service user’s experience about the service quality. E.g. Lord Darzi’s report on High Quality Care for All (2008) focuses on the importance of the entire service user experience to ensure that they are in a safe and well-managed environment (Darzi, 2008). To understand how center is operating to deliver high service quality to direct users (PIDs) it is important to understand what users think about their care and treatment. Our last hypothesis stresses on the effect of PIDs perceived service quality that can moderate the service quality gap effect on their QoL: H3b: PIDs’ service quality evaluation moderates the relationship between service quality gap and PIDs’ quality of life perceived by their relatives (fig I). With the almost universal increase the involvement and support for mental healthcare services more concerns are about the responsibility of the agencies and professionals who provide such assistance (Roth, Fonagy, Parry, 1996), the QoL of people with intellectual disabilities becomes a very important question nowadays. Specifically, social, educational and health services are focusing on providing services to people with intellectual disabilities, and establishing this subject as a specific goal of the organizational in order to find new ways of developing a QoL in the future (Schalock Verdugo, 2007). These questions and hypothesis give opportunities to orient organizations’ activities in order to improve the service quality, mental health, satisfaction and QoL at the centers for intellectual disabilities.

Comparison of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Comparison of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were both characters created by Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer is the main character in the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is the main character in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were alike in many ways but they were also very different. One way in which Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are alike is that they are both very brave. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim see a steamboat that had wrecked on the rocks and decide to check it out. Huck thinks that there will be lots of things on the wrecked boat for them to filch. Jim was a little nervous about infringing but Huck said that if Tom were there, he would have gone. Once they were on the boat they saw a fight. Huck was scared but he knew that if Tom were there he wouldn’t back out, so Huck wasn’t going to either. Another way that Tom and Huck are alike is that they are both always getting themselves into trouble. It seems that where ever they go, trouble follows them. They are also both interlopers and very fractious. Both of the boys are also very erudite (smart). In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck tricked the two men with guns out of finding Jim. He told the two men that it was his father back on the raft. When they said that they were going to go see for themselves Huck replied, â€Å" ...

Analysis of Priceline

Priceline Inc. is an online travel booking site that helps customers worldwide purchase airfare, hotels, rental cars, and much more. The three categories I chose to analyze are business model and strategies, business finances, and expansion of the company through acquisitions. For Priceline to have success, I believe the business model and how the company builds its model is extremely important. Next, it is crucial that we look at the finances of the company to ensure it is profitable. The finances of the company are tied to the various acquisitions Priceline has acquired in the past few years. By looking at the companies Priceline has acquired, I strongly recommend investing in Priceline based off of the record earnings posted by the company. Not only is Priceline profitable, the corporation also has an unique business strategy to make money. When assigned this paper, I began to use databases and Factiva to search for information about Priceline. I used the information found from da tabases and used them as research to support my report. I then researched Priceline’s marketing techniques as well as stock prices in order to elaborate on the company’s finances. Finally, I learned about the companies Priceline has acquired over the years to expand its market presence. To figure out the formatting and structure of this paper, I used other people’s reports as guidance.IntroductionPriceline’s business model includes value proposition of connecting vendors and customers. It consists of a revenue model where there are transaction fees and spread earned by the company between vendor and customer price. Launched in 1998, Priceline Inc. does not directly supply travel services, but rather they bring buyers and sellers together to complete a transaction. Priceline saves consumers money by trading travel flexibility of brands and product features for sellers’ lower prices. Business Model and StrategiesEver since the development of the inte rnet, dot-com companies have been booming left and right. One of those companies founded during the dot-com boom was Priceline Inc., an online travel booking site that revolutionized the way consumers purchased air tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and much more. Priceline Inc. developed and innovated a new system of â€Å"Name your own  price† for customers to finalize their travels. They were able to turn excess inventory otherwise not sold by the airlines to consumers while at the same time price discriminate in order to maximize profits. In the airline industry, it is estimated that only 65% of the seats on a plane are occupied on a daily basis.Airlines definitely were looking a way to vend the rest of the inventory. However, they could not advertise these excess seats with special discount because in doing so, it would destroy its retail fare structure. Priceline was the solution to this as they are able to help shield airlines branding in two different ways. First, w hen consumers try to name your own price on Priceline, they must choose travels between two cities. In this case, the airlines’ branding and product configurations are protected as customers have no idea which airline they will be selecting. Only after a bid is accepted will they learn their exact flight information and itinerary. Secondly, Priceline protects those who are considered free riders. These are people who would receive the benefit of a discount but they are already willing to pay for an air ticket at a higher price (Eisenmann 47-48). Name Your Price GuaranteeFigure 1.1Source: (Priceline.com) Revenue Generation: Priceline is able to effectively generate revenue one of two ways. First, it calculates a spread between the lowest prices offered by the Airline partner and the highest prices a customer is willing to pay. In this scenario, neither party the airline partner nor the customer have the option of knowing the asking price or the bid price. A customer has no ide a what unpublished rate the airline is offering. Only Priceline would have this secret information. On the other hand, the airline does not get to see how much the consumers bid on the air ticket. For example, if a customer bids $300 on a ticket from LAX to JFK and the lowest unpublished rate for any given airline is $200, then the spread would be $100, which Priceline retains as its earnings. As seen from this model, profiting from the spread is highly successful given the economies of scale from customers (Eisenmann 47-48). Adaptive Marketing and Cross Subsidy:Furthermore, Priceline also offers consumers to bump up their bids by participating in â€Å"adaptive marketing† and â€Å"cross-subsidy† promotional programs. For instance, Priceline could add $50 to an existing $100 bid to make it more likely that a ticket will be sold if one signs up for a credit card. If that is the case, the credit card company may pay Priceline $75 for every referral that signs up for the card. In this case, Priceline would simply pocket the difference. If the asking price for the ticket was already under $100, then Priceline would keep all of the money coming from credit card sponsorship (Eisenmann 48).Business Finances Early Stages of Priceline: At the beginning of year 2000, Priceline had a market share of 3% of all airline tickets sold in the U.S. Attracting over 3.8 million unique visitors, Priceline sold tickets for all eight domestic airlines as well as 20 international carriers. One year after its establishment in 1998, Priceline’s revenue was $482 Million in 1999 and $1 Billion in 2000 (Eisenmann 48).However, the dot-com bubble would halt Priceline’s success only temporarily. 1999 was a tough year for Priceline as it stated a $1.1 Billion loss on its financial statement. Stock prices plunged from $974 to $7 a share. According to Walker, â€Å"there was a credibility issue† within the organization and investors did not completely trust t he dot-com industry. Priceline’s financials would improve slowly. In 2002, Priceline reported a net loss of $19 Million. When CEO Jeff Boyd took over the company in 2002, Priceline stocks had suffered one of the worst drops in its brief history. But soon enough, Priceline was able to make a turnaround when it introduced William Shatner as the negotiator character out of the blue to help consumers save money. Instantaneously, people remembered the advertisements put up by Priceline and associated with Shatner, a former Star-Trek star’s self-parody. William ShatnerFigure 1.2Source: (Thepenaltyflagblog.com) From Loss to Profit: Priceline started making a profit in 2003, but it wasn’t until 2004 and 2005 when Boyd bought two European hotel reservation sites—the U.K.'s Active Hotels and Amsterdam-based Booking.com that Priceline hit a turning point. â€Å"Priceline's earnings growth and stock market success since then have been attributable largely to those t wo acquisitions—Booking.com in particular. It would be tough to argue that there's been a better acquisition in Internet history,† says Thomas White, an analyst at Macquarie Securities. â€Å"It's why the stock has been such a home run,† says White.Thomas White and Barclays' DiClemente would agree that investors lack the knowledge that most of the revenue come from overseas. Since Europeans have many more vacation days as Americans, it is not surprising that more revenue is inflowing from Europe. Jeff Boyd, the CEO of Priceline, was smart about targeting such a market in Europe. â€Å"Moreover, the growth of discount airlines in Europe such as EasyJet and Ryanair have increased the popularity of â€Å"city breaks†Ã¢â‚¬â€the European equivalent of a weekend getaway,† states Birger. Earnings Report in 2012:In 2012, Priceline continued to post better than expected earnings reports. In the third quarter of 2012, Priceline reported third quarter revenue s of $1.71 Billion, up 17.4% from a year ago in 2011. Also, Priceline beat the estimate of $1.65 Billion projected revenue determined previously by analysts. Non-GAAP profits stood at $12.40 a share, ahead of the estimate of $11.81 a share. Gross bookings came in at $7.8 billion, elevated 25.2% from a year ago. For quarter four in 2012, Eric Savitz of Forbes magazine states â€Å"Priceline projected revenues to be up 21-28% or 22%-29% in local currency; revenues are expected to improve 15%-22%, with non-GAAP profits of $6.12 to $6.57 a share. Consensus has been for $6.34 a share.†Continuous Growth: In the mean time, CEO Jeff Boyd continues to have high hopes for Priceline. â€Å"Globally our hotel business grew room nights by 36% over the same period last year, compared to 39% growth in the second quarter,† he said. â€Å"Our rental car business grew rental car days by 35% over last year, an acceleration from 29% in the second quarter, led by improving results at Pric eline.com and continued strong growth from Rentalcars.com. While we remain concerned about economic weakness across Europe, Asia and the U.S., the [company] intends to focus on solidifying its position as the world's largest and most profitable online hotel reservation service by continuing to add hotels and other accommodations and better servicing our customers through constant innovation in our mobile and desktop sites.†As promised by Boyd, Priceline continued to show tremendous growth. On November 1st, 2012, Priceline stock was up $12.22 in regular session trading and jumped another $52 a share in after-hours trading to close at $638.95 (Savitz). Since then, Priceline sustains its momentum by reporting record earnings in the preceding quarters. Today, stock price for Priceline is even higher than few years ago. It currently trades at over $1,000 a share and constantly out competes against their rivals Expedia and Orbitz (Birger).10 Year Graph of Priceline (PCLN) Figure 1.3 Source: (Yahoo Finance) Acquisitions and Expansions Booking.com: Priceline is on track to make a very good move because it is believed that the online travel reservation market still has room for expansion in Europe. Priceline typically takes 15% of every transaction done on Booking.com; in return, the hotels have a much better chance to market and advertise to potential customers. After Priceline’s acquisition of Booking.com in July 2005 for $135 Million, its profits skyrocketed from $10 million in 2003 to $1.1 billion in 2011. No other acquisition has proven to be that successful in the 2000’s (O'Neill). Agoda and TraveljigSaw:In addition, Priceline is increasing its brand in Asia via its Agoda brand and it is growing its rental cars division as well, aided by a 2010 acquisition of global car-rental site TravelJigsaw. Ever since these acquisitions of smaller travel companies, Priceline is able to expand its market cap while its stock prices surged over 500% in the fo llowing five years (Birger). Kayak:In 2012, Priceline Inc. continues its acquisition practice with the purchase of Kayak for $1.8 Billion. Shareholders of Kayak received $40 per share. Kayak is successful in that it raised $91 Million in the July 2012 IPO through selling of 3.5 Million shares at $26 apiece. It has processed 302 million queries across its web. Kayak and Priceline are â€Å"two of the largest online-travel companies and it makes sense that these two companies would want to work together, of course, because they do have different strengths and different objectives,† said Dan Marcec, an analyst at Emarketer. With the acquisition of Kayak, Jeff Boyd states that â€Å"Priceline’s intention is for Kayak to be operated independently under the leadership of existing management, as with our other hands, with a primary focus on building value for its customers and advertising partners† (Levy).Conclusion Priceline Inc. operates as one of the biggest travel booking sites in the world. Its global presence in Europe and Asia as well in the Americas cannot be ignored. Priceline Inc. should be a company that is to be heavily invested in because of its revenue and profit posted by the corporation. Its record breaking earnings in the billions should easily attract the eyes of a savvy investor. Priceline will continue to post earnings through the way it does business by matching consumers with vendors and earning the difference in prices. With its continuous acquisitions of smaller booking sites, Priceline is set on par to be the dominant and primary go to website when it comes to travel bookings. Without a doubt, its stock prices will continue to soar as it expands its presence in Asia.

Reconstructed Portrait of Juan Dela Cruz Essay

Reflection: This kind of article is somewhat made to be funny upon criticism although some of his statements are true but need adequate citation of example. The author’s points are thoughts of a typical charlatan English 101 passer that wants to show off his talent in composition of proses like this one. Nevertheless, I will give my comments on the statement given by him. First, the author’s claim of Filipinos’ uniqueness when it comes to humor didn’t work. The statement â€Å"†¦people making fun of their own mistakes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  makes me think of humorous videos of other races laughing at their own mistake, the statement doesn’t prove the uniqueness of the subject. And the part of the said article where â€Å"sense of humor† is talked about comes with a complicated context that it blends the positive and negative statement in one part of the text. He could’ve written it in a flow which either of the two statements comes first. Second, the issue of the Filipinos speaking foreign languages for them (foreigners) to appreciate the hospitality of the natives; it doesn’t seem to make a sense. For all I know, it’s a part of tourism. This statement proves that we only please the foreigners by speaking their language in our country and they do not speak our language in their country when we visit as tourist is baseless, the foreigners teach us their language and vice versa it serves as a souvenir, a token of knowledge. Maybe the author doesn’t know that we learn â€Å"konichiwa, aloha, que tal?† and they learn â€Å"mabuhay, kumusta ka† and â€Å"mahal kita† through this mean, it is hospitality Mr. author. Third, describing the creativity of Filipinos by mentioning â€Å"when there is a big flood, they take it to their advantage to go up on the roofs of their houses to fish tilapia for their dinner.† this has nothing to do with creativity and inventiveness, climbing up the roof on a big flood is not creative, it is matter of life and death, they are not there to go fishing, they are trying to save their lives Mr. author. Fourth, the claim of us Filipinos being great violators is a mere blind  judgment and an exposition of colonial mentality; violating street signs, eating medically prohibited food, buying pirated goods, â€Å"walang ganyan sa states†? I don’t think so. American people do these things worse than we do. Fifth, cramming is compared to the story of Juan Tamad, I don’t really think it’s related at all.

Innovative Product

Introduction Nowadays, innovative is an essential advantage in this dog-eat-dog market for every organization. Innovative can be everything that is new and not exist in current market, however in order to fulfill the gap in this demanding market, organizations must be very innovative to come out with new products and services. Organizations nowadays are recruiting employees who are creative and innovative because they are person who have sensitive antenna to sense and observe what the people want and need.In current market, thermos water bottle is very common for people to store their drinks; because thermos water bottle allows people to keep their drinks cold or warm for a very short period of time. Therefore, there would be a gap exists where the people want to drink cold or hot beverage at anytime and anywhere they want. To fulfill this gap, DualBottle has came out as it is a thermos water bottle which has the function of heating and freezing the beverage inside the thermos water bottle at anytime the customer wants.In other words, DualBottle will act like a refrigerator to chill the water as cold as it can or heating up the water just like a water boiler. In the current market, there is no similar product that has the function like DualBottle and this innovative product will bring in another level of convenience to the consumers in the market. Hence, people may want this new product to be in the market. In fact, water bottle in the current market is only used for storing water and sometimes not even suitable to store hot water as some water bottles have no qualified certificate because it is made of lower quality of plastic.In addition, DualBottle enables people to get hot or cold water easily in their daily activities. In this assignment, we are going to discuss in-depth on market research of DualBottle and also new product descriptions and specifications. Market Research Direct competitors There are several direct competitors for DualBottle which they hav e the similar types of product in the same market such as heaters, coolers and normal water bottles. In this case, keeping on track on consequential technological innovations is very important for a particular company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market.Firstly, the innovative product will have certain competition and comparatives with those existing and well-known brand like Thermos, Zebra, Camelback, Klean Kanteen, SIGG, Cheeki, Eco vessel and many more. These brands are the direct competitors for the DualBottle because these brands produce quality stainless steel and aluminium water bottles similar to the DualBottle but of course every brand has its specialty of their own products such as the designs, different attractive colors, functions, specifications, future and its outlook.These brands are the main direct competitors for DualBottle because both these products from these brands have the similar functions of heat preservation and have these brands are historical as compared with the new product. Though our new innovative product, DualBottle can reheat and re-chill the drinks; however, the existing of the products can only help to maintain the heat and the warmness of the drinks. In fact, people may be more likely to choose old brand due to brand loyalty and influenced by the power of word of mouth.The brand new product might be very novel yet it is still under the observation period to attract and being recognized by the people. On the other hand, old products are more creditable and always have good comments from one consumer to another consumer. Indirect competitors Beside those direct competitors, there are a number of indirect competitors for the DualBottle. Indirect competitors are the competitors that compete with the DualBottle indirectly. For example refrigerators that can cool the water, this is an indirect competitor because households have refrigerators at home.So it is considered as an indirect competitor. On the other hand, th e kettle and hot water flask are also indirect competitors to the DualBottle because at home people use kettle to boil water and hot water flask because the flask is to keep the hot water to remain hot. Other than that, Mineral waters that are sold in sundry shops, supermarkets, convenient shops, and other places are considered as indirect competitors because they have cold beverages and warm beverages separately. Instead of purchasing DualBottle, customers might just purchase mineral waters for daily usage.Besides that, water dispensers are the main indirect competitors because the DualBottle mostly targeted customers are people who work in office, travel daily and also students. Water dispensers are available in all colleges and offices. Hence, instead bringing the water bottles along with them, customers may prefer using the water dispenser for cold and warm drinks. So it is considered a main competitor to the DualBottle that competes in the market. Furthermore, companies such as Starbucks also are served as the indirect competitor for the new product.Although Starbucks specialized on producing good and tasty coffee, the company itself has launched their own tumbler which also has the similar function with this new product as tumbler can be used to fill up the hot beverages. Besides that, Starbucks also has a promotion for its own customers by using the tumbler when they purchase hot beverage. They can get the RM2 rebate by using the tumbler. Hence, most of the customers who loyal and fascinating in Starbucks will tend to purchase the tumbler to get better offer. This phenomenon also will be one of the issues for the launching of new product.Next, in terms of the future competition for the DualBottle where in this new era technology is growing in a fast pace, all the products that selling in the market already be advanced. In the past years, these products are not in existence. However, in today’s fast development society, these products cannot be le ft out and more innovative and modern products are being launched. Most of the young adults have strong interest in trying new products. When this situation happened, all of the past products might be left out.Thus, to consolidate the base of new product in the competitive market, branding should be taken into consideration. Future competitors not only on the products themselves, but also included the consumer behaviour in today’s society. There will be always new competitors that will enter the market because of the advance of the technology. Target customers The innovative product, water bottle thermos is designed to satisfy all the needs of the individual and company. Furthermore, targeted customers are normal people who travel a lot; they can keep warm or cold water together with them while travelling in the car or bus.For instance, long distance travellers can keep hot coffee in the DualBottle so they can drink it while travelling to keep them fresh. Besides that, we are also targeting DualBottle on working adults and students who usually face with busy and tight schedule where they may be even unable to have their proper meals. For example, an event executive, Amanda is too busy with her task and could not even find time to have her meals and so, with this DualBottle, she is now able to enjoy her favourite drinks either in hot or cold at anytime and anywhere even when she is busy.With our unique selling point of DualBottle, that is the ability to reheat and re-freeze the drinks quickly by using the steel casing in which making DualBottle appeared to be so practical; it may also attract many companies to purchase our product as it can provide a high level of convenience to their employees. Therefore, we may be indulging ourselves in both B2B and B2C market in order to gain higher market share respectively and establishing a strong position in the market. We strongly believe that targeting the right consumers will achieve a desirable benefit to our innovative product, DualBottle.New Product First of all, stainless steel water bottle maybe very common in this current market such as Thermos, Klean Kanteen, Thinksport, and Eco Vessel. In fact that, there are just normal insulated water bottles which can keep drinks cold or hot for a short period however; DualBottle is coming up with an innovative idea where the water bottle is chargeable in order to heat up the drinks or make the drinks chilled. Although it appears to be nothing different from ordinary bottle, DualBottle has a ‘magic' function that cannot be found in the current market.The uniqueness that able to chill soft drinks or to retain temperature of warm Chinese tea with a tiny â€Å"plug and play† kind of component attached to make DualBottle more standout. Similarly to some other portable coolers, it uses thermoelectric cooling system concept to switch between two modes (cold and hot) with just a button. In line with technology advancement, DualBottle is d esigned with an external component that can be attached from the bottom of the bottle and it is contacted with a metal plate to serve as conductor in order to transmit cold and heat.Meanwhile, instead of operating in 12 or 24 volts direct current (DC) which is similar to mini fridge, we would replace the battery storage with a 2800 milli-Ampere-hour (mAh) rechargeable battery. For instance, two hours are required to get the battery fully charged and it could be used for ten consecutive hours. Besides, there would be two different ways to charge the battery component by using direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC). It would be more convenient as users do not need to plug-on direct current or alternating current in order to use of the function because there would be power reserved in battery component.Additionally, DualBottle will have an automatic power switch off when the water temperature is heated up to 70 °C and the water temperature is chilled down to 3 °C to 5 ° C. On the other hand, DualBottle can be presented more innovative by introducing another range of models that uses solar energy as an optional charging method therefore; the battery can be charged automatically whenever solar heat is stored. Moreover, when users do not feel like using the function, they could always remove the external component to function it as ordinary bottles like Bros, Sigg and Zebra.In addition, DualBottle is chargeable by using USB port charger and car power adapter as well, this idea enables users to charge DualBottle whenever they want. In fact, DualBottle can act more than a common water bottle where it can perform as a water warmer to keep the beverage warm for 4-6 hours because of the double-wall insulation designed; then it also can act as a water heater to heat up the beverage up to 70 °C, lastly it perform as a water cooler to hill the beverage down to 3 °C. Forget about the traditional design of Thermos bottle in which it looked heavy with stainl ess steel silver colour; DualBottle would design the products with relatively new colours and standout themes. DualBottle would look more colorful and attractive by adding some printings on it, the designs can be plain but sharp colors and candy colours, animal prints for fancy female group, and users can even print their pictures or words on DualBottle.To target different types of customers, DualBottle would allow customers to choose their favourite colour and design or to custom-made their bottle by choosing what design, features, function, colour, and engrave their name on the bottle. Besides, it would be designed for easy to carry by attaching a strap and also slim fit exterior outlook of the bottle. Meanwhile, the cover cap of DualBottle would be anti-leaking water designed which are made by rubber and plastic. It would be easier to design the bottle with open-close cover, instead of using rubber grip cap cover.However, there are also pros and cons to adopt the design of open-c lose cover. For instance, rubber grip cap cover can have better prevention of losing the water temperature in the bottle as compared with the open-close cover. As people are more health conscious nowadays, DualBottle uses stainless steel, aluminium and bisphenol A (BPA) free as inner bottle materials in production line hence; it would not be harmful to the users. Since a metal plate would acts as an electrical conductor to heat up or chill cold the drinks; stainless steel, aluminium and BPA free plastic materials are not an issue to end-users.In general, DualBottle has three different kinds of bottles but they perform the same function for users. This is because to target different group of customers as stainless steel material is usually expensive, aluminium material is on the average price, and plastic material would be cheaper. Nevertheless, high quality of stainless steel materials are usually weigh heavier as compared to aluminium and plastic materials; so materials made of Dua lBottle might be affect the weight of product but however, DualBottle has only two standardized bottle volume which are 500ml and 750ml.To be a part of contributing towards environmental friendly program, we would to use recycle materials if possible. The quality of the product must be proven through some international recognized authorities like FDA (US Food & Drug Administration), LFGB (Europe Food Contact Material Standard), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), and SIRIM (Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia).Besides, DualBottle would only use high quality of electric thermos which it is also often used by Thermos, Klean Kanteen, and La Gourmet; this is to ensure that DualBottle can produce high quality products instead of using cheap materials. With the fact that the production cost might not be cheap and therefore it is expected that DualBottle is placed in high quality and high price position. Conclusion In the current market, thermos water b ottle is frequently used by the people to store their drinks and keeping their drinks cold or warm for only a very short period of time.Our group has established the gap within the market where people may want to enjoy cold or hot drinks at the anytime and anywhere in their daily life. Thus, we have come out with an innovative product called â€Å"DualBottle†. In developing DualBottle, it is apparent that we will be facing those direct competitors like Thermos, Klean Kanteen, Sigg, and Zebra which have dominated the market for quite a long time in producing thermos water bottle. However, these products only consists the function of preserving heat and not heating or freezing like what DualBottle can do.On the other hand, we also will be facing some of the indirect competitors in the market like water dispenser companies, mineral water companies, some electrical companies that produces kettle and water boiler and even Starbucks as they had launched their own brand tumbler to i ncrease loyalty of their customers. The DualBottle is targeted at travellers, students and working adults who may be very eventful and does not even have the time to sit down and enjoy their drinks. Thus, the ability of DualBottle to heat and freeze drinks enable these people to have a moment of pleasure on their favourite drinks either in hot or cold.The practical side of DualBottle may attract companies to buy in bulk from us in order to supply to their employees as it is very convenient to their daily activities. DualBottle introduces a function where it can be heated up the beverage or chilled the beverage in water bottle by only clicking a button. This function can be done by attaching a metal plate which acts as conductor on the bottom of the inner bottle and then an external component to act as battery to transmit energy.In additional, the external battery is actually an external component which can be attached or removed from the bottle. It is easy to charge by using adapter , USB port, car power adapter, and also solar energy. Moreover, Dualbottle design the bottle by using 3 different kinds of materials which include stainless steel, aluminium, and plastic. There are all having the same performance and with 2 standardized capacity volume of bottle which are 500ml and 750ml.DualBottle may obtain international certificates by government organizations to prove that the bottles are safe to use and has no harms to health. Besides, it would be having attractive outlook as the designs are standout and DualBottle enables customers to custom-made their bottle as well. The cover cap of bottle may be open-close cover design because of convenience and anti-leaking purpose. In conclusion, DualBottle is a high quality dual-function bottle and hence, it would be also selling at higher price. Reference list Alicia,2009.Top 5 Stainless Steel Water Bottles. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 2nd April 2012] Better Bottle Stainless, 2012. [online] Available at: [Access ed on 3rd April 2012] Hydro Flask, 2012. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 3rd April 2012] Klean Kanteen, 2012. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 4th April 2012] Shop Naturally, 2012. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 4th April 2012] SIGG Design Bottles, 2012. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 3rd April 2012] Zazzle water bottles, 2012. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 4th april 2012]