US Military Scandal

Weber Miscarried University In today's world a topic that is becoming more popular by numerous infamous scandals is that of business ethics. With companies and businesses alike now realizing that their consumers care about how the operations work in the company can affect their sales they are becoming more aware of how to run operations ethically.Although it is every groups goal to run plans ethically there are still many instances in which they fall short of this bar, whether it be because of greedy influences or being unaware of the laws it is a dilemma that must be approached wisely and handle with care. While most scandals involve a corporation or business while scanning the Internet I came across one that really caught my attention, a scandal within the US Military about cheating on tests, drug use, and the mishandling of missiles.First news broke about this scandal in early January when the Air Force reported its open investigation of unknown exam cheating and scandals involvi ng multiple officers in charge of our country nuclear forces. This recent scandal is one that was roughs to attention after the Air Force was investigating a non-related drug scandal at 6 other bases. This should come as a great concern to all people living in the US, for these are the generals and officers who are responsible for controlling the 450 nuclear missiles and fate of our country.When further looked into it was found that 34 officers, all high class lieutenants or captains, were somehow involved in this scandal, some who were either caught cheating on the monthly proficiency tests or those that were aware of what was going on and did not report the actions. Along tit these accusations it was made clear by Air Force officials that two of the suspected officers also had relations regarding illegal drug use with an officer from an air base in Wyoming.Being one of the most structured and toughest parts of the defense forces to get into the Air Force is not taking this situati on lightly as nuclear launch officers have no room for error handling such dangerous and destructive weapons. ‘The root of all this madness is still unknown but there has been one major discharge of a commander from the Base at Minot because it was seen that there as a â€Å"loss of confidence† in his leadership skills as well as the firing of a commander in charge of training missile crews after a large number of launch officers did poorly on tests.This is not the first scandal that the Air Force has faced after an incident in 2008 where the past secretary of defense Robert M. Gates fired a top general and civilian leader after a crew made a cross-country Journey unaware that 6 missiles on board were armed with nuclear warheads. The major dilemma in all this is these people are supposed to be the ones we as citizens look up to and protect our country et when we read news like this it really hinders our idea of what safety really is.With such difficult guidelines, laws, and requirements it is amazing that such a scandal would be present in an area as important as the protection and well being of the United States as a country, but also goes to show that scandals and dilemmas are present in every aspect of this world no matter what the subject at hand. US Defense Secretary Chuck Haggle has not taken lightly to this situation as he explained that he is â€Å"deeply troubled† by the slue of military scandals in recent months (Talisman, 2014).In January when becoming fully aware of all the problems inside the Air Force and military as a whole Haggle forced a review of operations which also included the Navy. In shear numbers 30 senior instructors have been accused of sharing answer sheets to nuclear qualification tests and 1,200 Navy soldiers, 200 of which were officers, took part in a long-term scheme involving fraudulent recruiting in order to collect roughly $100 million in promised recruiting payments (Talisman, 2014). Hazel's biggest worry is that none of this is by accident and is all a result of unethical behavior by people in uniform†.He along with many others believe that this is an issue that should be put on the top of the list and needs close attention and although it only involves a small number of those in service it is a matter of integrity that he wishes the forces can maintain regardless of those few who disobeyed the law. I felt that this issue was handled greatly and will continue to be throughout the rest of the investigation. Haggle understands the importance of the well being of the country and is not going to let this be something that could be the season for our downfall.Although investigations may take more than a year to complete I trust the decision of the Secretary of Defense as he made if the first problem to be addressed when regarding the military. If this were the situation for a company or business I think that they would have handled it the exact same way, firstly be removing those that were involved or believed to be involved in the problem. Second course of action would be getting down to the bottom of the problem and finding the source, which were ultimately the loosely supervised exams restored by senior leaders and lieutenants.After finding who was to blame for these faults it became evident that those people were to be interviewed immensely for why they took the course of actions they did. A document regarding this even went as far as saying that the â€Å"group testing† was viewed as â€Å"taking care of each other† and easing the pressure as the officers felt they needed a perfect score on the exams (Burns, 2014). So in the end I think this is being handled effectively and that it should have been done in no other manner.Although it is evident that this can instill a lot of fear in the eyes of those who live in this great country the military wanted to make it apparent that there was no evidence that the recent problems lead to mishandlin g of nuclear weapons or Jeopardized any citizens safety. Following this event it will be interesting to see how it progresses as the investigation continues with the interviewing of many officers and those involved in the scandal. Being that the scandal involves nuclear weapons I am curious to see if there will be any new laws or regulations that will be put in place during such vents such as exams and testing.

John Keats – Ode to a Nightingale Criticism

Keats is in love with a nightingale. He is at a loss of how to feel; happy for witnessing the bird’s ‘high requiem’, or sad for not being part of its world. In the first stanza the poet is having clear symptoms of an extreme sadness. His ‘heart aches’ and a drowsy numbness pains’ his sense. This heavy mood is paradoxically denounced in the same stanza. It’s ‘being too happy’ in the nightingale’s happiness that’s causing the malaise. The stanza comes to an end in a joyful mood as opposed the heavy start of the poem. He imagines the bird’s home as ‘some melodious plot of beechen green’.Through this synaesthesia he creates a vivid picture of one of his classic bowers. The second stanza opens with a plea ‘for a drought of vintage’ through which he can fulfill his plea to ‘fade away’. This stanza evokes a lot of appeal to the sense of taste, ‘tasting of flora and c ounty green’. The theme of nature together with a joyful atmosphere is also evident. ‘Dance, and provencal song, and sunburnt mirth’. From the comfort of the dreamy second stanza, the third plunges the reader into the sad reality and banality of life. ‘The weariness, the fever, and the fret’ are a reality that the nightingale doesn’t know.Here ‘youth grows pale’ and ‘beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes’. This sombre stanza induces a feeling of a disappointing reality. It’s much better to belong to a dream than to this painful truth. This stanza is also a typical example of Keats’s obsession with illness and death. He decides to ‘fly’ to the nightingale’s realm. However he won’t do this through substance he pondered about in the first two stanzas, but through ‘the viewless wings of poesy’. This is a eulogy to poetry and its ability to take the reader to the spiritu al realm of imagination.He joins the nightingale where the trees let no light in except for when the wind moves their branches. The last three lines stress darkness and the gloomy colours of mundane existence. In the fifth stanza he cannot see what ‘soft incense hangs upon the boughs’. This synaesthesia leads the reader to touch the scent. He is enveloped in ‘embalmed darkness’ – where balm is a sweet smelling fragrance – but he can still imagine all that there in its midst. Through the heavenly eyes of imagination he can see the ‘white hawthorn and the pastoral eglantine’.He can see ‘fast fading violets’ and the musk-rose that is full of ‘dewy wine’ to make sure we know that this world being describe is the nightingale’s not the poet’s. He can also hear the ‘murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves’. After experiencing the extreme joy of the nightingale’s song he is findi ng it hard to go back to the harsh reality. He is playing with the tempting idea of an ‘easeful Death’. It would be a happy death, ‘now more than ever it seems rich to die’, ‘in such ecstasy’. But then his thought evolves further and understands that the nightingale would go on singing, and being death he would miss his ‘high requiem’.The switching from reality to fantasy keeps going on. The poet is back in the nightingale’s realm. It seems that the switch occurred also in his mood. From the rather dark mood of the sixth stanza, the seventh stanza introduces us to a rather jubilant Keats. He’s full of praise for the ‘immortal bird’ whose voice transcends from ‘ancient days’. ‘It was heard by emperor and clown’, which perhaps implies that its song is for everyone. It was heard by Ruth, a biblical figure who has a ‘sad heart’ to alleviate her pains. It’s song â €˜charm’d magic ceasments’ of faery which are ‘forlorn’ and the seas which are ‘perilous’.These words hint at the pain described in the first stanza, a pain the poet is trying to escape. This idea of pain introduces us to the next stanza. The same word ‘forlorn’ wakes him up; reminds him of reality. ‘Fancy’ or imagination is seen as a cheater. He awakes from this delusion understanding where he really belongs. This brings him to question if it all was a ‘vision, or a waking dream? ’ This is a reference to the transient and brief nature of imagination, perhaps the poem itself. It was all a momentary euphoria, ‘fled is that music: – do I wake or sleep’, it seems that the vision was too good to be true.

Ebooks Are Inferior to Real Books

1. Good evening chairperson, ladies and gentleman. It is one thing to down load an eBooks and read it at your convenience but is this experience the same as lying out on the beach reading the latest publication from your favourite novelist with the worry of the device failing | 2. Your expensive device may be stolen while you’re in the surf or sand could enter your devices interface. Ladies and Gentlemen reading from an eBook is simply not the same as reading from a physical printed book as all electronic devices are subject to failures. 3. The topic before us this evening is that â€Å"eBooks are inferior to real books† Not one member of the affirmative team will deny that eBooks have been a great innovation however there are many disadvantages associated with the use of eBooks which would support our team’s argument that traditional books are superior and therefore by definition eBooks are inferior. | 4. We as the Affirmative team define eBooks as electronic co pies of books, usually read through an e-reader or computer and real books as physical printed paper copies of books.Tonight we will be discussing this on two key levels: I will discuss the social aspects and my second speaker Tom will address the disadvantages of eBooks from an economic perspective. | 5. Firstly I will address the inferior qualities of eBooks with regard to them denigrating the culture of reading and secondly the notion that print books promote a more holistic and equitable circumstance for people to have a greater access to literature both contemporary and traditional. | 6. Now to my first point, addressing print books and their significant contribution towards promoting a culture of reading.E-Readers are far less capable of presenting artistic illustrations in the same capacity as real books. | 7. Very complex, design-heavy books such as comics do not translate well into eBook format, and in many cases people in possession of older e-reader devices, fail to suppo rt all of the technologically advanced features that are included within newly released eBooks and e-readers. | 8. Ladies and Gentleman how are we to cultivate a love for books with future generations if all we have access to is unexciting and uninteresting, dull, black and white text.Think of the long held reading traditions which families employ when raising their children. | 9. Young children will always be interested in beautiful three dimensional illustrations adorned in colour and exciting imagery, not walls of text. The artistic value and interactivity of the children’s books we grew up with is something you certainly cannot replicate with an e-reader. | 10. This is a crucial part of the culture of reading that can and will engage our youth in reading from an early age. For centuries book lovers have enjoyed browsing the shelves in a book store, reading the blurbs and thumbing through the illustrations.This is an important part of the culture of reading, a culture prom oted by print books and a culture degraded by eBooks. | 11. This is further vindicated as statistics from over 250 000 surveys conducted by Amazon have revealed that 55% precent of e-books purchased from the kindle or amazon online catalogue have been planned purchases and only 5% of buyers have actually browsed the online catalogue like you would in a real bookstore. | 12. Print books are often utilised for decorative purposes in a home.They can define ones interests’ and even a person’s profession, for example doctors and lawyers often have large libraries of books in their homes. Furthermore print books are often culturally and historically significant for various reasons, can form part of collections, or represent sentimental significance. Ebooks do not have that same utility. | 13. According to Jan Noyes and Kate Garland’s scientific report released in 2008 addressing the cognitive advantages and disadvantages of eBooks; it was discovered that screen readin g was found to increase stress and exhaustion levels.Finally, the technology of an e-book can also prove to be a disincentive for prospective readers. | 14. Add to these, the health issues of eye strain, the anxiety of worrying about battery life, damaging the screen of a reading device, its lack of portability in extreme or remote environments, problems of viruses and software bugs and the incompatibility of formats across devices are not issues that the reader of traditional books encounter. | 15.RSI and long periods looking at a screen, plus the possibility that an e-book can be hacked and edited so that the original text could be censored or lack authenticity thus creating several more reasons why e-books can turn people off reading. | 16. All of these significant points refer to the culture of reading which is vital to society as we know it. This now brings me to my second argument that print books promote a more holistic and equitable circumstance for people to have a greater access to literature both contemporary and traditional. | 17.EBooks are often a non-inclusive medium as it is a significant financial investment for individuals to purchase an E-reader. It is difficult for people without substantial financial means to make that investment when their primary focus is directed at providing for their families and their needs. | 18. Traditional books are always more accessible to the general public, in many cases through a library. Libraries provide a free and easy way for people of all socio-economic backgrounds to access books of all varieties and in addition libraries can be accessed locally as there is one in most suburbs. 19. Also, opportunities to read are enhanced because books are a tangible asset that can be easily exchanged, passed on from generation to generation and discarded for other people to pick up cheaply at fetes, book fairs and second hand bookshops. | 20. They are also a valuable resource to be collected and donated to institutions, waiting rooms, schools and third world countries. In other words making them accessible to the general population. Ladies and Gentleman you cannot do this with an eBook! | 21.The reliance of e-books on technology conjures the frightening prospect of a world without literature, recorded historical data, in fact, all of the knowledge and entertainment that is currently held in the traditional manuscript of books and digital media. | 22. What happens if the gadgets and software we need to decode e-books malfunctions, there is a lack of electricity or our digital world collapses? We need traditional books to protect future access to reading for everyone. | 23. Tonight Ladies and gentleman I have argued the social aspects of why eBooks are most definitely inferior to real books. 24. My first point tonight detailed how print books significantly contribute towards promoting a culture of reading whereas eBooks damage that culture and my second point addressed how print books, through libra ries promote a more holistic and unified circumstance where it is much easier for people who have less, to gain a greater access to more. | 25. Ladies and gentleman when DVD’s came out people thought that would be the end of cinema. There will always be a place for real books and if eBooks are such remarkable products why are we still publishing books?Comparing e-readers to books is similar to comparing a modern contemporary rock song to a cover, which is never as good as the original. | 26. Every now and again you might get a cover version of a song that is perceived as better than the original but generally speaking more often than not the cover is never as good as the original. You can manipulate it and improve it but when it all comes down to the crunch it is the original that stands the test of time. The same is true for the traditional book which will pass the test of time. |

Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Business Environment - Essay Example That is on a rough estimate from 2.1 to 3.1 million tones. At the same time world production of green tea is expected to grow at a faster rate of around 4.5 percent on an annual basis for the next ten years. During this time FAO expects that tea production would outstrip the consumption part (Agritrade, 2009). Tea is basically grown in thirty six tropical and semitropical nations. Twenty one of these are from the ACP region. The first six biggest producer countries include; China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and turkey in that respect. This group accounts for eighty percent of the global output. However, it is only less than half of the production which is exported. This is because China and India are major consumers of their own productions. Since the period of 1993-95, global tea production has grown by around two percent. At the same time, consumption in Western states has less than matched this growth by only increasing by a one percentage upward move. In the year 2007, the world tea consumption was on a virtual stagnation point. The increase was quite minimal rising from 3.649 to 3.668 million tones on the basis of the year before. However, in a number of developing countries, the production pace has matched the consumption rate or in other states. In other cases it has fallen short of consumption demands. In this period, China’s consumption overtook that of India as a result of a thirteen point six percentage increase. It is also worthy mentioning that the United Kingdom purchases roughly half of the consumption of the European segment (Agritrade, 2009). The global production of tea witnessed a 2.3 percent growth rate in the year 2007 which saw production levels hit the 3.7 million tones level. It is the Chinese production that accounted for thirty point six percent of the total production, closely followed

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Marketing - Essay Example In addition, the large population in China will provide customers and this will lead to the efficiency of the technology firm. Investing in industrialized countries such as china can lead to formation of allies that can facilitate importation of required raw materials. Structuring the management team Call center management depends on the size of the call center and its structure (NAQC, 2010). Montenzuma Inc is a small technology firm and will require a small call center. A small call center would require a telemarketing manager and a supervisor to manage the staff. In addition, technical staff to keep the servers running. The manager in charge of telemarketing should be in charge of selecting new marketing areas. The supervisors elected are charged with the role of managing and coordinating the staff. The technical staff is charged with the role of ensuring that the telemarketing process runs without any hitches. Once a person has made a clear outline of the management team, the next step is to hire qualified personnel to fill the positions. The telemarketing manager is the highest ranking position. In addition to selecting new marketing areas, the telemarketing manager is responsible for his/her company being competitive. A telemarketing manager is responsible for staff motivation and staff retention. ... In a call center, a number of people are employed to tend by the phone and carry out marketing. Thus, the management team should be able to steer the staff into creating new marketing opportunities. Telemarketing largely depends on the staff having good communication skills. They should be able to convince people to buy their products over the phone. Good communication skills should originate from the top management and trickle down to the staff. Good communication skills ensures a good working environment. This will ensure that the staff feels contented with their work and they will give a large output. In addition to good communication skills, the staff and the management team are expected to have good telephone techniques (Fluss, 2005). Telemarketing involves selling products over the telephones and good telephone skills will ensure increased sales. The management team should also be friendly and easy to work under. The company can organize out of office activities to enhance frie ndly interactions between the staff and the management team. This helps in improving the working environment ensuring maximized output by the employees. A friendly working environment is also important for staff retention and this cuts unnecessary cost to hire and train new employees (Jeffcoat, 2006). The management team should also be in a position to be accountable for the performance of their team. A good performance can be achieved by having the management team working hand in hand with the staff (Sharp, 2003). Above all, the management team is required to completely understand the industry that their main company is involved in. This will help in seeking new customers and running the call center effectively. By outlining the above requirement for the management

William James, The Will to Believe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

William James, The Will to Believe - Essay Example Only a genuine option is relevant. James creates a three-part test for determining whether an option is, in fact, genuine. This three-part test requires that an option be living, forced, and momentous in order to be genuine. As an initial matter, there must be two alternatives. To be genuine, the option must be living. This means that the individual in question will consider seriously each of the alternatives. It must be possible that he will choose either of the options. In this respect, the genuine option becomes extraordinarily individualistic. The test is not applied to groups, whether large or small, but to the smallest possible unit. The test is applied to the decision-maker. This has significant implications. An option may be living for one person but not for another. In a very basic way, the person must be thoughtful, open-minded, and undecided for the option to be living. Assuming that the option is living, the second part of the test requires that an option must be forced. The forced element demands that an alternative be chosen. There can be no hedging. There can be no qualifications of the choice. There is a sense of completeness and irrevocability demanded by this element of the genuine option. You have faith or you do not have faith. You like a person or you do not like a person. There is, in short, a conflict and it must be resolved. The final part of the test concerns the uniqueness of the option. James refers to this as the momentous option. In his view, this option presents itself as a once-in-a lifetime opportunity. To be momentous, the option must transcend trivial issues. The option must involve truly significant matters, the decision must be irrevocable, and the decision must be unique. This limits the discussion to very fundamental issues, such as deeply moral questions, religious questions, and personal relations. In the final analysis, James argues that the question of religious faith is a genuine option because the question satisfies the three-part test. When confronted with the question of religious faith, the option may very well be living to many individuals. The individual may consider both alternatives, to have faith or not to have faith, very seriously. Faith is forced in the sense that, after considering the question, a choice must be made. You do not have faith in salvation without a corresponding faith in hell. Finally, this question of religious faith is a momentous decision. The notion of God is hardly trivial. The notions of salvation and eternal damnation are quite significant. How an individual defines his existence, and leads his life, can be fundamentally affected by this decision. Is this type of religious faith then a rational faith James believes that religious faith, as qualified by the genuine option approach, is rational. Again, his framework relies heavily on the concept of circumstance and individuality. The need for absolute evidence is tangential. This rationale is justified by reference to what he calls our passional nature. Our passions motivate us to act. They are not objective. They are specific to each individual. We are all possessed of

Research Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Method - Essay Example Inamulhaq (2012) discussed that there are different techniques which can be adopted by nurses and other health practitioners in order to ensure and improve hand washing techniques. One of these methods is health education, and this would necessitate the actual training of the staff in relation to proper hand washing techniques in the clinical setting (Inamulhaq, 2012). The availability of antibacterial soaps was also highlighted as an important means of ensuring the application of hand washing techniques. Moreover, facilities where hand washing can be carried out can also be made available in as many places as possible for the hospital staff (Inamulhaq, 2012). In the paper by Erasmus and colleagues (2010), the importance of action planning, was established as one of the effective ways hand washing among nurses can be improved. Action planning involves active participation in the hand washing process, for example, nurses may list when they are supposed to wash their hands. Covering 17 participants in a pilot study on hand hygiene behaviour, the authors established that where an action plan for the nurses is established before or during the shift, the possibility of ensuring that hand washing is carried out becomes greater (Erasmus, et.al., 2010). The action plan then soon becomes part of the nurse’s routine and the possibility of compliance is significantly improved (Erasmus, et.al., 2010). In the study by Nicol, et.al., (2009) the authors emphasized the theory of planned behaviour. The study revealed that the theory of planned behaviour could sufficiently help improve the education and training of nurses in hand hygiene behaviour (Nicol, et.al., 2009). This study was also able to demonstrate that deep-seated habits which are incorporated well into a person’s activities have a significant potential of improving a certain activity or behaviour (Nicol, et.al., 2009). The theory of planned

Software System Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Software System Development - Essay Example This pejorative form of the noun "hack" is even used among users of the positive sense of "hacker". The nuclear power plant's project manager who has already entered into contract with the software house should have considered all the aspects of software house before awarding the contract. Though the nuclear power plant has every right to question and demand the details of the employees working with the software house, however the software house need not provide the data as they feel it as a trade secret. The Project Manager being a higher official is not entitled to hack the database of the supplier company and grab the details on the basis of ex-employees information. This is a bad practice on the part of buyer. This type of action would affect buyer-seller relationship among the firms. For effective business process the exchange partners should have mutual trust and cooperation. According to Moorman, Deshpande, and Zaltman (Moorman et al, 1993) trust is willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence. According to Achrol (Achrol et al, 1991), Morgan and Hunt trust is a major determinant of relationship commitment. Thus the decision of Project Manager to hack the database of software house can be considered as breach of trust. The Project Manager instead of hacking the database can demand the software house to prove their employees skills to complete the project through negotiations. It would be onus duty on the part of supplier to prove his capabilities. The action of hacking is against legal procedures and the trespasser can be prosecuted under the following cyber laws: Under Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (as amended Oct. 3, 1996) section 1030,a hacker is liable to be punished for knowingly and intent to defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization In Western Australia under section 440A of criminal code under the heading 'unlawful operation of a computer system'. The hacker can be prosecuted. (www.aic.gov.au ,11,2006) References 1. Network Security and Ethical Hacking by Rajat Khare, 1st Edition, 2006. 2. Factors affecting the trust in market research relationships by Moorman, Deshpande, and Zaltman. Journal of Marketing, 57(January), 81-101. 3. Evolution of the marketing organization by Achrol .Journal of Marketing, 55(October), 77-93. Answer 2 System Development Life Cycle (SLDC) is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. SLDC has three primary objectives: ensure that high quality systems are delivered, providing strong management controls over the projects, and maximize the productivity of the systems staff. In order to meet these objectives the SLDC has many specific requirements it must meet including: being able to support projects and systems of various scopes and types, supporting all of the technical activities, supporting all of the management activities, being highly usable, and providing guidance on how to install it. The technical activities include system definition, that is, analysis, design, coding, testing, system installation ( Training, data

Information Communication Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information Communication Technology - Essay Example From this research it is clear that a stand alone system can be helpful initially for the teachers to provide training to the users who are unfamiliar with the use of computer systems. A computer system helps in enhancing the knowledge new users who want to accelerate in this domain. A single or stand alone computer can only solve the issues who are just required in a closed vicinity. But when we have to think about the communication over the globe or whole world then the concept of computer networking can solve this issue. Networking helps in connecting computer systems over the globe and it provides an immense set of advantages in domain of ICT which we will have to discuss one by one.This paper highlights that  networking helps in file sharing between all the computers who are connected together. It provides a sort of more flexibility than using floppy drives and USB drive. We can share different types of data like photos, documents, music files, and many more. A network approac h also helps us in saving our important data on a different computer by using a home network. Home network helps us in making backup or duplicate copies of our critical data.  When a network facility is available and different computers are connected via media then it becomes easy to share a single printer among all computers.  When a shared printer will be available on the net then there would not be the need of jumping from one system to another one for printing purpose.

International Marketing Essay Example for Free

International Marketing Essay These are the factors which the business counterparts should look into seriously. Other thing that important for Secret Recipe before enter the new market in UAE, they also should concern about the Microenvironment. In this paper, we found some strength and opportunity of Secret Recipe such as good brand name as the strength and certification of â€Å"Halal† which Secret Recipe has can be the opportunity for them to enter the market, because UAE is a Muslim country so certification of â€Å"Halal† is very important if they want to enter UAE market. As a leading and largest cafe chain in Malaysia, with Halal certification awarded by Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM), Secret Recipe is committed to continue to adhere to the standards of preparation of all food and processing plant in the restaurant in accordance to the regulatory guidelines including HACCP and VHM guidelines. In a short period of thirteen years, Secret Recipe has experienced a rapid growth of over 250 cafes throughout the region. Now, Secret Recipe continuously strives to surpass its own accomplishments and to be recognized as a leader in the industry. . 1 BACKGROUND amp; SITUATION ANALYSIS Secret Recipe is a cafe chain which made up from different stakeholders. The stakeholders are Secret Recipe’s shareholders, customers, government, employees, activist, media and supplier. Secret Recipe has quite a lot of franchises in Asia market but only has one franchise in Middle East market which is Pakistan. In order to penetrate in-depth into Middle East mark et, Secret Recipe decided to open a new franchise in new Middle East country which will be in United Arab Emirates (UAE). In recent years, UAE has become one of the developed countries. It can be proved by its natural resources such as oil and gas. Other than that, service, tourism, trade have become their mainstay as well. However, to observe more about what factors has been influencing in their development, PEST analysis has been given. 2. 0 PEST ANALYSIS 2. 1 Political Factor By starting a new business in UAE, company should take extra precaution on the political issue of the country. The company needs to comply with trade rules which have been implemented by government. One of the rules is the company has to know exactly what kind of products or services that will be marketed. Besides that, there is an excess of politics that existed in the UAE; where government highly focused on their economy and political stability which also excites a lot of FDI in the country these can be seen from the pace of development that paralleled with the number of foreign workers in the country. 2. 2 Economic Factor UAE is a high income country where it economy is the world 33 largest according to the World Bank. Figure 1 Based on the figure 1, the GDP in UAE growth rapidly from year 1999 to 2008 but decline in year 2009 because of the world financial crisis but it recover rapidly from -2. 7% to 3. 2%. Figure 2 Based on the figure 2, the PPP of UAE also growth rapidly from year 1999 to 2010. As the GDP and PPP of UAE continually growth which may benefit to Secret Recipe because it show that the consumer tend to spend more. 2. 3 Social Factor The population of the UAE is about four million while the population growth rate is 3. 282%. While the primary language usage in the country is English, but there are some other languages which also can be used. In term of religion, the majority population in the UAE are Muslim, however in the recent time Christianity has grown in popularity paralleled with the number of foreigner in the country. It will be opportunity for Secret Recipe, because both of the home and host country have some similarities. So it will be easier for Secret Recipe to enter the market. 2. 4 Technology Factor In term of technology, UAE is technically advanced and it is vastly become one of the leaders in technological field. It can be seen from the internet users in UAE, there are a total of 78% (CIA, 2009) of population active in the internet network. Additionally, UAE owned many of state-of-the-art infrastructures and buildings like Burj al Arab which is known as the most luxurious hotel. 3. 0 MICRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 3. 1 Strength and Opportunity Secret Recipe was established in 1997. These 14 years of experience provide a good benchmark in standard and a strong brand advantages. Secret recipe has a 14 years’ worth of good history and experience in its culinary adventure. They gain a lot of recognition through awards and achievement not only in Malaysia but overseas as well. These strengthen brand power significantly. Furthermore, the restaurant was certified â€Å"Halal† since it is first commence. So with such certification they have the upper hand of experience which mean they did not have to put much effort in adapting and expanding in countries like Indonesia or Pakistan, which practically means less money spend in adaptation and implementation in the Muslim environment like UAE. 3. 2 Weakness and Threat Although Secret Recipe got a lot overseas management experience, but it was the first time their enter UAE market where was quite different that others country because of the factor such as culture differences. Thus, it will be a challenge for Secret Recipe because they do not understand about the daily life culture. The competitors can be the most important threat for Secret Recipe, because the competitors firstly enter the market before Secret Recipe. It was definitely a threat for Secret Recipe because the competitors have more knowledge about the market in the UAE and they are more aware about the existing culture in the UAE. 4. 0 SELECTING TARGET MARKET (s) 4. 1 Market Segmentation The market segmentation will be based on demographic segmentation such as age and income where play a crucial role for a company. Although foods and beverages of Secret Recipe can be enjoy by every customer, different age and income customer would have different purchasing power and buying behavior. 4. 2 Target Market Table below shows variety of target markets. As a cafe and restaurant, the target market for Secret Recipe will be young marriage couple where able to consume with their own power and willing to try new product. Target Market| Typical Breakdown| Preferred Lifestyle| Teenager| * Age between 12-19 * Schooling students with no income| * Willing to spend * Willing to taste new product| Young Marriage Couple| * Age between 20-34 * Classified from medium to higher classes consumers| * More spending power * Stable disposable medium and above income * Willing to taste new product| Marriage Adults| * Age between 35-49 * Busy with work| * | | * | * Brand conscious and a bit brand loyalty| 4. 3 Market Positioning Secret Recipe has successfully built its branding and strengthened the consumer’s awareness through the promotion – â€Å"Every Bite Gives You More†. The below figures show the brand position of our main competitor – Gulnaz , Reem Al Bawadi and Bice. High perceived Quality and status Gulnaz Gulnaz Bice Bice Secret Recipe Secret Recipe Extensive personalized serviceExtensive service Reem Al Bawadi Reem Al Bawadi High priceLow price Low perceived Quality and status Basically, Secret Recipe promotes its product based on the consumers’ perceived quality product and services with an affordable price. 5. 0 MODE OF ENTRY We suggest using franchising to open Secret Recipe in UAE. Franchising itself is a continuing relationship in which a franchisor provides a licensed privilege to the franchisee to do (Adam amp; Armstrong 2008). The reason why we choose franchising is because by using franchising the owner (franchisor) of secret recipe will offers assistance in organizing, training for workers, merchandising, marketing and managing in return for a monetary consideration. It is an advantage that we would get when using franchising as a mode of entry. The benefits will we get it obviously will greatly assist us in running our business franchise in the UAE. For example the franchisee does not need to do training for workers, but the franchisor who will do it all for franchisee. It is because every franchisor already has a certain standard that is owned by them. But by using franchising as a mode of entry, it requires that as franchisee have to pay royalties to the franchisor with the initial agreement was made by them. 6. 0 MARKETING STRATEGIES (4Ps) Price: For pricing, we suggest Price-Adjustment Strategies to account for differences in consumer segments and situation. In Price-Adjustment Strategy there are 3 ways to do such as segmented pricing, psychological pricing, discount pricing. For these points we would prefer to use discount pricing. Because of this is the first Secret Recipe in the UAE, so by giving discount it will attract interest from the consumer. Promotion: Because of the Secret Recipe will open in UAE is the first Secret Recipe in this country, so we suggest to using pull strategy into the promotion strategy. In pull strategy they can use mass media advertising to attract interest from consumers. Because of this is the first Secret Recipe in UAE they just inform consumers about the new product to build primary demand. Place: We suggest franchising as the mode of entry to make Secret Recipe in UAE; it is because in UAE there is no Secret Recipe. But to open Secret Recipe in UAE, there are some things that certainly need to be noticed first before starting this business. The most important thing to note is that UAE is a country that has a majority Muslim population, so they must ensure the services that offer is lawful. Product: Secret Recipe is a service that fits in UAE; this is because Secret Recipe is a restaurant that does not use pork on the menu offered, so it can be consumed by Muslim people. Because of this is the first Secret Recipe in UAE, so this will provide something new for people in the UAE to enjoy it. 7. 0 CONCLUSION Secret Recipe is suitable for UAE citizen where most of the citizens are Muslim and Secret Recipe’s foods are â€Å"Halal†. From the PEST, SWOT and 4Ps factors that we analysed, by using franchising as the mode of entry, we believe that Secret Recipe have huge potential to be success in UAE. 8. 0 REFERENCES Agri-Food Trade Service 2010, The United Arab Emirates Consumer Behaviour, Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Food and Products, Agri-Food Trade Service, viewed on 12 November 2011, http://www. ats. agr. gc. ca/afr/5661-eng. htm#e BBC 2011, United Arab Emirates Profile, BBC, viewed on 12 October 2011, http://www. bbc. co. k/news/world-middle-east-14703998 Central Intelligence Agency 2009, Country Comparison and  Internet users, The World Factbook, viewed 17th November 2011, https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2153rank. html Foreign amp; Commonwealth Office 2011, Middle East and North Africa, Foreign amp; Commonwealth Office, viewed on 12 October 2011, http://www. fco. gov. uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/middle-east-north-africa/united-arab-emirates Franchise Direct 2011, Coffee Franchise Industry Research Business Report I, viewed 17th November 2011, http://www. ranchisedirect. com/coffeefranchises/coffeefranchiseindustryresearchbusinessreporti/74/220 Go Eat Out 2007-2011, Secret Recipe, Go Eat Out, viewed on 12 October 2011, http://www. goeatout. com. my/Restaurants/Promotions/Details/View/PID/32994/Secret-Recipe-Every-Bite-Gives-You-More. aspx Info franchise 2006, franchise in United Arab Emirates, viewed 17th November 2011, http://www. infofranchise. com/detail. cfm? IdNotizia=8136amp;IdSezione=18amp;strKey=com Qindexmundi, United Emirates Arab Population Growth Rate, Qindexmundi, viewed on 12 November 2011, http://www. indexmundi. om/united_arab_emirates/population_growth_rate. html Research and markets 2011, analyzing retail in the UAE, viewed 17th November 2011, http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/541162/analyzing_food_retail_in_the_uae Secret Recipe 2011, Secret Recipe Franchise, Secret Recipe, viewed on 12 October 2011, http://secretrecipe. com. my/? store=36amp;webpage=243 Slideshare 2011, UAE presentation, viewed 17th November 2011, http://www. slideshare. net/suranivikas/uae-presentation Themanagmentguru 2011, PEST Analysis of MICE industry in Middle East, viewed 17th November 2011, http://themanagmentguru. logspot. com/2011/01/pest-analysis-of-mice-industry-in. html Time Out Dubai 2011, Restaurant, Time out Dubai, viewed on 12 October 2011, http://www. timeoutdubai. com/restaurants/reviews/8114-reem-al-bawadi Uaeinteract 2011, Political System, viewed 17th November 2011, http://www. uaeinteract. com/government/political_system. asp UK Essays 2011, UAE Economy, viewed 17th November 2011, www. ukessays. com/essays/economics/uae-economy. php Wikistreetfood 2009, Franchise: Secret Recipe, viewed 17th November 2011, http://www. wi kistreetfood. com/Franchise:Secret_Recipe . 0 APPENDICES Social Factor Actual Expenditure (US$) and Projected Growth (%) in the U. A. E by Product Type Source: Euromonitor, 2010 Figure 3 From the figure 3, we know that the spending behaviour of UAE nations based on product type. It shows that the UAE nations would like to spend a large amount of money in food and non-alcoholic beverages and it increase from year to year. So it will be the advantages for Secret Recipe to enter the market. Marketing Strategies People: People are one of the elements of service marketing mix. People define a service. In case of service marketing, people can make or break an organization. Thus many companies nowadays are involved into specially getting their staff trained in interpersonal skills and customer service with a focus towards customer satisfaction. Because we use Franchising as a mode of entry, so we do not have to think too much about it. Because by using Franchising, so the Franchisor that will do the recruitment of their workforce and provide job training in accordance with the standards held by the owner of the brand name of Secret Recipe (Franchisor). Process: Service process is the way in which a service is delivered to the end customer. A good service will make consumers feel good about what we offer to them. For process, it would be better if we can set up what the consumer want, so it will give an efficiency of time to the community in the UAE. Because UAE is a country that does not have long to rest, people in UAE really appreciate the time, so they will not waste time waiting for things. By providing a fast process, it will attract attention and interest of the community in the UAE. Physical Evidence: Physical Evidence is a very important element in Service Marketing Mix. This cannot deny, because everyone would want something that looks real is better than others. Secret Recipe is a restaurant, so we should have chairs, tables, and good food. But if only by having those things, its too general because this is a basic thing that a restaurant should have. To provide something more than our

Project On Library Management

Project On Library Management St. Joseph College Of Engineering and Technology (SJCET) located in eastern highlands of Tanzania, in the town of Dar es Salaam. The College operates in Brigitta Campus situated at about 23 km from Dar es Salaam-Morogoro Road at Mbezi-Luguruni Area. Built on a sprawling 30-acre hilly land, the college provides a conducive atmosphere for the pursuit of education. The focus of the college is on bringing out IT professionals, thus provides fine ambience for its training minds. The College runs two programmes, Degree and Diploma in Computer Applications that started in the year 2004, and in 2005 they opened another campus in town of Songea, southern of Tanzania. Currently, The College has been using a manual processing of library system. It has a well-stocked library providing a strong support to the Teaching-Learning process. The stack room has a total of about 32, 000 Books covering all the programmes offered. Adequate numbers of technology journals and magazines are subscribed in all the branches of study. With ample seating capacity the reading hall of the library caters to the scheduled use of the library by every class for one hour every week and to the leisure-time patronage by all the staff and students. The library working hours are between 8 am and 6pm on all working days and between 8am and 1pm on Saturday and Sunday. As time goes by, the population of students continues to increase. The librarians are not able to update the book files and student files, are unable to keep tracks of items, organize and maintain files as the result of an increased number of redundant and inaccurate information and no security measures taken. The college administration has now decided to automate manual Library System into a new Library Management System that will integrate among all of its campuses in order to eliminate redundancy and inconsistency of data. Librarians will be able to add/edit or delete details from and to the database plus maintaining security of Library System. Aim The aim of the project is to design and implement database for library management system that deals with Member registration, Item Management, Borrowing and Search for item(s) or for member(s), as well as avoiding redundancy errors and inconsistency of data by setting security measures. All records about books information and members information and other materials etc will be kept in the database. First, the library management system will allow members to register; registration includes storing basic information of members such as Member ID, Name, Address, Email, phone number, title, and registration date. then only the registered members will be allowed to borrow an item from the system and do searching for items based on author name, book title etc. Item Management is about managing all items available in library including Books, Journals and Reference materials with following properties: item number, name, author, number of copy etc. Placing reservation allows member to book an item if it is not immediately available. The item might be in another campus or a member may already have it out on loan. When the title is available, the librarian will activate the reservation and keep it aside for a member who has booked. Borrowing activity includes the following: allowing a member to borrow a book from library and be able to return a book to the library according to specific return date. When members borrow the book, database will store the book Id and member Id and this Ids will be used to search all items that have been borrowed by specific member and know total numbers of borrowed books and returned books. Objectives The main objectives of the project are: To do research on Library Systems and to establish distinct features that can be applied in developing a Library Management System. Activities: do research on manual and online Library System; get some ideas from books and journals for relevant articles. Deliverables: research report. To create a WBS for Library Management System. Activities: identify main Tasks (Activities) for the project and produce Work Breakdown Structure. Deliverables: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) To understand technologies to be used in designing Library Management System Activities: briefly explanation of software(s) to be used, hardware(s), languages and server(s). Deliverables: requirements Analysis. To design and implement a database that will hold information for Library Management System. Activities: Analyse information collected and draw up a requirements specification for Member registration, Item Management and setting security. Deliverables: conceptual data model, relational schema, codes for database. To develop a web based application for Library Management System. Activities: the following is the platform showing how the web based application will be implemented: PHP, CSS, XHTML, Apache and MySQL are languages to be used for developing web pages, virtual platforms and server side for validation on retrieving and accessing information from database through web based application. Deliverables: web based application, screen dumps, and codes for web based application. Resources During the course of this project the resources expected to be used are: Research: Academic Articles, Text books such Database Design and Implementation, e-Commerce; these textbooks will be used to bring up different concepts that will assist in designing a Database and Web pages for a new Library Management System then linking Web pages with the database designed. Internet access: should be reliable because many materials are available online on different websites/blogs that talk about Library Management System. Software: any database web design software will be used in designing Library Management System and languages to used are: mySQL codes, PHP, etc. Application programs: mySQL server, Ms Project, Dreamweaver, etc Initial References St. Joseph College Of Engineering and Technology (SJCET) PROSPECTUS 2006-2007. Proposal: Guidelines and Samples, available at: http://sampleproposal.net/category/system-proposal/ Database Design and Implementation Coursework, Comp 1302, Due: 07-04-2010. Library Management System, available at: http://www.dotnetspider.com/projects/7-Library-Management-System.aspx New York State Library, available at: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/pos/ PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is sometimes conflated with program management. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honouring the preconceived project constraints. [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Typical constraints are scope, time and budget; used to represent the concept that the various factors affecting project outcome are coupled such that a decrease along one dimension necessarily results in an increase in at least one of the dimensions. Scope includes all factors associated with the project deliverables, including quality. Budget includes all things that cost money, including resources and equipment. Time is about knowing the project schedule; how much time taken to complete the project. [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Processes The major processes include: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling and closing. Initiation The initiation processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business needs. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them. The initiation stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas: Analyzing the business needs/requirements in measurable goals Reviewing of the current operations Financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget Stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Planning and design After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of the detail. The main purpose is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the initiation process group, a failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the projects chances of successfully accomplishing its goals. Project planning generally consists of Determine how to plan (e.g. by level of detail or rolling wave); Developing the scope statement; Selecting the planning team; Identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure; Identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking the activities in their logical sequence; Estimating the resource requirements for the activities; Estimating time and cost for activities; Developing the schedule; Developing the budget; Risk planning; Gaining formal approval to begin work; [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Executing Execution process involves coordinating people and resources as well as integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project management plan. The deliverables are produced as outputs from the processes performed as defined in the project management plan. [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Monitoring and Controlling Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary to control the execution of the project. The key benefit is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan. Monitoring and controlling includes: Measuring the ongoing project activities (where we are); Monitoring the project variable (cost, effort, scope etc) against the project management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be) Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (how can we get on track again) Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrates changes controls so only approved changes are implemented In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and controlling process also provides feedback between project phases, in order to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan. Project Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes: Continuing support of end users Correction of errors Updates of the software overtime [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Closing Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned. This phase consists of: Project close: finalize all activities across all of the process groups to formally close the project or a project phase Contract closure: complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of any open items) and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase [Wikipedia.org (date: 23rd Aug 2010)] Work Breakdown Structure Work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project. Because most projects involve many people and many different deliverables, it is important to organize and divide the work into logical parts based on how the work will be performed. The WBS is a foundation document in project management because it provides the basis for planning and managing project schedules, costs, resources and changes. Gantt chart Gantt chart is a standard format of displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format. [Schwalbe, K (2007); page 25] Gantt chart for SJCET Library Management System

Deconstruction Of The Rationalist Philosopher Rene Descartes Philosophy Essay

Deconstruction Of The Rationalist Philosopher Rene Descartes Philosophy Essay This deconstruction of a rationalist philosopher such as Rene Descartes is influenced primarily by a heavy exposure to Nietzsche, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Foucault. Upon a personal philosophical synthesis of these philosophers to my self, a reexamination of Descartes produces astonishment that such work is considered honorable and fame-worthy. Rene Descartes is considered to be the founder of analytical geometry, as well as an important contributor to the scientific method, and finally, a philosopher. However, a philosophical scrutiny of this logician shows reveals that there is some legitimate substance lacking in his analysis and attempts to reach truth, and instead only achieves convictions. Such a realization and conclusion implores to unveil the ambiguity of Descartes philosophy and discredit him as an honorable philosopher (while not touching the mathematician). On the Begging of Questions and Initial Fallibility Rene Descartes opens his meditations by recognizing that his conceptions of the world are largely based on shaky foundations and uncertainties, and thus sets out to apply himself to the general destruction of all his former opinions. In the opening, Descartes describes the nature of the task, Now it will not be necessaryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to prove that they [his former opinions] are all falseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [but] the slightest ground for doubt that I find any, will suffice for me to reject all of them. (Descartes, 95) Immediately we are faced with the illegitimacy of such a claim, for it supposes that Descartes is liable to reject all which he doubts. That is, he is liable to reject some true things, and accept some false things so long as he has certainty of them and he would necessarily embrace this. Descartes uses this idea consistently when he claims that that which is known by the senses cannot be accepted as certain or true (and perhaps he is committing one of many fallacies when he implies that certainty equates truth). However, he claims that some things which are known by the senses, such as that he is holding paper, are ridiculous to doubt, for that is the kind of doubt that would have him assimilate myself to those insane persons whose mind are so troubledà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Descartes, 96) Here he most conspicuously begs the question as to what is certain and real, and thus sets the stage for a fest of question-begging which ensues for the remainder of the meditations. A side note concerning his illegitimacy is that when Descartes claims to have doubted everything, he still uses memory and language. Yet how can he trust these faculties especially if he were to apply the same reason to them as he did to his senses that it is imprudent to trust anything which has ever deceived him? Indeed, Descartes cannot doubt everything from the beginning, and for the sake of Construction accepts some premises which are likely to be faulty. (Harrison-Barbet, 127) The Dream Problem Continuing in the deconstruction, Descartes mentions a most interesting point: that there are no conclusive signs by means of which one can distinguish clearly between being awake and being asleep. (Descartes, 96) Descartes attempts to eliminate the ambiguity of what is real and not by implying that that which is doubtless in both the real world and the dream world is doubtless in itself, such as algebra, geometry, and astronomy. However, though these mathematics may appear to be true, it is still fairly uncertain which world is the real one. The Evil Genius / God Problem Descartes suddenly introduces the concept of a God. Supposing that there is a being who is all-powerful and by whom I was created and made as I am, (Descartes, 98) Descartes poses the question as to how he can be certain that that which is established, of the indubitably of mathematics, is not the object of deception by a more powerful being, and his existence and nature are of a major concern for the meditations. First, Descartes proposes the possibility that there is not a true God, who is the sovereign source of truth, but some Evil Genius, no less cunning and deceiving than powerful, who has used all his artifice to deceive me. (Descartes, 100) What Descartes means by true God is uncertain here, as is his term Evil Genius, but clearly the latter is an illusionist who is in the habit or practice of deception. Descartes supposes that this Evil Genius is all-powerful, so that if he is real, then God cannot be, and vice-versa, but simultaneously he professes that the suspension of all judgment and building up his knowledge from only that which is certain protects him from the illusions of the Evil Genius. He does not consider the rational implication that this may lead him to an infinite regress of uncertainty, as in the case of suspecting that he is suspecting something to be untrue, for this is most detrimental to the object of building a foundation and structure of certainty. The Cogito Descartes supposes that perhaps there is nothing which is certain, nor certain to exist, except his self his ego. That is, given the existence of a deceptive Evil Genius, and given that Descartes thinks, it must be logical that that which thinks must exist, and therefore, despite any deception, Descartes exists, and thus Descartes has attained a point of reference and the foundation of all of his knowledge. Firstly, however, Descartes supposes the existence of an Evil Genius, and has not refuted the possibility of an infinite regress in which it is possible that he is being deceived about the proposition that Descartes assumes to be true: that an Evil Genius exists, or he does not. There has been a great wealth of criticisms concerning Descartes cogito, that if we were to focus on this, we would be quite repetitious and dreary, and thus this essay will presume the cogito just as Descartes has that is, that he exists, with reference to a single instance of such criticism from respect: [The cogito] commits the error of circular reasoning; for the I in I am is already presupposed in the I of I think, and any necessity it possess is a matter of logic which has nothing to say about actual existent thingsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Harrison-Barbet, 126) Indeed, what has Descartes truly doubted before he makes this claim? Everything except what he needs in constructing, it seems he has already presumed an I, and besides that already has a conception of what thinking is (and necessarily what not thinking is). Indeed, Descartes has not doubted everything as he had attempted. (Nietzsche BGE, 24) This habit of not doubting everything and making leaps in logic serve very well in order to create the Cartesian Structure, which is more the goal than reaching truth, though Descartes seems to imply that a structure and Truth would be equal. The Infinite as Beyond Logic and Understanding In Meditation three, Descartes attempts to prove the existence of God, in which, according to his own logic, he is unsuccessful. One of Descartes unwritten premises is that God can be known by logic. Considering a being who is solely a creator, this may be possible, but Descartes God is characterized by being infinite. Thus the question that is most prudent to ask is if God can be known through logical means. Logically, this would mean that there is something to which God is not superior, and therefore calling him an infinite being and knowable through logic is just contradictory. What we cannot do, according to Kierkegaard, is believe by virtue of reason. If we choose faith [or belief] we must suspend our reason in order to believe in something higher than reason. (McDonald) Indeed, Kierkegaard makes a worthy reaffirmation of the futility of trying to know something which is above reason through reason. Supposing, however, that Descartes God so desires, then of course he could be known by logic indeed, but what is next to be examined is if the finite can know the nature of the infinite. Descartes has claimed the potential existence of some supreme, infinite being, and is attempting to gain knowledge about him. However, Descartes is a mortal, finite being, who cannot, without the will of God, grasp the will or nature of the infinite. By definition, even if God allowed this to him, God may have just as well disallowed this. That Descartes presumes that God is allowing himself to be known, and also that he allows himself to be known through logic is a presumption which relies heavily upon two very shaky supports: that Gods will is for himself to be understood or known, and that God is not a deceiver. It seems that it is simple for all knowledge claims to have a base which, ultimately, lies in some unproved assumption (even mathematics, according to Russell), but it is precisely Descartes unique doubting method which makes it so that we cannot grant him the benefit of the unproven assumptions which he makes. The attacks upon the knowledge of God through logic presented above can be applied to Descartes suppositious argument that his conception of God cannot have originated within himself. His claim to this argument is that he is finite, whereas God is infinite, and that the idea of something which is more real cannot originate with something which is less real. Here Descartes is not considering the alternative. That is, he is already begging the question that God exists or is real, when he should also consider that perhaps the idea of the existence of God is less real than himself. This would mean that, even according to his argument, his idea of God may be an illusion, thus making him more real and existing than God or the idea of God, whereas this idea is only an idea, and his existence is real. Therefore, he would be the creator of something more imperfect (the illusion), thus being more perfect than the idea of God, which, according to his Cartesian logic, is a legitimate argument which he has failed to consider. In considering that his idea originated from God, he is begging the question that God exists. Furthermore, Descartes claims that he cannot doubt the idea of God because he has a clear and distinct perception that it is true. Once more, despite the shakiness of the presumptions base and logic, with the proof of God, Descartes is successful at beginning to convince himself that there are some things which he can begin to believe and accept. On the Reason for Existence Now, Descartes presents a most interesting argument. He claims that he exists, and that this existence must have a cause, which may be from himself, that he has always existed, his parents, something less perfect than God, or God, and that he could exist for no other reason. (Wikipedia, argument outline) Descartes naivetà © in the matter of refuting his goals will be exploited here. Firstly, he supposes that perhaps he created himself, but refutes this by claiming that if this had been the case, he would have made himself perfect. If I were [God] I should certainly doubt nothing, I should conceive no desires, and finally I would lack no perfection of which I have in me some idea . This is a very adolescent approach to refuting this, for one may simply ask how Descartes knows the nature of God once more. Indeed, If Descartes were God and his own creator, is it not possible that he would make himself ignorant to alleviate his boredom of omniscience? Is it not possible that he would make himself believe that he is human? By Descartes definition, God can do anything he wills, and thus how can Descartes claim to know what God would like? This arrogance is mirrored in a poor refutation of his argument. Perhaps he has convinced himself that he is not God, but this refutation is a very dim one. Furthermore, how does he know the nature of perfection? Descartes is supposing that as he is right now is imperfect. He does not consider that perhaps he is a perfect being: indeed, that perhaps the consideration that he is imperfect, that he is lacking, that he is finite, and doubting everything, perhaps all are functions of perfection, including considering a wrong conception of perfection. This would make Descartes a perfect being, but nonetheless one who is confused and perhaps discontented, but Descartes fails to even consider this, instead reverting to an old idea of perfection, which by now has evolved from simply supremely existing to being doubtless and undesiring too. Descartes other sources of existence will not be refuted because they are so embarrassing, but he then wonders how, given that God exists, he received this idea. He quickly dismisses that it was created by him, begging the question, and asserts that it is an innate idea, and that it was placed there by God at birth. He gives no substance to this claim, and concludes the third meditation with a most disturbing note: that God is not a deceiver. This attempt to shed light upon the nature of God is once more an arrogant question-begging leap. Descartes claims that deception is an imperfection. How he knows this, or how he can possibly know what perfection is, he leaves uncertain and assumed once more. Apparently, it is because he has an idea of perfection, and deception is not as perfect as the absence of deception in his mind. However, it is essential to understand that this very idea is reliant on the premise that this is indeed the case. For if God is a deceiver, then he is essentially equal to the Evil Genius, and may have well placed a wrong idea of perfection in Descartes mind. Descartes claim that deception is imperfect stems from the premise that deceit stems necessarily from some defect, which is a horrendous question-begging root, for he automatically disregards any of these defects as attributes of God simply because that is the way in which he conceives of them. That is, anything which he conceives of as bad, ther efore, is bad. He doesnt question his ability to make this claim. However, this is alright for Descartes, for he is desperate to erect his structure of certainty already why not skip and ignore some steps so long as he can have certainty? On the Benevolence of God Descartes claims that God must be benevolent, and gives substance to this claim by further claiming that God cannot be a deceiver, since deception is imperfect. This idea of perfection stems from his clear and distinct ideas of perfection, which are true by virtue of all of his doubtless claims being true due to the premise that God is not a deceiver. However, Gods benevolence is dependent upon Descartes clear and distinct perceptions, which thus creates a very circular reasoning. And what of the nature of God? Can omnipotence truly coexist with omni-benevolence? Supposing, as Descartes has, that there indeed exists an infinite being who is supreme to all other things ever conceivable and existing, there arises the paradox of an infinite benevolence. Can God be both omni-benevolent and omnipotent? For indeed, if he were omni-benevolent, then he would necessarily have no capacity for malice, and thus once more not be infinite. Can it be possible that Descartes is considering that, if God should so will it, he could not express pure malice? Is God thus limited? Is he then still an infinite God? Perhaps his idea of benevolence was instead opposite to perfection, and he has just proved the existence of the Evil Genius? These utterly absurd assumptions which the finite mortal being Descartes attempts to make about the nature of God are truly disturbing. Indeed, even through logic, what is understandable about God is that we may be wrong in all of our conceptions of him, but we may also be right in some. Indeed, Descartes miserably failed to examine that nothing can be certain about that which is more infinite than our finite understandings. Thus, the premise of the omni-benevolence of God which Descartes claims through his circular reasoning will not be granted to him, and anything further built upon the expectations that all of his clear and distinct ideas are true, and that God is not a deceiver, are built on top of such a shaky foundation that will be considered as unreliable sources of truth and reason. Thus, we have the possibility that God is indeed a deceiver, and both the deconstruction and the early reconstruction will be reexamined. The Evil Genius / God Problem Reexamined Descartes early doubts concerning the Evil Genius and God reappear, and the concept that the Evil Genius and God are the same is a possibility, though it must be admitted, that this is rather unknown. Indeed then, Descartes was correct in doubting everything, for indeed, everything may be a deception and an illusion, and everything he may seem to know has the potential to be false. (The Radical Academy) The Dream Problem Reexamined When considering that God/Evil Genius may be real and existing, and possibly deceiving, the Dream Problem is given a whole new perspective. Indeed, even the things which are true in both the real world and the dream world, such as mathematics, may be deceptions created and placed into Descartes mind by this infinite being. This would mean that Descartes would truly have no knowledge of what is real and what is a dream, if even his conceptions of real and dream are legitimate conceptions in the first place. This leads us to Descartes most genuine statement from the beginning of his treatise, that [maybe] there is nothing certain in the world. (Descartes, 102) Beyond Infinity The reasons for which Descartes arguments following the establishment of the existence of an infinite being are invalid is because he constantly refers to this infinite to propagate that he cannot be wrong in what he conceives because he believe the existing God to be benevolent and not a deceiver. However, since this premise is so weak, his structures of mathematics and sciences, and then in the end senses and other bodies are so unstable that, even if true, are inconsistencies based on a weak premises which do not deserve to be examined. Descartes fails to achieve truth (but not in building a structure). Conclusion: On the Philosophy of his Mind A Structure of Secure Certainty It is most appropriate to mention an analysis of Descartes meditations and what he has achieved. Rene Descartes began his meditations by hoping to eliminate all doubt and achieve certainty. By the end of the meditations, it appears that he has done just this. However, his flaws, incessant question-begging, and absurd philosophical method have been pointed out above, thus raising the inquiry of the coexistence of the absence of doubt and truth. Descartes primary aim was to eliminate doubt, and by the very end he is shown to be doubtless indeed. However, the matter is different when concerning truth. Descartes has mentioned that in his life he has struggled to find something certain, and the Cartesian Structure which he has constructed for himself is perhaps the very thing for which he had been searching. Indeed, Descartes may now rest easily accepting that everything which he clearly and distinctly perceives is true, and that everything he considers, therefore, is essentially true for he believes that he could not be deceived. Yet this goes back to an original concern of rejecting truth or accepting untruth. By the end of the Meditations, it is clear that truth and untruth are for Descartes merely functions of what is certain and what is doubtful. That is, for him, truth or untruth is a quality which an idea gains as one is accustomed to it (such as in the Cartesian Structure), and so long as he is doubtless about it, he is living his philosophy well. Essentially what this means is that, though Descartes may fail at reaching truths logically, at least he removes doubt from himself, and may rest easily. It is for this reason that the Cartesian philosophy is one which is a philosophy solely for Descartes (and perhaps those of similar mental properties). That is, this philosophy, which is based upon comfort in certainty and anti-doubt, cannot have a universal application to all humans, but only for himself, for perhaps he alone can achieve a comfort with this exact method. Thus, Descartes reconstruction provides him with a method for removing doubt, but cannot be used by others to remove doubt, nor to reach much truth, for their psychological states vary from Descartes, who has created a system which works for himself (it is considered that this may work for some others, but these are generally not considered here, thus only slightly mentioned in these parentheses). Thus, has Descartes eliminated doubt? Indeed, yes he has, and it just so happens that he has achieved this psychological state philosophically. However, it is not a philosophical state of truth at all perhaps solely the state of potential truth. For Descartes, however, it is simpler, clearer, and more distinct to conceive of these two as synonymous as he takes a nap from six long and excruciating meditations, allowing him the luxury of defining metaphysical and epistemological as he pleases. His philosophy is essentially the propagation of his psychology in the erection of his Cartesian Structure, that this structure is the very thing necessary to discard doubt. Or in Friedrich Nietzsches words, every great philosophy so far has beenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary unconscious memoir. (BGE, 13)

A Mothers Love :: essays research papers

A gentle hand reaches out; arms cradle a new entry in this complex world. A simple gesture, yet one that will come to signify an infallible bond between two, the bond of a mother’s love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I knew early on that my life was not to follow the gentle streams and brooks of my choosing, yet was to go raging down the rivers of its own. I did not realize however, there was always to be a clearing in the turbulent waters, a hand extended to pull me out. Always reaching out, again and again I would grasp that same gentle hand that had pulled me up many a time before. I quickly came to see that there was always an avenue of escape, a crutch to lean on; time and time again that mothers love would come through.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I knew not what would posses this wonderful lady to do such a thing. Had she not problems of her own, responsibilities? I could only begin to imagine. My naà ¯ve thinking assumed this could not be. For how could it be that she could do all these things and still find time to assist my in my childish mannerisms? If only I could have known then what I was soon to learn.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a child I yearned, as all children do, to stray, to venture and explore away from the nest. Why did I have to come in, take that bath, and not forget to brush those teeth, what seemed to be every two minutes? Why me? I was ready to take on the world. I could achieve, explore, and conquer. After all I was already at the well experienced age of at least well†¦ eight. What could there possibly be that I could not do? Nothing, I thought. Once again I was to prove myself wrong, a trend I now see all too familiar as I look back on life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Yet I was not to ready to conquer, I was ready to stumble, not able to climb to the top and very capable of the fall. Yet there she was, that gentle hand, the soft touch, ready to scoop me up and place me right back on my feet for another attempt. Somehow never doing, just leading me in the right direction. But in one way or another I would see that direction and choose to ignore it, I knew what she was doing but wasn’t going for it.

Total Quality Management Essay -- essays research papers

TQM is a philosophy of management driven by the constant attainment of customer satisfaction through continuous improvement of all organizational processes, including employee participation, teamwork, and leadership. There are five key principles: -MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT 1) Plan (drive direct) 2) Do (deploy, support, and participate) 3) Check (review) 4) Act (recognize, communicate, revise) -EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT 1) Training 2) Suggestive Scheme 3) Measurement + Recognition 4) Excellence Teams -FACT BASED DECISION MAKING 1) Statistical process control 2) Team oriented problem solving (TOPS) -CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT 1) Systematic measurement + focus 2) Excellence Teams 3) Cross-functional process management 4) Attain, maintain, + improve standards -CUSTOMER FOCUS 1) Supplier partnership 2) Service relationship with internal customers 3) Never compromise quality 4) Customer driven standards Implementation of TQM Total Quality Management emphasizes detecting potential problems before they occur. There are five major areas of TQM, which are: †¢ Focus on quality and prevention of problems †¢ Cooperation with suppliers and customers †¢ Continuous improvement †¢ Encouragement of proper climate and employee empowerment †¢ Use of measurements to back decisions In the process of TQM customers are the ones who define a quality product. Not only should employees inspect products or services while performing duties, but companies must design quality products. During the design process there should be input from customers, marketing and those who assemble the final product. A company implementing TQM should cooperate with suppliers and have a focus on customer satisfaction. Vendors should be treated as business partners with all parties working to deliver a quality product. In order for TQM to be successful suppliers must also implement it. When implementing TQM one must remember that it is continuous improvement, while eliminating wasteful steps. In order to implement it employees must be empowered to make d... ...ogether to form a team so that the entire construction project in is sync with all of its components, thus resulting in more fluid results. The final and arguably most important application of TQM into the construction industry is a new system of measures. The construction does not have system of statistically monitoring themselves, except for total cost results. It can be argued that since the industry does not have a statistical standard of measurement it cannot improve itself. Instead of focusing on processes and causes of problems, the industry has focused on monitoring and inspection of end results. As an example, the construction industry does not monitor the amount of non-productive time at a project for the amount of redo-work that takes place due to mistakes. This lack of measurement leads to acceptance of the defects and non-productive time. Using a TQM approach, the cause of these "defects" are quantified and analyzed. This data can then be used to analyze the efficiency of projects as they are on going. This results in the ability to make beneficial changes by eliminating the cause of the defects wh ile the project is still in its construction phase.

Leadership Style Paper Essay

A leader is one who uses interpersonal skills to influence others to accomplish a specific goal. A manager, leader or supervisor is most of the time used interchangeably but they are all different. The function of a good leader is to achieve a consensus within the group to also provide structure and to empower each team member to achieve their goals and to achieve them successfully (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). Leadership according to the reading can be formal or informal. Informal leadership is demonstrated by staff that does not have an appointed management position; informal leadership solely depends upon someone’s knowledge or on the job training. Formal leadership is someone who is appointment as the manager or supervisor, and this leadership is also based upon personal skills set but maybe reinforced by organizational authority and position (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). To be a successful leader one must be skilled in empowering others to do well and be successful. A successful leader demonstrates effective communication skills, problem solving skills, and decision making skills. A good leader clearly define their purpose and mission, a good leader most often understand people and their needs good leaders also recognizes people differences and use this knowledge in their interaction with each individual. A good leader most importantly must be able to inspire others to commit to their goals and also inspire success (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). Considering the reading, President Barack Obama demonstrates great leadership characteristics. President Barack Obama is what you call an authentic leader, authentic leaders is one that is understands the struggles of the front-line staff, and he is compassionate those people and as well as the American People that depend on him and his leadership team to make major decisions for our country. President Barack Obama not only is compassionate  about the people that he directly work with on a daily basis to run the country, he make the citizens of the United States feel that he cares from his actions. The change that has occurred since he has been in office has impacted most Americans in some aspect of life, whether the American is considered upper, middle, or lower class consumers. President Obama not only displays authentic leadership skill, but he also displays some characteristics of share leadership, he is aware that it takes many great leaders together collaborating to achieve goals or get the job done. He understands that change doesn’t happen overnight and in order to achieve a goal one must maintain consistency and drive. President Barack Obama also displays characteristics of a serving leadership, upon being elected as the President of the United States his desire has been to serve the people of the United States of America. The President has displayed this type of leadership since the beginning of his career as President; he has always prioritized the needs of the people which he serves, in an effort to maintain a healthier and economically successful Nation. Reviewing the result of the Leadership and Team Self-Management assessment, I scored 51 which displayed excellent leadership skills. Considering the results of the assessment in comparison to The President leaderships is accurate, based upon the assessment the results displayed that I have excellent leadership skills. The leadership roles that President Obama displays that i personally don’t have would be the shared leadership trait, in some situations I would rather do the job alone instead of asking for help from others, not really considering that several helpful opinions is better than one opinion on any given day. I don’t consider myself having any traits or any leadership strengths that will supersede ones of President Barack Ob ama; he is a great leader and is very compassionate about the rich as well as the poor in America and this reason alone set his leadership skills apart from the previous President. President Barack Obama has shown several things since he has been in office he is an all-around great leader and family man. He is a leader within his family as well as to the United States of America from his humble spirit to his courageous spirit of getting things done and attempting to make a impacting change for the people of the United States of America. In conclusion, a great leader is someone who cares about the needs of the group as well as the needs of the people that they serve. A great  leader empowers, gives structure, and understand that everyone is different and not everyone can be managed the same. Reference Sullivan, E. J., & Decker, P. J. (2005). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Absorption vs. Variable Costing Essay

This case study will look at Jokkmok Industries and one of its managers, Mr. Rosen, who is bucking for a promotion to CEO. His division uses absorption costing and has the ability to produce 50,000 units a quarter with a fixed overhead amount of $600,000. While the sales forecast shows that the company will only sell 25,000 units during each of the next two quarters, Mr. Rosen wants to double his budgeted production for the second quarter from 25,000 to 50,000 units. We will look at Mr. Rosen’s decision and see how it affects his company’s bottom line by putting the figures from last quarter and the next quarter into an absorption income statement and a contribution margin statement. From this we will be able to see the differences in production costs from the two income statements. These figures will let us be able to assess if Mr. Rosen has improved his division’s performance by increasing production. We will also be able to tell if absorption costing is a viab le option for management to use when making decisions like increasing production when sales are not forecasted to improve. We will also discuss a few shortcomings of the absorption approach and how it relates to management. And finally, we will see if Mr. Rosen’s decision would allow him to be considered for the CEO position. Absorption vs. Variable Costing (Contribution margin) â€Å"The main difference between variable costing and absorption costing is the accounting for fixed manufacturing costs.† (Horngren C. n.d.) This is never more evident than in this case study. Income statements prepared using these different methods usually produce different net operating income, and they will also produce different costs per unit sold. In order to completely fill out the income statements we will need to look at the 1st quarter’s income statement listed in Table 1. From the data in table 1 we will need more data to input into the absorption and contribution margin income statements. This additional data is displayed in Table 2. Now we will plug these numbers into both the absorption and contribution margin income statements shown in tables 3 and 4 below for both the 1st and 2nd quarters. Information for setting up these tables was obtained from the article â€Å"Income Comparison of Variable and Absorption Costing† from Accountingexplanation.com. One can notice right away that there are some major differences between the two income statements especially in the 2nd quarter’s net operating income. Under absorption the net operating income is $650,000 and Mr. Rosen would think that his bottom line is looking better and he could almost see himself in the corner office. But running the numbers using the variable costing method in the contribution income statement, the increase in production shows the same net operating income as the previous quarter which was $350,000. So how can the bottom line look so much better under absorption than contribution? The main reasons have to do with fixed manufacturing overhead and inventories. Fixed manufacturing overhead are things like rent, facilities expenses, salaries, and insurance that do not change over a given period of time. â€Å"Since fixed overhead costs do not change substantially, they are easy to predict, and so should rarely vary from the budgeted amount.† (Bragg 20 13) This is demonstrated in the cost per unit sold difference between the first and second quarters. First quarter’s was $72 while 2nd was $60. The reason is because fixed manufacturing costs are involved in the equation. In absorption you have to take the fixed manufacturing costs ($600,000) and divide by the total units manufactured (50,000) to get $12 per unit. Now you add that to the cost per unit manufactured on Table 1 ($48) to get a total of $60 per unit manufactured. When the company only produced 25,000 units the cost was $72 per unit. ((600,000/25,000) + $48 = $72). Now the excess fixed manufacturing costs are rolled into inventory for the next quarter. As shown in the less ending inventory in Table 3 ($1,500,000), because 25,000 units of the units manufactured were not sold. Contribution margin or variable costing does not break up the fixed manufacturing costs, instead it puts in the entire amount of $600,000 into the quarter and does not roll over the fixed costs into inventory. (As shown in the line fixed manufacturing overhead below the contribution margin.) Ho wever, in variable costing, $48 of manufacturing cost per unit is rolled over in the inventory. Because variable costing accounts for the fixed costs entirely it is the better option for knowing where your company stands. Besides the problems with absorption costing listed above, it considers fixed manufacturing overhead as product cost which shows a higher cost per unit than variable costing. As a result, it does not help management decide the selling price of a product. In the example above table 3 shows $72 and $60 per unit sold, while table 4, the variable cost per unit sold is $55. Also absorption costing can make the bottom line look better than it is by removing product costs from the income statement by producing inventory. This way managers, like Mr. Rosen, who are evaluated on the basis of operating income can temporarily improve profitability by increasing production. But there some that still think there are advantages to absorption costing. â€Å"Advocates of absorption costing argue that all manufacturing costs must be assigned to products in order to properly match the costs of producing units of product with the revenues from the units when they are sold.† (Accountingexplanation .com n.d.) But given the reasons stated above variable costing is still the way to keep the books for the decision makers. I would not recommend Mr. Rosen for the CEO position because he seems to have cooked the absorption books in his favor. By increasing his production he manipulated the fixed manufacturing costs to show them lower than they really are and thus showing a better net operating income. But the real costs are rapped up in inventory for the next quarter to worry about, like kicking the can down the road. There is something that Mr. Rosen could do, or might have been planning to do, to correct the inventory problem. He could plan on selling more units. What if market research shows that sales will increase by nearly 20% if Lokkmok drops prices by 5% to gain a competitive edge in the 3rd quarter? Look at Tables 5 and 6 below to show how dropping the prices and increasing sales to get rid of inventory would help the bottom line. Notice the difference between keeping the status quo of pricing and sales compared to the ‘what if’ third quarter numbers on both income statements. Now notice the difference of the bottom line between the absorption ‘what if’ 3rd quarter and the contribution margin income statement, the bottom  line suffers under absorption because sales are eating into the inventory, which is a good thing. But in reality the increase sales has increased revenue, eating away at inventory and actually helping the bottom line, as is the case on the contribution income statement which shows net operating income went up over 21%. Conclusion We have discussed the shortfalls of absorption costing, while showing the many benefits of variable costing and the contribution income statement. Whether it showing the correct net operating income for a company that increases production, or that selling more units, cutting into inventory, and increases revenue actually helps the bottom line, variable costing is correct tool for decision makers. Attached to the submitted Case assignment is the excel worksheet I used. I learned a lot about accounting and excel to complete this assignment. I had a fun time crunching the numbers to see how sales, fixed/variable costs, unit pricing and the like affect the income statement. Please feel free to open and change the yellow highlighted sections to see the outcomes. Please give me any feedback on the excel spreadsheet, for I was a broadcast journalism major 18 years ago and have not tinkered with spreadsheets too often. Thank you. References Horngren C. (n.d.) Chapter 9: Absorption/Variable Costing Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/p/pforsichh/accountinginfo/121/documents/newCh09In-ClassProblemsHorngren13e-MYCOPY-X2.pdf Bragg, S (2013) What is fixed overhead?, AccountingTools. Retrieved from http://www.accountingtools.com/questions-and-answers/what-is-fixed-overhead.html Accountingexplanation.com. (n.d.). Advantages, Disadvantages, and Limitations of Variable Costing Systems. Retrieved from http://www.accountingexplanation.com/advantages_disadvantages_limitations_of_