A Rose for Emily. Analysis

Jack Wu English 1B – Professor Meehan 03/05/13 â€Å"Rose for Emily† Analysis In â€Å"A Rose for Emily†; William Faulkner details the loneliness and selfishness of peculiar woman, Miss Emily. Miss Emily is unable to grip the idea of death and suffers great deals of denial. After the death of her father, the townspeople expected her to be in a state of grief but alas she is not. Instead she proceeds to say that her father is very well with her, alive. William Faulkner’s idea of grieving is clear in this story because he shows his audience that it is better to accept death than to ignore it through the accounts of Miss Emily’s journey.William Faulkner’s story takes place in the South, during a time period of racial discrimination and major political change. By using reader response criticism, a reader can analyze â€Å"A Rose for Emily† through the aspects of the secret held within the story, race found through anthropology, and gender found through anthropology. To begin with, one can analyze â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by examining the underlying hidden message found within the story. The hidden message that William Faulkner tried to convey in his story was the themes of death and change.Death looms through the story from the beginning right on through to the end as the narrator begins describing the beginning of Miss Emily’s funeral. Miss Emily herself chooses not to accept the fate of death when her extremely controlling father passes away. Miss. Emily later killed Homer to ensure that he would never leave her. This is Miss Emily’s most severe attempt to preserve her life and the time period in which she lived. Miss. Emily believes that having nothing is less painful than grief over something lost. To further examine â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is by analyzing gender, Mr.Faulkner explains the roles of women in the South and how they were seen through the eyes of men. One can clearly see tha t through the opening sentence of the story, the narrator is stating that women gossip while men are caring and serious. This is only one of many passages that show that Mr. Faulkner is attempting to make men the stronger gender. â€Å"Only a man of Colonel Satoris’s generation could have invented it and only a women could have believed it† Faulkner. Colonel Satoris is described as being an ingenious man but in this sentence, Miss Emily’s name isn’t even mentioned when the two are compared.The statement made in this story is that men are the better gender. There are many aspects that were incorporated into â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. William Faulkner was able to create a story involving many ideas about society and how it functioned in a specific time period in the South. To further examine â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, one can use the reader response criticism and analyze the aspects of the hidden message found within the story, gender and race fou nd through anthropology. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is an important element in literature due to examination of the effects of change created in the olden South.

The Dangers of Television

SUMARY The Dangers of Television by Harriet B Fuller (USA) According to Harriet in the United States, television has played in changing American values as follows. In the 1940s, television was predicted to bring families closer together. Its influence, however, has splintered family relations. The first danger of television, as the author mentions is the lack of as family outings‚ the going of the whole family together such as family take a walk, dine out, go to the cinema are constrain when one or more family members do not go by they want watching more go out.The second danger mentioned by the author is the limitation of family time together at home. The recreational activities before TV include: games, songs, and hobbies. They will replace the time of the occasion for talking in family: debate and talk with family members. The final danger as the author claims is the â€Å"domination† of TV in our daily life. This is â€Å"dominates† the family. The family acti vity depend on TV.In conclusion, the writer gives an alarm that if children watch TV for hours; it has become a pacifier and a baby-sitter. Parents' roles as educators have been replaced by TV, preventing necessary interactions between family members Reaction paragraph According to Harriet in the United States, television it now â€Å"dominates† the family and In my opinion, the writer is completely true. Obviously,I have seen the effects of television on my family and agree with the author of this article.As a child, I can remember watching very little television. The majority of my time was spent outdoors with my family gardening, playing, caring for livestock. However, I did have a younger brother who preferred watching television to joining our family activities. and bad effect to our family. In conclusion, it is significant that we need to consider the dangers of television to our life and future because it effect to family relationship.

Annie Dillard The Chase

In the first paragraph of â€Å"The Chase†, the narrator of the story a seven year old girl is informing the audience about the game of football. She says â€Å"It was all or nothing† (Dillard 121). Basically stating that in football you have got to give all of your effort and not hesitate at all if you want to make the tackle and stop the offense. This do or die attitude is reflected later in the story during the chase scene. It is also the climax of the story. Being that a bunch of kids are together unsupervised, there is going to be some trouble. That is exactly what happens next. The children are all gathered during a winter snowy day making snowballs next to a street throwing them at passing cars. Its wide black door opened; a man got out of it running. He didn’t even close the car door. † This kind of unexpected thrill we can all relate to. Dillard adds even more by putting in the little details that make the reader feel the anger of this man and the feeling of we’re caught by the children that we have all felt as a kid is described in that same quote. By using these details in the story the re ader can put themselves into the shoes of the characters. Dillard uses lots of active descriptions that are very real throughout the chase scene. She uses actual street names like Edgerton Avenue, Lloyd Street, Willard and Lang. This use of actual real names of streets makes the story. The reader can almost get lost in the chase itself with Dillard’s use of rapid transitions like up, around, under, through, down some, across, smashed. After the chase is over and the children are caught the reader feels tired Annie Dillard The Chase In the first paragraph of â€Å"The Chase†, the narrator of the story a seven year old girl is informing the audience about the game of football. She says â€Å"It was all or nothing† (Dillard 121). Basically stating that in football you have got to give all of your effort and not hesitate at all if you want to make the tackle and stop the offense. This do or die attitude is reflected later in the story during the chase scene. It is also the climax of the story. Being that a bunch of kids are together unsupervised, there is going to be some trouble. That is exactly what happens next. The children are all gathered during a winter snowy day making snowballs next to a street throwing them at passing cars. Its wide black door opened; a man got out of it running. He didn’t even close the car door. † This kind of unexpected thrill we can all relate to. Dillard adds even more by putting in the little details that make the reader feel the anger of this man and the feeling of we’re caught by the children that we have all felt as a kid is described in that same quote. By using these details in the story the re ader can put themselves into the shoes of the characters. Dillard uses lots of active descriptions that are very real throughout the chase scene. She uses actual street names like Edgerton Avenue, Lloyd Street, Willard and Lang. This use of actual real names of streets makes the story. The reader can almost get lost in the chase itself with Dillard’s use of rapid transitions like up, around, under, through, down some, across, smashed. After the chase is over and the children are caught the reader feels tired

Characteristics of Sam as an Employee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Characteristics of Sam as an Employee - Essay Example First of all, Sam does not know if the client really complained against him, or if it is the trick played by his employers to get rid of him, because Sam, under the presented circumstances, would not dare to sue them legally, as there is a possibility of a sexual abuse cropping up against him. He would be frightened, or he would also be humiliated to face such charges and hence, the employers even after dismissing him from service are safe. Here is a very strong possibility of the employers plotting against an employee who could be dismissed in a devious way, and at the same time, could be unable to retaliate against them. If they had dismissed Sam from the job without a sexual abuse complaint in the background, he would have definitely sued them for unlawful dismissal and they would have been forced to compensate him for the money and the career prospectus that he had lost due to their dismissal. As a grave charge of sexual assault is made here, Sam is unable to knock at the legal d oor. In any job, job security is of paramount importance without which the mental, physical wellbeing of the worker could be ruined combined with a disastrous career route. â€Å"The employee who loses his or her job in an economy which uses market exchanges to direct labour towards remunerative employment is immediately deprived of his or her major source of wealth, and will possibly suffer long-term impoverishment as a result of unemployment. At the same time the worker is excluded from the workplace which is likely to constitute a significant community in his or her life,† Collins (1992, p.15). The worker loses his dignity and self-confidence to find another job. Even he gets an alternative job; he would find it difficult to work freely in that post being haunted by the earlier unsavoury memories. There are psychological cases where the person was scarred for life. The importance of job security is so high that almost all the governments have chosen to pass as many laws as possible to create an atmosphere of security for the worker.

Labor power Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Labor power - Assignment Example The intrinsic value of a commodity, which is labor related, determines its exchange value, a concept he calls â€Å"the law of value.† are robbed of their rightful sweat. This is indeed the reason why Marx called for the elimination of profits and for workers to conquer of capitalists. the value of labor-power manifests as subsistence means. According to Marx, profit originates from exploitation of workers by capitalists. He explained that profits result when capitalists pay workers less than the actual value they add to the commodities they produce. Marx explains the main distinction between societies by arguing that the difference in the â€Å"mode in which the surplus-labor is in each case extracted from the actual producer, the laborer† (Marx and Engels 241). Despite the fact that capitalist workers, they (workers) cannot stop to work because they have no choice. Workers own labor but lack the means like tools, and raw materials to execute labor. For them to acquire these resources, they have no alternative but to sell their labor-power to the exploitative capitalists. In Marx’s model, profits keep falling because of increased efficiency in production, which translates to less labor utilization and spending more on labor-saving, efficient machinery. As such, the capitalists own attempt to increase prof it result into falling rate of

Human reasoning and Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human reasoning and Education - Essay Example Human reasoning and Education An ideal childhood can lead to an ideal person. A sound body and a sound mind have to be nourished. When all the things permit and when there are no hurdles and when life is a pleasure they can follow the set of standards set globally. As the great leaders say children are the nations future. An ideal childhood is what most of the able parents would provide to their children but what about those who crave for that. So we can say all these things are for the lucky few and most of population of poorer countries unlucky. The rich countries are lending a helping hand to poor but the funds don’t reach them instead gulped in between While learning at education institutions like schools, colleges, etc., they learn discipline and other activities. When we saw the scenario of the class pupil will do their work, one is laughing and one is fighting with his/her friend, one says I am feeling hungry, there will be muffled sounds in the class room, they think that is their dream world. They call the teacher they show what they have done in the class. And they expect that teacher should appreciate and encourage them. At this stage they want to learn new things or words from this world, in house parents talk something and the child would start imitating the same words. At this time they feel that they have achieved something, very often they will learn all these. This stage child will have enthusiasm to learn such things, their memory too sharp. Because they don’t have any jealous about others and no wealth problem they don’t worry about the others. Everything is going peacefully in their life.

Environmental Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Environmental Ethics - Essay Example ( McCann, 2003). Today, many feminist supports that our environment is apparently a feminist issue. This philosophy has been really popular and many relate the ethics of the environment to feminism and have their contradictions over the patriarchal issue and the biases as well as the dominance that comes in hand with the situation. One needs to understand in depth the basis of this philosophy. "A feminist uses gender analysis as the starting point; gender is the lens through which the initial description and analysis occur." (Warren, 2000) Similarly like feminism many forms of ecofeminism prevail. Ecofeminism is basically a name given to various feminist practices and philosophical ideas. These various approaches not only represent feminism but also how different forces of nature play and how they can overcome environmental concerns. Some examples of different perspective are: liberal, Marxist, black etc. Therefore various environmental philosophical positions that accepts feminine issues and support feminism are generally referred to as ecofeminist positions. "Views which uncritically embrace unified or one stance views of feminine sides of gender dichotomies are not feminist; they are better understood as ecofeminine than ecofeminist. They are, in fact, dangerous views from a genuinely feminist perspective." (Darion, 1999) The question here arises that what does one perceive about ecofeminism? What makes this philosophy so concrete that it stands as a complete concept which deals with its theoretical support or the political movement? Although there are significant differences between ecofeminism and feminism from which it has actually rooted, but all ecofeminist agree about certain things which are prominent in feminism. For instance, there is always a significant link between the dominant forces of nature and women, which is essential to understand three things that is feminism, philosophy of the environment and environmentalism. The

Write up one to two pages about one of the ideas that you found most Essay

Write up one to two pages about one of the ideas that you found most interesting in Smelser and Reed, p. 185-253 - Essay Example Additionally, size in the context of organizations has effects that directly have an effect on the efficiency and the structure. It is captivating that Smelser and John perceive the size of an organization to be affected and determined by various aspects including activities distribution in time and space. The distribution of activities in time and space has a major effect on the organization, which influence the decisions made to achieve the desired outcome. Interestingly, Smelser and John indicate that greater size is associated with greater complexity and formalization; hence, they believe that size carries not only the definition of how large or small an organization is, but also the variations in the organization’s authoritative hierarchy and culture. The authors further outline the cautions necessary in handling effects associated with size including developments such as outsourcing, specializations, and virtual organization. Consequently, it is interesting that the size of an organization is linked to every other aspect of economies of scale and the dissemination of activities in time and

Accounts Receivable Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Accounts Receivable - Research Paper Example If such settlement is made between the company and its customers, the amount owed to the company by the customer is shown in a separate account known as account receivable. This accounts help in establishing long-term relationships between a customer and a company. However, account receivable is usually opened in the case of the customers only whose credit risk is above a certain criteria and whose past history with the company is good. The account receivables are also opened in a case where sale is made or service is provided, the invoice has been raised against the customer but the amount has not yet been received as the money is in the course of transit. This may be the case where the money is in transit, that is, in transit if sent through a banking channel or in transit in the route of courier. The sale and revenue is recorded as soon as the invoice is raised against a certain transaction. The invoice is sent to the customer who, after receiving the invoice, sends money to the company. Even if no settlement in respect of deferring the payment has been made between the company and the customer, some time may lapse between the course of the procedure. During this period, the company opens an account against the customer known as account receivable in which the amount owed by the customer is shown. Accounts receivables are shown in the Balance Sheet as a separate head of account in the current assets. The movements in account receivable are made through the payments received and the sales made or the services provided in respect of which payment has not been yet received. The balance is shown in the balance sheet. It may also happen that some of the account receivables are gone bad in the period, such as the customer has gone into liquidation. In such a case, the money owed by the customer or a portion thereof will be written off by charging an expense in the profit and loss account as a

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 8

Marketing - Essay Example According to Walker (2009), in 2012, over 20,000 e-bikes were sold in United Kingdom. Support for greener transport continues to grow thus making e-bikes become a trend, and giving a higher advantage to the stockers of e-bikes. This is a marketing plan in the field of sustainable mobility. The success factor in electric bicycle is that it has several benefits in comparison to conventional forms of individual mobility. E-bikes business has been selected because electric bicycles mitigate accessibility problems and reducing energy use and most relevant emissions of commuter traffic. These issues are the success factors of Manchester e-bikes Inc. because e-bikes will reduce environmental degradation, as well as offer cheap transport options. This plan focuses on the company’s growth strategy, suggesting ways in which Manchester e-bikes Inc. can build a large customer base, develop products that are differentiated from the already existing brands in the market. This plan will also provide information regarding the external environment in which the Company will operate in order to provide it with a good startup strategy. Since Manchester e-bikes Inc. will market its products directly to its customers, it is considered a business-to-customer (B2C) marketer. This marketing plan seeks to promote consumer awareness of the e-bikes and to motivate and entice them to purchase e-bikes. An outline of the strategies through which the e-bikes will be marketed will be given in this marketing plan. A substantial research will be undertaken in order to develop viable assessments that will help Manchester e-bike Inc. to determine the marketing and image branding direction for their products. Every business is rooted in a particular macro environment. An instrument that is used to scan the macro environment is the PESTLE analysis (Andler 2008, p. 197-198). This analysis will be conducted in consideration of the political environment, economic

Carbonate and hydrochloric acid Essay Example for Free

Carbonate and hydrochloric acid Essay If you have a two fixed masses of hydrochloric acid, which have both been crushed up, the one with the smaller particles will have a higher rate of reaction, due to the fact that there is a higher surface area exposed to the hydrochloric acid. A good example to compare this to would be slicing a loaf of bread, then spreading butter on it. The more thinner you cut each slice of bread, the more you can get which means that you would be able to spread more butter. This type of theory is known as the bread and butter theory and is often used in biology. The higher surface area of marble chips there is that is in contact with the hydrochloric acid, the higher the rate of reaction, and the more products that are formed in a given amount of time. Light Some chemical reactions are affected by the presence of light. One example of a reaction that depends on the presence of sunlight is photosynthesis, which only takes place when sunlight falls on a plant, which contains green pigmentation called chlorophyll. Another example of a reaction that only takes place in the presence of light is that which occurs when a photograph is taken. Inside the camera is a transparent film, which a clear plastic film that is covered in an emulsion of a layer of gelatine which is filled with millions of tiny crystals of silver halides, especially silver bromide (AgBr). The emulsion that is used is similar for both colour and black and white film. The only difference is that the colour film contains three layers of emulsion which all contain different dyes. When light falls hits a silver bromide molecule, silver cations (Ag+) accepts an electron from the bromine ions (Br-) creating a silver atom. Ag+ + e- Ag Silver ion + Electron Silver atom The bromine atoms that are produced are then trapped in the gelatine. The more light that hits the photographic film the greater the amount of silver that is deposited. As you can see, most of the ways of increasing the rate of reactivity involve increasing the number of successful collisions within the reaction itself. Once you do this the rate of reaction should increase. However, just increasing the number of collisions doesnt necessarily mean that the rate of reaction is increased. This is because in order to increase the rate of reaction you need to increase the number of successful collisions. When collisions occur, if they do not have enough energy, which is in the form of kinetic energy, then they would repel each other. However if they do have enough energy, then they would combine, which is a successful collision. The way in which the rate of reaction is calculated is by using the following formula: Reaction rate= change in amount (or concentration) of a substance/products produced Time taken Therefore, in this case, I will be measuring the rate of reaction by measuring the quantity of products formed. The formula would then be: Reaction rate= carbon dioxide produced. Time taken Using this method you can work out the average rate of reaction between calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid in the time given for the experiment. The rate at which it reacts would be measured in x grams/minute. Aim The aim of this experiment is to see how the rate of reaction can be affected by a factor [variable]. The variable that we chose was the concentration of the acid, so the aim is to see how the concentration of hydrochloric acid can affect the rate of reactivity. Prediction Substances are prone to burn much faster in the presence of oxygen. For example a charcoal in a barbeque would often be burning quite slowly with a red glow. However, when you blow on t, the coal would become even hotter as it gets more red, and my even burst into flames. This is as you are blowing a higher concentration of oxygen onto it. Another example is acetylene, which burns extremely rapidly in the presence of pure oxygen. The energy produced, in the form of heat, is enough to burn through metal, which is what it is used for: C2H2 + 2. 5O2 2CO2 + H2O + heat Acetylene + Oxygen Carbon dioxide + Water + heat energy. Chemical reactions occur when successful collisions occur between particles. This is when particles gain enough speed that when they collide with each other they join together. Successful collisions between acetylene molecules and oxygen molecules occur when pure oxygen is used instead of air. Therefore, the rate of reaction increases the rate of reaction as well as increasing the amount of heat given off. From this, I can therefore predict that as you increase the concentration of the hydrochloric acid, you would also be increasing the rate of reaction. I predict that the shape of the graph would look like so: This is as the rate of reaction at the beginning would be quite rapid. This would eventually slow down due to the fact that the calcium chloride and the hydrochloric acid are being used up. I therefore predict that the shape of the graph would eventually level off, and all of the lines (the concentrations) should end up at the same level in the end. Preliminary Investigation There are two methods that may be used to measure the rate of reaction, which are: * How fast the reactants are used up. How fast the products are formed The method we are using is to measure how fast the products are formed; in this case how fast the carbon dioxide is formed. Preliminary experiments were performed beforehand to understand how the actual experiment should be carried out, decide on the quantities of substances used as well as comprehend the observations in the experiment, i. e. effervescence, in order to acknowledge the reaction. First, we had to decide on the concentration of hydrochloric acid used. The fist concentration that was tried was 3 molar, which I decided was too fast. This was as the reading on the gas syringe went above the maximum level quite rapidly, which is not sufficient as it means that the results would not be adequate enough to identify a trend, which is the main aim of this investigation. The next concentration level that was tried was 2 molar, which I decided was adequate enough for the maximum concentration. Even though the reading in the gas syringe did go above the maximum, I did keep in mind that I was going to be using a larger gas syringe for the actual experiment. Therefore the maximum concentration of acid that is going to be used is 2 molar, which is the variable. We are then going to reduce this to 1. 8 molar, 1. 6 molar, 1. 4 molar, 1. 2 molar and then finally 1 molar. I believe that these sets of variables would be adequate enough in order to identify a trend. After deciding on the quantities used, I then had to decide what volume of acid I was going to be using. The first volume I tried was 0. 5ml, which was too slow. I then tired 10 ml, which was again proving to be quite a slow reaction. So I then doubled the volume of the acid, which I believed was satisfactory, as the rate of reaction was good, and the amount of co2 produced was satisfactory, as it did not go over the syringe limit. I then had to decide what mass of calcium carbonate chips I had to use. The first mass that I had tried was 0. 5grams, which produced a far too slow rate of reaction. I then tried 2 grams of calcium carbonate, which was too fast of a reaction, and the amount of CO2 produced was off the reading on the gas syringe, so I halved it to 1 gram, which was satisfactory. The amount of time I am going to use is 90 seconds (one and a half minutes) as I believe that this is a sufficient amount of time in which I will be able to identify any trend between the concentration of hydrochloric acid and the amount of carbon dioxide produced. Here are the results for the volume of acid: Concentration of acid: 1M Mass of marble chips: 1. 0 gram Volume of acid used: 5 ml. Time (s) Concentration of acid: 1M Mass of marble chips: 1. 0 gram Volume of acid: 10 ml Time (s). Concentration of acid: 1M Mass of marble chips: 1. 0 gram Volume of acid: 20ml TConcentration of acid: 1M Mass of marble chips: 1 gram Volume of acid: 20ml Time (s) + Here are the results for the concentration of hydrochloric acid: Concentration of acid: 2M Mass of marble chips:1 gram Volume of acid: 20ml Time (s) 2 produced (cm3) + Concentration of acid: 1M Mass of marble chips: 1 gram Volume of acid: 20ml Time (s)(cm3)Â   The overall result for the preliminary investigation using the correct quantities would be: Time (s) 1 produced (cm3) with 1MÂ   The graph for the preliminary investigation looked like this: Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

Silas Marner Essay Example for Free

Silas Marner Essay In the book Silas marner, George Elliot uses many themes to bring the book alive and also to grasp the reader’s attention. Silas marner is written by a woman who named herself George Elliot as a mean to publish her novels. Themes are used in this novel to portray what George Elliot was trying to show the readers. One of the themes in Silas marner is class; being centered on two households, marner’s cottage by the stone pit and the Cass marner, the red house, these two settings represent class extremes. The cottage is showed as the ramshackle abode of the lowest member of raveloe society; the manor is a beautiful home filled with gentry and a location for dances. Elliot shows many intersections between the two households. Dunstan Cass, who is a member of the upper class, enters marner’s home looking for money. Silas marner who is from the lowest class and miserable, raises a squire’s granddaughter as his own child, despise the fact that she is from an upper class family. The rainbow tavern and the church in raveloe are also places where class differences are present. The rainbow is a different place when the â€Å"gentles† are having a dance (ch. six). In these times, the lesser villagers like mr. Macey, reign over the rainbow, telling stories. Secondly, at the church, the higher members of society sit in assigned seats at the front of the church while the rest of the villagers sit in the back and watch. In both these places, although everyone recognizes the status differences between the lower and higher class, this doesn’t not seem to be a problem in raveloe. In raveloe, strict boundaries of class do not necessarily lead to greater happiness among the higher classes. Those with money or those who have a little money tend to be the most harned and corrupt characters, such as Dunstan, Godfrey and even silas, before he found Eppie. The person in silas Marner who is most oppressed by circumstances, is Godfrey Cass, who finds himself at the mercy of a lower class wife, who fails to have children of his own and ends up envying the bond of a lowly weaver and his daughter. Silas and Eppie, on the other hand, though they do not have status or wealth, seem to enjoy unmitigated happiness. Nevertheless, being in a higher class shows that when there is a crime or something goes amiss you are never suspected because you are in a higher class so you would never stoop to those standards. For example, when silas’s gold was stolen, even though it was Dunstan Cass who was from the higher class who stole it, he was never suspected because he was in a higher class. Instead they suspected Jem Rodney, a low class peddler. Why did they suspect him and not someone from a higher class? Because being in a higher class, no one ever thinks you would do something like steal from a miser. Only because the higher class portrays an image as to having it all and are happy and perfect. Dunstan Cass is a clear example that even though you are in a higher class, you have that one person who does not uphold the standards and stoop lower than a lower class person would. Another theme of silas Marner is the nature of chance, and perhaps the only inference one can make about chance as read in the novel is that chance cannot be trusted. Everyone has good or bad turns but we never know which is which until later in life. Take into consideration when silas loses his gold, he thinks it is the worst thing that could ever happen to him. When you think about this, you realize it was one of the best things to happen to silas because losing his gold gave him a clear space in his life to love and take care of Eppie like she was his own. Looking at godfrey cass, he believes the death of his first wife and marner’s subsequent adoption of his daughter, was an amazing stroke of good fortune, but as we read and realized it turns out to be horribly the worst in the end. He ends up wanting his daughter Eppie in his life more than he wanted Nancy. Godfrey realizes it was wrong to pretend that Eppie was not his child, which he paid for in the end. We realize that chance is not so random after all but guided by the author. The characters end up meeting their faith, the good were rewarded or ended up lucky, while the bad were unlucky or punished. For instance Godfrey stated that he â€Å"passed for childless once† because he wanted to and, unfortunately, he â€Å"shall pass for childless now against his wish†. Even so, the novel also reflects the complexity of reality, and chance serves this purpose as well. Near the book’s end, the wise Marner says, despite his perfect happiness, â€Å"Things will change, whether we like it or not; things won’t go on for a long while just as they are and no difference†. Which means pain will come, joy will come, and no one can learn from each revolution of the wheel fortune.

London-based seatwave

London-based seatwave Part I 1. Introduction London-based Seatwave.com was founded in January 2006 by Joe Cohen. He is currently President and CEO whilst Mr. GED Waring is currently VP of Technology and James Hamlin is Director Online Marketing. The site has undergone continuous growth since launch, and currently serves tens of thousands of monthly visitors. Seatwave.com is a specialized online marketplace where fans can buy and sell tickets for concerts, theatre, sports, and live events and is the largest online ticket marketplace in Europe. Seatwave.com works by allowing Ticket Sellers to post the tickets they have for sale on the Seatwave site, and then letting buyers bid on them. Tickets go to the highest bidder and the site offers guaranteed delivery of tickets to winner and takes a small price off the ticket sold for compensation. 2. Seatwave Information Technology applications Seatwaves success is dependent on its use of technology to help drive the supply and value chains of the business and in its three years since its inception, Seatwave has gone from strength to strength winning numerous accolades, including being named Best Technology Media Company 2009 by The Guardian. Pure 360 emailing Technology Seatwave decided to partner with progressive email marketing providers, Pure360, to create and deliver a highly effective, cost efficient, email marketing campaign by capitalizing on cutting edge email marketing technology. Seatwaves ongoing email marketing campaign uses Pure360s Intelligent Time Sending tool to analyze when each of its customers is most likely to open their emails, and click-through to the website. This information is used to ensure emails arrive in recipients inboxes at the time he or she is most receptive an essential tool as Seatwaves success is dependent on the audience responding quickly and purchasing tickets. Timing is everything for Seatwave, and it is imperative that it sends out the latest information about events and ticket availability as quickly and efficiently as possible. Pure360s Automatic Message Import tool makes it possible for Seatwave to send out the latest offers by uploading web content automatically into their email marketing campaign, meaning they use minimal resources. Seatwave Mobile Application LONDON, ENG (Seatwave) 14 January 2009 Seatwave, Europes largest online fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced its newest partnership with mobile platform provider, Snaptu. As part of the companys continued expansion into the mobile environment and in a first for fan-to- fan ticket exchanges, the new application will provide a seamless mobile box office experience for fans. It will allow them to navigate through the full range of European concert dates on their mobile phone, and purchase with one call. Cookies When you view our Site we may store information on the hard drive of your computer in the form of a cookie (essentially a small text file). Cookies allow us to tailor the Site to your interests and preferences. (Seatwave.com 2009) IP Addresses We study visitor trends since we are interested in the successful dissemination of information through the Site. Our server creates log files of information such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address from your network, what pages were explored and the length of your visit. Analysis software is used to generate reports, which helps us to learn more about how we can enhance your experience with the Site. This information is not used to develop a personal profile of you. The log files are regularly deleted (Seatwave.com 2009). Seatwave Ticket finder Seatwave has secured a deal with MSN whereby MSN portal users can use Seatwaves Ticket Finder to search for secondhand tickets. The new objective for the online activity is to increase sales of tickets and encourage more people to sell tickets on the site. Secure Online Account As a buyer, you can review all your previous orders and track their status within My Account. For sellers, My Account allows you to view or amend your listings, track your sales and send out your tickets Seatwave Ticket Cover TicketCover is a new kind of insurance and Seatwave will be the first UK Company to ensure that consumers are refunded for the cost of a seat at sporting, music and other forms of live entertainment, if unforeseen circumstances prevail. Such circumstances include motor breakdown on the way to the venue, illness, injury, jury service and a range of other occurrences that could keep a person away from their chosen event. The service will be administered by Mondial Insurance and the cost of the cover will be included in the price of all Seatwave tickets. Seatwave Ticket Integrity Seatwave guarantee that their tickets come only from legitimate sources and that they will represent them accurately and honestly. They also guarantee that you will receive the tickets you ordered (or similar ones) and that they will be with you by the day of the event. And if they dont keep this commitment to you, they will take reasonable steps to source replacement tickets, of an equivalent value, to make sure you dont miss out. If suitable replacement tickets (determinable solely at our discretion) cannot be found, well refund 100% of the price you paid. No questions. Additionally Seatwave Ticket Integrityâ„ ¢ guarantee is a two-way street. If you are selling tickets they promise that you will receive prompt payment from Seatwave for all orders that are confirmed and fulfilled. 3. Seatwave E-Business Models Seatwave have adopted a combination of two E-business models, a Transaction fee revenue model and an E-Auction model. (Schneider. G 2009) explains that in the fee for transactional revenue model, businesses offer services for which they charge a fee that is based on the number or sized of transactions they process And Seatwave has successfully adopted this model whereby they are paid a commission for every ticket sold. Ttickets can be sold at any price selected by the seller, including below and above the face value printed on the ticket and Seatwave charges buyers a 15% service charge and sellers a 10% success fee. Seatwave has additionally adopted an E- Auction model or as they put it a fan to fan to online ticket exchange system. The online auction business model is one in which participants bid for products and services over the internet. When one thinks of online auctions they typically think of E-Bay, the largest online auction site. Like most auction companies, eBay does not actually sell goods that it owns itself. It merely facilitates the process of listing and displaying goods, bidding on items, and paying for them. It acts as a marketplace for individuals and businesses that use the site to auction off goods and services. Several types of online auctions are possible. In an English auction the initial price starts low and is bid up by successive bidders. In a Dutch auction the price starts high and is reduced until someone buys the item. EBay also offers fixed price listings. 4. Seatwave Financial Performance In January 2009 Seatwave was on 35% market share, GetMeIn (a UK startup founded by US guy James Gray and acquired by Ticketmaster is on 25%, and Viagogo is on 14 The principle industry area to which Seatwave belongs is events ticketing . Unfortunately Seatwave does not publish its financial statement but do provide growth margins which make it easier to measure the success and profitability of the company. Europes Leading Ticket exchange increases lead on the field London: 05 May 2009 Seatwave, Europes leading fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced explosive growth LONDON: 05 May 2009 Seatwave, Europes leading fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced explosive growth for Q1, supported by ComScores latest report confirming that Seatwave is Europes largest ticket exchange by a factor of more than 2 to 1 versus its nearest competitor. March sales alone grew by 287% year on year, one of the many indicators of the companys increasing success. Insert Courtesy Of Seatwave.com Seatwaves success can be attributed to two main factors superior customer service and an excellent online customer experience. Couple with a great business model The Companys site demonstrates how importantly it takes the customers online experience. Burgess believes that the specific online experience they offer customers is an essential ingredient to the success of the company because the site is streamlined and easy to navigate, and its smartly designed to maintain its efficiency and functionality. The smart design is evident in the ability to quickly buy or sell tickets and business model is adopted is excellent because there is no time and geographical constraints, hence tickets and be sold and bought at any time, 24 / 7 and Sellers and bidders can participate from anywhere that has internet access. This makes them more accessible and reduces the cost of attending an auction. 5. Seatwave Strategy Seatwaves biggest market is the UK and its long term strategy for growth is based on three key parts. Growth by global Expansion Offering Marketing Leading Consumer Protection Partnerships and Affiliations 1. The Seatwave business is growing rapidly and is the market leader in all the markets they operate within. Seatwave operates in nine countries outside the UK. Including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland Over 700,000 tickets on sale at any one time Customer base of over 1.9 million unique active users. 1.7 Millions tickets for events in over 38 countries Europe secondary ticket market worth $ 6.8 9.7 billion. Bi- model approach e.g. Transactional Revenue model E-auctioning model Seatwave Cooperate sales which is a dedicated service for corporate entertainment needs. 2. Utilizing Technology Offering Consumer Protection services TicketIntegrityâ„ ¢ guarantees that buyers will receive the tickets they ordered in good time for the event, or offers a full refund. TicketCoverâ„ ¢ which provides a full refund if an event is cancelled. This refund includes the full price of the tickets purchased. TicketCoverâ„ ¢premium which covers buyers for a range of other circumstances that may prevent them from attending their performance, such as transport failure or severe illness. TickFinder is a search application use on the msn portal to help users find secondhand tickets. 3. Partnerships and Affiliations Official Ticket exchange partner of 9 different sport clubs Affiliations with 4 separate music groups e.g. MTV.co.uk, MOBO Awards and Live Nation In partnership with major media organizations e.g. MSN, Virgin Media and a new partnership with HMV Seatwave donates a portion of every sporting ticket sold online to Sparks and is also a member of the Action for Brazils Children Trust. Seatwave are in partnership with UPS to help facilitate and ensure a reliable ticket exchange transaction between buyers and sellers. Part II 6. Suggested Evaluation Criteria The methodologies used for the evaluation of Seatwave.com is based on Webqual which is an instrument for assessing the usability, information, and service interaction quality of Internet web-sites, particularly those offering e-commerce facilities (Webqual.co.uk homepage 2009). WebQual (www.webqual.co.uk) is based on quality function deployment (QFD) a structured and Disciplined process that provides a means to identify and carry the voice of the customer through each stage of product and or service development and implementation (Slabey, 1990). In the context of WebQual for traditional Web sites, users are asked to rate target sites against each of a range of qualities using a 7-point scale. The users are also asked to rate each of the qualities for importance (again, using a 7-point scale), which helps gain understanding about which qualities are considered by the user to be most important in any given situation. In order to build a profile for Seatwave.com, the data was summarized around the questionnaire subcategories, and then the total score for each subcategory was indexed against the maximum score (based on the important rating for questions multiplied by three. The results suggested that the information quality and Usability aspect of the website rated extremely well at 100% respectively. Seatwave has facilitated this by providing tools that help the seller choose an appropriate selling price by comparing the average sale price for tickets being sold for the particular event and having a simple but structured approach to the design of the website and the way it presents information to its customers. Additionally the service interaction weighted score was slightly lower than the other categories at 92.8% but still suggested a high sense of community, personalization and security in terms of processing transactions, however the lack of confidence within the website due to the ethical issues within the resale ticketing industry and the slim line of communication to the organization has robbed the site of a maximum score. It must be noted though that WebQual was not particularly useful for evaluating the technical aspects of the site despite providing a valuable profile of users perception of e-commerce quality, therefore an independent evaluation of its technical viability as an ecommerce site was carried out. And one problem noticed when evaluating the site from a technical point of view is that it failed W3C markup validation, this means that there is no guarantee that the site will look the same in different browsers or even that it will work correctly. Also this means that non-graphical browsers and html translators such as those used by blind people may not be able to communicate the site to a properly. The site has an XHTML transitional DOCTYPE header, this standard should be strictly adhered to in order to avoid the problems outlined above, by doing this the company can be sure that they are reaching the widest possible audience as their site would then work with the vast majority of viewing technologies. Part III Proposed future strategy for Seatwave Future Strategy Seatwave can enhance its future ecommerce business by aligning its current strategy with the primary ticket selling industry which will build up its reputation and strengthen its brand image. According to Katie Allen of the Guardian, Seatwave and rivals such as Viagogo have been accused of encouraging the growth of bedroom touts, who snap up tickets with the sole purpose of making a profit by selling them on, in addition Seatwave, as a secondary market ticket supplier, has no way of verifying if tickets are valid, counterfeit, or genuine. By becoming the leader in the Primary and secondary online ticketing market Seatwave will be able to increase its image as a reputable brand, penetrate new markets and hence increase its profit margins. New Business Strategy Key Factors New Potential Packages As the two entities further combine their operations, they could begin to offer more packages to consumers such as discounted bundles of tickets and recorded music, and could offer corporate sponsors more attractive terms, too. At the same time, a vertically integrated behemoth could have the power to dictate higher prices. Power to dictate Price ( Due To Economy of Scale ) Because it would be so vertically integrated, the new company would also be able to muscle out competing concert promoters and have more power to dictate ticket prices to consumers. The new company would have close ties to an array of artists and boast affiliation and new partnerships right across the entertainment spectrum Expansions into the Americas To new business strategy will allow Seatwave to venture out in to the Americas which is tightly regulated against ticket reselling. Because of the new strategy the business can segment its services geographically. Alliances with other companies The new strategy would merge Europes Largest ticketing exchange facilitator with a dominant ticketing and artist-management company. The resulting firm would be able to manage everything from recorded music to ticket sales and tour sponsorship. It could package artists in new ways, for example, allowing corporations such as a mobile phone provider to sponsor a concert tour and to sell an exclusive download of a song. Conclusion In conclusion Seatwave has dominated the European market and have attracted investment whilst protecting its customer; however the ticketing resale markets remains shrouded with suspicion, unfair practices and dodgy dealings. It and its two main rivals in the UK operate in a controversial area. Ticket touts have a bad reputation and Seatwave and its peers are, according to their critics, merely electronic equivalents of the spivs who hang around the doors of music and sporting venues offering dubiously acquired products. Mr. Cohen points out that his venture offers those who are genuinely unable to obtain the tickets they want through a risk free channels, however a sales Account Manager for Seatwave, Lee Lake, was caught purchasing tickets for various concerts and gigs using 4 different addresses and 4 different credit cards and selling the same tickets through Seatwave at significantly higher prices than face value and not declaring that he is an employee of Seatwave in the transaction. In response, Chief Executive Joe Cohen allegedly stated the tickets were purchased as backstop tickets in case fans selling on Seatwave let people down. This proves that Seatwaves strategy is in need of a revamp to attract a better reputation and removed the stigma that has dogged the industry for so long, the integration of its already strong ecommerce offering with an improved business strategy will be the pied piper that draws large audience to the site and puts its critics to rest. Bibliography Peter, M. (2001). Business Studies p.63-64 UK Hodder Stoughton Ltd Farmers Weekly. (2006). Citing Online Source. Tesco Club card Reward Program ( Accessed 3/27/2008) Mike, M and Malcolm, M (2002) Marketing in Managing Bites p.86 GB Macmillan Press Ltd Peter, M. (2001). Business Studies p.61 UK Hodder Stoughton Ltd Kotler, P. (1998). Principles Of Marketing p. 33 UK Prentice Hall College Bill, W. (2008). Citing Online Source. Will Protest Hurt Tesco Brand ( Accessed 3/27/08) Sir Terry, L. (2008). Citing Online Source. Consumers Changing Lifestyles ( Accessed 3/27/08) Peter, M. (2001). Business Studies p.61 UK Hodder Stoughton Ltd

The Limits of Cyberspace :: Technology Internet Technological Essays

The Limits of Cyberspace Lev Manovich’s wider history of vision and Simon Cook’s amendments to it reveal much about the recent developments in visual communication. This essay will use these two papers to show that today’s digital culture stems from late-Victorian methods of organization and Modernist visual forms. Also, it will discuss the current rate of progress, and the ultimate limit of technology in our world. Technology changes rapidly. Just a few years ago, the world was unable to stop discussing the rate of technological advancement. People laughed at Bill Gates’ famous quote, â€Å"with 1 MB RAM, we have a memory capacity, which will never be fully utilized,† and marvelled that â€Å"processor speed doubles every 18 months.† Some thinkers, coming to grips with this amazing rate of development, have stopped looking solely at the slope of technological progress and have begun looking also at the history of human interaction with technology, as well as making predictions about its future. A new work at the forefront of the discussion of the history of the digital revolution is UCSD professor Lev Manovich’s â€Å"The Language of New Media.† The ideas contained in this book are essentially elaborations of the ideas in his doctoral dissertation, â€Å"The Engineering of Vision from Constructivism to Computers,† and a few articles published on his website. In â€Å"The Engineering of Vision from Constructivism to Computers,† Manovich discusses at length the recent developments in modern vision as well as analyzing its present state. Over the last hundred and thirty years, says Manovich, there has been a dramatic decrease in the physical difficulty of labor and a correspondingly large increase in the need for the use of the eye and mind to perform productively. Manovich divides this time period into three separate stages. Firstly, from 1870 to 1920, he states that Venn, Freud, and others created new systems for visual reasoning. â€Å"For the first time, we can find in their work the explicit justifications for the very notion of reasoning through vision.† According to Manovich, these â€Å"diferent models of how vision can be used in reasoning represent the first stage in the reversal of attitude towards the inadequacy of vision.† The second stage begins in 1870 and continues until 1920. It encompasses the transition from physical labor to â€Å"visual labor†, when the muscular effort of physical labor is slowly replaced by the labor of the eye looking for changing details in a managerial workplace.

Creating Biofuels from Waste Essay -- Energy Fuel Environment

Biofuels from Waste Purpose Biofuels mark a great step into today’s efforts to slow down global warming. However, when food sources, such as corn and soy are used as derivatives for ethanol, the impact is far worse than using fossil fuels. Biofuels require more energy to do artificial refinery, cultivating, and collecting; whereas, fossil fuels already meet all the prerequisites through millions of years in the earth, and thus use less energy. On the social justice stance, the poor suffer through the sky-rocketed food prices because farmers are using their food to supply the ethanol demand. As technology becomes more efficient, society can rely on a source of energy that deters global warming, uses less energy to process, and betters the world economy. Question Which specific cellulase from fungi breaks down bleached paper waste efficiently? Why? Bleached paper is solely composed of cellulose (20-25%) which it makes it an ideal source for fuel because its lack in lignin makes it more efficient in the refinery process. Fungi serve as vital decomposers in the natural world. By channeling this idea to break down paper waste into sugars, the possibilities are endless. Terms to know †¢ Cellulase are enzymes that break down cellulose. Fungi and bacteria have special enzymes that are designed to decompose material. †¢ His-tag is a tag that helps the identification process by attaching to a protein. A His-tag is a small tag that aids the purification process by binding with a nickel NTA matrix. Materials -Agar plates -Sterile q-tips -Yeast -Incubator -Bleached paper waste -Fungi -PCR -Primers -Blue dye -Plasmid: pTrcHis-Topo -Wash buffer -Elution buffer -LB broth -E.Coli competent cells -Ice -Water -Filter .. ...15 July 2008. Biofuels: for Transport. United Kingdom: German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2007. Feldstein, Paul. "PCR." COSMOS. Hutchinson Hall, Davis. 10 July 2008. Lindsay, LeAnn. â€Å"Cellulase Assay.† COSMOS. Hutchinson Hall, Davis. 30 July 2008. Nag, Ahindra. Biofuels Refining and Performance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Pyles, Denver. Use of Biodiesel-Derived Crude Glycerol for the Production of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids by the Microalga Schizochytrium Limacinum. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blackburg, 2008. 13 July 2008 . Sticklen, Mariam B. "Plant Genetic Engineering for Biofuel Production: Towards Affordable Cellulosic Ethanol." Nature Reviews: Genetic(2008). BIOSIS Previews. 15 July 2008.

The Radical Period of The French Revolution Essay -- European Europe H

The Radical Period of The French Revolution By the end of 1971, Europe was preparing to witness the end of a seemingly triumphant revolution in France. The country was restructuring its government in a forceful and bloodless manner, while the tyrant King Louis the XVI agreed to the demands of the masses (albeit without much choice). However, due to the fanatical aspirations of men such as Danton, Marat and Robespierre,it would be only a matter of months before the moderate stage of social and political reform was transformed into a radical phase of barbaric and violent force. In their quest for freedom, equality and fraternity, the leaders of the Jacobins inadvertently turned the revolution into an oligarchic dictatorship that threatened to destroy all that was achieved in the previous two years of insurrection. The revolution took a sharp turn on August 9th, 1792. The Municipal government was overthrown in Paris and a Commune was established by the leaders of the radical forces. During this time there were continual food riots erupting in every area of the country and, with the threat of war against Austria and Prussia looming, it was vital that order was to be maintained during such tumultuous times. Although the constitution was already enshrined and the citizens had their freedom and liberties, there was still plenty of public dissent and disapproval as to whether or not these laws would help create a new government and prevent the country from breaking apart. The people had come this far and were not prepared to watch their efforts lead to failure or the restoration of an absolute monarch. As a result, the radical forces were able to gain the support of the citizens in declaring that the ... ...) who allegedly opposed the will of the Jacobins, and therefore opposed the will of the republic. Robespierre never intended to justify his ends through such violent means. 1793 marked a year that could have been prevented, a period that should never have befallen the liberated citizens of France. Mirabeau warned that the destruction of the Monarchy would plunge the country into anarchy and his words rang true. France was not prepared for such social and political upheaval, and the resulting shift towards a republic would change the country forever. The Jacobins discarded their holy bible, the constitution, in order to ensure the security and stability of the country. Not only did their hasty actions backfire, but the tens of thousands of lives that perished during their reign symbolized the radical stage of the revolution in all its bloody glory.

Benefits of Nonverbal Communication Essay

Certain things are not conveyed by words or verbal means because individuals are not simply skilled to deliver or are not trained to explain in appropriate means or symbols. An officer can definitely learn from an understanding of nonverbal communication as he/she will be able to gain the nuances of an offender or parolee’s responses whether these are in consonance with the gaze in his eyes, the confidence of gait, or the studied looks that he may portray during the sessions that might transpire with the officer (Messina, Training in Nonverbal Communication). An officer who has spent a lengthy time studying people in this kind of profession, the difficulty usually lies in studying those who are mentally deranged, or the offenders who are so evil that they are capable to manipulate even the most intelligent officers, when possible. Their eyes convey differently where their talk or smiles carry them to a different level (Carrick, 2006). Art in any form conveys the reality that a human’s world is enriched by the kind of communication inherent in being human. Even one’s attire may speak a million things about the person or his intentions. People communicate both through verbal and nonverbal modes. Though we mistake verbal communication is clearer, yet often the reverse is truer (Messina, Training in Nonverbal Communication). People frequently understand our gestures more than our words. Hence, the adage â€Å"Actions speak louder than words. † Nonverbal communication is taught and performed frequently on an almost instinctive level. People get attention by using nonverbal signals and every so often the attention is usually due to an unpleasant manner by which these signals were conveyed. Most people who employ body language utilize such behavior to conceal the self for fear of rejection. The result would mean no real deep connections and deters other people to develop such deep and beneficial relationships. Many of those who realize their need try to unlearn years of covering up and attempt to make themselves known to avoid (Messina, Training in Nonverbal Communication). Every individual has inadequate stock of body language and utilizes the same manners to show specific emotionality. Body language and/or gestures, and a host of physical and psychological signals take place in clusters. This means that when a particular body language is used, it may not mean much as when it is used alongside many other forms of communication (Messina, Training in Nonverbal Communication). The officer then must continually make use of every opportunity as a learning experience as people are dynamic and continually changing. Reference: Carrick, Damien. 31 January 2006. The Law Report. Parole Boards. Messina, James D. Training in Nonverbal Communication. Accessed from Analysis of Cultural Communication and Proxemics http://www. unl. edu/casetudy/456/traci. htm

International Political Economy

Part Perspectives on International Political Economy The first chapter of the text deals with the fundamental nature of International political economy (PIP) and some analytical Issues related to Its multidimensional character. Chapters 2 through 4 are the core chapters of the text that explore the history and policies associated with the three dominant PIP perspectives, namely economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism. These theoretical tools are useful In understanding many political, economic, and social Issues In the global economy of the past as well as the present.Chapter 5 develops two alternative PIP respective?constructivism and feminism?that derive, In part, from the three mall outlooks under study. Chapter What Is International Political Economy? We Are the 99%: A Haitian hillside. Georgian Allen When a philosopher has once laid hold of a favorite principle, which perhaps accounts for many natural effects, he extends the same principle over the whole creation, a nd reduces to it every phenomenon, though by the most violent and absurd reasoning. Our own mind being narrow and contracted, we cannot extend our conception to the variety and extent of nature †¦David Hump, â€Å"The Septic† 2 The Darkness on the Edge of Town he Darkness on the edge of town What are the chances you will find a good paying Job?or any Job for that matter? when you graduate from college In the next few years? Have your parent's or people you know lost their Jobs, the family home, or a big chunk of their retirement savings? How are you adjusting to the financial crisis? Maybe things haven't been that bad for you, yet! Reading the headlines of any major newspaper, you might sometimes worry that the world is on the brink of a global economic catastrophe, if not a second Great Depression.The effects of the global economic crisis have made many people feel ensue, tearful, and depressed. The collapse to the US housing market in 2 morphed into a credit crisis tha t threatened some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the United States and Europe. Government leaders responded with a variety of bank rescue measures and so-called stimulus packages to restart their economies. These interventions angered many ordinary folks who felt that the bailouts rewarded bankers and Coos who had caused the crisis in the first place.Meanwhile, many people around the world were forced out of their homes and became unemployed. They suffered cuts in social services, health care benefits, and education spending when governments were forced to trim budgets. As we write in late 2012, the hoped-for recovery has proved elusive. Unemployment in the United States is stuck at 7. 9 percent; in the European Union (ELI), it has risen to 1 1. 6 percent (23. 4 percent for young people). Home foreclosures and stagnant incomes continue to place enormous strain on many families' finances.The EX. has fallen into another recession, with countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal so deep in debt that they might slide into national bankruptcy, causing the Else's monetary system to collapse. People seem to have lost confidence in national and international political institutions that underpin capitalism and democracy. Is this what the Great Transformation from industrial to post-industrial society was supposed to look like? Are globalization and the so-called â€Å"creative destruction† of new technologies shrinking the middle classes in Western countries and permanently shifting economic dynamism to Asia and Latin America?Adding to the sense of gloom are events around the world in the last few years. High oil prices have benefited giant oil companies while hurting consumers. The giant British Petroleum (BP) oil spill reciprocated an environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Japan's Fuchsia earthquake and tsunami damaged several nuclear power plants, causing release of dangerous radioactive material across a large swath of te rritory. High agriculture commodity prices have raised the cost of food and increased levels of world hunger.Because there has been little progress in reducing reliance on fossil fuels, capping carbon emissions, or investing in alternative energy resources, the threat of catastrophic climate change looms larger. And wars in Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Congo are destroying the livelihoods of millions of people. Hope on the Horizon? Is there only gloom and doom around the globe? Surely, no! As we discuss in Chapter 13, emerging powers such as China, India, Brazil, and Russia have dramatically reduced poverty in the last fifteen years and made it possible for hundreds 4 Chapter 1 of millions of people to Join the middle class.Fortunately, they continued to grow at a fairly robust pace after 2007; more Jobs, investment, and consumption in these countries helped keep the rest to the world trot tailing into a deeper recession. Of most of the last decade, sub-Sahara Africa has als o grown surprisingly fast, thanks n part to high prices for oil and commodities exports. And the European Union won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, a reminder that?despite its serious economic and social problems today?the community has advanced the causes of â€Å"peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights† for more than sixty years.Along with these rays of hope are three interrelated global developments that merit discussion at the beginning of this textbook because they are profoundly shaping the international political economy: the Arab Spring, the European sovereign debt crisis, and the Occupy Wall Street (SOWS) movement. Taking place on three different continents since 2011, they have shaken political institutions and spurred waves of political protests in response to a variety of social and economic ills. None of us knows how these momentous developments will play out, but we can be sure that they will affect our daily lives and pocketbooks for many years.Each i s a double- edged sword: a potential harbinger of positive change and a potential foreshadowing of worse yet to come. In other words, each development can either help lead to a more stable, prosperous world in which human security is better guaranteed or ender divisions within and between societies wider than before so that cooperative relations and a fairer distribution of resources remain ever more elusive goals. The Arab Spring took the world by surprise?a reminder that social scientists still do not have good tools to predict when and why large-scale changes will occur in complex socio-political systems.On December 17, 2010, a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouzouki set himself on fire in reaction to harassment by police officers. His death sparked street demonstrations that brought down the Tunisian government one month later. Protests spread like wildfires to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. After eighteen days of mass demonstrations, Egypt authoritar ian president Hosting Embark resigned on February 11, 2011, replaced by a military council. On February 15, residents of Bengali, Libya, rose up against the regime of Miramar Qaeda.Following months of NATO bombing and rebel fighting, Qaeda was killed on October 20, 2011, and a National Transitional Council took power. The dramatic political protests?which captivated television viewers and Twitter-feed followers around the world?created an opportunity for a number of Arab countries o Join the community of democratic nations. Yet the crackdown in Syria showed the world how determined some authoritarian leaders in the Middle East are to remain in power?even at the expense of killing tens of thousands of their own citizens.With the genie of Arab political opposition out of the bottle, countries in the Middle East and North Africa are rapidly changing. Fortunately, high oil prices and a return to relative stability in many places could improve conditions in 2013. Along with the Arab Spri ng came President Barack Beam's withdrawal of all U. S. Troops from Iraq at the end of 2011. An ignominious end to an imperial endeavor, the withdrawal seemed to signal that the U. S. Public was no longer willing to pay for wars that drain the public treasury.President Obama refocused U. S. Policy on fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan and ratcheting up pressure on Iran to abandon its effort to develop nuclear weapons. Many analysts believe that Beam's decisions reveal a significant weakening of U. S. Influence in the Middle East. Perhaps to counteract this decline, Obama decided to bolster the American military presence in the Pacific by cultivating ties with countries afraid of China's rise and attaching 2,500 troops permanently in northern Australia beginning in November 2011.A second development?the European sovereign debt crisis?relentlessly gathered steam after 2010 in the face of a prolonged recession that made it hard for some countries to pay back huge loans to dome stic and foreign banks. European Union leaders had hoped to contain the debt problems in Greece and Ireland, but governments in Spain and Portugal also began to have trouble raising new money by issuing new government bonds. All four countries in 2012 had to get financial bailouts in exchange for adopting painful government spending cuts that contributed o high unemployment.Even with help from the European Central Bank, these countries have dire conditions that threaten the stability of the European financial system. Rupee's responses to its debt crisis have stimulated widespread social unrest. Severe austerity measures have spawned street protests throughout the continent and brought changes of government in Greece, Italy, and Spain. Some EX. leaders and analysts believe that the crisis will spur European countries to form closer ties, while others foresee the death of the Euro and the prospect of national bankruptcies as some countries refuse to pay back onerous loans.If problems worsen in France and Italy, the EX. could unravel economically, causing another deep global recession. The crisis is forcing Germany to decide if it is willing to share the costs of making the EX. stronger, or if it will pursue its purely national interests. The outcomes will likely cause changes in Rupee's traditionally generous social programs and in Rupee's influence in the world. A third development started as an anti-wall Street protest in New York City's Cutting Park on September 17, 2011. Two weeks later, the Occupy Wall Street movement had quickly spread to many major U. S. Ties, tit encampments and â€Å"general assemblies† in public spaces. Similar â€Å"occupations† occurred in Europe, Israel, Chile, and Australia. Although the majority of participants in the SOWS social movement have been students, union workers, progressive activists, and the unemployed, their ideas seemed to resonate with a significant number of the middle class. Calling themselves the â €Å"99%† (in contrast to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans), SOWS protestors criticized financial institutions, condemned Wall Street greed, and called for a reduction of corporate control over the democratic process.Although SOWS encampments disappeared, the movement kook up new campaigns in 2012, including efforts to stop home foreclosures and reduce student debt. What do these three developments have in common? While each has its own causes, the protestors collectively represent a reaction to corrupt government and growing inequality. In three large regions?the Middle East, Europe, and North America?movements sought protection from financial and cultural globalization that left people feeling at the mercy of market forces.In many cases, protestors felt that they were unfairly forced to bail out the wealthy but denied a chance to snare many o governments 6 s to previous growth. Austerity policies that many had adopted since 2008?and even earlier in the Arab countries?cu t into a host of public social programs such as education and relief for the poor. Many disgruntled citizens disagreed with their leaders, who argued that such reductions were necessary to reduce the size of government, balance national budgets, and stimulate economic recovery.While Arabs claimed a political voice that had been squashed by decades of dictatorial rule, Americans and Europeans seemed to demand a new kind of politics freed from the grip of special interests and big money. In all three cases, elites who were supposed to be the experts on political and financial affairs suddenly were at a loss to explain why things had gotten so bad under their watch. With a loss of faith in Arab regimes, EX. leaders, and U. S. Bankers came a certain â€Å"denationalization† of ruling ideologies such as economic liberalism.A new emphasis was placed on democratic participation and economic fairness. Despite a new zeitgeist in the air in three continents, old political and economic institutions were still resilient. Many regimes held firm in the Middle East. American banks grew even egger after government bailouts, and more money than ever poured into the campaign war chests of Democratic and Republican political candidates. EX. political elites continued to make deals that seemed designed to save big investors and banks rather than ordinary citizens.The alternatives to the old did not always promise a better future, either. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Psalmists like Egypt new president Mohamed Moors' made their own undemocratic power grabs, seeking to impose religiously conservative policies and weaken women's rights. Reactions against austerity in Europe strengthened extreme right-wing parties in Greece and France while fueling anti-E or secessionist sentiments in the United Kingdom and Catalonia.And by refusing to organize and engage in â€Å"normal† politics, the SOWS forces dissipated?leaving normal two-party gridlock in Washington after t he November 2012 elections. The Road Ahead By discussing above the three big developments, as well as the problems and promises in the global economy, we have hopefully given you a sense of some of the important phenomena we seek to understand in international political economy. Not unsurprisingly, there are fierce debates about the causes of current crises and the best solutions to them.One of the arguments we make in this text is that to adequately describe and explain the current global financial crisis?or any of the other issues covered in the different chapters?we must use an analytical approach that synthesizes methods and insights derived from economics, political science, and sociology as conditioned by an understanding to history and philosophy. As you delve deeper into the material, you will learn a variety of theories and analytical tools that help us interpret the interrelationships of the state, market, and society in different nations.The PIP method bridges different a cademic disciplines to better explain employ, real-world problems that span physical and intellectual boundaries. While this statement might sound a bit formal and confusing at this point, keep in mind that we do not think you need to be an economics major, a specialist in finance, The What, Why, and How of International Political Economy or a Middle East expert to understand the basic parameters of the global financial crisis or the Arab Spring.This book is written for students who have limited background in political science, economics, or sociology, as well as for those who want to review an assortment of topics in preparation for graduate school. In the next section, we look at how to study PIP?its three distinct analytical perspectives and a number of methodological issues with which PIP students should become acquainted. All the chapters in the book cover important theoretical and Policy issues that have connections to the three developments we have mentioned?and to many more. In this way, we hope students might better understand different dimensions of the problems and then make some reasoned Judgments about how to solve them. Later in this chapter, we discuss the popular phenomenon of globalization as a way o introduce students to many of the political-economic conditions that led up to the global financial crisis. Many PIP experts have asserted that the economic liberal ideas behind globalization may have contributed to the crisis. Opinions differ, however, on whether or not the crisis signals the end of laissez-fairer economic policies, or even the end of capitalism itself. He what, why, and how of International Political economy Our discussion of the financial crisis and its consequences makes clear that today's complex issues can no longer be easily analyzed and understood by using any single et of disciplinary methods and concepts. Those who study PIP are, in essence, breaking down the analytical and conceptual boundaries between politics, economic s, and sociology to produce a unique explanatory framework. Following are several examples of questions that traditional academic disciplines might ask as they seek to explain the global financial crisis.Each discipline focuses on different actors and interests: International Relations: How much has the financial crisis detracted from the ability of states to pay for military defense? How has the crisis affected the conditions of war or terrorism in poor states? As Europe, Japan, and the United States struggle, will emerging countries like China, India, and Brazil gain more political influence in international institutions? International Economics: How has the crisis impacted foreign investment, international trade, and the values of different currencies?Comparative Politics: What is the capability of political institutions within different nations to respond to the needs of the unemployed? What new political forces are emerging and with what effects on political coalitions? Sociolo gy: How has the crisis affected consumption trends for different groups such as the upper, middle, and rower classes? How do the effects of inequality vary on the basis of ethnicity and gender? Anthropology: How have different societies in history dealt with crises related to how they allocate scarce resources?And how have these crises impacted their cultures, values, and societal norms? 8 Focusing on a narrow range of methods and issues enhances intellectual specialization and analytical efficiency. But any single discipline offers an incomplete explanation of global events. Specialization promotes a sort of scholarly blindness or distorted view that comes from using only one set of analytical methods and incepts to explain what most decidedly is a complex problem that could benefit from a multidisciplinary perspective.When defining PIP, we make a distinction between the term â€Å"international political economy' and the acronym PIP. The former refers to what we study?commonly re ferred to as a subject area or field of inquiry that involves tensions among states, markets, and societal actors. In this text, we tend to focus on a variety of actors and issues that are either â€Å"international† (between nation-states) or â€Å"transnational† (across the national borders of two or more states).Increasingly today, any analysts use the term â€Å"global political economy' instead of â€Å"international political economy' to explain problems such as climate change, hunger, and illicit markets that have spread over the entire world, and not Just a few nations. In this book, we often use these two terms interchangeably. The acronym PIP also connotes a method of inquiry that is multidisciplinary. PIP fashions the tools of analysis of its antecedent disciplines so as to more accurately describe and explain the ever- changing relationships between governments, businesses, and social forces across history and in different geographical areas.What are some of the central elements of the antecedent melds to study that contribute to IP 7 First, PIP includes a political dimension that accounts for the use of power by a variety of actors, including individuals, domestic groups, states (acting as single units), international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (Nags), and transnational corporations (Tens). All these actors make decisions about the distribution of tangible things such as money and products or intangible things such as security and innovation.In almost all cases, politics involves the making of rules pertaining to owe states and societies achieve their goals. Another aspect of politics is the kind of public and private institutions that have the authority to pursue different goals. Second, PIP involves an economic dimension that deals with how scarce resources are distributed among individuals, groups, and nation-states. A variety of public and private institutions allocate resources on a day-to-day basis in local markets where we shop. Today, a market is not Just a place where people go to buy or exchange something face to face with the product's maker.The market can also be thought of as a driving force that shapes human behavior. When consumers buy things, when investors purchase stocks, and when banks lend money, their dependability transactions constitute a vast, sophisticated web of relationships that coordinate economic activities all over the world. Political scientist Charles Limbo makes an interesting case that the economy is actually nothing more than a system for coordinating social behavior! What people eat, their occupation, and even what they do when not working are all organized around different agricultural, labor, and relaxation markets.In effect, markets often perform a social function of â€Å"coordination without a coordinator. L Third, the works of such notables as Charles Limbo and economists Robert Hellbender and Lester Throw help us realize that PIP does not reflect enough the societal dimension of different international problems. 2 A growing number of PIP scholars argue that states and markets do not exist in a social vacuum. There are usually many different social groups within a state that share identities, norms, and associations based on tribal ties, ethnicity, religion, or gender.Likewise, a variety of transnational groups (referred to as global civil society) have interests that cut across national boundaries. A host of Nags have attempted to pressure national and international organizations on issues such as climate change, refugees, migrant workers, and gender-based exploitation. All of these groups are purveyors of ideas that potentially generate tensions between them and other groups but play a major role in shaping global behavior. How to Study PIP: Contrasting Perspectives and Methodologies The three dominant perspectives of PIP are economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism.Each focuses on the relationships between a va riety of actors and institutions. A strict extinction between these perspectives is quite arbitrary and has been imposed by disciplinary tradition, at times making it difficult to appreciate their connections to one another. Each perspective emphasizes different values, actors, and solutions to Policy problems but also overlooks some important elements highlighted by the other two perspectives. Economic liberalism (particularly unilateralism?see Chapter 2) is most closely associated with the study of markets.Later we will explain why there is an increasing gap between orthodox economic liberals (Eels), who champion free arrests and free trade, and heterodox interventionist liberals (Hills), who support more state regulation and trade protection to sustain markets. Increasingly, Hills have stressed that markets work best when they are embedded in (connected to) society and when the state intervenes to resolve problems that markets alone cannot handle. In fact, many Hills acknowledge that markets are the source of many of these problems.Many liberal values and ideas are the ideological foundation of the globalization campaign. They are derived from notable thinkers such as Adam Smith, David Richard, John Maynard Keynes, Frederica Hayes, and Milton Friedman. The laissez-fairer principle, that the state should leave the economy alone, is attributed to Adam Smith. 3 More recently, economic liberal ideas have been associated with former president Ronald Reagan and his acolytes, who contended that economic growth is best achieved when the government severely limits its involvement (interference) in the economy.Under pure market conditions (I. E. , the absence of state intervention or social influences), people are assumed to behave â€Å"rationally' (see Chapter 2). 10 That is, they will naturally seek to maximize their gains and limit their losses when reducing and selling things. They have strong desires to exchange and to generate wealth by competing with others for sales in local and international markets. According to Eels, people should strongly value economic efficiency? the ability to use and distribute resources effectively and with little waste.Why is efficiency so important? When an economy is inefficient, scarce resources go unused or could be used in other ways that would be more beneficial to society. This idea has been applied to the new global economy and is one of the basic principles behind globalization. Mercantilism (also called economic nationalism) is most closely associated with the political philosophy of realism, which focuses on state efforts to accumulate wealth and power to protect society from physical harm or the influence of other states (see Chapters 3 and 9).In theory, the state is a legal entity and an autonomous system of institutions that governs a specific geographic territory and a â€Å"nation. † Since the mid-seventeenth century, the state has been the dominant actor in the international community based on the principle that it has the authority to exercise sovereignty (final authority) over its own affairs. States use two types of power to protect themselves. Hard power refers to tangible military and economic assets employed to compel, coerce, intelligence, tend tot, or death enemies and competitors.Soft power comprises selective tools that reflect and project a country cultural values, beliefs, and ideals. Through the use of movies, cultural exports and exchanges, information, and diplomacy, a state can convince others that the ideas it sponsors are legitimate and should be adopted. Soft power can in many ways be more effective than hard power because it rests on persuasion and mutual exchange. For example, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama partly regained some of the world's support for the United States through a discourse emphasizing multilateral cooperation.Structuralism is rooted in Marxist analysis but not limited to it (see Chapter 4). It looks at PIP issues mainly in terms of how different social classes are shaped by the dominant economic structure. It is most closely associated with the methods of analysis many sociologists employ. Structuralisms emphasize that markets have never existed in a social vacuum. Some combination of social, economic, and political forces establishes, regulates, and preserves them.As we will see in the case of the financial crisis, even the standards used to Judge the effectiveness of market systems reflect the dominant values and beliefs of those forces. The Benefits of PIP Each perspective in PIP sheds light on some aspects of a problem particularly well, but casts a shadow on other important aspects. By using a combination of the three dominant PIP methods and concepts (outlined in Table 1-1), we can move to the big picture?the most comprehensive and compelling explanation of global processes.Not surprisingly, mixing together the disciplines of economics, political science, and sociology gives rise to a n analytical problem: It is difficult to establish a single explanation to any PIP issue because each discipline has its own set of analytical concepts, core beliefs, and methodologies. Does this weaken the utility of PIP? Not at all. We must recognize that PIP is not a â€Å"hard science†; it may never table 1-1 Conflicting Political economic Perspectives about state-market relations in Capitalist societies Monetarism (Orthodox Economic Liberals) Main Ideas aboutCapitalism â€Å"Laissez-fairer†; minimal state intervention and regulation of the economy Keynesian (Heterodox Interventionist Economic Liberals) The state primes (injects money? liquidity) into the economy to restore confidence in it and to stabilize it Efficiency mixed with a variety of state political and social objectives Developmental State Model (Mercantilism) Socialism (Structuralism) Social Democracy (Structuralism) The state plays a proactive role in the economy to guide and protect its major industr ies The state controls the economy. Prices set by state officials. Emphasis on state

Cisco Erp

Cisco Systems Inc. : Implementing ERP come ride with us your cowboys: bill atkinson denisa kubricka edmond lui georg wittenburg iman sharif Company Background †¢ Founded in 1984 by two Stanford computer scientists †¢ Became publicly traded in 1990 †¢ Primary product is â€Å"router† †¢ By 1997, Cisco was ranked top five companies in return on revenues and ROA in Fortune 500 †¢ In 1998, market capitalization was over $100 billion Markets Cisco was a key infrastructure supplier for the â€Å"New Economy† in the mid-90s. †¢ That market went through a period of amazing growth since Cisco formed. †¢ This fast growth rate was directly reflected in Cisco’s sales figures. †¢ The future was looking bright. Company Structure †¢ Three functional divisions: – Order Entry – Finance – Manufacturing †¢ Initial IT Strategy: – Let division take care of themselves. – Overall architecture is shared , enabling sharing of data. History of IT at Cisco UNIX-based software package to support its core transaction processing: – Functional areas supported: financial, manufacturing and order entry systems – Used common architecture and common databases †¢ Growth of Cisco resulted in scalability problems. †¢ Cisco was the largest single costumer of that vendor, resulting in a strategic weakness. Point Blank †¢ Would the software developed for a $300 million company fit the use of a $1 billion company? Point Blank †¢ Why would a multi-million dollar company want to avoid ERP?A Big Need †¢ Recognized the need for change, but left actions to each functional division: †¢ Thus: – Little progress was made in the year – Each functional area was reluctant to replace the legacy system because of high risk involved – Systems outages became routine – Unauthorized method for accessing the core application database malfunctioned , corrupting Cisco’s central database †¢ Company was shut down for two days Selecting an ERP product †¢ The planning was driven only by timing constraints and panic. There was no business case †¢ Cisco emphasized the need for: – – – – Strong team Strong partners Speedy decision making Getting Executive & Board approval Project Team & Partners †¢ Team: – Know that very best people are needed – Pulled best business & IT people out of their current jobs at Cisco †¢ Partners: – Important that partner could work on the selection as well as implementation of project – KPMG as integration partner – KPMG team of 20 (highly experienced; not â€Å"greenies†)Teams selection strategy †¢ Teams strategy – use experiences of other companies and best practices to accumulate knowledge †¢ Selected five packages within 2 days †¢ After a week of high level evaluation – two packages selected: ORACLE and another major player in the ERP market †¢ 10 days on request for proposals Point Blank †¢ Is it wise to make a decision so quickly? Are there things that should be done to mitigate the risk? Did they do due diligence? Team Selection Strategy Cont’d Oracle & other vendor given two weeks to respond to RFP †¢ Current vendor customers were visited by the team during these two weeks †¢ After response, received a 3-day software demonstration by each vendor (used Cisco’s sample data) †¢ Goal is to show how software meets or does not meet Cisco’s requirements Final Vendor Selection Criteria †¢ Three main criteria used: – Manufacturing capability – Long-term development of functionality of package – Flexibility of Oracle’s being close by (location wise) Other motivations – Oracle’s first release of new ERP product – if Cisco project goes well, favorable product la unch of Oracle ERP package †¢ Oracle chosen – team decision, no management approval at this point Time †¢ After 75 days from start of project, major TODOs are: – Negotiations between Oracle & Cisco – Write up a Proposal to Board of Directors †¢ Time and non-interference with annual accounting as main considerations. †¢ Famous last words: – â€Å"†¦ there’s no way we’re going to take 15 months to get this done. That’s ridiculous. † – â€Å"Well, can we do it in five months?That just didn’t seem right. † – Let’s try nine. Point Blank †¢ Was nine months realistic? Should other criteria have been used to estimate the time, rather than quarters as primarily criteria? Costs †¢ No formal business case for project †¢ Concentrating on system failure as motivation to project start †¢ $15 million budget estimated †¢ Not approached from the justification p rospective (no cost/benefit analysis) †¢ Costs:  »  »  »  » Software 16% Hardware 32% Headcount 14% System integration 38% Point Blank †¢ How do you think should project costs be estimated for Cisco’s project?Getting Approval From Board †¢ Met with CEO – comment about ‘jobs lost over much lesser amounts of money’ †¢ Got CEO’s support †¢ Met with Board of Directors – chairman says ‘show me the money’ as first thing †¢ Board approves project †¢ Single largest project ever undertaken by company †¢ CEO makes project priority for Cisco Building implementation team †¢ As not enough time & KPMG performed well during planning phase †¢ KPMG relationship extended for implementation †¢ Extra 80 team members added on from the Cisco’s business community †¢ Five tracks (process area teams) used: Order Entry Track  » Manufacturing Track  » Finance Track  » Sales/Re porting Track  » Technology Track Point Blank †¢ Was it worth removing important people from the regular business positions to work on the IT project? How can an IT department in another company convince upper management that this is worthwhile? Steering Committee †¢ High level execs from Cisco, Oracle, and KPMG †¢ Shows commitment and importance of project Point Blank †¢ How important is it to have support of upper management to ensure success?Implementing Oracle †¢ A development technique known as â€Å"rapid iterative prototyping† †¢ Implementation broken into a series of phases called â€Å"Conference Room Pilots† (CRPs): – CRP 0 / 1: Build on previous work to develop a deeper understanding of the software and how it functioned – CRP 2 / 3: Implement the ERP system. CRP0 †¢ Training the implementation team and setting up the technical environment †¢ Two parallel efforts: – Training the team in the Oracl e applications Normal 5 day training pushed to two 16-hour days! Getting the application up and running by a small â€Å"tiger team† CPR0 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Configuring the Oracle package Hundreds of parameters in the applications Team members â€Å"locked† together for two days 1 % effort with 80 percent accuracy Completed one week after the meeting, leading to the realization that changes to the software were needed to support the company effectively Point Blank †¢ Do you think that having 80% accuracy with only 1% effort was just a matter of luck?Taking into account that typical ERP system configuration takes up to 6 months, not 2 days!! Any risks involved with this approach? CPR1 †¢ Goal of this phase each track makes the system work within its specific area †¢ Details and procedures for completing a process were created †¢ Realized that a lot of business processes were not supported by the software needed modifications â₠¬ ¢ Modifications were classified into: †¢ Green †¢ Yellow †¢ Red, needed to go to the steering committee for approval there were few reds CRP1 30 developers needed for 3 months to modify Oracle †¢ Modifications led to unplanned changes in the project plan and budget †¢ Realized that Oracle could not support the after-sales support needs †¢ Chose a service support package and planned to lunch both packages together Point Blank †¢ Would it have been possible to avoid most of these major changes and the need for a new service package had they spent more time in their initial design and decision making? †¢ Does it help to prioritize the required changes and control scope? CRP2 Continued scope change †¢ Major technical issues †¢ Creation of data warehouse for centralized data communication CRP2 †¢ 100-person IT department started decommitting from other projects †¢ Bore most of the responsibility for the project additions †¢ â€Å"IT did nothing else that year† Point Blank †¢ Is it wise to commit all of your resources to a new project, when your existing systems are barely scraping by? CRP3 †¢ Focus on testing the full system †¢ Assess readiness to ‘go live’ †¢ Captured one day’s worth of actual business data and ‘re-running’ it on a SaturdayPoint Blank †¢ Would you consider one day of testing adequate (with a subset of data), if you were planning a clean cutover of your entire IT infrastructure? The Aftermath †¢ The new ERP system went live on January 30, 1995, but it took two months before it was operating at a reasonable level of quality. †¢ Problematic areas were hardware architecture and sizing. – Test hat only been run sequentially and with a subset of the real database. †¢ Side-note: How is it possible that no one in the team noticed this before? Cisco Systems (1995) Cisco Systems creates five distinct busin ess units that reflect its major networking product groups — Workgroup, ATM High End, Access, Core and IBM Internetworking. †¢ â€Å"While leveraging economies of scale in areas like manufacturing, sales and support, the business units can move quickly in product development and expedite time to market. † †¢ Cisco Systems is the first major supplier of internetworking products to be awarded global ISO 9001 certification. Cisco Systems (2004) †¢ John Chambers, president and CEO: â€Å"Our strong position in the core switching and routing business continues to be complemented by positive momentum in our Advanced Technologies, especially this quarter in storage, security, wireless and IP telephony. † †¢ Positive Q2 2004 figures: – Q2 Net Sales: $5. 4 Billion (14. 5% increase year over year; 5. 8% increase quarter over quarter) – Q2 Operating Cash Flows: $1. 7 Billion Oracle Corp. (2004) †¢ Third quarter revenues were up 9% to $2. 5 billion while net income grew 11% to $635 million as compared to the third quarter last year. Chairman and CFO Jeff Henley: – â€Å"Oracle's fiscal third quarter was another solid quarter, with new software license revenue growth of 12%, which is identical to last quarter. † †¢ Oracle CEO Larry Ellison: – â€Å"This was a very strong quarter for our database business. † groupthink Point Blank †¢ Would they be able to do it again? – Which were to key factors to the success of the project? – At which points could it have failed? – Are these one-time events or can we generalize them? Pete Solvik CIO of Cisco Systems †¢ Heads the Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) †¢ One of the top 25 unsung heroes of the Net by [email  protected] Week Pete’s Tips for CIOs †¢ Make sure that the company's â€Å"business owners† make and fund IT spending decissions. †¢ Use infrastructure as a strateg ic enabler. †¢ Tie IT's objectives and rewards to the goals of the company business units. †¢ â€Å"Pete Solvik's Three Tips for CIOs† http://www. voicendata. com/content/top_stories/101010311. asp Thank you for your time!