Negotiation Strategies Essay

Throughout the world, most countries have chosen to allow employers to dismiss employees only for just cause. The employer must present evidence or an argument that supports the notion to dismiss the employee. This method ensures that an individual is fired for good cause and prevents misunderstanding between the employer and employee. In the United States, the basis for termination of employees differs greatly. Employment-at-will is a term that means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason or for no reason without occurring legal liability (Stone, 2007). In the same respect, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences. The purpose of this paper is to present scenarios that question the legality and exceptions of the employment-at-will doctrine and to give opinions on how to handle the scenarios. Negotiation strategies come from understanding the negotiation process and knowing how others consider and view it. The person negotiating should watch out for tricks another may use to convince he/she that they are wrong. The best and most valued negotiation strategy is to first identify the â€Å"what’s wrong† problem and what the competition is requiring. For example, Tameka is a new employee at an accounting firm that is unable to learn and apply basic computer applications. The computer applications are mandatory to the job responsibilities outlined for Tameka. She makes remarks implying that she is not appreciated and is a good worker, regardless of her ability to complete the tasks. Skills, competence, and ability to perform a job are a necessity in the workplace. In an accounting firm, a simple mistake can be detrimental. It appears that Tameka exaggerated her abilities and was intentionally misleading upon being hired which exhibits a lack of veracity. This observation alone provides management with just cause to dismiss her. However, there are steps that can be taken to properly assess this situation. This is where the negotiation process kicks in. The first step would be to train the employee. The reading indicates that Tameka has been given months of training, and she is still incapable of completing tasks. I would be sure to document the training sessions that were offered to Tameka, and I would record her performance in each one. I would make Tameka sign off and clarify that she attended each training session to prevent verbal implications. After Tameka’s failed attempt at training, I would compose a formal document outlining my concerns about her performance. This document would serve as a warning for termination. I would give her two weeks to show improvement, even though she has already had the opportunity to do so. This document would reduce any risk or liability to the company. If two weeks have passed and Tameka has shown no improvement, she will be terminated. Tameka may try to combat by using the â€Å"implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing† exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. This exception usually involves a discharged employee who contends that the employer has indicated in various ways that the employee has job security and will be treated fairly (Smith, 1985). When Tameka indicated that she was a good worker who felt she was not appreciated, it set the grounds for accusations of good faith and fair dealing. Tameka would not be successful if she filed charges because she was not honest about her credentials. She led the employer to believe she was capable of completing tasks that she was treated fairly throughout the process by being given multiple chances to improve her performance. In scenario two, Tameka is frequently late to work and has major behavioral issues. As the supervisor, I tried to address the issues but Tameka retaliated that she is aware of the exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine and wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. The first step to rectifying this situation is to review the employee code of conduct handbook. I would check to make sure the company’s late policy and zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior are duly noted. Then, I would give a copy to Tameka to read and sign clarifying that she has read and agrees to the rules. After she has signed the rules and regulations, I would have a talk with her to address the issues and warn her of the seriousness of the offense. If the behavior continues, I will compose a formal document to serve as a final warning to Tameka before termination occurs. If the behavior continues, she will be terminated. Her termination would be based on her unwillingness to follow company rules, not respecting and treating her co-workers fairly, and not meeting performance expectations. Tameka may try to retaliate by claiming wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, which is another exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. Cases, using the public policy exception, protects employees who are discharged for fulfilling a public obligation, protects workers who are fired for exercising statutory rights, employees who are dismissed for refusing to participate in illegal or unethical activity, and to protect individuals who are discharged for blowing the whistle on the activities of their employers or co-workers (Callahan, 1991). In Tameka’s case, wrongful discharge would not apply. She failed to adhere to company policies, and even after corrective coaching she still made no attempts at improvement. Tameka’s signature on the rules and regulations sheet, the one-on-one session, and time given for improvement would reduce any liability on my part. The documentation I have for the situation would stand. In scenario three, Tameka takes off from work without management consent to observe a religious holiday. Coincidentally, the day occurs during a busy period for the company. Prior to the holiday, management stated that no one could take off without consent. Tameka encourages her co-workers to organize and form a labor union for protection. In this scenario, it would be unlawful to dismiss Tameka. However, I would compose a formal document to Tameka expressing the importance of calling in and letting management know if she will not be able to make work. I would reassure her that the company does not discriminate against employees regardless of their religious affiliation. I would send out a correspondence to all employees restating what I told Tameka to be sure everyone has an understanding of our non-discriminatory policy, and our appreciation toward calling in to work to make sure all shifts will be covered. Tameka’s protection lies in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically forbids discrimination on the basis of religion for employment purposes, except when the employer is a religious organization , or when religion is a bona fide occupational qualification (Adams, 2001). Tameka’s observance of the religious holiday is covered under this act. I could do nothing if Tameka and her co-workers wanted to form a labor union. The National Labors Relations Act (NLRA) protects the rights of employees to form or join a union, and prohibits employers from interfering, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of their rights to organize (Hollo, 2008). In the last scenario, Tameka’s direct supervisor continuously asks her out on dates. She was informed during orientation of the company policy that prevents employees from dating their supervisor. Despite this, Tameka and her supervisor enter into a consensual relationship. The reading refers to the relationship as â€Å"consensual† which means both parties agreed to the relationship. Tameka’s job was not threatened in any way if she did not choose to have the relationship with the supervisor. Equally, the supervisor was not coerced into the relationship in any way. I would interview both employees to get a detailed account of the relationship and have them both sign and date it. This would reduce any liability and risk on my part. Both parties knew it was wrong, but they still continued the relationship. If both parties agree to end the relationship, I would have them sign a document stating that the relationship will be ended or termination will apply. Tameka and the supervisor could argue under the exception of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. They may feel it is unfair that they have to end their relationship or that they were not knowledgeable. However, both parties had full knowledge of company policy. Supervisors generally have more job security. It is likely the supervisor could argue his termination would counteract the company’s implication of good faith in him. Regardless, all arguments made by Tameka and the supervisor would fail to prove a legit point. The company is showing enough good faith, just by allowing them the opportunity to rectify the situation. In conclusion, exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine can be controversial. It is important to always document incidents and situations, in case it is needed for protection in a lawsuit. Both employees and employers have allegiance to each other, and when one or both parties violates that allegiance, termination is often the result. Prevention of termination and other work related issues is directly related to the employee and employers understanding of company rules and regulations. The strategic factor is based on identifying an organization’s key stakeholders. It is called the strategic factor because the strategies and measures developed via it are based on the factors relevant to an organization’s key stakeholder’s.

Walgreens structure

Walgreen has faced over the past two years are changing their brand and the process needed to make that change. We can see that Walgreen has made some good decisions over the years . This is evident by the fact that there are still many Walgreen stores across the country and they are continuing to build new ones every year. If we take a look into how they made such crucial decisions we will find them using good decision making techniques such as predetermination's evidence, and good old fashioned Intuition.The first element we can find within Walgreen decision making process Is rainstorm. We can see that before changing the brand from old to new the mangers In the higher ranks of the corporation all got together and started throwing out Ideas. They did some research and based upon fact they made educated guesses on what may work and what probably would not work. The managers of Walgreen TLD a fantastic Job with their research and brainstorming. Walgreen wanted to stand out among thei r competition so In order to do that they had to know what the competitor was doing.It seemed the competitor was not much different from Walgreen. This is where we see the brainstorming really become effective. The managers began to come up with ideas on how to make the stores an experience instead of just a cash and carry drugstore. They really used the tools of good decision making to begin the process of changing the brand for good. Second we can look at the gathering of evidence. Walgreen knew if they were to be different then they had to study their competition. The head honchos did their homework well.They gathered information from research and surveys and listened to the customer needs. They not only listened they decided to take a chance and build their new brand on the customer experience. Now we have seen a company go from a rational model of decision making and step into the new age. They admitted that old manager models were out dated and they were ready to step into a f resh new approach. It is interesting that we see them heading into a very modern direction but using old fashioned decision making techniques to arrive there.Walgreen management team took their job seriously by making sure they followed through with pouring over statistics and studying successful companies with different brands than their own to see what was giving them the success. They decided that it Just had to be the customer service levels and the approach. Surprisingly enough we can also see the big bosses at Walgreen using their Intuition to make the final decision on whether to change the brand or not. They are customers at other places and they take their family and friends out to eat and do different things.When out and about they kept track of what businesses were full and why. If they went out to eat and there was a two hour wait they would pay close attention to why. This process gave them the Intuition, or experience to know what or how a person wants to be treated wh en they are spending their money with a company. They brought their Intuition to the drawing room and along with good brainstorming and gathering of evidence, the management staff of Walgreen was able to make a good business decision.We sometimes see ethics compromised when decisions are made and Walgreen is not a when they admittedly failed to control the sales of controlled substances in a few of its pharmacies. The effects of this could have ruined the company but lucky for them they were able to pay a hefty fine and shut the door on what could have been an ethical disaster for them. It seems the Federal government agreed to dismiss the ease when the fines were paid.

Christian Worldview Reflection Essay

In the book, Be thou my vision: Pursuing God’s perspective in a pluralistic world it states , â€Å"provides life events and experiences that deposit eternal truths in our minds and lives, and make room for intimacy with Christ†. When I read this phrase it picked up my attention right away because I am a true believer that God always help us and never is going to leave us alone but, at the same time, I believe it is our job to be smart and choose the best choice. When I was 18 years old, God opened a door so I came to United States to play Soccer and to get a scholarship. Before that opportunity, I was not very close from Christ and never went to church and read the bible very often. Being here, I meet great people, the family that I stay with help me to get closer to God and I started going every Sunday to church and reading the bible more often. Since that moment, God is more present in my life and working through my life showing me His intimate love. With Christ being in my heart, my life has grown stronger and I try to follow His way the best that I can. The NIV of Proverbs 3:5-6 states, â€Å"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; acknowledge Him and He will make you path straight.† I believe that choosing that opportunity changed my life. I’m glad to be here and I am very grateful to God for giving me so good opportunities in my life. Now, it just depends on me to be successful in what I want and follow his word to be better follower of Christ

An interview with a small firm about talent management to find the gap Assignment

An interview with a small firm about talent management to find the gap between academic and practitioners - Assignment Example However, recent scientific research established that the generic teamwork skills are more than an individual’s personal skills and abilities. Another gap is in the approaches to composition of teams in organizations. Most organizations take the average of team members on a particular trait and treat the score as the teams mean composition. However, recent scientific research suggest that the most appropriate approach to measure team composition traits depend on many other circumstances. Scientific research therefore, suggest that the mean score is not the best approach for Human resource managers to use to evaluate team composition Demographic diversity in teams also presents certain gaps between research in human resource development and actual practice of human resource development. Diversity in the workforce is changing over time with increased involvement of gender, age, and cultural diversity in the organization. There are also changes in management of a diverse workforce for organizations. In many firms, there is a perception that demographic diversity increases team performance. However, according to research, more demographic diversity does not always result in increased team performance. Other studies suggest that demographic diversity does not influence team performance especially on long term basis. (Hollenbeck, DeRue, & Guzzo, 2004) To solve the gap in choosing the best people to form a team, it is important for organizations to develop a foundation of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The firm can examine a number of factors based on theoretical and methodological background. Organizations should develop teams depending on feedback, cooperation, team spirit, morale and adaptability of the employees. Choosing a team should not focus on individual skills. The choice should be comprehensive in nature In order integrate between human resource

Beyonce Knowles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Beyonce Knowles - Essay Example This essay "Beyonce Knowles" outlines the life and creative career of one of the most successful artists in the World. Although she has gone solo, Beyonce is still a part of the Destiny’s Child music group. Music consumers have purchased more than 15 million of the Destiny’s Childs records. Their multiplatinum Survivor, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's music chart and generated the highest first-week total for a female group and the biggest opening sales in Columbia Records' history. Survivor opened at No. 1 in nine other countries as well. It follows the success of the group's second CD, The Writing's On the Wall (1999), which has sold more than 10 million copies. Beyonce Knowles has achieved a phenomenal solo success in film acting, having co-starred in Austin Powers in Goldmember and the highly successful film, the The Fighting Temptations. She shares her personal perspective on success: "When you love and accept yourself, when you know who really cares about you, and when you learn from your mistakes, then you stop caring about what people who don't know you think. Usually the person talking is just jealous or sad about themselves, and it takes going through this to realize that's how life is." Beyonce’s parents were instrumental to her success and they continue to manage her singing career. Mathew Knowles, a Fisk University graduate and former corporate marketing and sales star, has built a reputation for being an astute, hands-on manager who engineered Destiny’s Child group’s success. 's Child group's success. He manages a music empire that includes a management firm, record label and production studio. Tina Knowles is the style maven who crafted the group's edgy, sassy image. She has received praise for her dazzling, trendsetting costumes and hairstyles for the group. The Knowleses have been supportive from the very beginning, when Beyonce and a group of young girls decided they wanted to be dancers and singers. They hel ped to train and to rehearse the girls, to select and sew the costumes, and to style hair. The Knowleses booked and helped to transport them to performances. She got her work ethic from her parents. She is a very focused artist. She knows her goals. She does whatever it takes to get the job done. She has come out in Pink Panther with Austin Myers and in Dreamgirls. 2.1 Current Product Beyonce is 27 years old, 5ft 7in, brown-eyed and brown-haired musical star. She has long, muscular legs but is tall, thin and very curvy and hopes to stay that way by looking after her body. To keep herself in top

Political Environment Case Study Analysis Research Paper

Political Environment Case Study Analysis - Research Paper Example It encourages a series of revenge by the wrong doer to the society and thus crime is not stopped (Honderich, 1969). I would, therefore, try to show the sense in my program and its benefit in the long run when the inmates are incorporated in the society as rehabilitated. This way, the governor may understand it and convince, through his political power, his followers who might be tempted to be against the current program. This will be easier for him since the project has already won the hearts of the citizens. The programs for providing educational, vocational and treatment opportunities have not only gained national attention, but have led to the reduction of recidivism by 30 percent. My department will attempt to convince the governor that, this way, he will gain his political mileage even if it means associating the program with him. 2. Is there any room to negotiate with the governor? As a trade-off, would you offer to put in place some programs that are known to be tough on inmat es? If so, what kind? There is room to negotiate with the governor since the programs cannot be implemented without his support. The difference, between the governor’s ideology and the ideology behind the programs being implemented, is that the governor wants retributive justice while the program is working on restorative justice. In restorative justice, the main concern is making the victim whole and reintegrating the offender into the society through education, vocational training and humane treatment (Duff & Garland, 1994). This way, the offender is treated like other citizens and is given a chance to rehabilitate and understand the effect his offense has done to the victim. This approach does not satisfy legal principles, but the victim takes an active role in the process while offenders repair the harm they have done by being rehabilitated (Konow, 2003). Effort will be made to convince the society on the effectiveness of the preferred theory of justice. Therefore, enough mechanism will be put in place to ensure correct protocols are used to approach the politician. This way, there will be no need of a trade off by reintroducing tough programs for the inmate. This is because; these tough programs will not work well with restorative justice approach, which is meant to treat inmates as leniently as possible when it comes to punishment. Since the program has some ends to achieve, they will desire, just like the offenders to do so â€Å"through cooperation with others on mutually acceptable terms† (Rawls, 1999, p. 266). 3. Before dismantling your policies and programs, would you attempt to see how much internal and external support you have for them? If yes, whom would you contact and how? Incase the worse get to be worst, and the program requires to be dismantled, we will give a chance to public opinion. Since the program in place has already won some support from the public, it will be significant to assess the internal and external support. Th is will be done with the hope that the governor will be convinced, and if he is a democrat, he will go by public opinion. For this case, I will contact institutions like media and others which conduct opinion polls to assess the public opinion on the programs.

(Macroeconomics) A company that did well during the recession. For Term Paper

(Macroeconomics) A company that did well during the recession. For example (Ferrari) - Term Paper Example According to the Company Website, â€Å"Ferrari S.p.A. designs and manufactures sports cars that are synonymous with speed and performance. Ferrari sports cars are among the most prestigious automobiles in the world, along with Porsche, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, and Lamborghini. The name Ferrari is still venerated on the international racing circuit, and many automotive experts regard the Ferrari GTO as one of the most exotic sports cars ever made. Only 35 Ferrari GTOs were built, and some of them have been sold as collectors items for more than $10 million. About 3,800 Ferraris are sold each year, at prices starting at $120,000 apiece. Ferrari S.p.A., which has been affiliated with Fiat S.p.A. since 1969, also owns the Maserati brand. About 20 percent of Ferraris and Maseratis are sold in North America, with the second largest market being Germany, at around 18 percent†. The latest financial statements for Ferrari show that ,† On 2008 revenues of nearly 59 billion euros (12.9% higher than 2006), Fiat Group posted a trading profit of 3.2 billion euros, well ahead of previous guidance and nearly 66% higher than in 2006, with all major Sectors contributing to the improvement. Trading margin rose accordingly to 5.5% from 3.8% in 2006, with the Automobiles business more than Doubling trading profit to 1.1 billion euros, CNH at 1 billion euros (+34.3%; +46.7% in dollar terms) and Iveco at 0.8 billion euros (+48.9%)†. In the same report, it states that â€Å"Ferrari closed 2007 with a trading profit of 266 million euros, up 45.4% from 183 million euros in 2006. The improvement is mainly attributable to higher sales volumes and efficiency gains, offset in part by increased R&D expenses and unfavorable US dollar exchange rate. Trading margin was 15.9% in 2007 against 12.6% in 2006†. The domestic environmental factors that the company face may be divided into the production volumes that the company sets itself targets for and the domestic market that it caters

Compare and Contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Compare and Contrast - Essay Example Sherlock Holmes, from the television serial â€Å"The Hound of The Baskervilles† and the movie â€Å"Sherlock Holmes,† played by Jeremy Brett and Robert Downey respectively, are compared, then it is found that they display similar traits and behavior when it comes to their mental patterns. For example, they both like the process of deduction and find it challenging. They are proud of their analytical ability to deduct the facts about people from their physical appearance or accessories. For example, Brett is shown making deduction about a man from the walking stick that he forgets in his apartment. When he sees the man getting down from the carriage, he remarks â€Å"I was right,† in a very satisfactory and happy tone. In the movie, Downey is shown making deduction about Watson’s girl friend from her appearance and her accessories. He does not refuse to state the facts even when he realizes that it might make Watson and his girl friend uncomfortable. This shows that both the characters find great mental satisfaction in making deductions about people, and do not hesitate to display their skill even if it creates discomfort for others. Secondly, both the characters are sarcastic in their expressions. For example, Brett asks Watson to make deduction from the walking stick. When Watson tells him what he thinks, Brett initially appreciates him but when Watson expresses happiness over his achievement, Brett says â€Å"but I am afraid that most of your conclusions were erroneous.† Similarly, even Downey is shown being sarcastic in his remarks. For example, in the beginning of the movie, when the inspector reaches the crime scene after the girl is saved by Holmes and Watson from being murdered by Lord Blackwood, Holmes says to the inspector â€Å"impeccable timing Lestrade,† in a sarcastic tone. Later, when inspector says â€Å"and you were supposed to wait for my orders,† Downey replies â€Å"if I had, you would be cleaning up a corpse and chasing a rumor.† This shows that

Why is football the most popular sport in UK Essay

Why is football the most popular sport in UK - Essay Example Today many individuals are thoroughly involved in this game and the football fever has become so strong and viral that it has taken the height o0f obsession in many individuals. Football has many different forms which are actually seen in the past. Initially this sport started as a game for farmers who made use of a ball made out of animal skin for their entertainment purpose. This was the point where the game started and gained popularity among the local masses. The old school form of football can be traced back to the time when it started to be played in English schools around the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The game became so influential and famous that now it was not just confined to the British Empire but it started to spread abroad too. This game was altered and then was stitched according to the needs of the people who dwelled in the region. In the nineteenth century the first 'Football League' was established in England, which started to initiate football competitions on a professional level. This sport gradually became very popular and around the twentieth century it became one of the most popular sports played with a team throughout the world. Thus the game football which is renowned globally took its emergence from the contemporary football games of the British. Football is undoubtedly the most high profile and popular game in the United Kingdom and there is no second thought about that. This is not just the case now; football has had the same importance since generations. Today the case has just exaggerated a bit. The domination of football primarily in 1990's has emerged as a major threat to various other sports. In the United Kingdom many organs govern the football. 'The Football Association' primarily belonging to England and other bodies it has like Scottish, Irish, Welsh etc. these organizations are established so that they can run and look after their own national teams, work on football as a recreational sport and also to organize comp etitions for the cup. Although these association are not anymore quite significant as professional leagues have overshadowed their popularity. The home regions/nations are responsible to host their own club football tournaments within their district. There are four components in English football that contain a vast amount of football clubs which are merely based on a League system. The high class 'FA Premier League'comprises of20 teams and is the richest and successful football league present in the world. The remaining three completely professional components are then run by 'The Football League' which constitutes of the other seventy two clubs. Yearly growth,promotion and relegations work on the basis of these four components and apart from they also operate amongst the lowest of them and land the lower organs or the football not played within leagues. Apart from the professional clubs there are many small scale football clubs too that are outside the four main components,as well as many more clubs which are partially professional. In short England comprises of more than hundred clubs which are playing professionally altogether, hence England has the honor to house the most clubs than any region in Europe. The most famous and the main football cup competitions that are held in England is firstly the 'FA Cup' which is an open to all competition where all men can participate and battle on the field to win, despite only the major professional clubs are seen to reach the finale. The other famous cup competition that is held is known as the 'League Cup' which is now commonly referred to as the'Carling Cup', this cup competition is precisely for the 'ninety-two

Work Experience Essay Example for Free

Work Experience Essay Thursday, a new day, I was actually looking forward to seeing what today had to bring. I was right to wonder as today we were doing the normal lessons of Maths, P. E, English and History, which we do Thursdays, but today we were also going to do painting. The children were excited, and so was I. After our fun last lesson of the day of painting it was time to pack up and go home. I, on the otherhand had to stay and clean up, which I did not mind as I had seen how much the children enjoyed painting and just the smiles on their faces gave me motivation and me smile too. Friday, the day I had at first been looking forward to but was now dreading all week had come. I was upset at the thought of leaving the children that had made me feel so welcome and had made me smile not stop for the past two weeks. The day was all right. It started the same way and was pretty much the same, apart from the gut feeling I had. As the day went on I tried my hardest to explain to the children that I was going back to my own school, to do my work. They did not understand, no matter how much I explained. After two weeks it was over, it was the end of the day on Friday and I was going to have to say goodbye. All of sudden two children missing and five minutes later they returned with a big card for me. I was very emotional at this point as I held back my tears. In the card they had all signed it and had drawn pictures of themselves. I also had six pictures that Ross, Daryl, Chloe, Steph and Katie had drawn for me. As the children left they all hugged me and took a handful of marshmallows, which I had brought in for them. I remember saying goodbye to all of them and holding back my tears. There was of course two favourites, isnt there always but these two were special to me as they had me feel so comfortable around them and had always been grabbing my hand at every chance. These two children were Chloe and Daryl. Although me and Daryl did have our moments, like when he decided that he had just about enough of me and he stuck his finger up at me, which to be honest was quite funny and when Chloe gave me a photo of herself and her granddad which I of course returned to her tray without her knowing. I then picked up my bag and walked out of Ruislip Gardens Primary School one last time. I left and caught my bus home feeling sad and shedding a tear or two. From work experience I feel that I have matured a lot and that I definitely know that this is definitely the line of work I am interested in. I have below written my own poem of my experience of work experience. The moment that I first saw it I was terrified, but little did I no the children were going to be right by my side. The children they were lovely and the staff they were too, Things did not turn out how I had expected and all the things I had imagined they were not at all true. I am glad that I had gone there to work and act mature, But I am definite I am eager to start the real World of work and this I am sure. Now there is one thing I would want to say and I want everyone at Ruislip Gardens to know too, I would like to say this and I mean it, THANK-YOU.

Livelihood in Myanmar

Livelihood in Myanmar Significance of the Study Myanmar is the agricultural based economy with very rich resources. Agricultural, including livestock and fishery is most important sector for Myanmars economy. The key crops for the agricultural sector are rice, pulses, beans, sesame, peanuts, sugarcane and etc. Nearly three quarters of the population who live in rural areas main livelihood depend on that sector. Environmental resources directly support the basis of the livelihoods of poor people in Myanmar. Myanmar faces environmental problems arising from underdevelopment and poverty. It has some problems of deforestation, loss of biological resources, land degradation due to wind and water erosion, urbanization and mismanagement. Every economic action can have some effect on the environment, and every environmental change can have an impact on the economy. Environmental management, such as, forestry operations; improvements in air quality; changes in environmental institutions and governance; and investment in water and sanitation infrastructure are important. Poor countries are much more dependent on natural resources as assets than rich countries. Wealthier households have greater access to environmental infrastructure and better health outcomes. Health targets requires public policies that focus on reducing environmental risk factors through better access to basic environmental services, as well as better access to health and education services. A link between natural resources, the environment and poverty is at least plausible. Environmental change, particularly of local natural resources, can affect poverty through many pathways. Consider poor households welfare depend on assets that the household has. These assets may include biophysical, human, environmental, and constructed capital. At any point in time, household well being depends on the return to these assets and any exogenous shocks. Exogenous shocks simply reflect unexpected changes as a result of natural disasters, death, or market changes. Further, returns to assets generally have two components: (1) known returns (2) an uncertain component that depends on weather, sickness, and so on. Changes in welfare can thus result from three types of changes: (1) changes in asset holdings, (2) changes in returns to these holdings (3) changes in exogenous income, which can be positive or negative. While we use household income and welfare interchangeably, we recognize that income is only one measure of well being. Changes in environmental management can have two effects in the short to medium term. First, it can change the return to assets. Agro-forestry techniques might contribute to improved indoor air quality, health, and productivity. Then, second, improved environmental quality would be to add greater value to the flows from household land or labor. Any Health improvements that come from environmental management will also have direct welfare impacts that are independent of productivity improvements. Changes in resource management can also increase household assets. Improved environmental quality may contribute to reduced mortality and greater labor power. It is important to recognize that labor is often only asset that poor households have, and that sickness and death can have intergenerational affects. Any improvement in environmental health can have long-term impacts on households ability to move out of poverty. Environmental changes can contribute to unexpected shocks. Climate change can increase the variability of returns, for example, with greater variation in rainfall patterns, the variability of crop yields may increase. On 2 and 3 May Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar and 31 townships were significantly affected by the cyclone in Ayarwaddy Division and Yangon Division. The damage was most severe in the Delta region, also known as the countys rice bowl. Delta is by no means of poorest parts on Myanmar. However, development is relatively limited. As agriculture is the driving force for that area, the uncertainties impact on the households of income in others sectors. The people in Delta are primarily farmers, fisher man and labors, with a smaller proportion engaged in the service industries and as traders. Approximately 50-60 percents of families in the Delta are engaged in agriculture. River basin areas are removed the covering by forest, leading to kore frequent and severe flooding. After that disaster, many aids projects are supporting for the vulnerable. It has been after two years Nargis. The aids agencies are still supporting for them. However, they support most of the people in rural areas are much worse off today than a decade ago. Farmers incomes are barely enough to provide food, with left over for clothing, school fees, shelters, supplies or medicine. Environmental problems including deteriorating water supply and diminishing common property resources further impact the poor. This study focuses on the farmers from the Pyapon Township from Nargis Affected area. As mentioned above, that area is very important for the agriculture sector, it has been two years after Nargis, the situation of farmers are remain unchanged. The research will find out, how the poor families coping with collapsing livelihood and income? and what are the problems for them? And what are the immediate aids for farmers to solve these problems? Do the recovery aids for livelihood of farmers improve their welfare environmentally, technically and economically? The more the environment is used up by this mining of the land, trees, fishes and other resources, the frequent and severe floods, drought and other national disaster will be. Now, there are changes in delta hydrology caused by the flooding and impact on soil quality due to salt water erosion. There is also less fresh water at that area. Which problems they will face later? What kids of environmental management technique for their improvement? What should be done to overturn the current trend?

The Difficulties Which International Students Face

The Difficulties Which International Students Face Introduction: This article is about the difficulties which international students face, especially for Asian students, including thinking styles, learning attitudes and writing and presenting styles. In spite of its publication date, it is still helpful for us to understand the international students` situation abroad. In the text, the authors argue all the issues are rooted in traditional culture. In general, the authors` arguments are reasonable, but to some specific cases their views are no longer suitable. The reasons involve the development of education within the approximate twenty years and their limitations of visual views. In this paper, evaluations about every main idea are presented. About the situations which the authors` ideas are not suitable, some suggestions are indicated. As for the applicable arguments, more evidences are provided to back up. Background: In this day and age, quite a few of Asian students go abroad to study. However, there are some typical difficulties they must overcome because of their innate tendency. In Ballard and Clanchy`s research, the innate tendency totally stem from oriental tradition, which is a typical viewpoint in the past. Some subsequent research taken by David Kember and Lyn Gow indicates that the issues result from the curriculum and teaching environment [1]. With the development of the education system in Asian countries, the issues seem to be fade away during recent years. Asian international students become more and more familiar to western culture, and they can cope with the assignment from their lecturer more smoothly. This makes investigations in past time become unsuitable, so some updating surveys are necessary to cover new situations. Summary: The title of the article is â€Å"Cultural Variation: Difficulties for Student Studying Abroad†. It is from a book named â€Å"Study Abroad: A Manual for Asian Students† written by Ballard and Clanchy (1984). In this article, the authors argue three main difficulties that Asian international students face in their studying process. Further, the authors suggest Asian students adjusting their studying style for successful study abroad. The first main idea in the text is about variations of thinking styles. As the authors say, different thinking and learning purposes lead to different results, which stem from varying cultures. A particular example of a Japanese student who adjusted his purpose and adapted his essay structure to meet his lecturer`s requirement is utilized to support the main point. The variation in learning attitudes is argued as the second main idea. In the authors` opinion, different educational traditions create different learning attitudes. Then different learning approaches, including reproductive, analytical and speculative, are presented in particular education levels, although they are not separated totally. The authors quote three Asian students` words and describe an Indonesian postgraduate`s situation to back up their main idea. The other main idea concerns differences in writing and presenting styles. Five distinct writing patterns, including English, Romance, Russian, Semitic and Oriental patterns, are described in the text (Kaplan 66: 1-20). As indicated, a typical example of a Thailand student whose thesis was crossed out by his Australian supervisor suggests that different writing styles differ widely. As the authors` suggestions, a more analytical and critical learning approach is expected for Asian international students to succeed in their study. Critique (general): Generally speaking, the three main difficulties pointed out in this article are reasonable. Although this article was published in 1984, the problems still exist in current international students. The influence stemming from traditional culture is significant, which cannot be eliminated within about twenty years. The thinking and writing styles which are trained during their studying process imperceptibly, still influence international students. Something different, however, has happened in these twenty years. Internationalization has been an unstoppable tendency, for which relationships between countries has become more and more closed. In the trend, education internationalization is a representative one. Compared with the situation in 1984, much more students go abroad to study, especially for students from developing countries. With the number of international students increasing, abroad studying is no longer mysterious or unattainable. Most students who are ready to go abroad can get much useful information from internet and relevant agents. As the result of this, students are relative familiar to the education environment abroad. Additionally, they usually can get experiential knowledge from forthgoers. Thus, they are able to adjust themselves to the expectations of foreigner universities more easily, In addition, a series of language tests and record examinations are developed to ensure that students who are admitted b y foreign universities can survive in another country. Critique (specific): As the statement above, the main ideas argued in this article is still reasonable at present, however, the situation has changed. So to a certain extent, the descriptions in the text are no longer suitable. As the authors` assertion, the variations in thinking styles stemming from traditional cultures, made the Japanese student fail in his first year. Considering the source of variations, it must be true, but this example should be an extreme one. Normally, the thinking style of oriental students is implicative. They always make effort to avoid evaluating topics directly. When they are considering a topic, they usually think over the influence of background firstly. With the introductions of western educational culture, however, most students are likely to compare the views and evaluate the topic, although they may describe the background at first. In Chinese secondary school, many assignments are to conclude the main ideas of prepared texts and evaluate these main ideas from your own viewpoint. Through training like this students obtain the capability to assess the relative merits. So the description as the text presented, only may happen in extreme case. With the increasing of the fam iliarity to western thinking pattern, the similar extreme case should be less likely to happen. About the different learning strategies mentioned in this article, the authors claim that it is needed to develop a more analytical and critical learning style for many Asian students. It should be a believable recommendation at that moment. However, in today`s school, not only universities or colleges, but also secondary schools, it is paid attention to analysis ability. Basically, the teachers and lecturers encourage students to ask questions and think more deeply. In this way, students are required not only to remember the knowledge points, but also to understand how the process is going. In addition, many universities in China establish funds to support undergraduates to take experiments. Then, students who want to do some research in particular fields are encouraged to apply them. In this way, students` speculative capabilities are cultivated. Furthermore, according to relevant research, there is no significant difference between Australian and Asian students [2]. As reported, A sian students are not rote learners. In other words, the reproductive learning strategy is not directed towards Asian students. Then, for Australian students, the best way to learn is also to remember and understand by heart. For these reasons, the authors` assertions about these three learning approaches are not in accordance with facts and suitable to the development of education. Concerning writing styles, the authors cite Robert Kaplan`s theory to explain the varying writing styles successfully. For oriental writers, explaining the issue directly is a blunt way which lacks of ideations. In their views, a better way to express their ideas is to describe the background and the influence factors as implications. The end results should be obtained by readers themselves. As the authors suggest, this indirect writing approach is not suitable to academic thesis in Australian universities. In western scholars` views, the â€Å"relevant descriptions† are not relevant at all. It is a real difference between western and eastern writing skills, while it is unnecessary to discuss which one is more advanced. Expect from the variations between different cultures, the differences between each academic discipline are also mentioned in the text. In this day and age, more and more interdisciplines are developed, for which flexible writing styles are required. Additional ly, as a relatively objective writing style, science and engineering articles should be paid more attention to attract readers. Conclusions: In this paper, in connection with every main point mentioned in the original article, evaluations are provided. Generally speaking, the authors` main ideas are still applicable at present stage, although in this article there are some details should be changed to suit modern education. When the authors are comparing with Asian students` works and Australian lectures` expectations, extreme examples are cited. This is the biggest weakness, because it ignores the general status. Implications of this article are that student who study abroad should learn how to adjust himself to the requirement. References: David Kember, Lyn Gow: A Challenge to Anecdotal Stereotype of the Asian Student, 1991. F. Sushila Niles: Cultural Differences in Learning Motivation and Learning Strategies: A Comparison of Overseas and Australian Students at an Australian University, 1995.

Religion in the Military of Ancient Greece :: Army Greeks History Rituals Papers

Religion in the Military of Ancient Greece The Ancient Greeks held their religion to be a personal experience, to be practiced by the common man on a daily basis. Thus, it comes as no surprise to read in the historical works of the period that the people also relied on religion to aid them in military matters. This paper will give historical examples of the people's reliance on the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects, whether ill or benign, on the military endeavors of the peoples in the age of the Ancient Greeks. RITE OF PASSAGE Many people who experience battle for the first time find themselves panicked, totally unprepared for the horrors of war. Waging war is not a task for the inexperienced civilian. As a result, religious rituals were formed that would brace the aspiring warrior for the obscenities he would face as well as fill him with a sense of obligatory duty through ritual ordaination. Walter Burkert's Greek Religion gives ample detail on the subject: Crete is also the place where myth localizes the Kouretes, who by their name are just young warriors.

XML: Extensible Markup Language Essay -- Essays Papers

XML: Extensible Markup Language The World Wide Web is in the process of undergoing a radical change that allows new services and opportunities to businesses and individuals. HTML - the HyperText Markup Language - is a language that is predominately used to generate most of the web sites available today. Now, however, Extensible Markup Language is in the process of replacing HyperText Markup Language as the most favored format. Extensible Markup Language will allow the use and functionality of the web to continue to expand. Extensible Markup Language is based on Standard Generalized Markup Language. First, what is Standard Generalized Markup Language? Both HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) are based on SGML - Standard Generalized Markup Language. Standard Generalized Markup Language has been an international standard since 1986 (ISO 8879). It is a meta-language, which simply means that it can be used to create other languages. Standard Generalized Markup Language is a descendent from earlier markup languages first developed at IBM as early as 1969. The oldest direct ancestor is GML, which both stands for General Markup Language and contains the initials of the IBM researchers who created it: Charles F. Goldfarb, Edward Mosher, and Raymond Lorie. Standard Generalized Markup Language is a far more extensive markup language than Extensible Markup Language or HyperText Markup Language, and to this day remains as the ultimate language in the field. The ultimate goal and success of Standard Generalized Markup Language is that it conquered the computer-age old problem of being able to communicate across different computer platforms. It allows computers to share and communicate data regardless of the computer’s hardware, operating system, or software applications being used. Applications such as AdobeïÆ'’ FramemakerïÆ'’ use it for desktop publishing. But, in general, Standard Generalized Markup Language is considered much too complex for widespread e-business and other similar applications. A need for a new language to handle the new demands of the e-business world became clear. The designers of Extensible Markup Language were looking to generate a markup language that would allow the functionality of Standard Generaliz ed Markup Language without the complexity. By strategically omitting large chunks of St... ...p Language. The difference in quality will be enormous. It is also estimated that beyond the web, Extensible Markup Language will be felt along the lines of standardization of data interchange formats. In other words, in the effort to standardize data names in like areas of business, the same standardization could be used worldwide for applications outside of Extensible Markup Language’s spectrum. Extensible Markup Language could improve efficiency in all respects of data exchange. With companies like Microsoft, IBM, Dow Chemical Co., DuPont, BASF, and a plethora of others working together to develop standards, the future of Extensible Markup Language and data interchange is bright! Bibliography Goldfarb, Charles F. â€Å"XML in an Instant: A Non-geeky Introduction.† Oasis. October 1999. Gonsalves, Antone. â€Å"XML Translation Wares Are On The Way.† eWEEK. January 2000. Halfhill, Tom. â€Å"XML: The Next Big Thing.† IBM Research Magazine. October 2000. Rohan, Rebecca. â€Å"New Wild Life In The XML Menagerie.† Sm@rt Partner. February 2000. Schindler, Esther. â€Å"Exposing XML Myths.† Sm@rt Partner. May 2000. Walsh, Jeff. â€Å"XML: Not Just for the Web Anymore.† InfoWorld. June 1998.

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 10-11

10 AUGUSTUS BRINE Augustus Brine sat in one of his high-backed leather chairs massaging his temples, trying to formulate a plan of action. Rather than answers, the question, Why me? repeated in his mind like a perplexing mantra. Despite his size, strength, and a lifetime of learning, Augustus Brine felt small, weak, and stupid. Why me? A few minutes before, Gian Hen Gian had rushed into the house babbling in Arabic like a madman. When Brine finally calmed him down, the genie had told him he had found the demon. â€Å"You must find the dark one. He must have the Seal of Solomon. You must find him!† Now the genie was sitting in the chair across from Brine, munching potato chips and watching a videotape of a Marx Brothers movie. The genie insisted that Brine take some sort of action, but he had no suggestions on how to proceed. Brine examined the options and found them wanting. He could call the police, tell them that a genie had told him that an invisible man-eating demon had invaded Pine Cove, and spend the rest of his life under sedation: not good. Or, he could find the dark one, insist that he send the demon back to hell, and be eaten by the demon: not good. Or he could find the dark one, sneak around hoping that he wasn't noticed by an invisible demon that could be anywhere, steal the seal, and send the demon back to hell himself, but probably get eaten in the process: also, not good. Of course he could deny that he believed the story, deny that he had seen Gian Hen Gian drink enough saltwater to kill a battalion, deny the existence of the supernatural altogether, open an impudent little bottle of merlot, and sit by his fireplace drinking wine while a demon from hell ate his neighbors. But he did believ e it, and that option, too, was not good. For now he decided to rub his temples and think, Why me? The genie would be no help at all. Without a master he was as powerless as Brine himself. Without the seal and invocation, he could have no master. Brine had run through the more obvious courses of action with Gian Hen Gian to have each doomed in succession. No, he could not kill the demon: he was immortal. No, he could not kill the dark one: he was under the protection of the demon, and killing him, if it were possible, might release the demon to his own will. To attempt an exorcism would be silly, the genie reasoned; would some mingy prelate be able to override the power of Solomon? Perhaps they could separate the demon from his keeper – somehow force the dark one to send the demon back. Brine started to ask Gian Hen Gian if it was feasible but stopped himself. Tears were coursing down the genie's face. â€Å"What's the matter?† Brine asked. Gian Hen Gian kept his eyes trained on the television screen, where Harpo Marx was pulling a collection of objects from his coat, objects obviously too large to be stored there. â€Å"It has been so long since I have seen one of my own kind. This one who does not speak, I do not recognize him, but he is Djinn. What magic!† Brine considered for a moment the possibility that Harpo Marx might have been one of the Djinn, then berated himself for even thinking about it. Too much had happened today that was outside the frame of his experience and it had opened him up to thinking that anything was possible. If he weren't careful, he would lose his sense of judgment completely. â€Å"You've been here a thousand years and you've never seen a movie before?† Brine asked. â€Å"What is a movie?† Slowly and gently, Augustus Brine explained to the king of the Djinn about the illusion created by motion pictures. When he finished, he felt like he had just raped the tooth fairy in front of a class of kindergartners. â€Å"Then I am alone still?† the genie said. â€Å"Not completely.† â€Å"Yes,† the genie said, eager to leave the moment behind, â€Å"but what are you going to do about Catch, Augustus Brine?† 11 EFFROM Effrom Elliot awoke that morning eagerly anticipating his nap. He'd been dreaming about women, about a time when he had hair and choices. He hadn't slept well. Some barking dogs had awakened him during the night, and he wished he could sleep in, but as soon as the sun broke through his bedroom window, he was wide awake, without a hope of getting back to sleep and recapturing his dream until nap time. It had been that way since he had retired, twenty-five years ago. As soon as his life had eased so that he might sleep in, his body would not let him. He crept from bed and dressed in the half-light of the bedroom, putting on corduroys and a wool flannel shirt the wife had laid out for him. He put on his slippers and tiptoed out of the bedroom, palming the door shut so as not to wake the wife. Then he remembered that the wife was gone to Monterey, or was it Santa Barbara? Anyway, she wasn't home. Still, he continued his morning routine with the usual stealth. In the kitchen he put on the water for his morning cup of decaf. Outside the kitchen window the hummingbirds were already hovering up to the feeder, stopping for drinks of red sugar water on their route through the wife's fuchias and honeysuckle. He thought of the hummingbirds as the wife's pets. They moved too fast for his tastes. He had seen a nature show on television that said that their metabolism was so fast that they might not even be able to see humans. The whole world had gone the way of the hummingbirds as far as Effrom was concerned. Everything and everybody was too fast, and sometimes he felt invisible. He couldn't drive anymore. The last time he had tried, the police had stopped him for obstructing traffic. He had told the cop to stop and smell the flowers. He told the cop that he had been driving since before the cop was a glimmer in his daddy's eye. It had been the wrong approach. The policeman took his license. The wife did all the driving now. Imagine it – when he had taught her to drive, he had to keep grabbing the wheel to keep her from putting the Model T into the ditch. What would the snot-nosed cop say about that? The water was beginning to boil on the stove. Effrom rummaged through the old tin bread box and found the package of chocolate-covered graham crackers the wife had left for him. In the cupboard the jar of Sanka sat next to the real coffee. Why not? The wife was gone, why not live a little? He took the regular coffee from the shelf and set about finding the filters and filter holder. He hadn't the slightest idea where they were kept. The wife took care of that sort of thing. He finally found the filters, the holder, and the serving carafe on the shelf below. He poured some coffee into the filter, eyeballed it, and poured in some more. Then he poured the water over the grounds. The coffee came through strong and black as the kaiser's heart. He poured himself a cup and there was still a little left in the carafe. No sense wasting it. He opened the kitchen window, and after fumbling with the lid for a moment, poured the remaining coffee into the hummingbird feeder. â€Å"Live a little, boys.† He wondered if the coffee might not speed them up to the point where they just burnt up in the atmosphere. He toyed with the idea of watching for a while, then he remembered that his exercise show was about to start. He picked up his graham crackers and coffee and headed for the living room and his big easy chair in front of the RCA. He made sure the sound was turned down, then turned on the old console set. When the picture came on, a young blond woman in iridescent tights was leading three other young women through a series of stretches. Effrom guessed that there was music playing from the way they moved, but he always watched with the sound turned off so as not to wake the wife. Since he had discovered his exercise program, the women in his dreams all wore iridescent tights. The girls were all on their backs now, waving their legs in the air. Effrom munched his graham crackers and watched in fascination. Time was when a man had to spend the better part of a week's pay to see a show like that. Now you could get it on cable for only†¦. Well, the wife took care of the cable bill, but he guessed that it was pretty cheap. Life was grand. Effrom considered going out to his workshop and getting his cigarettes. A smoke would go good right now. After all, the wife was gone. Why should he sneak around in his own house? No, the wife would know. And when she confronted him, she wouldn't yell, she would just look at him. She would get that sad look in her blue eyes and she would say, â€Å"Oh, Effrom.† That's all, â€Å"Oh, Effrom.† And he would feel as if he had betrayed her. Nope, he could wait until his show was over and go smoke in his workshop, where the wife would never dare to set foot. Suddenly the house felt very empty. It was like a great vacant warehouse where the slightest noise rattles in the rafters. A presence was missing. He never saw the wife until she knocked on his workshop door at noon to call him to lunch, but somehow he felt her absence, as if the insulation had been ripped from around him, leaving him raw to the elements. For the first time in a long time Effrom felt afraid. The wife was coming back, but maybe someday she would be gone forever. Someday he would really be alone. He wished for a moment that he would die first, then thinking of the wife alone, knocking on the workshop door from which he would never emerge, made him feel selfish and ashamed. He tried to concentrate on the exercise show but found no solace in spandex tights. He rose and turned off the TV. He went to the kitchen and put his coffee in the sink. Outside the window the hummingbirds went about their business, shimmering in the morning sun. A sense of urgency came over him. It became suddenly very important to get to his workshop and finish his latest carving. Time seemed as fleeting and fragile as the little birds. In his younger days he might have met the feeling with a naive denial of his own mortality. Age had given him a different defense, and his thoughts returned to the image of he and the wife going to bed together and never waking, their lives and memories going out all at once. This too, he knew, was a naive fantasy. When the wife got home he was going to give her hell for going away, he knew that for sure. Before unlocking his workshop he set the alarm on his watch to go off at lunchtime. If he worked through lunch he might miss his nap. There was no sense in wasting the day just because the wife was out of town. When the knock came on his workshop door, Effrom thought at first that the wife had come home early to surprise him with lunch. He ground out his cigarette in an empty toolbox that he kept for that purpose. He blew the last lungful of smoke into the exhaust fan he had installed â€Å"to take out the sawdust.† â€Å"Coming. Just a minute,† he said. He revved up one of his high-speed polishing tools for effect. The knocking continued and Effrom realized that it was not coming from the inside door that the wife usually knocked on, but from the one leading out into the front yard. Probably Jehovah's Witnesses. He climbed down from his stool, checked the pockets of his corduroys for quarters, and found one. If you bought a Watchtower from them, they would go away, but if they caught you without spare change, they would be on you like soul-saving terriers. Effrom threw the door open and the young man outside jumped back. He was dressed in a black sweatshirt and jeans – rather casual, Effrom thought, for someone carrying the formal invitation to the end of the world. â€Å"Are you Effrom Elliot?† he asked. â€Å"I am.† Effrom said. He held out his quarter. â€Å"Thanks for stopping by, but I'm busy, so you can just give me my Watchtower and I'll read it later.† â€Å"Mr. Elliot, I'm not a Jehovah's Witness.† â€Å"Well, I have all the insurance I can afford, but if you leave me your card, I'll give it to the wife.† â€Å"Is your wife still alive, Mr. Elliot?† â€Å"Of course she's alive. What did you think? I was going to tape your business card to her tombstone? Son, you're not cut out to be a salesman. You should get an honest job.† â€Å"I'm not a salesman, Mr. Elliot. I'm an old friend of your wife's. I need to talk to her. It's very important.† â€Å"She ain't home.† â€Å"Your wife's name is Amanda, right?† â€Å"That's right. But don't you try any of your sneaky tricks. You ain't no friend of the wife or I'd know you. And we got a vacuum cleaner that'd suck the hide off a bear, so go away.† Effrom started to close the door. â€Å"No, please, Mr. Elliot. I really need to speak to your wife.† â€Å"She ain't home.† â€Å"When will she be home?† â€Å"She's coming home tomorrow. But I'm warning you, son, she's even tougher than I am on flimflam men. Mean as a snake. You'd be best to just pack up your carpetbag and go look for honest work.† â€Å"You were a World War One veteran, weren't you?† â€Å"I was. What of it?† â€Å"Thank you, Mr. Elliot. I'll be back tomorrow.† â€Å"Don't bother.† â€Å"Thank you, Mr. Elliot.† Effrom slammed the door. His angina wrenched his chest like a scaly talon. He tried to breathe deeply while he fingered a nitroglycerin pill from his shirt pocket. He popped it into his mouth, and it dissolved on his tongue immediately. In a few seconds the pain in his chest subsided. Maybe he would skip lunch today, go right to his nap. Why the wife kept sending in those cards about insurance was beyond him. Didn't she know that â€Å"no salesman will call† was one of the three great lies? He resolved again to give her hell when she got home. When Travis got back into the car, he tried to hide his excitement from the demon. He fought the urge to shout â€Å"Eureka!† to pound on the steering wheel, to sing hallelujah at the top of his lungs. It might finally be coming to an end. He wouldn't let himself think about it. It was only a long shot, but he felt closer than he ever had to being free of the demon. â€Å"So, how's your old friend?† Catch said sarcastically. They had played this scene literally thousands of times. Travis tried to assume the same attitude he always had when faced with those failures. â€Å"He's fine,† Travis said. â€Å"He asked about you.† He started the car and pulled away from the curb slowly. The old Chevy's engine sputtered and tried to die, then caught. â€Å"He did?† â€Å"Yeah, he couldn't understand why your mother didn't eat her young.† â€Å"I didn't have a mother.† â€Å"Do you think she'd claim you?† Catch grinned. â€Å"Your mother wet herself before I finished her.† The anger came sliding back over the years. Travis shut off the engine. â€Å"Get out and push,† he said. Then he waited. Sometimes the demon would do exactly what he said, and other times Catch laughed at him. Travis had never been able to figure out the inconsistency. â€Å"No,† Catch said. â€Å"Do it.† The demon opened the car door. â€Å"Lovely girl you're going out with tonight, Travis.† â€Å"Don't even think about it.† The demon licked his chops. â€Å"Think what?† â€Å"Get out.† Catch got out. Travis left the Chevy in drive. When the car started moving, Travis could hear the demon's clawed feet cutting furrows in the asphalt. Just one more day. Maybe. He tried to think of the girl, Jenny, and it occurred to him that he was the only man he had ever heard of who had waited until he was in his nineties before going on his first date. He didn't have the slightest idea why he had asked her out. Something about her eyes. There was something there that reminded him of happiness, his own happiness. Travis smiled.

Alternative Courses of Action

For SK-II line of skin care products, Procter and Gamble should have stood more firmly. Instead of denying the allegation, they should have explained and stressed more clearly that the small amount of those banned chemicals in the SK-II skin care products are not hazardous to health. They should have sought all the help and legal assistance of the concerned departments needed to prove their case.In that way, they would not need to voluntarily offer refunds to consumers as it has been announced lately by the Chinese authorities that the banned substances did not pose a health hazard. In this way, though image and trust had been tainted because of negative publicity and perception, there will be no significant loss financially as they would not need to offer refunds anymore. In addition, the incident of returning counterfeit products and cases of violence would have been avoided as well.The moment Procter and Gamble decided to voluntarily offer refunds to consumers, they have acknowled ged that they have lapses on their part which created instances for consumers to behave that way. †¢For Gillette products in Russia, Procter and Gamble should have anticipated the fluctuation of Russian ruble. They should have prepared countermeasures when Russian ruble plummet which had happened. They should have expected this kind of problem the moment they have decided to merge with Gillette Company.In this particular instance, I can say that Procter and Gamble had overlooked planning causing this kind of failure. †¢For disruption of sales in certain countries, Procter and Gamble should have anticipated this as well. The moment they have decided to merge with Gillette Company, they should have expected that this problem will happen. They should have studied the market of these certain countries more intensively so they can plan how to deal with this considerable overlap.

How to Keep Fit Public Speaking

A very good afternoon to my teacher Sumita & all my classmate. Today I would like to talk about the title â€Å"How to keep fit†. Everyone wants to keep fit, but did u all know what is keep fit & what body is means fit? (showing picture) these all guys is the successful keep fit people. As you see that fit is not means having a thin body. A fit body also can help you get away from disease, what it means you can have a healthy life if you have a fit body, so how you can keep your body fit? Here is some idea I have in my mind to help you keep fit.I have to say first, the most important thing , if you want a fit body, you have to Stay motivated, If you don't, you'll eventually give up. First, The best way to keep fit should be having Exercise. It is a very important part in keep fit. It help you keeps our blood flowing which keeps your heart beating. If you having free time, you also can go in sports or gyms but If you are busy so can’t go to anywhere, you can do exercise in home also, example push up, sit up, bench and jogging is also a major exercise, you should jog at least 1 kilometer to let that fat off.Here a tips for you, If you are overweight, start with something simple like jogging 5 minutes everyday. The next week, go 10 minutes a day. Continue increasing your output until you establish a solid routine. Next, you should give your body fuel. As you become more active, you'll need more food, but not just any food—you need healthy, energy-laden food that'll jump-start the next phase of your day, not weigh it down. Learn how to eat healthfully and drink more water. Normally should drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day. And remember that you really need to avoid unhealthy snacks.Finally, you have to let your body rest enough. When you're giving your body a run for its money with varied physical activities, you also need to let it recover and renew by getting a sufficient amount of sleep. Determine how many hours of sleep you need in or der to feel refreshed in the morning, then discipline yourself to wake up and go to bed at the same times on a daily basis. In conclusion, a Healthy body is very important for us, so that we have to keep our body fit so we can say goodbye to doctor and hospital. I hope you all can get some useful ways to keep body fit from my speech today. Thank you for lending your ears.

Negroponte’s decision to partner with Microsoft Essay

2. Do you agree with Negroponte’s decision to partner with Microsoft? Yes I agree with this decision Negroponte partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, which is very trustworthy, and reliable name in the computer sector for the operating system and software. Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of the MIT Media Lab, introduced the idea for the $ 100 laptop in 2005. The laptop will be directed towards the child in â€Å"developing countries.† The intent is to help education in those countries. The purpose of this project, to be specific, is â€Å"To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.† Technical achievement of the laptop project fast-low power requirements, the physical design of all closed to prevent water or sand or dirt damage, open source software [originally, this has since changed], a unique interface, and the possibility for solar and hand-crank powering, and designers who are doing well to achieve their costs disappear. Despite its considerable innovation, or perhaps because of it, the OLPC project has been unable to achieve its $100 targeted cost. The current cost of each unit is listed on the OLPC Website as $199 (www.laptop.org/en/participate/ways-to-give.shtml). However, this does not include upfront deployment costs, which are said to add an additional 5%–10% to the cost of each machine (wiki.laptop.org/go/Larger_OLPC), and subsequent IT-management costs. Nor does it include the cost of teacher training, additional software, and ongoing maintenance and support. OLPC initially required governments to purchase a million units, and then reduced the number to 250,000 in April 2007. Such large purchases are difficult to justify for governments in developing countries, and the requirement was ultimately eliminated. Some countries eventually lost interest due to the higher costs of the XO. For example, Nigeria failed to honor a pledge by its former president to purchase a million units, partly because they no longer cost $100 apiece.21 Meanwhile, other countries, including Libya, have opted for the Intel  Classmate, which is priced at approximately $250 for the PC alone. Officials in Libya, which had planned to buy up to 1.2 million XO laptops, became concerned that the machines lacked Windows, and that service, teacher training, and future upgrades would not be provided directlyby OLPC. Subsidies from Intel, including donated laptops and teacher training, also helped persuade the Libyan government to choose the Classmate. The goal of OLPC is to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop. To this end, we have designed the hardware, software and content for collaborative, fun, and self-empowered learning. One Laptop per Child is not about machines, it’s about movement. to get computers into the hands of children that will help them learn, then â€Å"this is a price worth paying.† Use technology to transform education by bringing connectivity and constructionist learning for poor children around the world, â€Å"said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC.

Cultural Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Diversity - Research Paper Example From this essay it is clear that diversity among students is promoted through field trips. One major example of these field trips is visiting the community. This helps to expand what children view the world beyond the confinement of the school boundary. The second example is through visiting interesting people in their communities. Every community has interesting people like female mechanics, male cook, a wheelchair athlete, and many others. Through this, students can understand and appreciate different people in the communities. Another example of the field trip is taking the students to a different place of works of their parents. This makes them understand the different people, their parents associate with, understand different occupations and create a more realistic view of the world in their minds.This paper discusses that  Maryland School has exposed and made its students understand and accept diversity through creation of certain activities performed in the school. The schoo l has a Parents Day, a day when all parents and their children are required to share their culture and establish in their children’s. They carry out numerous activities that display their culture depending on the interest of the parents and their children’s. Cooking, cultural meals, performing folk songs, dance, and tales about their culture are performed.  The school should allow its students to visit other schools in the community.

America as an Imperialist Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

America as an Imperialist Power - Essay Example Imperialism is the policy or practice in which one country starts to enforce an indirect control over other weaker nation. The reason behind a weak nation being controlled by imperialists is because they have unbalanced economy, governance, and infrastructure. Imperialism comes into practice, when a stronger nation for the sake of economics and other political benefits take over the indirect control, which involves the use of power beyond its border on weaker nation. The cause of imperialism includes the unwillingness of the victim nations to control which is due to weak economics, foreign political structure and a threatening repute of strong holding states. The world still is suffering the consequences of imperialism, which took place in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It can be noticed that imperialism is applied by countries such as US or Germany, which has helped these countries to become significant influence in the global political and social setup. To understand the entire study of empire system, it is important to first comprehend the word â€Å"empire†. The term empire comes from a Latin origination. Empire means power or authority, a control that associates to a kingdom, a state or an emperorship. Empire system basically intends to control over the sovereignty of other state by forceful means. An imperial system of government aims to acquire and get hold on colonies and lands of weak individual states due its ethnic, national, cultural, and religious diversification. Historically, an empire system emerges due to strong political – military dominance of population over the weak cultural and ethnic group. The system resembles a structure where power inflates and weak gets into biased retribution. This is to serve the agenda of emperorship and submerge a powerful geopolitical influence on other victimized nations. In contrast the empire system resembles the ancient roman emperorship, where cruelty, ruthlessness an d brutality floated throughout the global political system (Howe). The study of empire helps in understanding, the developments and changes that took place around the world. It was just a swirling revolution where empire system dominated and passed on to the world politics. Scholars have firm believe that even today the ongoing changes and developments around the world are due to the presence of an empire system. Through researchers’ analysis it can be evidenced that empire rules have existed in the history and still are prevailing. The imperial system has been continually evolving with developments and instances that took place in historical eras. Thus, the definition of empire cannot be evaluated by one factor since it has numerous reasons to cope up with. As Stephen Howe’s states that the world has a complex history and intertwined equally with contested words such as colonialism, globalization, and imperialism (Howe). History of empires is to a great deal of worldà ¢â‚¬â„¢s history. In fact it is being noted by researchers, that almost the entire history is associated with imperialism or colonialism. The significant study of empire is essential as it covers up all aspects related to countries originations and their contemporary situations. As some scholars consider that the world is becoming more and more flat due to cultural import and globalization by means of people, technology, and commerce. Moreover, study of empire explains the modern and historical migration, found in the world today such as cultural import, trade, religion practices, they all trace back to historical empires (Howe). Imperialism Context of Empire: Imperialism has been the most influential power during the last four to five centuries in the world history. In

Marketing Audit Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Audit Approach - Essay Example retaining and growing the value of existing customers-new internal systems and operations are needed to manage the communication demands of relationship marketing. The relevance of marketing audit is the current Marketing management and performance of the organization - the overall marketing strategy of the business and the assumptions on which the strategy is based. The purpose of a marketing audit is not to determine any weaknesses or inefficient activities, but rather to identify whether there are any working practices that could be more effective. The marketing team within a business is fully involved in the marketing audit. They may carry out the audit themselves, or with the support of an outside consultant. A thorough audit of the external and internal environments impacting on marketing is essential in providing the foundation for the marketing plan. A marketing audit is a series of important questions, such as: Consequently, companies are setting up cross-functional processes and making other structural changes to better manage brand relationships. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of such efforts, there is an increasing need to audit these internal processes to make sure that they are, in fact, integrated, and operating efficiently and effectively. Observation, Impact of the observation on marketing objectiv... Impact of the observation on marketing objectives, Recommendations and Final Action of the management to correct the flaw as pointed out in the observation. This can be used to improve current strategies or introduce more effective activities and working practices. The marketing audit aims at observing the functioning of the marketing and sales departments by objectively analyzing the marketing function of a business, by looking in particular at: Efficiency - how the marketing team is structured, the processes employed, and how outside agencies and services are used; this is measured by looking at the infrastructure of the business. Each marketing function is separated into discrete tasks and key issues that affect the business are identified. Effectiveness - results of marketing activity and by looking at how the budget has been spent in relation to the original objectives; this is measured by assessing the impact of the marketing activity, compared to the size of the marketing budget being spent. The marketing spend is analyzed by service, type of activity and intended result Quality - reviewed, by measuring it against external opinions from clients and other stakeholders; this is measured by comparison with 'best practice'. It can also be done by benchmarking. The "benchmark" provides a standard for future campaigns. The cost and impact of marketing is measured against similar activities in other organizations. This information can be difficult to obtain, as it is often confidential. Benchmarking can reap rewards The methods of conducting a marketing audit could be any of the following: 1. Core Competencies Questionnaire: This questionnaire determines the respondents' knowledge of the marketing and marketing communication plans and practices and their attitudes

Strategic Fashion Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic Fashion Marketing - Assignment Example The paper "Strategic Fashion Marketing" concerns strategic marketing in fashion. The contemporary fashion market is mainly for clients who are adventurous and aware of the current fashion trend. Contemporary outfits closely look like those seen on the runway only that they are sold at a different price, which is lower. The rise in status of contemporary fashion can be attributed to the changing tastes in artistic things among other factors. There are various marketing trends currently being used to market fashion wear. Technology and new inventions have seen the rise of many marketing strategies that are better and easier. Two contemporary fashion-marketing trends that will be influential over the next five years in the global fashion industry are mobile marketing and e-marketing. These fashion-marketing trends are important for various reasons. Many people have become very busy with daily activities be it official, academic or home chores. For this reason, they have very little time left for social activities including shopping for clothes. Things have been made easier by technology using the internet and mobile facilities like phones. Changing times have seen the rise in the use of these two marketing strategies. Internet has become readily available and this goes for mobile facilities as well. Mobile marketing is important because many people in various regions can be reached. This means that the market base for contemporary fashion is expanded and in turn, more sales are made.

Ebay Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ebay - Research Paper Example The sellers have the choice of accepting bids for their products. They can also use the Buy It Now option that provides the buyers with the opportunity to buy the product at a fixed price right away. Bidding in the online auction system starts at a price established by the seller and remains on the eBay for some days so that the buyers can place their bids. At the end of the listing, the buyer who has the maximum number of bids wins. On the other hand, when the Buy It Now option is used, the first buyer who is volunteering to pay the price established by the seller receives the item. The online auction website was established in the year 1995 as the AuctionWeb. Pierre Omidyar, an Iranian computer programmer born in France founded AuctionWeb on 3 September 1995 in San Jose, California (â€Å"The history of†). The first employee was recruited by eBay in the year 1996. eBay entered its first deal of third-party licensing in November 1996 with Electronic Travel Auction. It made use of the SmartMarket Technology to sell travel products and tickets of planes. In January 1997, over 2000000 auctions were hosted by eBay in comparison to 250000 that were hosted during the year 1996. In September 1997, the company’s name was officially changed from AuctionWeb to eBay after it received $6.7m from Benchmark Capital. â€Å"To save money, Omidyar linked the new Web site with an existing site he had created for his consulting and technology business, Echo Bay Technology Group. The Web address for that business was ebay.com† (Gitlin). The number of eBay†™s employees increased to 20 by March 1998 along with a population of half a million users. Its revenues in the US reached $4.7m (â€Å"The history of†). In 21 September 1998, eBay went floated over the stock exchange that resulted in the making of the founders of the company, billionaires. On the very first day of trading, the price of target shares of eBay increased from $18 to $53.50. eBay

Strategic Plan of my current employer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Plan of my current employer - Essay Example Internal environmental factors affecting an organization’s performance include strengths and weaknesses. Externally, opportunities and threats influence an organizations’ performance among industry competitors. Inefficiency in the planning process is dangerous to the survival of an organization. Mistakes by the management while lying down the strategic plan management consequentially lead to failure and loss of business to competitors. In the extreme, an organization faces liquidation (Bo?hm, 2009). To achieve is purpose of â€Å"to develop a self-actualized scholar, who possesses a knowledgeable and discerning mind, thrives in service to others, and is prepared for college,† Paulo Freire Charter School must effectively manage its internal and external environments effectively and efficiently. Internal factors adequately affect the strengths and weaknesses of an organization. The management of any organization needs to plan for the purpose of hedging against any form of internal problems. Resources and human capital are essential elements in the internal factors management. Availability of raw materials, financial capital for investment and labour to work in the various departments are the internal factors affecting the performance of an organization. To achieve organizational goals, adequacy of resources is essential. Internal factors make both the organizational strengths and weaknesses. ... Long-term finances are essential in financing long-term operations of the school. Inadequate finances for an organization are its weakness, while adequate finances are its strength. Purchase of machinery, hiring of workers, and expansion of a classes and addition of courses offered by the school are the major uses of long-term funds in the school. Strategic budgeting process by an organization ensures proper allocation of resources according to the requirements of the organization. Poor budgeting of organizational funds potentially leads to financial problems to the school. Prioritizing needs with reference to the organizational needs and requirements will help the organization from getting into financial problems. Bo?hm (2009) points out that as strength, adequate finances greases the various wheels used by the management to achieve the school’s purpose. However, this could also form part of its weaknesses. Inadequate funds, misappropriation of the school’s income and poor liquidity position are a weakness that can lead to poor results, and thus the school losses business to its competitors. Human capital is responsible for the achievement of organizational goals and objectives (Bruce, 2006). To achieve its goal the school needs human resources, and these need care and profession in their handling. Investing in human resources of the organization increases the organization quality of services. At the same time, the organization achieves its goals, reaches its vision and lives up to its mission statement. Proper motivational strategies to the teachers increase their output. According to Frey (2002), there is more to motivation than offering good salaries to the employees. Although

How is Gender, Class, Race and Ethnicity Signicant in America Today Essay

How is Gender, Class, Race and Ethnicity Signicant in America Today - Essay Example It is therefore important that the society is able to plan for its operations taking into consideration the abilities of its members. According to Wade (96), these are aspects of identity but all in all they create a distinction between individuals. There is the positive and progressive way of consideration of these factors of distinction and there is the negative and retrogressive consideration. This is purely a matter of perception it is that of a person either seeing a half full glass or the half empty glass. This paper therefore seeks to find out the relevance of these major distinctions in America today. Introduction Identity is the first strength that a human being has. One can not determine what identity he is given by nature. We have no ability to choose the social class in which we are born. We have no power to predetermine the race, the gender and the ethnicity. Nature predetermines this to achieve its own balance. The balance is achieved because of all the factors that are given come with abilities that are pertinent to the growth and development of the surrounding of the given entity. To understand the importance of this factors of identity it important to check the inner details of each one of them. In social planning it is important that a government that has been mandated by the people to protect the minority. Among the distinguishing factors come the factors that define identity. The actual number of the people under a given stratification gives the government an insight on what provisions to make (Karim pg1). Gender According to Gurian (10) the fact is a community is stratified in two categories; it is either one is male or female. The art of people of the two genders working together is based on core strength and not science or intellectual ability. Nature has predetermined that the two genders complement each other in a natural way and therefore such are there abilities. In the issues of leadership men have been known to be decisive and this has been highly complimented by women who take their time to analyze and consult. This is the fall back fact of democracy in the world. There are societal issues that affect only the a specific gender therefore for the government to be able to make relevant legislations and provisions it is important that the issue at hand is uplifted and therefore observed in a positive light. Is this is undertaken then it is clear that all the relevant structures to address those specific issues effectively. Traditionally the issue of gender has been a competition platform of the two sexes. But with the modern times and the female gender having made significant advances it has come to be appreciated that the two need each other for the betterment of the society. This however has not been fully achieved as there is still need for affirmative action in favor of the female gender. It is still normal to see the female discriminated against as a result of their gender. This has been so despite the fact that the world has come to accept that the intellectual ability of an individual is not based on gender (Glenn pg 4). The mandate of the government is then to decrease the stereotype minds set and give the same opportunities for the two genders to have fair competition for the resources that can be available to the society. The significance therefore lies in the planning and implementation of all the aspects that are important to achieve the parity

MIH512-Demography and Health (Module 5-CBT) Essay

MIH512-Demography and Health (Module 5-CBT) - Essay Example This indicates low fertility and low mortality and is also known as constrictive pyramid. The population pyramid displays population percentage of ages 1-14 under 30 percent and ages 75 and above over 6 percent and is hence considered an "aging population"(U.S.Census Bureau, 2009). The expansive pyramid in the current year is because of increased birth rates and death rates. Mexico is a developing country and has many factors which contribute to high birth rates and death rates. However there have been improvements in food supply, sanitation and education which contribute to decreased disease states and increased life span. When death rates decline, it contributes to rise in child population. Lowering of death rates is simultaneous with lowering of infant mortality rates which contributes to increased child survival. Thus, there will also increase in the number of children, adolescents and younger adults. It has been estimated that in 2050, both birth rates and death rates will lower which will contribute to the stable pyramid shape (U.S.Census Bureau, 2009). Fall in birth rates is likely to happen because of increase in wages, contraception, urbanization, reduction in subsistence agriculture, fall in the value for child labor, improvement in women status, ris e in education of women, rise in investment of parental money for the purpose of education of children and other social changes in general. Death rates are also projected to fall because of increase education, awareness, medical interventions, sanitation, hygiene and cleanliness. Demographic transition may be defined as a shift of rates of birth and death from high to low. Mexico is now in the second stage of demographic transition and is almost entering the third stage. This is because, close to 50 percent of the population is 25 years of age or even younger (U.S.Census Bureau, 2009). The fall in death rates, including infant mortality rate has

Incremental profit Essay Example for Free

Incremental profit Essay Distinguish between the following: a) Industry demand and Firm (Company) demand, b) Short-run demand and Long run demand, and c) Durable goods’ demand and Non-durable goods demand. 2 . What are the problems faced in determining the demand for a durable good? Illustrate with example of demand for households refrigerator or television set. 3 . Analyze the method by which a firm can allocate the given advertising budget between different media of advertisement. 4 . What kind of relationship would you postulate between short-run and long-run average cost curves when these are not U-shaped as suggested by the modern theories? 5 . How do demand forecasting methods for new products vary from those for established products? 6 . What are the different methods of measuring national income? Which methods have been followed in India? 7 . What do you understand by the investment multiplier? In what way does it defend the policy of public works on the part of the state during business depression? 8 . Discuss the various phases of business cycle: a. Are cyclical fluctuations necessary for economic growth? b. Suggest appropriate fiscal and monetary policies for depression Assignment B: all Case Study Electron Control, Inc., sells voltage regulators to other manufacturers, who then customize and distribute the products to quality assurance labs for their sensitive test equipment. The yearly volume of output is 15,000 units. The selling price and cost per unit are shown below:Â  Selling price $200 Costs: Direct material $35 Direct labor 50 Variable overhead 25 Variable selling expenses 25 Fixed selling expenses 15 150 Unit profit before tax $ 50 Management is evaluating the alternative of performing the necessary customizing to allow Electron Control to sell its output directly to Q/A labs for $275 per unit. Although no added investment is required in productive facilities, additional processing costs are estimated as: Direct labor $25 per unit Variable overhead $15 per unit Variable selling expenses $10 per unit Fixed selling expenses $100,000 per year Calculate the incremental profit Electron Control would earn by customizing its instruments and marketing directly to end users.