Us Foreign Policy Towards Nato Essays - NATO, North Atlantic Treaty

Us Foreign Policy Towards Nato United States Policy Towards NATO In this paper I will first explain the history of NATO and the United States policy towards it. I will then give three reasonable policy recommendations for the United States towards NATO. This is important because NATO is an organization with a very brief history but it has molded Europe and other countries and has made a safe-haven from war for the past five decades. NATO was spawn out of the Western countries of Europe fearing the expansion of the greedy, hungry Stalin of the Soviet Union which would directly lead to the expansion of communist governments. Also, ?in 1949 most of the states of Europe were still enfeebled by wartime devastation, striving for economic recovery, attempting to reestablish shattered political institutions, resettle refugees and recover from the second major upheaval in 30 years.?1 After the second world war Stalin, of the Soviet Union, started to spread his communist government to many Eastern European countries fast. Just a couple years before all of this an alliance was made between many nations called The United Nations. This is where the base idea of NATO came out of. There is a particular article in the United Nation's charter, article 51, which paved the way. Article 51 read: Nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, until the security council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.2 So, armed with this article, ten European countries turned to the United States and Canada to draft a pledge of mutual security and on April 4, 1949, they all met in Washington to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. The fear that created this alliance could not better be seen than in Winston Churchill's, prime minister of Great Britain, telegram to President Truman saying: ?An iron curtain is being drawn down upon their(Soviet Union) front. We do not know what is going on behind. . .?3 With this quote from the British Prime Minister we could see that the biggest fear was the fear itself of not knowing what was going on in the Soviet Union. The North Atlantic Treaty consisted of 14 articles in which I will now briefly explain to help you understand what this treaty entailed. First off, the whole purpose of this treaty was to ?prevent aggression or to repel it, should it occur.?4 It provided for the continuous cooperation and consultation in political, economic and military fields and had an indefinite duration. Every member who was a part of this treaty signed to express their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments. All of this was just reaffirming their faith in the principles of the United Nations. The first article defines the basic principles that member countries should follow to keep the peace and world security. The second article was an inspiration from the first article of the United Nations Charter. This article defines the aims for the member nations to pursue and the obligations they have. The third article is a statement that the signatories will do all they can to resist attack. The fourth article calls for consultation from all members if one of the members feels that they are threatened. The fifth article is the core of the treaty and states that if one of the member countries is attacked all other members will see it as an attack on each and all of them. The sixth article defines the area that the provisions in article five apply. Article seven and eight the member nations stipulate that none of their other international commitments conflict with the North Atlantic treaty and that any commitments they make in the future won't conflict with the treaty as well. Under article nine a council is created in which each member is represented. Article ten provides for any other European country to

Using Sinatra in Ruby - Introduction

Using Sinatra in Ruby - Introduction In the previous article in this series of articles, we talked about what Sinatra is. In this article, well look at some real functional Sinatra code, touching on a few Sinatra features, all of which will be explored in depth in upcoming articles in this series. Before you get started, youll have to go ahead and install Sinatra. Installing Sinatra is as easy as any other gem. Sinatra does have a few dependencies, but nothing major and you shouldnt have any problems installing it on any platform. $ gem install sinatra Hello, World! The Sinatra Hello world application is shockingly simple. Not including the require lines, shebang and whitespace, its just three lines. This is not just some small part of your application, like a controller in a Rails application, this is the entire thing. Another thing you may notice is that you didnt need to run anything like the Rails generator to generate an application. Just paste the following code into a new Ruby file and youre done. #!/usr/bin/env rubyrequire rubygemsrequire sinatraget / doHello, world!end Of course this isnt a very useful program, its just Hello world, but even more useful applications in Sinatra arent much larger. So, how do you run this tiny Web application? Some kind of complex script/server command? Nope, just run the file. Its just a Ruby program, run it! inatra$ ./hello.rb Sinatra/0.9.4 has taken the stage on 4567 for development with backup from Mongrel Not very exciting yet. Its started the server and bound to port 4567, so go ahead and point your Web browser to http://localhost:4567/. Theres your Hello world message. Web applications have never been so easy in Ruby before. Using Parameters So lets look at something a little more interesting. Lets make an application that greets you by name. To do this, well need to use a parameter. Parameters in Sinatra are like everything elsesimple and straightforward. #!/usr/bin/env rubyrequire rubygemsrequire sinatraget /hello/:name doHello #{params[:name]}!end Once youve made this change, youll need to restart the Sinatra application. Kill it with Ctrl-C and run it again. (Theres a way around this, but well look at that in a future article.) Now, the parameters are straightforward. Weve made an action called /hello/:name. This syntax is imitating what the URLs will look like, so go to http://localhost:4567/hello/Your Name to see it in action. The /hello portion matches that portion of the URL from the reqest you made, and :name will absorb any other text you give it and put it in the params hash under the key :name. Parameters are just that easy. There is of course much more you can do with these, including regexp-based parameters, but this is all youll need in almost every case. Adding HTML Finally, lets spiff this application up with a little bit of HTML. Sinatra will return whatever it gets from your URL handler to the web browser. So far, weve just been returning a string of text, but we can add some HTML in there with no problem. Well use ERB here, just like is used in Rails. There are other (arguably better) options, but this is perhaps the most familiar, as it comes with Ruby, and will do fine here. First, Sinatra will render a view called layout if one exists. This layout view should have a yield statement. This yield statement will capture the output of the specific view being rendered. This allows you to create layouts very simply. Finally, we have a hello view, which generates the actual hello message. This is the view that was rendered using the erb :hello method call. Youll notice that there are no seperate view files. There can be, but for such a small application, its best to keep all the code in a single file. Though the views are sepeated at the end of the file. #!/usr/bin/env rubyrequire rubygemsrequire sinatraget /hello/:name doname params[:name]erb :helloend__END__ layouthtmlbody% yield %/body/html helloh3Hello % name %!/h3 And there you have it. We have a complete, functional hello world application in about 15 lines of code including the views. The following articles, well take a closer look at the routes, how you can store and retrieve data, and how to do better views with HAML.

UP level accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

UP level accounting - Essay Example When a semi-variable cost is treated as a variable cost for the purpose of variance analysis, the charge of overhead is exceeded. This is because semi-variable costs do not vary with each unit of activity, but change depending upon the level of activity achieved.Therefore, by granting the status of variable costs to semi variable costs, the overheads are hiked and thus profitability is reduced. Similarly, fixed costs remain fixed over a period of time, irrespective of the levels of activity. By assigning the status of fixed costs to semi-variable costs, during times of lowered levels of activity, there is a high overhead charge which significantly erodes profitability.The result of treating a step-fixed costs, for the purpose of variance analysis, as a variable one would be that, if the costs need to be calculated on the shortest time frame, there may not be material variations, but if taken on the long time, the impact of the step fixed costs would not be realized, or in other words , profits may be over stated. For example, the costs of running a single machine for several months would be different from running several machines for a single month. (Blocher et al, 2008) Thus by assigning the nature of variable to a step fixed cost would overstate profits over a period of time.When an operation entails both fixed and variable costs, and if all costs are taken as variable, it would wrongly inflate profits and underestimate costs. The element of fixed costs is generic to all cost centers, and very conspicuous in the cases of Health Care Providers, since investments in hospital machinery, equipments and infrastructure are quite substantial. (Blocher et al, 2008). In case of high level of activities, by not assigning the rightful fixed costs, profits become inflated; however, if all overheads are accounted for as fixed, during lowered levels of activities, costs become higher than booked and this could be disastrous, especially for smaller companies with low revenue generations. Question 2 (i) The key drivers for profitability in an organization would be the correct assessment and implementation of cost factors- fixed, variable, semi-variable and step-fixed costs since any mis-match could lead to derailed planning, execution and incorrect decision-making. What is even more important is the correct booking of the overheads, since overheads not booked at all, or wrongly booked could lead to a host of critical problems later. The top management takes strategic decisions based on the cost data provided and it is therefore, it is essential that it be factually correct. (ii) The two variances depicted in Exhibit 3 consider the recovery of fixed overheads when the actual procedures performed, instead of the standard 50,000 procedures, was actually only 49,000 procedures. Fixed costs were considered at $50, 00,000 for the predetermined standard 50,000 procedures. But the actual procedures billed were only 49,000 and therefore $ 100 X 1000 - $ 100,000 was unrealized. (Blocher et al, 2008). (iii) Regarding Exhibit 4, the mismatch occurred because the aspect of fixed cost overheads was not correctly judged. The mismatch occurred because of the 460 examinations made, only 310 were billed, leading to 150 examinations carried out but not billed and the profits have been inflated by (460 - 310) X $ 20 = $ 3000. This is the reason why the profits are overstated. (Blocher et al, 2008). Question 3 (i) Traditional standard costing is a system by which predetermined value / efficiency standards are assigned for each element of cost. The actual performance is then matched against their Standard costs, and the variances, positive or negative are determined. This is an invaluable management tool since there is a complete breakup of cost components and determinants, and for each item of costs, it is possible to know the standard, the actual and the resultant variances. Hence adverse variances could be effectively monitored by

Egyptian Practice of Mummification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Egyptian Practice of Mummification - Essay Example There was a need of cultivatable ground and therefore the early Egyptians decided to bury their deceased inside shallow graves on the borders of the barren region, where the high temperature of the sun as well as the waterlessness of the land produced the normal mummification procedure. Experts have indicated that â€Å"even this natural process produced remarkably well preserved bodies† (Dunand et al, p. 67). Mostly, these â€Å"early natural mummified bodies† (Dunand et al, p. 72) preserved skin tissue and hair, together with a resemblance to the individual's look when he was living. Mummification was the procedure of protecting and enclosing a deceased body with the conviction that the deceased would be needed during the Ancient Egyptian eternal life. By means of a particular procedure, the Ancient Egyptians got rid of all moisture from the dead body, leaving just a dried figure that would not easily decompose. The procedure of Mummification needs reducing â€Å"mic robial growth and dehydration† (Dunand et al, p. 102). The method of forming a mummy was difficult as well as expensive and was followed by formal procedure and service. As Egyptian record developed, mummification becomes accessible to public from the high and even the middle ranks. The political as well as financial development of the middle ranks along with the better significance of spiritual way of life and practices amid every Egyptian social rank resulted in the increase of mummification to fresh sectors of the inhabitants. Mummification was in fact most prevalent throughout the Greco-Roman era. It was at that time when foreign colonizers who established in Egypt started to implement Egyptian ‘funerary’ (Dunand et al, p. 188) convictions and traditions. Mummification during that time turns out to be an increasingly flourishing profitable endeavor, and it is likely to specify the demise's public position instead of any spiritual belief. This causes an additio nal drop in the excellence of the mummification procedure. At that point in time, bodies were ornately covered and enclosed in covers prepared from the blend of â€Å"plaster and papyrus or linen† (Brier, p. 99). On the other hand, contemporary radiographic investigation authenticates that these bodies were often badly sealed within their casings. Studies have indicated that â€Å"mummification was never generally available to the common classes of people† (Brier, p. 120). However, in view of the fact that they could not meet the expense of the refined ‘funerary’ formations, they carried on to be ‘interred’ in plain graves within barren region â€Å"where their bodies were naturally preserved† (Brier, p. 145). The real mummification procedure required more or less seventy days. The body of the dead was customarily rinsed and cleansed to start the expedition into the life after death. The subsequent step involved taking out the inner org ans. With the intention of drying out the organs as well as avoid decomposition they were positioned in ‘natron’, a kind of salt applied for drying. The body was subsequently filled with more ‘natron’. Once the body was adequately dried off, the natron was taken away and the body was cleansed cautiously. The body was covered in linen. Every mummy

Issues in global economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Issues in global economy - Essay Example . Doctrine of invisible hand as also reflected in the thought of Adam smith mainly talked about the power of market economy over the state governing economy. He spoke about market mechanism that ultimately leads to the equilibrium. Any gap between demand and supply will be automatically adjusted through the mechanism of market. The role of government here is nothing but to facilitate the process.   Breaking of Soviet Union in the 20th century strengthens this thought of ‘power of market over state’. This thought was the founding stone of today’s globalization and global economy. However the economists and the historian thought that there are many factors those facilitated the process of globalization. According to them, in 19th and 20th century many countries across the world faced the European imperialism that first makes them known about the world economy. Besides this the period saw a rapid development of sophisticated technologies that was never seen before. Rising of machine gradually cleared the new methods of reaping more profit. All this factors was seeking a process through which they could merge for functioning global economics, trade and politics. The stage was prepared for processing of the global issues through the hand of the ‘process of globalization’. With respect to recent period there emerge some more aspects that control and assist the globalization process more rapidly. Today the progresses of international trade are mostly dependent on international commercial agreements such as FTTA, CAFTA, NAFTA etc. Such agreements have opened the door to the northern export and give more opportunities to the developing nations. Nowadays the export processing zones operate as productive vicinities for overseas ventures, investments and employments. These zones are playing their role in many ways to support the economies by

Cost Analysis Within The Zara Company Marketing Essay

Cost Analysis Within The Zara Company Marketing Essay Describe how Zara uses technology to improve operational responsiveness to customer expectations, and at the same time to reduce costs in certain areas. Zaras main strategy is to give a quick answer to end consumer demands and anticipate consumer trends through information technology and human resources. It operates on the basis of heavy backward vertical integration, working its way from the end consumer all the way back to the manufacturing and distribution. It ensures a very tight control of production through simple and effective IT systems as well as a high tech distribution center (DC.) It realizes cost optimization on its basic items for production and also time optimization in terms of speed to market of its fashion items making use of technology. Zara adapted to trends and differences across markets by interacting regularly with the store managers using the PDA and phone systems to get updates on customer feedback, fashion sense etc. The Point of Sale system (POS) in the store computers also provided valuable sales data to the distribution center which had a mobile tracking system that docked hanging garments in appropriate bar coded areas. The various garments were given Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and orders were placed from the hand-held computers in the stores twice a week or more, to the distribution center where if particular items were in short supply, allocation decisions were made on the basis of historical sales levels and other considerations. After the orders were approved, the warehouse issued lists for delivery to the stores. Zara design teams tracked customer preferences and used sales information such as sales analysis, store trends and product life cycle information from the store managers, based on a consumption information system to transmit repeat orders and new designs to internal/external suppliers and the DC. The design teams thereby bridged merchandising and the backend of the production process and they developed the right products within the season to meet consumer demands. Zaras product development teams attended high fashion fares and exhibitions to translate the latest seaso nal trends into the designs. Hence, a super fast rate of operational responsiveness to customers was maintained and the DC was more of a place to merchandise than merely for storage. Technology also helped keep Zaras costs under control. By using the POS systems in store computers, handheld PDA devices for store managers and phone systems, accurate information regarding orders required were transmitted to the DC. The SKUs ensured accuracy in terms of which products needed to be produced and in what quantities and the DCs could use all this information and feedback from the design teams to make orders of the right quantity of each kind of product. Thus, inventory costs were very low, runs were limited and production costs were maintained at very manageable levels in spite of the large number of new items that are continuously produced. Zaras factories were also heavily automated, specialized by garment type and focused on the capital intensive parts of the production process, like pattern design and cutting as well as final finishing and inspection. A Just-in-time system was installed in collaboration with Toyota in these factories and this helped in faster comple tion of work and controlling of costs through continuous improvement processes. Management Information System technology plays a crucial role in Zaras customer responsiveness and cost control measures. From what you see in the case, does Zara price to market or on the basis of other factors? Zara always followed a market based pricing method. In each country, Zara always placed more focus on the market prices (local pricing levels) rather than on its own costs to forecast prices of items in particular markets. These forecasts were later overlaid on cost estimates that included all considerations such as distance, tariffs, and taxes and so on to see whether the potential market could achieve profitability in a year or two of opening the first store. Zara followed a different pricing strategy in each country, for example, in Italy and Paris the focus was more quality oriented and so the price of the same items were much higher, however, in Germany where consumers are price sensitive the items were lesser priced. This figured in the different marketing strategy followed in each country. Zara controlled its costs through its production and distribution processes and was positioned in many countries as high fashion at affordable prices which though were centrally determined, much lower than competitor prices for comparable products in its major markets. Percentage margins still held up, this was possible because of the direct efficiencies of short, vertically integrated supply chain, reduced advertising costs, and markdown requirements. Thus Zara competed at reasonable prices through a cost leadership strategy, completing Porters generic strategy through differentiated products and broad segmentation. Zaras customers in many countries bore the extra costs of supplying the items from Spain though the prices were market based, for example, prices were 40% higher in Northern Europe and 70% higher in the Americas than in Spain. This could be seen on the garments price tag which was an atlas to the customers. These higher prices outside Spain affected Zaras positioning overseas as high end instead of mid market range products to better validate the price differences. Like in Mexico where the target consumer base is narrow, it is geared towards the upper and middle class that knows fashion. Moreover, as in Europe, the artificial scarcity that Zara creates of its products in its stores urge the customers to pay the price and buy rather than wait it out. Markdowns are very low for Zara in Europe and elsewhere, 15-20% of its sales as compared to 30-40% for its European peers. Zara does not completely compete on basis of price as the usual Zara customer is not that price sensitive; instead, it competes on fashion and its quick response capability. Zara (2010) has just launched an on-line, e-retail distribution service.     For an apparel retailer what are the advantages and disadvantages of online distribution?   Can Zara make it work? Inditex has long used the internet to promote its various lines and corporate image and is also popular on Facebook, where it has 4.5m fans. Its Smartphone application, launched about a year ago, has been downloaded by 2m people. Zara can very easily make its online e-retail distribution service work successfully. Familiarity with the Zara stores thus provides name recognition for the online retail site, and the combination of customer data gathered by the store and the online retail site (through Google Analytics, for example) could lead to substantial personalized marketing efforts, using various channels. With Zaras policy of a lean advertising budget, an online retail portal will add greatly in terms of branding and awareness. Zara had initially decided not to sell clothes on the internet since the returns rates were too high. However, as of September 2010, Inditex put Zara branded products online for its customers, waiting for online demand to build. Customers can choose from the usual range of paying methods and opt either for a free store pick-up or paid-for postal delivery. The online return and exchange policy is identical to the store system, with shoppers given 30 days to change their minds. iPhone and iPad applications that allowed purchasing will soon be available and online sales will help Zara reach potential customers who have no easy access to physical stores. For an apparel retailer, the advantages of online distribution would be providing convenience to the shoppers to buy from the comfort of their home, save on travel time and costs and have easy access to the products. Customers will have 24 hour access to the shopping platform online and make better buying decisions through online chat and discussion. Researchers identify convenience as a fundamental objective related to online shopping (Schaupp Belanger, 2005). This is relevant to 72% of online shoppers claim that they would rather surf online than go to retail store to attain information about a product (Lokken et al., 2003). Costs on human resources (Vendors, shop assistants, managers) can be saved by the retailer and customers can make relaxed wise buy decisions without pressure from vendors. Infinite shelf space will be available in that, products available at all store locations and around the world without geographical boundaries, to the customers to choose from. Comparison sh opping in terms of styles and prices will be easier on the online portal than in the store for the consumer. Boston Consulting Group analysts Evans and Wurster theorize that the three main strategic draws of online retail are reach, affiliation and richness. Reach is defined as access and connection: how many customers a business can access and how many products it can offer. Moreover, a retailers range of product offerings was traditionally limited by the size of its stores and the cost of carrying inventory while online retailers as intermediaries between customers and suppliers need not necessarily have an inventory at all, only a catalog, often transparent to the customer. Affiliation refers to whose interests are represented by the online retailer who can treat the products from their various vendors more objectively, providing more objective information and better product comparisons for their customers. Richness refers to the depth and detail of information, about products and about customers. Evans and Wurster argue that traditional retailers still are at an advantage to supply expe rt information about products to their customers, and that they also are still in a better position to gather information about product sales and customer profiles and buying patterns. Online retailers are quickly catching up, however, gathering data about customer browsing behavior, purchasing history, and demographics. Online retailers are subsequently able to use this data to provide their customers with a fully customized online shopping environment, including individualized web pages, targeted ads and offers, and specific product suggestions, something traditional retailers cannot effectively do at their retail outlets. Some of the disadvantages of online retail would be the difficulty to gather trend information, product sales and customer suggestions. Zara could remedy this by using analytics and customer feedback forms online that are user friendly and attractive. The experience of shopping in a Zara store would be lost, but Zara would need to make its retail platform very interactive and spellbinding. Zaras prime store locations cost a lot of investment, and the advent of online shopping could mean cannibalization of its retail outlet sales and a waste of upkeep costs, this could put Zara into a fix. Customers will not be able to touch and try the product like they can in an actual store, [t]he likelihood of purchasing on the Internet decreases with increases in product risk (Bhatnagar, Misra, Rao, 20000, p. 100). Apparels in particular had negative rating in online shopping because of it is difficult to feel and see the texture of colour online that is incomparable to going to a retail store. The biggest drawback itself would be the concept of infinite shelf space that an online distribution will bring, for Zara. Being a company that thrives on the creation of artificial scarcity of its products, the online distribution channel will have to be very carefully controlled to ensure that customers buy the products with the same fervour as when they visit the store, knowing that it might not be available the following week. Zara can remedy this situation by advertising only a limited number of units of each product online so customers will know if the numbers are dwindling and that they need to act fast in order to acquire the product just as in the case of the actual store.

Progressivism Essays -- essays research papers

Progressivism implies a philosophy which welcomes innovations and reforms in the political, economic, and social order. The Progressive movement, 1901 to 1917, was ultimately the triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism. In a general sense, the conservative goals of this period justified the Liberal reforms enacted by Progressive leaders. Deviating from the â€Å"traditional† definition of conservatism (a resistance to change and a disposition of hostility to innovations in the political, social, and economic order), the Conservatist triumph was in the sense that there was an effort to maintain basic social and economic relations vital to a capitalist society. The Progressive leaders essentially wanted to perpetuate Liberal reform in order to bring upon general conservatism. Expansion of the federal government’s powers, competition and economic distribution of wealth, and the social welfare of American citizens concerned the many leaders of this era. The business influence on politics was quite significant of the Progressive Era. Not only did the three leading Progressive political figures, Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, bring upon new heights to government regulation, but also the great business leaders of this era defined the units of political intervention. With political capitalism rising to fame, Progressive politics experienced new themes and areas. The inevitability of federal regulation policies, reformation of social welfare, conservation, and various innovations with banking led to one conservative effort: the preservation of existing powers and economic/social relations. The political leaders of this ear were conservative in that they all believed in the fundamentals of basic capitalism. The various forms of anti-trust legislation presented by each president made the nation one step closer to providing a stable, predictable, and secure, therefore, conservative capitalist society. Theodore Roosevelt’s statist tendencies brought new meaning to government regulation. Roosevelt’s Anti-Trust policy of 1902 pledged government intervention to break up illegal monopolies and regulate corporations for the public good. Roosevelt felt that â€Å"bad† trusts threatened competition and markets. in order to restore free competition, President Roosevelt ordered the Justice department to prosecute corporations pursing monopolistic pr... ...ed and are Liberal indeed. However, the Liberal reforms reinforced the original conservative goals. Business and political leaders accepted the growing competition. Laissez faire, complete Liberalism, hardly ever existed and will not appear in the near future. Political capitalism, by definition from Gabriel Kolko (author of â€Å"The Triumph of Conservatism), is the utilization of political outlets to attain conditions of stability, predictability, and security in the economy. The fact that federal regulation of the economy was conservative in its effect in preserving existing power and economic relations in society shows that federal regulation in the economy was conservative as well. Through the many antitrust acts and various economic and social policies, the Progressive Era ultimately operated on the assumption that the general welfare of the community could be best served by satisfying the concrete needs of business. The big business and business leaders influenced the regulation and the government worked for the people, promoting competition and decentralization. Hence, the Progressive movement served to preserve original goals, not reform society with Liberalism.

American Electronics International Essay

1. Whose responsibility is it to staff the office? In this case, it appears that it is the CEO of AEI. He would be the head of the matrix system at this point. 2. What should be Blen Carty’s role, as well as that of Dr. Runnels? Blen Carty is the director of project management. Dr. Runnels is the director of engineering. I believe that Ben Carty should be responsible for requesting who he needs to head the project; however Dr. Runnels should have the final say in who he gives up out of his department. They need to openly communicate and realize the importance of each other’s needs. 3. Should Larry Gilbert be assigned? I personally do not think Larry Gilbert should be assigned to head the project. Richard Flag has a proven track record of success. I feel that the project manager should be Richard Flag and that Gilbert should work under him, even though he is a higher level engineer. It is Flag’s responsibility to manage the project, even though he does not have as much engineering expertise. 4. How would you negotiate with the functional managers? I would explain that Flag would be heading the project, and also relay to them the importance and magnitude of the project. Hopefully if they understood the effect the project would have in the grand scheme of things, they would be more open to giving up some of their staff. Perhaps helping the functional managers see the way this project could benefit the company, and in turn them, they would be easier to sell on giving up some important staff for such a long period of time.

Greek fire essays

Greek fire essays The original Greek fire was an invention used as a weapon of the Eastern Roman Emperors. It is also said to have been invented by a Syrian engineer, one Callinicus, a refugee from Maalbek, in the seventh century. The Byzantines of Constantinople originally used it. But they never used the term Greek fire because they claimed to be Romans, and never called themselves Greeks. It was like an insult to them because in their times to be Greek was to have a bad reputation. The Greek fire was first time used in the war of seven years. In which the Arabs established a naval base on the peninsula of Kyzikos. This was on the second attack of a battle started by Theophanes. On the third attack of the same battle, Greek fire was used again against the Arabs. The liquid fire was hurled on the ships of their enemies from siphons and burst into flames on contact. As it was reputed to be inextinguishable and burned even on water, it caused panic and dread. Its introduction into warfare of its time was comparable in its demoralizing to the introduction of nuclear weapons in our time. Both Arab and Greek sources agree that it surpassed all incendiary weapons in destruction. It is also possible that Greek fire was really invented by the chemist in Constantinople who had acquired the discoveries of the Alexandrian chemical school. An Emperor, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, said that the recipe for Greek fire had been revealed by an angel to Constantine the Great, and that the earliest chemists called their science the divine art. Constantine Porphyrogenitus (tenth century) in his instruction to his son had commanded him emphatically to keep the composition secret: The secret had in the past been given by an angel to Constantine the Great, those imparting it were anathema, and one about to communicate it had been struck by lightning. ...

Identification of Stage on the Hayes and Wheelwright Model Essay Example

Identification of Stage on the Hayes and Wheelwright Model Essay Example Identification of Stage on the Hayes and Wheelwright Model Paper Identification of Stage on the Hayes and Wheelwright Model Paper As the organization for analyses I chose the company I work for. Here is a short description of organization which may be useful for better understanding of outcomes: Airframe is today one of the fastest growing beauty companies selling direct. It is present in 62 countries, of which is the market leader in more than half. It takes the 18th place in the world among cosmetics companies in terms of sales volume. It offers a wide range of high-quality beauty products as well as a unique opportunity to Join sales force and start your own business. Brief facts about Airframe 1. 3 billion Euros in annual sales approximately 3. 3 million Distributors (Consultants) 7 500 employees 950 products annually, more than 30% of products are new. Global RD center with more than 100 scientists 5 own production units in Sweden, Poland, China, Russia and India Listed on the Nasdaq OMG Exchange since March 2004 The scope of the evaluation includes: Prepare fundamental data (description of main traits of the Hayes and Wheelwright model) Collect information necessary for analysis. Recommend tools for analysis. Make a clear conclusion about the stage on the model based on analysis. In the last decade the strategic role of operations has increased, which led to fast improvements in management and methodology. The four-stage model of operations contribution by Hayes and Wheelwright was developing from mid-80-s but has already a classic status in operations management due to its simplicity, visibility. It hypothesizes that companies go through four development stages: Internally Neutral, Externally Neutral, Internally Supportive and Externally Supportive. I found the following diagram of Hayes and Wheelwright (1984) the most pervasive and understandable: This model is a result of historical development with increasing performance levels. Stages are as a ladder that needs to be ascended for success to be achieved. The most successful organizations will be those whose operations reach the pinnacle of stage 4. The pears of stage name/maim trait are the following: Internally Neutral Avoid mistakes, Externally Neutral Benchmark, Internally supportive creative reaction to Dustless strategy, Externally Supportive Foundation of business-success And the short name for the model may be From Indifference to Maturity. Analysis in order evaluate Airframes stage Managers have difficulty in assessing the strategic role played by their operations in an internally consistent and coherent manner (Barnes, D. , Rowboat, F. 2004)) this phrase proved me in my philistine opinion that its difficult to determine a stage where my company is now. Its rather difficult to do as theres a lack of simple instruments to make analysis on this question. Suggested below self- diagnosis instrument for internal use is replica of Porters 5 competitive forces model and has a lot of shortcakes. I also assume the quality of analysis may be exposed to bout due to incoming information based on my personal assessments or on scared benchmark data. But its a good balance between simplicity and expensiveness of external experts/databases use or complex mathematical models. Source of information: My personal reflection as a manager who works in the analyses company. Strategic companys data mission statements, TOP- management announcements and interviews. Managerial data assessment (KIP, presentations. Example appendix 1). Extract of main proofs are in Appendix 2 classified under groups above. Proofs like that are used in Strategic stage survey below as answers for each question.

Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in the Treatment of Breast Research Paper

Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in the Treatment of Breast Cancer - Research Paper Example As the paper states evidence-based practice is a way to deliver healthcare to patients that targets problems in the existing system by integrating the practices that yielded the best results through research of relevant studies and accurate patient-care data, along with the expertise of specialists and the input of patients with regards to their preferences and values. The best patient outcomes can be realized when EBP is conducted in the context of care, within a supportive organizational structure and if it is integrated into the organization’s culture. Over the years, many healthcare institutions have adapted EBP in making clinical practice guidelines for the treatment and care of patients afflicted with various diseases. From this report it is clear of the diseases that EBP has been applied to, the most important can arguably be breast cancer. Breast cancer is still the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide and it is the most common type of cancer to afflict females with over 1.1 million new cases diagnosed each year. Breast cancer is also considered as the single most prevalent cancer in the world because more than 4.4 million women diagnosed with breast cancer in the last five years are currently alive and are taking in-patient and out-patient care from different healthcare institutions worldwide. It has been theorized that with the aid of EBP to improve clinical practice, 5-year survival after breast cancer treatment could increase by up to 10%.... 5-year survival after breast cancer treatment could increase by up to 10% (Sainsbury, Haward, Rider, Johnston, and Round, 1995 as cited in Sacerdote et al., 2013). Sacerdote et al. (2013) conducted a study in Piedmont, Italy to evaluate the difference in breast cancer patient care quality before the implementation of an EBP guideline and after the implementation of the EBP guideline. The guideline that Sacerdote et al. evaluated was the Piedmont guideline (PGL) and it constitutes the compliance of 14 quality-of-care indicators in accordance to EBP. The focus of their study is to evaluate the effects of EBP on breast cancer treatment and to determine how well the PGL has been implemented. Summary of the Study Since Sacerdote et al.’s study was concerned with the status of breast cancer care before and after the implementation of the PGL, two patient groups were selected. Breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated during the 1st half of 2002 were the pre-PGL group while patien ts who were diagnosed and treated after 2004 were the post-PGL group. The practices recommended in the PGL were already being done in the regional hospitals even before the implementation of the PGL. Between 2002 and 2004, 8 indicators out of the 14 moved towards the expected standard, however only 4 of these 8 improvements were statistically significant. It is highly recommended for patients with medium-to-high risk of distant metastasis to undergo chemotherapy or radiation after Breast Conservative Surgery but for patients with low risk of distant metastasis, the exposure to radiation and chemo may actually worsen their condition or hasten the recurrence of cancer. Following the recommendations of nurses and specialists using EBP, the percentage of low risk patients that took chemo- and

Hells Angels and Their Connection to Organized Crime Term Paper

Hells Angels and Their Connection to Organized Crime - Term Paper Example According to the term paper "Hell Angels and their connection to Organized Crime" findings the longtime organization, Hells Angels have contributed to legendary stories that spread about their power and popularity. Because of these stories and the publicity smacks, many people started wondering if they were mere coincidences. Hells Angels have still continued to persuade the public that they are not anything more than a dedicated group who has the deep love for motorcycles and long road trips. But it seems like the international law enforcement thinks otherwise and this is why there have been immense crime reports about the Hells Angels and their members. These reports have increased ever since 1969 and increasingly they are seen on media due to the attempt they made to assassin Mick Jagger after he pointed the finger at them at the bust of stabbing death of a member of the audience at a Rolling Stones concert, yet, all this happens after the 60th anniversary of the Hells Angels. Alt hough most of the historians are confident about the fact that the organization started in March 1948 in California, there are still some groups of the organization where members still debate about when and who started Hells Angels. It was started in California as motorcycles and racing cars were popular in those areas. The name came from the Flying Tigers in WWII and was subtitled to be â€Å"Hell’s Angels† on votes by the 303rd Bombardment Group. Arvid Olsen had officially given the name Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.... Because of these stories and the publicity smacks, many people started wondering if they were merely coincidences. Hells Angels have still continued to persuade the public that they are not anything more than a dedicated group who has deep love for motorcycles and long road trips. But it seems like the international law enforcement thinks otherwise and this is why there have been immense crime reports about the Hells Angels and their members. These reports have increased ever since 1969 and increasingly they are seen on media due to the attempt they made to assassin Mick Jagger after he pointed the finger at them at the bust of stabbing death of a member of the audience at a Rolling Stones concert, yet, all this happens after the 60th anniversary of the Hells Angels. Although, most of the historians are confident about the fact that the organization started in March, 1948 in California, there are still some groups of the organization where members still debate about when and who star ted Hells Angels. It was started in California as motorcycles and racing cars were popular in those areas. The name came from the Flying Tigers in WWII and was subtitled to be â€Å"Hell’s Angels† on votes by the 303rd Bombardment Group. Arvid Olsen had officially given the name Hells Angels Motorcycle Club when they started operating in motorcycles as it was becoming the most popular pastime in America and elsewhere. When the organization had become a common name taken in the media for many of the reports that were made about them, one of the news also held that some of the trouble pilots in the WWII had contributed in starting and Hells Angels and joined it. Hells Angels disregarded this notion and pointed out that other than