Utopia in Candide

Marco Flores 9/24/12 Utopian Lifestyle Throughout much literature such as Candide, by Voltaire, a concept of a Utopia is introduced. In this book, the utopian society was represented by El Dorado. Here, no realistic world ideals were present, as they were completely satisfied with what they had. They did not pray to God for help or even were curious enough to venture off outside the premises of their city. Lack of curiosity, which is completely against the norm of human nature, was what made them believe they have a perfect society.Most of all, in creating a fictional utopian society, Voltaire is satirizing classical European ways of thought, rather referring to them as the dystopia of the world. Utopias are essentially ideal societies that could never be duplicated in the real world of things. It is literally a fictional way of life that could only be strived for and never be reached. In the novel, they stumble upon El Dorado which is shown to be a magical utopian society. All men a re kind and equal to each other and no one seems to want â€Å"more†, which we as Americans have been accustomed to.They are not seeking to improve themselves in society, which is a concept so baffling for us to understand. It is difficult for us to understand because as a society the motto we live by is â€Å"we want more† and that is why we are far and away from a utopian society. We are never satisfied with what we have, while there in El Dorado, they simply are complacent with where they are. Unlike the citizens of El Dorado, that society was not achievable for Candide and Cacambo. Being an outsider, Candide could not simply drop his ideals to follow those of El Dorado, where gold and gems are just pebbles which they walk upon.Unlike the kids of El Dorado, they could not just play with the precious metals as if they had no value. Not only do their citizens undervalue gems which would make them prosperous throughout the world, but they are satisfied and do not worsh ip nor kill those who do not have the same beliefs as them. They don’t ask God of anything because they believe that what they are provided with is what they could and must use. â€Å"We do not pray to him at all, we have nothing to ask of him; he has given us everything we need; we thank him unceasingly,† 47). When Cacambo and Candide reach Eldorado, Candide concludes that this must be utopia, a place where everything â€Å"is for the best. †Ã‚   However, he is yet unhappy because he misses Cunegonde, and Cacambo has a â€Å"restless spirit† and is not satisfied, either. So, they leave because of their personal desires to achieve more wealth and fame back in Europe. The satire that Voltaire provides on the subject of a Utopia is that there is a great problem the world suffers is that the perfect state is unachievable.Although El Dorado provides a home with no worries or difficulties, Candide always wants more. There is no way to please human beings, even when all of your mistakes are undone and all men are equal. The true problem is that troubles still exist and there is no way to achieve complete happiness. Although El Dorado is seen by Candide as a true Utopia, it is rather the garden which itself is the true Utopia. In the end, they are left with the concept of the personal garden as their true paradise.Thus the theme of the novel is that happiness can only be achieved by concentrating on peace and well-being within one's self, rather than seeking adventures, riches, or material goods. It was the Turk at the conclusion of the novel that describes happiness is like a garden, where you must spend time to cultivate it and let it prosper. Candide realizes that you are the one that must create happiness as things don’t just happen for a reason. As the â€Å"worthy old man seems to have created for himself an existence far preferable to that of the six kings† has done. 93). Throughout his life, Candide has struggled with Pangloss’ philosophy of optimism, while he tries to connect what he’s been taught and what he sees before him. Pangloss always taught him to see that things were always for the best and that there is an explanation for everything. This is difficult for Candide, as he does not see how a world full of war, murder, poverty, rape, and starvation could remotely hold the philosophy that â€Å"everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds†.On the other side, is Martin with his pessimistic view on the whole world. He sees everyone and everything in a bad light. It is not until the old man where Candide realizes that the world neither is the best or worst of all possibilities. Candide realizes that one can only be content with those around them if they are striving to achieve happiness within, rather than without. Voltaire explains to us that even when one reaches an ideal society where things cannot get more perfect, one is still not satisfied.Rather th an just satirizing the ideas of utopia, he is criticizing our very own human nature. After all attempts to reach bliss through religion and riches, Canide combines the teachings of his two professors, Pangloss and Martin, to the belief in a simpler life full of inner satisfaction where one spends his time cultivating his own garden. So, instead of being a place where no further improvement is necessary, Voltaire explains that a Utopian Life is rather one where you control the variables and focus on your own happiness rather than other variables.

Battle at the Pumps: Is there a solution for increasing prices?

Remember when Grandpa used to tell stories of how gasoline cost $0. 10 a gallon when he first started driving? We laughed at the thought of anything costing less than a dollar, but with today’s national average for gas sitting at $3. 00 a gallon, the 300% price increase is no laughing matter (Benton, 2007).If the price for gas continues to increase at the rate it is now, our children will be the one’s finding humor in our silly rants of paying $90. 00 to fill our SUV tanks. Gas hikes and price gouging are issues that most Americans would rather not be associated with.Nevertheless, we all still have jobs to go to and errands to run. So, while some argue that the price increases are just a part of inflation, there are more arguing that gas pricing is a game of politics. Either way, we all will continue to pay what we have to go get from point A to point B. Targeting when gas hikes became such a hot issue dates back to the infamous â€Å"Katrina† disaster in August of 2005. In addition to the catastrophic storm, many claim that politics also play a part in price determination.Whatever the reason, a solution must be sought. Thankfully, there are a few solution-seekers out there who are actively searching for ways to make living in the days of $3. 00 plus per gallon a bit more tolerable, albeit still an, ah-hem, unpleasant issue. Collaborations between companies, innovations in vehicles, and vehicle purchasing incentives are all ways businesses are working together to keep the bitterness at bay. Nevertheless, many of us won’t be happy until we are completely dependent on our own resources for the precious commodity.So, while we will never see the same prices Grandpa paid for gasoline in our lifetime, reviewing the causes and finding solutions are the only ways we will avoid taking out a second mortgage just to put gas in the cars. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, Americans panicked, and fearful gas retailers began a practice that was, for the most part, unheard of. Lines of gasoline-starved automobiles Battle at the Pumps 3 parked themselves at gas pumps, struggling to get every last drop of gas available before it was â€Å"all gone†.Rumors of depleted gas barrel supply sent small town gasoline retailers, as well as few big city retailers into gouging mode. Within hours, prices went from $2. 00 to just over $3. 00 a gallon in states such as Texas and Louisiana, the states closest to the disaster (AP, 2005). Another spark contributing to the gas fire blazing at the pumps is the claim that election years tend to send gas prices into a rollercoaster pattern: down before elections, and up after elections. In fact, Joe Benton of ConsumerAffairs. com writes that pre-election gas prices averaged $2.50 a gallon, and that gas prices â€Å"are sure to rise again†¦right after the midterm elections† (2006). Mr. Benton was correct. Just after the elections the national average for gas prices increased 12. 5 cents in December, and has steadily continued to rise. Though the decrease is unexplainable, rest assured that the elections have nothing to do with it. If they were the reason for the decreased gas prices, however, most Americans would vie for monthly elections! Unfortunately, for the disgruntled, the days paying less than $2. 00 a gallon for gasoline are long gone.In fact, we drivers, bus riders, airline passengers and taxi goers must continue the suffrage, as melees to locate the best gas source is continued. Until one is found, companies, manufacturers and even the government are giving a go at attempts to soften the blows of outrageously priced â€Å"petro†. The battle of fair gas prices has produced an effort among many to seek ways around getting hosed at the pump. For example, John Wakefield of Murphy Oil Corporation, states that Murphy USA’s goal is to â€Å"be a low cost provider to the communities [they] serve† (2006).To comply with this statement, Murphy USA has collaborated with discount retailer, Wal-Mart, in order to offer a minimum of a three-cent discount for those who purchase fuel with a Wal-Mart gift card. This allows Murphy USA to maintain its position in offering a below average price for Battle at the Pumps 4 gasoline throughout the nation (Wakefield, 2006). Additionally, manufacturers, such as Ford and Chevy, have joined in the labors of providing an alternative for gas guzzling vehicles. Their answer to the gas price dilemma has been to increase promotion of hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles.Hybrid vehicles, although in existence for many years, have become a popular choice for saving dollars at the pump, as have flex-fuel vehicles. Hybrid vehicles combine both the gasoline-powered and electric powered sources under the hood in order to increase the distance between fill-ups, which, in turn, saves one from filling up as often as with a strictly gas-powered vehicle (Layton, 2007) Similarly, flex-fuel vehicles (FFV), which have been around for a number of years as well, are also designed to combine power sources in order save on gasoline usage.In the FFV case, a combination of gasoline and E85 fuel work together to increase the number of miles driven between fill-ups, resulting in dollars saved (USDoE, 2007). The down side to both types of vehicles, however, is that they both cost a pretty penny, which brings us back to where we started: angry about spending mega-bucks just to drive. On the contrary, there is an up-side to the hybrid vehicle: The government offers a tax credit to those who purchase a hybrid (USDoE, 2007).That’s great†¦if you can afford the high price tag attached to the hybrid. But if you can’t, what else is the government doing to ensure that we don’t go bankrupt at the pumps? Though they sometimes seem like the bad guys, the government is making attempts to keep Americans from going into boxing matches with gas station attendants. Along with offering incentives to those who choose to finance or straight-out purchase hybrid vehicles, they are also looking out for the little people†¦those who can’t afford to pay the $4.00 per gallon price tag that has become a frequenter of many gas stations across America post Katrina. Price gouging, or pricing above the market when demand increases, was a practice few were aware of before Battle at the Pump 5 August of 2005. However, when disaster struck, gas retailers took action, regardless of who it would affect. Soon, consumers were left with no where to turn and had no choice but to pay for overpriced fuel. Thankfully â€Å"Super Government† with its flowing red, white and blue cape came to our rescue, regulating pricing among gas retailers.Although there is no law against price gouging, suspicious pricing will entail an investigation. In August 2005, the Energy Department created a hotline for people who fell victim to price gouging (Pope, 2005). Though efforts have been made, without a law to formally enforce a â€Å"no price gouging allowed† law, the problem, though not as wide spread as it had been initially, still exists. Gradually, as demand has continues to outweigh the supply of gasoline available, price gouging has sneakily made itself an accepted practice.Investigations pending for suspected price gougers, the government is also seeking ways for America to become less dependent on international sources to keep America on the roads and in the air. As we wearily trudge to the pumps prepared to sacrifice our limbs just for a few gallons of gas, alternatives are being sought in order to use domestic sources for fuel. Biodiesel, a renewable fuel derived from sources such as vegetable oils and recycled restaurant greases, is just one of the alternative fuels being researched for common use among Americans.In May of 2005, President Bush announced that efforts in making Biodiesel a main source for fuel were in the works, and estimated that by 2010, our country will become solely dependent on itself to fuel our vehicles, planes and trains (Bush, 2005). Upon receiving the news, farmers across America gained new hope in assisting in the effort to solve the ongoing problem of finding fuel alternatives. But one can’t help but wonder: What about those folks who can’t afford to transition into a vehicle that runs on the fuel alternatives soon to be available?This is, indeed, has the Battle at the Pumps 6 potential to cripple hopes of becoming domestically dependent. Look around the next time you are on the road and you will see cars dating back to the early 60’s and beyond. For some people, driving these ‘vintage’ vehicles is a choice, but for others, it is unavoidable. It makes sense to assume that if we all had the money to drive a modern day vehicle, we would. But for those people who are stuck in that 1976 beat-up Nova, gas prices are still an issue that fuel alternatives won’t so lve.Needless to say, if President Bush is determined for America to depend on ourselves for fuel, tapping into the oil sources available on our own soil is required. This, however, presents another problem: Once the soil is broken, where do those who live on the land go? The vast lands of Alaska are notorious for housing thousands of acres of untapped oil reserves. However, on those acres, life exists. Caribou, bison, bears, elk and even people inhabit these lands. For years, these habitors have been the reason that the oil reserves Alaska has to offer have gone undisturbed.Nature activists have long protested the spoiling of the majestic lands across the Artic coastline. For this, we have continued to rely on countries such as the Middle Eastern lands, for oil. Years of jokes, ridicule and mockery have been directed at presidents, past and present, as well as the government in general, for not making stronger efforts in aggressively utilizing this land, regardless of who is affecte d. With pretty much no choice, President Bush proposed a plan to break ground along the Artic coastline in order to make use of the untapped oil lying beneath the thick blankets of frozen land and fluffed snow (Rosen, 2003).There continues, as expected, to be protests against the efforts, to include the protests of the Inupiat Eskimos, who strongly feel that none of the villages in this region of Alaska will support the proposed project. Ultimately, someone is going to be unhappy. Battle at the Pump 7 To those who have decided to put on party hats in celebration of the anticipated Alaskan oil tapping project: don’t mess up your ‘do’s just yet. The future in gas pricing will continue a long time pattern that Grandpa, Grandma, Dad and Mom have all had the unpleasant chore of experiencing.The crystal ball of gas prices forecasts continued increases. While the rise may not be in fuel pricing, many will feel the impact of whatever solution is utilized to control this currently uncontrollable nuisance. While scientists are doing their best to resolve all issues with fuel alternatives, some alternatives, such as hydrogen, will pose an earlier predicted problem: older vehicles would have to undergo a complete replacement of their fueling systems. Alas, the efforts to seek out solutions must continue.Though many efforts have been made to resolve the long time issue of inflated gas prices, as weeks go by, Americans resume the struggle with unfair gouging and seemingly unnecessary price hikes. It seems almost impossible to consider the alternatives of spending money on gas†¦heaven forbid we actually walk anywhere. Unfortunately, this horrible predicament we’ve found ourselves in appears to be without light. The only way to pleasantly endure the task of spending money is to†¦well†¦spend money.To ensure that we survive this rain cloud, we can either cross our fingers for monthly elections (for the benefit of price drops), or we can purchase hybrid vehicles, stop in at the local Wal-Mart to purchase a gift cards, and gas up at Murphy USA. So, although solutions are being attempted, before you visit the gas pumps, be prepared to give up your first born child. References: 1. $3. 00 Gas Spreads to 7 States, D. C. (April 27, 2007) ConsumerAffairs. com: Benton, J. April 27, 2007. http://www. consumeraffairs. com/news04/2007/04/gas_prices141. html 2. Bush plans on drilling in untapped Alaskan oil reserve.(Dec. 13, 2003) Reuters: Rosen, Y. April 27, 2007. http://www. commondreams. org/headlines03/1213-03. htm 3. Congress moves to outlaw gas gouging. (Sept. 19, 2005) SeattlePI. com: Pope, C. April 27, 2007. http://seattlepi. nwsource. com/national/241244_gouging19. html 4. Election loom; gas prices drop. (Sept. 13, 2006) ConsumerAffairs. com: Benton, J. April 27, 2007. http://www. consumeraffairs. com/news04/2006/09/big_oil. html 5. Flex-Fuel Vehicles. (2007) FuelEconomy. Gov: US Dept. of Energy (USDoE) April 27, 2007 . http://www. fueleconomy. gov/feg/flextech. shtml 6.Gov urges gas-price investigation. (Sept. 21, 2005) CBS News: Associated Press (AP). April 27, 2007 http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2005/09/21/katrina/main870784. shtml 7. How hybrid cars work. (2007) HowStuffWorks, Inc. : Layton, J & Nice, K. April 27, 2007. http://auto. howstuffworks. com/hybrid-car. htm 8. Murphy USA Refining and Marketing. (2006) Murphy Oil Corporation: Wakefield, J. April 27, 2007. http://murphyusa. com/rm/retail/ 9. President discusses biodiesel. (2005) The White House: Bush, G. W. April 28, 2007. http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050516. html

Artificial Intelligences beneficial impact on economy, education and healthcare

Artificial Intelligence's beneficial impact on economy, education and healthcare Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to prove to have a beneficial and fast-paced impact on education, healthcare, and economy. The measure of the impact artificial intelligence will have on the global economy is bolstered by its successful application into industries. As researchers continue to develop the efficiency and reliability of AI, the application of AI into industries will grow exponentially; therefore, the impact could be incalculable. Desjardins states, â€Å"By 2030, AI is expected to provide a $15.7 trillion boost to GDP worldwide- the equivalent of adding 13 new Australia’s to the global economy†. A boost of this size indicates that vast technological advancements are expected to be made as well. This will create benefits aside from the monetary value. Increased trade between countries will result, which will lead to specialization and competition. A healthy competition between industries encourages innovation as they compete for the consumers’ dollar, and innovation is the heart of technology. The economic boost improves and supports international relations as well. The ef ficiency of AI can impact many parts of the economy such as manufacturing. Rather than humans occupying the jobs, machines are more consistent, reliable, and productive. Lohr presents â€Å"a series of charts and graphs that track AI- related trends over time. They include measures like the rate of improvement in image identification and speech recognition, as well as start- up activity and job openings†. Not only does AI create beneficial developments in economy, but as well as image identification and speech recognition. It also promotes entrepreneurship and new jobs. Therefore, rumors of replacing medical jobs in the future are no longer needed. AI has shown some improvement in healthcare, but researchers say the possibilities of a greater healthcare system with AI involved. Pearl states that â€Å"[u]sing consensus algorithms from experts in the field, along with the data that oncologists enter into a medical record, a computer can review dozens, sometimes hundreds, of established treatment alternatives and recommend the most appropriate combination of chemotherapy drugs for a patient†. Having various ways to cure a patient helps improves the chance of the medicine curing the patient. It can improve the quality of care and STOP. He clarifies, â€Å"Visual pattern recognition software is estimated to be 5% to 10% more accurate than the average physician†. AI has shown a great impact on education and will continue to do so. Bernard states, â€Å"The Navy reported that the students who had worked with the digital tutor made enormous strides in their education, and that they consistently rested higher than students who had studied without the program’s benefit†. Using technology in the classroom hugely impacts on an individual student’s grade and as well as the classroom in a whole. Dickson indicates how â€Å"AI can also help take part in learner groups as a member and help sway discussions in the right direction by providing content, posing questions and providing alternative viewpoints†. Helping students learn beyond one aspect of a discussion can improve students’ education.

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5 Processes - Case Study Example From this discussion it is clear that for Article Writing, the level of service expected would be more qualitative than quantitative. Price, originality, creativity, and on time delivery of the write up are some of the aspects which need to be considered while hiring. For Articles, fixed cost deals will be preferred. Criteria for the selection for most suitable vendor as article writer would be quality of write up, originality of write up and cost. We will hire 3 writers for this task. Creative write up will be awarded to one, informative write up to the other and in house reports writing to the third and last one. The write up should be provided to us in 2 weeks time after selection. First step will be hiring advertisement which will be placed 2 months prior to the time when the content is needed to be ready. 2 weeks will be taken up in selection process; 2 weeks for the writers to finish off work and the last 2 weeks for our editing team to finalize the content. This paper outlines that while outsourcing photography assignments, the service level required would be to provide us brilliant natural and related to our topic kind of photographs at low cost. It will again be a fixed cost job. We will review the portfolio of the vendors and will prefer handing over this task to someone who has experience in nature photography. One vendor will be selected for one magazine issue. Selection will be finalized one month prior to the time we need the photos ready. Printing is a specialist’s job. Level of service expected will be high quality printing, with latest machinery. The contract in this case will be on per unit cost basis. Low cost and best quality will be important criteria for us. All printing will be done by one vendor.  

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Financial Markets & Risk - Essay Example According to this act, FSA is responsible for the authorisation and prudential supervision of banks and building societies. It is also responsible for the supervision of following agencies: It is also entrusted with the supervision of financial markets, securities listings and of clearing and settlement systems. At the same time, it may be responsible for conducting operations in response to problem cases influencing firms, markets and clearing and settlements systems under situation when the nature of the operations was agreed according to the provisions of the tripartite Memorandum. It is also responsible for regulatory policy in these areas, including that aimed with an objective to promote the resilience to operational disruption of authorised firms and Recognised bodies. It has also advisory responsibility and hence it should guide on the regulatory implications for authorised firms and recognised bodies of developments in domestic and international markets and of initiatives, both domestic and international level. Global financial problems may come at an unexpected intervals and hence they are equipped with necessary flexibility in their duties. For example, under exceptional circumstances FSA has responsibility to undertake official financial operations to limit the risk of problems in or influencing particular institutions spreading to other parts of the financial system. It should also ensure proper communication with standing Committees of the Bank of England and HM treasury to co-ordinate the response to a crisis. Like FSA, the Bank of England was also entrusted with huge responsibilities to bring financial stability in United Kingdom. The Bank of England is responsible for the predicting unforeseen challenges of the financial system as a whole. It also ensures the stability of the monetary system as part of its monetary policy functions. It should act in the markets to deal with fluctuations in

The City of Hong Kong Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The City of Hong Kong - Research Paper Example The city is surrounded by the South Sea of China on the south, west and east and borders Shenzhen city to the northern part over the river of Shenzhen. The 426 sq m. territory consists of Kowloon peninsula, New Territory and Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong’s land area is the 179th largest populated territory in the globe. Despite of being intensely urbanized, the city has tried to promote a green pollution free environment. Recent growing concern of public about the environment has prompted the harsh restriction of future land reclamation. The city’s environment has suffered from the increasing population as well as from the ever increasing rate of pollution (Goldcast, 167). Nearly about 80% of the smog of Hong Kong used to originate from several parts of Pearl River Delta. Population Density The population density of Hong Kong is 6782.92 as reported in the year 2010. Population density in Hong Kong is 6696.5. In terms of population, it is the largest city within China. In Hong Kong, urban agglomerations’ population of more than 1 million is 6982287.0. In terms of percentage, it is more than 100%. Raw Material, Principle Products and Industries The city is not enriched with raw materials. The territory has limited natural resources and little arable land. Therefore, the city used to import most of its raw materials and foods from other countries. The agricultural activity is not that much important to the economy of Hong Kong. The agricultural activity used to contribute just 0.1% of its total GDP. The city is the 11th major trading entity of World. Moreover, Hong Kong is world’s largest re-export sector. The city is the major and one of the leading producer and exporter of textiles, watches, toys, apparels, plastics and electrical appliances (Siu & Ku, 159). In Hong Kong, the major leading industries are financial services, Tourism, Logistics & Trading and professional & producer services. These industries are the driving force of the e conomic growth of the country under consideration. These specific industries used to provide impetus to growth of various sectors and help to generate employment. Competitive Advantage and Production of Goods The logistics and trading industries used to consolidate different production and economic activities. Moreover, it used to help the problem of unemployment. This particular industry currently has employed more than 770,000 employees. This industry significantly contributes to one quarter of the Chinese GDP. Due to the drastic change in the market demand, the trading industry is tending to provide highly value added trading and logistic services. Hong Kong is gradually developing into regional distribution centre for its highly valued products. This used to differ from the conventional role in the transporting elements such as finished and semi-finished goods. The city has superior control over the distribution system of superior valued goods. Moreover, the logistics industry o f Hong Kong has the potential to expand its regional services of trading and logistics. These are the competitive advantages of the Hong Kong trading that have strengthen the position of Hong Kong as the logistical hub. It has been discussed earlier that Hong Kong is not enriched highly with natural resources and raw materials. The city is famous for the apparel and textile goods, toys and electronic appliances. Currently the city has increased its import activities of these goods. It is

Combating Sex-trafficking in the United States Term Paper

Combating Sex-trafficking in the United States - Term Paper Example In today's modern, civilized society, a world where human rights are given such considerable emphasis and so many laws, acts and bills have been passed to protect those rights, it seems that slavery would be a forgotten and lost concept. Sadly however this is not true. Slavery in every sense of its meaning is still alive, whether it be in the form of exploiting humans for forced labor, or more prevalently, as members of a world wide illegal sex trade and trafficking industry. Statistics from the International Labor Office show that there are 12.3 million victims of forced labor and commercial sex trafficking trade throughout the world at any given time. Shocking as those figures are, what is more shocking is that many of these human sex slaves are employed in fully legal trade rings, such as legalized prostitution or pornography. This happens not in one country or two, but in countries all over the world, the United States included. Are the laws that legalize prostitution and pornogr aphy contributing towards the promotion and encouragement of sex trafficking and commercialized sex trade? Furthermore, if there are laws that encourage these industries, where do these victims find their sanctuary? These are the questions this paper aims to investigate and to argue that the only way sex trafficking victims can be kept away from the industry, even if the industry itself is not shut down, is through effective communication between the ICE, the local police and social workers. Human trafficking is a practice prevalent all across the world. There might be differences in the way the humans are marketed or transported but ultimately it all follows the same process. The victim is lured into the trader's ring under false pretenses or promises of a bright future in another country, through lawful, legal employment. Once the victim agrees and the process of transporting them begins, their legal documents are taken from them and they start to be blackmailed, with threats of d eportation, arrest, violence or safety. Helpless, the victims have to follow the orders of their captors which often translate to joining either the forced labor trade or the sex trade. The female and children victims of human-trafficking mostly end up in brothels, some of which are legal, which clearly indicates that legalized prostitution and sex-trafficking are linked (Kara, 2008). Why is then that nothing is being done to separate those who are voluntarily in the industry and those who are forced into it? The prime reason for that is probably a lack of understanding and communication. Authorities feel that most sex workers that work in legal brothels or pornography have a way to earn a living without having the necessary qualifications to work in other jobs. Another reason this illegal trade employs these victims is that it is one of the most profitable criminal activities, generating an estimated $9.5 billion each year. Because they want the industry to expand, they hire these victims illegally, making it the third most profitable destination for them, with first and second being drugs and weapons trafficking respectively but according to observers, within ten years, human trafficking will surpass drugs and weapons trafficking to become the most profitable criminal activity in the world. As said in Kara's book, '†¦the most effective measures to eradicate the global sex trafficking industry are those that reduce the aggregate demand for sex slaves and consumers through an attack on the industry's immense profitability.' Trafficking even occurs within the

Marriage equality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marriage equality - Essay Example Marriage equality is a term that has been developed in the contemporary society to refer to same-sex marriage. In spite of the term appearing obnoxious, it has become difficult to define equality in marriage. The traditional meaning of equality depended on the natural act, which is the marriage between a man and a woman. â€Å"Equality and gay peoples’ rights spite the notion of procreation†. In such cases, equity was viewed as a process of recognizing the rights of both spouses in a relationship. In fact, it dealt with the development of understanding of the limits between violation and acceptance. However, the changes in morality and social development have led to serious challenges in the definition of marriage equality. Equality in controversial marriages such as gay and lesbian marriage is a challenge to the society. The use of terms such as straight to define heterosexual individuals is a product of the need to identify the gay or up-right people in the society. T he development of the diverse range of terms in explaining the new social development led to the creation of the term â€Å"marriage equality†. Therefore, when addressing marriage equality, it is vital to understand the various issues associated with the current term and the reasons for its development. Consequently, marriage equality is fundamentally a new term based on the cultural change witnessed in the world. The original meaning of the terms has been changed significantly because of the growing use of the term to mean new concepts in a marriage relationship (Wolfson 45). In fact, the new term has rendered the traditional term null or void based on the wide acceptance of the new meaning. The cultural meaning of the word is simple and easily understood, but with the current changes the world is becoming complex to understand such as the current terms like bootylicious and equality. Definition of marriage equality Marriage equality is defined as same-sex marriage that is l egally recognized in the society as the marriage between mature or adult persons. The major question posed by the proponents of the idea is based on the protection of human rights that is protected fundamentally by the constitution. The bill or rights stipulate the major issues that must be addressed in the protection of human freedom. Based on these freedoms including the freedom of association, it becomes challenging when defining marriage equality. Equality in marriage and marriage equality in the contemporary society means two different things today (Wolfson 73). Equality in marriage is the protection of the rights of individuals in marriage while marriage equality is the struggle to accept the new set of marriage partners resulting from homosexual and lesbian relationship in the society. In fact, the push for recognition has led to serious challenge in the society because of the resistance posed by conservatives. Despite the challenges in defining the term, it is widely accepte d culturally to mean the relationship between same-sex partners and their intention to live together has a couple. Equality and protection Marriage Equality relates to the protection of the choices made by the gay and lesbian individuals in the society. The protection against marriage discrimination and reduction of stigma associated with same sex marriage. The definition of marriage equality has changed significantly based on the acceptance of the new meaning, which is slightly different from traditional meaning. The new meaning has overshadowed the traditional meaning associated with the term (Wolfson 89). Marriage equality is a broad term in the contemporary society based on the understanding of the society. Language change is implemented by individuals in the society who lead to increased usage of the term. The actual meaning of equality in marriage is not clearly defined in the contemporary society based on the new meanings develop. The development of new terms illustrates the power of dynamic reasoning in the world,

Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster - Essay Example The disastrous meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant after the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 frightened numerous people, not only in Japan, but also around the world. The roughly four-decade-old reactors needed electric pumps for reserve energy to expel water to activate the fuel rods in an emergency. Unfortunately, these mechanisms failed during the massive earthquake and tsunami (Cahill 48). The technologically advanced nuclear plants hoard water in the reactor containment basin, in an emergency that water would pour without outside power onto the worked up mechanism to cool it up for several days. They can also spontaneously expel water with heated air. Fukushima nuclear power plant was plagued with operator, mechanical, and construction errors. Several months prior to the earthquake, personnel on one of the six reactors erroneously performed procedures for the wrong reactor. A line regulating the cooling mechanism was taken out mistakenly, an error that was only found out weeks after (Noggerath, Geller, & Gusiakov 39). The tsunami aggravated the situation when electric power stopped working at four reactors. Heat accumulated in the reactors and in basins designed to prevent the overheating of worked up fuel rods. A few weeks after, power had not been brought back to the cooling mechanisms and to the hubs of the two reactors. The plant operators at last revealed in May that there had been a reactor breakdown (Noggerath et al. 39). The Fukushima Dai-ichi was made up of six units, with each of them having its own nuclear reactor. These units were built from 1967 to 1979 and were administered by the Tokyo Power and Electric Company (TEPCO). During the earthquake the three units were running and the remaining three were not functioning and under regular maintenance (Samuels 13). After the earthquake struck the three running units were stopped, in accordance to mandated protocols. Emergency generators were turned on to get rid of the spent heat from the reactors. But the 14-meter tsunami worsened the situation because the power plants were built to resist or hold out only a 6.5-meter tsunami (Perrow 2011, 46). The tsunami brought about extensive flooding in the whole expanse of Fukushima and also impaired the generators that run the emergency cooling mechanisms of the nuclear power plants. The available emergency cooling system was run by batteries, which expired after several hours. Lacking sufficient cooling, the water trapped inside the reactors created more heat, which consequently caused the reactors to overheat. This prompted the opening of the relief valves which then released the radioactive steam. A basic rule of nuclear power plant construction is ‘defense in depth’ (Cooper 10). This rule pushes engineers to build a plant that can survive extreme calamities, even as some mechanisms stopped working. A massive tsunami that incapacitates the diesel generators simultaneously is an example, but the 2 011 tsunami was too severe, even unimaginable. To endure such a catastrophe, engineers constructed a backup resistance by placing the entire system into a containment unit that is constructed to protect the system. As soon as the diesel generators stopped working after the tsunami, the operators shifted to emergency battery power. But the batteries only lasted for roughly eight hours (Cooper 10-11). The plant operat

Pre-Destination V.S Free

Pre-Destination V.S Free Will Essay For years Christians have argued about what role God has in humans attaining salvation. The most popular belief in American culture is the concept of free will. Free will is the belief that coming to Christ and being saved is a freewill choice of the person. Most churches believe this concept to be true at least to some degree. The other belief is the concept of Predestination. Predestination is the belief that God chooses who to save and who to damn. The biggest denomination in the United States that believes this is the Calvinists or more commonly known as the Reformed denomination. The debate will probably continue for many years to come. By reading Romans 9:1-29 we can tell clearly which concept Paul believes to be true. While I read Romans 9:1-29 I kept clearly in my mind the two beliefs of freewill and predestination. After reading it was apparent to me that Paul believes strongly in predestination. This, in my opinion, goes against human nature. I, at least, find it very hard to believe that if God chooses not to extend grace to a person that person cannot attain salvation no matter what they believe or what they do. Paul uses an example about Jacob and Esau. In Romans 9: 10-13 Paul uses Malachi 1:2-3 that says that â€Å" I have loved Jacob, but I have loved Jacob† Paul then says that God had decided that before they were even born so as it says in verse 11-12 â€Å" that Gods purpose of election might continue, not by works, but by his call. † If Paul is right about this and you interpret the Bible literally than predestination has to be true. It is completely possible that Paul is biased though when writing about predestination. Paul believes strongly in salvation by faith not works. In Romans 3: 27- 28 Paul says â€Å"Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. † This is just one of many examples of how much Paul hates the idea of faith by works. There are many other examples of this in books written by Paul outside of Romans that convey the same message. Since Paul believes strongly in salvation by faith this would, in theory, make him lean towards predestination. Freewill means that we as humans make a choice to believe in God and be saved. Paul would see this as an example of justification by works and he clearly states in Ephesians 2:8-9 â€Å"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. † Paul believes that nothing we can do nothing to save ourselves which is the main idea of freewill. This makes Paul potentially biased toward predestination. I believe that this passage isnt trying to address personal salvation as a main point, but I think we infer Pauls view on personal salvation through the verse. I believe that Paul was more trying to point out that we can do nothing to save ourselves. It is completely up to God. Paul was trying to stress that firstly, but then through that seems to make a case, as far as personal salvation goes, for predestination. He specifically mentions how he picked Jacob over Esau. If God chooses individually like that then I, at least, deduce from this passage according to Paul that God must choose who to save on a personal level. My rational human side tells me that predestination cannot be right, but then I read Romans and Paul says that predestination is right and freewill is wrong. The question then is if I believe Paul just because that is his opinion, even though it is most likely biased, or do I believe what seems right to me? Im still torn between the two because what I want to believe is contradicted by Paul. Maybe well never know for sure because the concept of God is impossible for our minds to completely understand in the first place.

Dual Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number and Its Applications

Dual Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number and Its Applications Jon Arockiaraj. J, Pathinathan.T, Revathy.S Abstract: In this paper, we introduce Convergence of ÃŽ ±-Cut. We define at which point the ÃŽ ±-Cut converges to the fuzzy numbers it will be illustrated by example using dual trapezoidal fuzzy number and Some elementary applications on mensuration are numerically illustrated with approximated values. KeyWords: Fuzzy number, ÃŽ ±-Cut, Dual trapezoidal fuzzy number, Defuzzification. Introduction: Fuzzy sets have been introduced by Lotfi. A. Zadeh (1965). Fuzzy numbers were first introduce by Zadeh in 1975.There after theory of fuzzy number was further studied and developed by Dubois and Prade, R.Yager Mizomoto, J.Buckly and Many others. Since then many workers studied the theory of fuzzy numbers and achieved fruitful results. The fuzziness can be represented by different ways one of the most useful representation is membership function. Also depending the nature and shape of the membership function the fuzzy number can be classified in different forms, such as triangular fuzzy number, trapezoidal fuzzy number etc. A fuzzy number is a quantity whose values are imprecise, rather than exact as is the case with single valued number. Fuzzy numbers are used in statistics computer programming, engineering and experimental science. So far fuzzy numbers like triangular fuzzy number, trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal pyramid and diamond fuzzy numbers have been introduced with its membership functions. These numbers have got many applications like non-linear equations, risk analysis and reliability. In this paper, we introduce Dual trapezoidal fuzzy numbers with its membership functions and its applications. Section one presents the introduction, section two presents the basic definition of fuzzy numbers section three presents Dual trapezoidal fuzzy numbers and its applications and in the final section we give conclusion. 2. Basic Definitions Definition 2.1: (Fuzzy set) A fuzzy set A in a universe of discourse X is defined as the following set of pairs A= {(x,  µA(x)): xX} Here  µA(x) : x is a mapping called the degree of membership function of the fuzzy set A and  µA(x) is called the membership value of xX in the fuzzy set These membership grades are often represented by real numbers ranging from [0, 1]. Definition 2.2: (Fuzzy Number) A fuzzy set A defined on the universal set of real number R is said to be a fuzzy number if its membership function has satisfy the following characteristics. ( i) ÃŽ ¼A (x) is a piecewise continuous (ii) A is convex, i.e.,  µA (ÃŽ ±x1 + (1-ÃŽ ±) x2) ≠¥ min ( µA(x1),  µA(x2)) É  x1 ,x2R É  ÃŽ ±[0,1] (iii) A is normal, i.e., there exist xo R such that  µA (xo)=1 Definition 2.3: (Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number) A trapezoidal fuzzy number represented with four points as A = (a b c d), Where all a, b, c, d are real numbers and its membership function is given below where a≠¤ b≠¤ c≠¤ d  µA(x)= 3. DUAL TRAPEZOIDAL FUZZY NUMBER Definition 3.1: (Dual Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number) A Dual Trapezoidal fuzzy number of a fuzzy set A is defined as ADT= {a, b, c, d (ÃŽ ±)} Where all a, b, c, d are real numbers and its membership function is given below where a≠¤b≠¤c≠¤d  µDT(x) = where ÃŽ ± is the base of the trapezoidal and also for the inverted reflection of the above trapezoidal namely a b c d Figure: Graphical Representation of Dual Trapezoidal fuzzy Number 3.2 DEFUZZIFICATION: Let ADT= (a, b, c, d, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡) be a dual trapezoidal fuzzy number .The defuzzification value of ADT is an approximate real number. There are many method for defuzzification such as Centroid Method, Mean of Interval Method , Removal Area Method etc. In this Paper We have used Centroid area method for defuzzification . CENTROID OF AREA METHOED: Centroid of area method or centry of gravity method. It obtains the centre of area (X*) occupied by the fuzzy sets.It can be expressed as X* = Defuzzification Value for dual trapezoidal fuzzy number: Let ADT= {a, b, c, d (ÃŽ ±)} be a DTrFN with its membership function  µDT(x) = Using centroid area method +dx+++dx = + + + + + = = = ++ dx+++dx = = = c + d – a b Defuzzification = = = 3.3 APPLICATION In this section. We have discussed the convergence of à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut using the example of dual trapezoidal fuzzy number. CONVERGENCE OF ÃŽ ±-CUT : Let ADT = {a, b, c, d, (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡) } be a dual trapezoidal fuzzy number whose membership function function is given as  µDT(x) = To find à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut of ADT .We first set à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ [0,1] to both left and right reference functions of ADT. Expressing X in terms of à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ which gives à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut of ADT. à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡= à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ¨ x l= a+ (b-a) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡= à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ¨ x r =d-(d-c) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ¨ Aà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡DT= [a+ (b-a) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡, d-(d-c) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡] In ordinary to find à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut, we give à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ values as 0 or 0.5 or 1 in the interval [0, 1] .Instead of giving these values for à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡. we divide the interval [0,1] as many continuous subinterval. If we give very small values for à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡, the à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut converges to a fuzzy number [a, d] in the domain of X it will be illustrated by example as given below. Example: ADT = (-6,-4, 3, 6) and its membership function will be  µDT(x) = ÃŽ ±- cut of dual Trapezoidal fuzzy Number à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ = (x l + 6)/2 Xl = 2à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-6 à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ = (6 xr)/3 Xr = 6-3à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ 2à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-6, 6-3à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/10 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ = [-5. 8 , 5.7] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/102 then ADT =[-5.98 , 5.97] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/103 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ = [-5.998 , 5.997] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/104 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[-5.9998 , 5.9997] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/105 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[-5.99998 , 5.99997 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/106 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -5.999998 , 5.999997 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/107 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -5.9999998 , 5.9999997, ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/108 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -5.99999998 , 5.99999997 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/109 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -5.999999998 , 5.999999997] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/1010 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[-6 , 6] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/1011 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[-6 , 6] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/1012 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ =[-6 , 6] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/1013 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ =[-6 , 6 ] †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..etc When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=1/10n as n →∞ then the à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut converges to ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[-6, 6 ] Figure: Graphical Representation of convergence of à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/10 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡= [ -5.6,5.4 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/102 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡= [ -5.96,5.94 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/103 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -5.996,5.994 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/104 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ , -5.9996,5.9994 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/105 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ , -5.99996,5.99994 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/106 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ , -5.999996,5.999994 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/107 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[-5.9999996, 5.9999994 , ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/108 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ , -5.99999996,5.99999994 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/109 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ , -5.999999996,5.999999994 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/1010 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ , -6,6 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/1011 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -6,6 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/1012 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -6,6 ] When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/1013 then ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -6,6] †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦etc When à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=2/10n as n →∞ then the à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡-cut converges to ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=[ -6,6 ] Simillarly, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡=3/10n,4/10n,5/10n,6/10n,7/10n,8/10n,9/10n,10/10n upto these value n varies from 1to ∞ after 11/10n,12/10n†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..100/10n as n varies from 2 to ∞ and101/10n,102/10n†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. as n varies from 3 to ∞ and the process is goes on like this if we give the value for à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ it will converges to the dual trapezoidal fuzzy number[-6,6] From the above example we conclude that , In general we have { K/10n} if we give different values for K as n- varies upto to ∞ if we give as n tends to ∞ then the values of ADTà °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬Å¡ converges to the fuzzy number[a,d] in the domain X. 3.4 APPLICATIONS In this section we have numerically solved some elementary problems of mensuration based on arithmetic operation using defuzzified centroid area method 1.Perimeter of Rectangle: Let the length and breadth of a rectangle are two positive dual trapezoidal fuzzy numbers ADT = (10cm, 11cm, 12cm,13cm) and BDT = (4cm, 5cm,6cm,7cm) then perimeter CDT of rectangle is 2[ADT+BDT] Therefore the perimeter of the rectangle is a dual trapezoidal fuzzy number CDT = (28cm, 32cm,36cm,40cm) and its membership functions  µDT(x) = The Perimeter of the rectangle is not less than 28 and not greater than 40 .The perimeter value takes between 32 to 36. Centroid area method: X* = = = = = 34 The approximate value of the perimeter of the rectangle is 34 cm. 2.Length of Rod: Let length of a rod is a positive DTrFN ADT = (10cm,11cm,12cm, 13cm). If the length BDT = (5cm, 6cm , 7cm, 8cm), a DTrFN is cut off from this rod then the remaining length of the rod CDT is [ADT(-)BDT] The remaining length of the rod is a DTrFN CDT = (2cm, 4cm, 6cm, 8cm) and its membership function  µDT(x) = The remaining length of the rod is not less than 2cm and not greater than 8cm.The length of the rod takes the value between 4cm and 6cm. Centroid area method: X* = = = = = 5 The approximate value of the remaining length of the rod is 5cm. 3.Length of a Rectangle: Let the area and breadth of a rectangle are two positive dual trapezoidal fuzzy numbers ADT=(36cm,40cm,44cm,48cm) and BDT=(3cm,4cm,5cm,6cm) then the length CDT of the rectangle is is ADT(:)BDT. Therefore the length of the rectangle is a dual trapezoidal fuzzy number CDT=(6cm,8cm,11cm,16cm) and its membership functions  µDT(x) = The length of the rectangle is not less than 6cm and not greater than 16cm .The length of the rectangle takes the value between 8cm and 11cm. Centroid area method: X * = = = = 10.38 The approximate value of the length of the rectangle is 10.38cm. 4. Area of the Rectangle: Let the length and breadth of a rectangle are two positive dual trapezoidal fuzzy numbers ADT=(3cm,4cm,5cm,6cm) and BDT=(8cm,9cm,10cm,11cm) then the area of rectangle is ADT(.) BDT Therefore the area of the rectangle is a dual trapezoidal fuzzy number CDT= (24cm, 36cm, 50cm, 66cm) and its membership functions  µDT(x) = The area of the rectangle not less than 24 and not greater than 66.The area of the reactangle takes the value between 36 and 50. Centroid area method: X * = = = = 44.167sq.cm 4.CONCLUSION: In this paper, we have worked on DTrFN .We have define the Convergence of ÃŽ ±-Cut to the fuzzy number. We have solved numerically some problems of mensuration based on operations using DTrFN and we have calculated the approximate values. Further DTrFN can be used in various problem of engineering and mathematical science. 5. References [1] Sanhita Banerjee, Tapan Kumar Roy Arithmetic Operations on Generalized Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number and its Applications TJFS: Turkish Journal of Fuzzy Systems (eISSN: 1309–1190) An Official Journal of Turkish Fuzzy Systems Association Vol.3, No.1, pp. 16-44, 2012. [2] Bansal. A., (2010), some non- linear arithmetic operations on triangular fuzzy number (m, ÃŽ ±, ÃŽ ²), Advances in Fuzzy Mathematics, 5,147-156. [3] G. J. Klir, Bo Yuan, Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy logic, Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, (2005). [4] C. Parvathi, C. Malathi, Arithmetic operations on Symmetric Trapezoidal Intuitionistic Fuzzy Numbers, International Journal of Soft Computing and Engineering, 2 (2012) ISSN: 2231-2307. [5] T. Pathinathan, K. Ponnivalavan, Pentagonal fuzzy numbers, International journal of computing algorithm, 3 (2014) ISSN: 2278-2397. [6] Bansal Abhinav, Trapezoidal Fuzzy Numbers (a, b, c, d); Arithmetic Behavior, International Journal of Physical Mathematical Sciences, ISSN: 2010-1791. [7] T. Pathinathan, K. Ponnivalavan, Diamond fuzzy numbers, International scientific Publications and consulting services journal of fuzzy set valued analysis http://www.ispacs.com/journals/jfsva/2014/jfsva-00220 [8] D. Dubois, H. Prade, Operations on Fuzzy Numbers, International Journal of Systems Science, 9 (6) (1978) 613-626. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207727808941724.

International Relations Essay -- Political Science

Introduction: At the end of WWII in 1945, Western Europe and arguably the entire world looked to the United States for a recovery plan. Great Britain was loosing control over its colonies, France and Germany had been destroyed by the war, and the Soviet Union was gaining power. This put the United States in a position of power, the question that arises with this is, does the United States try to gain control as the hegemonic power in the international system? Is there a real necessity in the region of the Middle East to gain the hegemonic power in terms of U.S national interest/security? International Relation realists would say of course there is. Within the discipline of International Relations there are several paradigms and theories, one of the most enduring paradigms is realism. Realist believe that states are self- interested, power-seeking rational actors, who seek to maximize their security and chances of survival; cooperation between states can be explained as functional in order to maximize each individual state’s security. I think that this is right because if a state does not maintain its sovereignty and express its power in a visible manor other states will attempt to gain control over it; it would be the pre-colonial period all over again. This brings us back to the post WWII era- where states are fighting for their sovereignty and the United States has the opportunity to become the hegemonic power. Becoming the hegemonic power would involve having influence in several strategic regions of the world, one of the most important, and arguably the most important outside of Western Europe, the Middle East. Foreign Policy toward the Middle East pre-WWII was mostly dealing with Great Britain, post-WWII it can be at... ...p://www.jstor.org/stable/1949949 Kupchan, Charles. â€Å" The Persian Gulf and the West: the Dilemmas of Security.† Boston: Allen & Unwin, 1987 Lesch, David W.ed. The Middle East and The United States. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2007 Ovendale, Ritchie. â€Å"Britain, the United States, and the Transfer of Power in the Middle East, 1945-1962† NY: Leicester University Press Seabury, Peter. â€Å"The League of Arab States: Debacle of Regional Arrangement† International Organization 3, No. 4 (Nov. 1949) http://www.jstor.org/stable/2703618 Sluglett, Peter â€Å" The Pan-Arab Movement and the Influence of Cairo and Moscow,† in A Revolutionary Year: The Middle East in 1958, ed. Roger Louis and Roger Owen . New York: I.B. Tauris, Publishers, 2002 Spiegel, Steven. "Neighborhood Watch, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas 4 (2007) http://www.democracyjournal.org/article.php?ID=6520

The Sniper :: essays research papers

In 'The Sniper'; Liam O' Flaherty suggest the horror of war not only by presenting its physical dangers but also by showing its psychological effects. The story takes place in Dublin around the beleaguered Four Courts in the middle of the city where gunfire of heavy guns, machine guns, and rifles break the silence around the sniper because of a civil war that is especially dangerous because the enemy looked similar to yourself. The sniper is on the roof in a vulnerable situation because there is no cover, no place to hide. Besides that it's June around the twilight hour when it is fading into night and when the smallest amount of light attracted attention to the enemy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The bullets fired also make the danger of the sniper's location clear. When he lights his cigarette, almost immediately a bullet is shot against the parapet of the roof. Just as he raised his himself cautiously over the railing of the roof another bullet whizzed by him, just missing his head. Soon he sees a tank commander and a women informer pointing out his location on the roof, he first takes out the tank commander, followed by the old lady that is giving the information. Suddenly from the opposite side there is a flutter of bullets that come from the opposite side of the street.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The psychological effects on the sniper suggest the horror of war. The sniper's feeling of excitement shows a lack of concern for other people. The sniper's fanaticism is known when it mentioned that he had not eaten because he was so excited to be there. Although when the armored car pulled up, the very sound of the engine and the color of the 'gray monster'; stuck fear in his heart. When the sniper was aiming at the other sniper his hand trembled with eagerness, proving his lack of concern for others. When he finally shot, he uttered a shout of joy releasing his 'lust for battle';.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally the horror of the war is made clear because the sniper can only think of other people as the enemy. Before he lights his cigarette he wonders if the 'enemy'; is watching.

The Distinct Epic Format of Ovids Metamorphoses Essay -- Ovid Metamor

The Distinct Epic Format of Ovid's Metamorphoses Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is sometimes argued as a non-epic as well as a true epic. It is mainly viewed as a non-epic because Ovid's subject matter is far from the heroic themes of the "Illiad", "Odyssey", and the "Aeneid" (Keith 237). Ovid was different and was motivated to push the epic beyond its previous boundaries (Ovid). Perhaps in hopes to confirm the structure of his work, Ovid declares that he will undertake "one continuous song in many thousands of verses" (Keith 238-239). Ovid's wording here is a self-conscious declaration that he is going to write in the epic mode. Ovid consciously wants his style to be different, however still contained in the epic form. So, Ovid purposely inserts himself within the epic tradition. First Ovid composes "Metamorphoses" in hexameters, which is "the right metre for epic," according to Aristotle (Ovid). The method of hexameters was considered to be the meter in which epic poems were composed in classical antiquity (Keith 236). Ovid knew how to convince the people of his day of his intende...

Conformity Essay

This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. Conformity can also be simply defined as â€Å"yielding to group pressures† (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure). The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification). There have been many experiments in psychology investigating conformity and group pressure. Jenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity. His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans. He asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion. Participants were then asked to estimate the number on their own again to find whether their initial estimates had altered based on the influence of the majority. Jenness then interviewed the participants individually again, and asked if they would like to change their original estimates, or stay with the group’s estimate. Almost all changed their individual guesses to be closer to the group estimate. However, perhaps the most famous conformity experiment was by Solomon Asch (1951) and his line judgment experiment. Types of Social Conformity Man (1969) states that â€Å"the essence of conformity is yielding to group pressure†. He identified three types of conformity: Normative, informational and ingratiational. Kelman (1958) distinguished between three different types of conformity: Compliance, Internalization and identification. Normative ConformityInformational Conformity Yielding to group pressure because a person wants to fit in with the group. E.g. Asch Line Study. Conforming because the person is scared of being rejected by the group. This type of conformity usually involves compliance – where a person publicly accepts the views of a group but privately rejects them. This usually occurs when a person lacks knowledge and looks to the group for guidance. Or when a person is in an ambiguous (i.e. unclear) situation and socially compares their behavior with the group. E.g. Sherif Study. This type of conformity usually involves internalization – where a person accepts the views of the groups and adopts them as an individual. ComplianceInternalization Publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group while privately disagreeing. In other words, conforming to the majority (publicly), in spite of not really agreeing with them (privately). This is seen in Asch’s line experiment. Publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group and also agreeing with them privately. This is seen in Sherif’s autokinetic experiment. Ingratiational ConformityIdentification Where a person conforms to impress or gain favor/acceptance from other people. It is similar to normative influence but is motivated by the need for social rewards rather than the threat of rejection, i.e., group pressure does not enter the decision to conform. Conforming to the expectations of a social role. Similar to compliance, there does not have to be a change in private opinion. A good example is Zimbardo’s Prison Study. Sherif (1935) Autokinetic Effect Experiment Aim: Sherif (1935) conducted an experiment with the aim of demonstrating that people conform to group norms when they are put in an ambiguous (i.e. unclear) situation. Method: Sherif used a lab experiment to study conformity. He used the autokinetic effect – this is where a small spot of light (projected onto a screen) in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still (i.e. it is a visual illusion). It was discovered that when participants were individually tested their estimates on how far the light moved varied considerably (e.g. from 20cm to 80cm). The participants were then tested in groups of three. Sherif manipulated the composition of the group by putting together two people whose estimate of the light movement when alone was very similar, and one person whose estimate was very different. Each person in the group had to say aloud how far they thought the light had moved. Results: Sherif found that over numerous estimates (trials) of the movement of light, the group converged to a common estimate. As the figure below shows: the person whose estimate of movement was greatly different to the other two in the group conformed to the view of the other two. Sherif said that this showed that people would always tend to conform. Rather than make individual judgments they tend to come to a group agreement. Conclusion: The results show that when in an ambiguous situation (such as the  autokinetic effect), a person will look to others (who know more / better) for guidance (i.e. adopt the group norm). They want to do the right thing but may lack the appropriate information. Observing others can provide this information. This is known as informational conformity. Non Conformity Not everyone conform to social pressure. Indeed, their are many factors that contribute to an individual’s desire to remain independent of the group. For example, Smith and Bond (1998) discovered cultural differences in conformity between western and eastern countries. People from western cultures (such as America and the UK) are more likely to be individualistic and don’t want to be seen as being the same as everyone else. This means that they value being independent and self sufficient (the individual is more important that the group), and as such are more likely to participate in non conformity. In contrast eastern cultures (such as Asian countries) are more likely to value the needs of the family and other social groups before their own. They are known as collectivist cultures and are more likely to conform.

Dire Predictions: Global Warming

Geography November 29, 2010 Dire Predictions : Student Edition Chapter one of Dire Predictions Understanding Global Warming does exactly like the title says, it gives the reader the essential basics of understanding the Global Warming issue. Chapter one gives essential information covering a wide range of things including: the natural and human impacts on climate, definition of a greenhouse gas and how it affects temperature, positive and negative feedback loops, threatening human byproducts that affect the ozone, ways scientists study ancient climates, and it gives possible future Earth outcomes due to global warming.It is a really loaded chapter I know, but this information proves to be very valuable when learning about global warming. In fact, the information is so valuable that it can’t be covered by just stating a quick overview of the chapter, but needs a more detailed summary. Some natural variables that potentially affect the Earth’s climate include the sun, vol canic eruptions, and Earth’s orbit. But how exactly does something like a volcanic eruption effect climate?This is because â€Å"Explosive volcanic eruptions modify the composition of the atmosphere by injecting small particles called aerosols into the atmosphere layer. † These released aerosols block the solar radiation that would have reached Earth’s surface and consequently, it has cooling effect on Earth’s surface. The more talked about topic in chapter one however is the non-natural, or human induced impacts causing global warming. Humans burning of fossil fuels and release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) are both examples of human variables that affect global warming.CFC’s are a kind of gas that is released by cooling apparatus’ such as the refrigerator. These gasses have been proven to destroy the ozone. Furthermore, the book goes on to prove that the major impacts causing global warming are not natural but mostly human made. It states that the hole in the ozone is not mostly caused by a natural increase in CO2 gasses but the release of CFC-11 and CFC-12 gasses by humans into the environment. As proof of the gasses affect on the ozone it states that the average temperature of the globe has gone up from 13. degrees Celsius to 14. 5 degrees Celsius. It seems like a small amount of temperature increase but even one degree average increase can have a major influence on global warming. Finally, chapter one goes on to describe what happens if these patterns persist. So what will happen if these patterns persist, and what effects will it have on agriculture and man? To better understand what will happen to us, we have to understand what the ozone layer does. The ozone layer protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation.If these patterns persist the ozone will protect less and less ultraviolet radiation from entering Earth’s atmosphere. If this happens then the ice caps will melt which will be catastrophic to man and agriculture. According to http://www. tropical-rainforest-animals. com/Global-Warming-Effects. html some effects of global warming will be: Floods Droughts, Heat waves, Extreme winter cold and snow fall, Tornadoes, Extreme storms, Tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons. You don’t have to be a geography major to know that these types of effects will deal a devastating blow to people and plants.Precipitation patterns will also change everywhere, messing up normal agricultural growth. Some more effects global warming will have on agriculture and animals is it will make trees produce leaves earlier, it will cause earlier greening on vegetation, it causes re-distributions of algae that will kill animals that eat it to survive, and the ultraviolet radiation will ultimately poison humans and animals and destroy plants everywhere. If we have no ozone life will be unsustainable on Earth. But wait, all these horrible things don’t have to happen; we can do things to prevent global warming.We can start to help this not to happen by burning up less fossil fuels, thus reducing emissions into the ozone. Scientists and mechanics have recently been working together to make cars that produce less waste and are better for the environment. We can help by buying these kinds of cars and investing in this type of research. Another way to help is if we as a world unite and we set goals and laws that require fewer emissions from each country. Also, it may seem small but a way we can all help is by recycling things which cuts down the waste it takes to make whole new things.More ways you can help are by: using less air conditioning and heat, changing light bulbs to more energy efficient ones, buying energy efficient products, driving less or carpooling, using less hot water, and finally planting a tree. Although planting a tree or changing a light bulb may seem like a small way to help, if everyone in the world followed these suggestions emissions would b e greatly reduced which could save the Earth. Scientists have worked together to try to understand the problem.By constantly recording new data and looking at old data they have come to a better understanding of what we use that causes these emissions and the way it affects us and our planet. A way scientists have studied the ancient atmosphere is by drilling into the ice caps and examining the trapped air. Also scientists are constantly observing the ozone layer to see any changes that might come. Scientists also look at what kind of molecules the ozone is made of and gasses that could destroy it. Learning about the problem is half the battle so we are on our way to a brighter tomorrow.I think the information given in the book was good information based on scientific truths. The information in this book was very easy to follow as almost every page had a corresponding graph or picture to help you understand the information given. However one of the problems I had with the informatio n in this book is I felt that it was really quick to discredit the other side of the argument with not much detail. When faced with an opposing point the author just basically says that all other views are wrong and moves on.Also, the information in this book jumped to something completely different every other page. But that being said I did learn a lot from reading this book. The thing I found most interesting in the book were some of the statistics given throughout the chapter. For example thought how long the gasses CFC-11 and CFC-12 last and how much more potent it is that carbon dioxide. Even after five hundred years after CFC-12 is released, it is still 5,200 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And five hundred years after CFC-11 is released, it is 1,620 times more potent that the carbon dioxide (Dire Predictions, p. 9). With CFC gasses and other harmful gasses lasting this long it is important to stop the release of these harmful gasses as soon as we can. Another thing I found interesting in the book was the change in Mount Kilimanjaro snow coverage over time. First, it shows Mount Kilimanjaro during the year 1912 and it is covered in snow. That picture is followed by a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro during the year 2007, and the snow cover has almost all disappeared. Another statistic I found very interesting in chapter one is the graphs on page thirty-three.These graphs show the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere before and up to 2005. The graphs show that the levels of these greenhouse gasses are pretty constant until it reaches the year 2005; When the graph line representing the gasses reaches to just before the year 2005, levels of all three of these gasses skyrocket. (Dire Predictions, pg. 33) Reading this book made me realize how serious the global warming issue is and how it is already affecting the world today. Due to global warming life as we know it could possibly come to an end.But don’t start put ting your bucket list together just yet. If we start doing things everyday to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses we can make sure that tomorrow is a brighter day, figuratively that is. The things stated earlier (using less air conditioning and heat, changing light bulbs to more energy efficient ones, buying energy efficient products, driving less or carpooling, using less hot water, planting trees) are all examples of everyday things we can do to help the environment and stop global warming.Another thing that people can do to help this problem is by educating themselves about global warming. By educating yourself about global warming you can solve the problem easier because you know the causes. Also you can educate other people about the importance of taking global warming into consideration. If everyone around the world pitches in to try to help, maybe the next book we read will be Optimistic Predictions.Works Cited Banerjee, Subhankar. â€Å"Global Warming. † New York Times. 6 Oct. 2010. Mann, Michael E. , and Lee R. Kump. Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming. New York, NY: DK Pub. , 2009. Print. May, Elizabeth, and Zoe? Caron. Global warming for dummies . Mississauga, ON: J. Wiley & Sons Canada, 2009. Print. Nodvin, Stephen C. â€Å"Global Warming. † encyclopedia of earth. 9 May. 2010. 29 Nov. 2010. . Yeatman, William. â€Å"Global Warming: Solutions/Cost/Science GlobalWarming. org  |  Archive  |  Global Warming 101 . † Global Warming . N. p. , 9 Feb. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. .

Religious Health Care Essay

The engagement of spiritual dimension within the healthcare system has shaped the way through which patients recover and show more positive results within the health organizations. Over the past years, the goal of religion in medicine and spirituality encompass diverse medical practices like pastoral counseling, use of prayer and meditation in healing, evoking compassion and forgiveness and also health professional who work with them. Therefore, it is seen that Religious Health Care gives much emphasis on importance of bringing spirituality into the healing process. This paper identifies and discusses matters from the reaction that must be put into further consideration by the consultant team and the discussion made by governing board and the CEO. 2.0 Description of important element of the governing board’s agenda for areas of improvement in core functions Nurses, as the core professionals in Religious Health Care should have the following job skills and carry out the following duties as it was discussed by the board’s governing agenda (Optimizing Performance and Quality, 2012). The assumptions made was that: i. The resident/patient population complex in nature, frail and experiences many dysfunctions and illness. ii. It is imperative when it comes to identification of essential mix of management/administrative skills, decision making skills, ethical principles and fiscal management knowledge that nurses must have in order to manage and administer long-term care facility. The following five agenda’s was discussed about the tasks and the responsibilities of Nursing Home Administrators who will be ensuring that nurses work effectively at Religious Healthcare (Quality of care, 2006): (a) Quality of Life and Resident Care Ensure that all the nursing services are thoroughly evaluated, planned and  implemented so that it could maximize both quality of care and resident quality of life. Ensure that programs related to social services are thoroughly evaluated, planned and subsequently implemented so as to meet social and psychological preferences and the needs of residents with the aim of maximizing quality of care and quality of life. Macke sure that programs related to food services is thoroughly evaluated, planned and implemented to meet nutritional needs of the patients within health organization for the sake of maximizing both quality of care and quality of life. Ensure that programs related to therapeutic activities are thoroughly evaluated, planed and implemented so as to meet the interests of the patients so as to maximize the quality of care amid the quality of life. The nurse in leadership will be responsible for ensuring that information management programs is evaluated, planned and implemented so as to arrive at documentation requirements. Make sure that Residential Rights are integrated with every aspect of resident care. Always ensure that the facilities within the health organization comply with local, state, as well as federal regulations and stipulated standards. Monitor, identify and ensure that the quality indicators are utilized with the aim of maximizing effectiveness in services delivery to patients. Ensure review, development and implementation of the resident procedures and policies. Make sure that the health facilities within the organization are in par with local state and federal regulations and standards (Long Term Care, 2010). (b) Human Resources Nursing Home Administrators within Religious healthcare shall facilitate the process of communication between the staff and management through counseling and coaching. Shall be ensuring that all the programs pertaining human resources are evaluated, planned and implemented to meet cultural diversity of the patients. Responsible in monitoring of programs, development and implementation of programs with the sole aim of benefitting the staff. Carry out investigations to make sure that human resource management programs and policies are planned and implemented in accordance with the federal laws regulations and entities. Developing and implementing of employee safety and health programs so as to provide good working environment Developing, monitoring and implementing, recruitment, evaluation, development, provision of resident services to the nurses within the health organization so as to  ensure job satisfaction. (c) Finance Utilizes f fiscal resources through effective management and development of annual operation and development of capital budgets. Extensive implementation and development of financial system, procedures and policies to monitor and evaluate financial performance for instance resident trust and account payable. Implement, interpret and with financial aspects of any contractual agreement such as consultative services, vendor, managed care and organized labor. Management of reporting systems and financial audit such as information systems, charitability and cooperate compliance. Ensure that all the facilities records are highly protected for instance risk management and insurance coverage. Facilitate the education and training of staff in areas related to the financial management. (d) Atmosphere and Physical Environment Shall be ensuring hat systems for improving and maintaining buildings, equipment and grounds are evaluated, planed and implemented accordingly. Provision of attractive and clean facilities and conducive environment for patients and the staff. Monitoring the environment to ensure that safety programs are implemented for safety, welfare and health for visitors’ staff and patients who attend health organization. Residents right integration with much emphasis on facility environment. Ensuring that the policies, implementation and developments comply with the environmental procedures and policies. Making sure that the facilities within the health organization complies with the local, state, as well as federal regulations and standards such as the Life Safety Code, CMS, OSHA and ADA. Implementation and development of comprehensive preventative maintenance programs. (e) Management and Leadership Ensuring that all the policies and procedures are developed in compliance with the governing entities and directives. Ensuring that all the policies and procedures are in compliance with the local, state, as well as federal rules and regulations. Evaluate, monitor and observe the impacts of the entire facility’s programs, procedures and policies so as to fulfill administrative responsibility such as license and professional  responsibility. Carry out administrative review of survey impacts so as to come up with appropriate impacts such as Informal Dispute Resolution documentation, plan for correction and no response. Carry out education of nursing home board in respect to their responsibilities and roles and pay attention to their daily actions to ensure that they adhere to the regulations and by-laws. Carry out the administrative oversight of the entire survey process. Be a team leader in professional development activities. Provide leadership skills for key staff and management team. Manage the resources and ensure that they are adequate so as to promote quality of life and comprehensive marketing. 3.0 Performance dimension that Religious Health Care could use to improve overall institutional performance The major goal of improving individual or institutional performance in the healthcare organization is to provide sustainable and quality services for the clients. Health system in this regard is a large umbrella, which covers people, organizations and the measures, which is strived for maintaining, restoring, or promoting health. Therefore, improving of the performance of such general elements of the health system will ultimately contribute to positive health outcomes. Performance dimension is the process within the health organization through which the performance of system, organizations and workers are set up with the aim of improving quality and performance or success and strength of the healthcare system. It is the continuous and systematic process through which the outside stakeholders judge the performance of a given health institution. The stakeholders (external environment, health workers, organization, community and clients) identify strengths and gaps so as to identify root causes using tools for exploration of factors, which in essence determine performance. There are various strategies through which the Religious Healthcare could do to improve the overall institutional performance (Everybody’s business, 2007): Consider context- clients, health workers, organization, and community and external environment The management team of Religious Healthcare must understand that the community and external environment plays a vital role towards the success of the organization. This includes the perspective of health workers or employees, the community, the clients and the organizational structure  served by the organization. As the managers get familiar with such external and community factor, the desired performance will be contributed. Research shows that there are many variables, which determine the ability of health organization individual employees and teams to perform within an organization. While some of the factors are beyond control, the positive steps by the healthcare groups or organizations however can improve most of them. Some of the factors include the following: Social norms such as the ethnicity, religion, class culture and gender Accreditation or Licensing processes or requirement. Local and national infrastructure such as sanitation, water, telecom, energy and transportation. Unpredicted change in political in local and national government. National standards, regulation, policies and the scope of work. Identification of strengths and gaps This involves the process through which the Religious Healthcare can possibly improve the performance by defining the desired performance, assessment of quality and performance and comparison of the various levels with the intention of establishing the strengths and weaknesses. Successful organization usually uses international or national standards and guidelines for setting up the desired standards. Such cooperative work for definition of performance is necessary especially when it comes to building consensus amongst stakeholders and the achievement of the desired goals. It also acts as an initial stage of the evaluation plan that determines lies out to be rated before and after interventions (Everybody’s business, 2007). Identifying performance of the health care organization will adequately become simpler when compared using different levels of performance. Evaluation and monitoring of the progress The Religious Healthcare can steadily monitor the progress of the performance through evaluation and monitoring so as to spot any changes in the performance gap. It is however necessary to spot changes at each and every step of the process so that any adjustment can be made in the course of the progress. For example, if a certain employee does not perform, as she/he is required, appropriate measures can be taken to rectify the situation. To  achieve such, the management should develop an evaluation plan which will then be integrated into the workplace process to act as a continuous feedback tool used to measure changes and quality within the Religious Health Education. Final judgment should measure against the level performance amongst the workers and specifically determine the gaps in gender equality have been strengthen and closed due to intervention. It should also delineate the broader outcomes like increased productivity or improved health outcomes (Competing Values of Emergen cy Department Performance, 2004). 4.0 Performance Measures Religious Healthcare could use to Evaluate Nursing Staff Performance in its Emergency Room The effectiveness of emergency department to responds to critical needs of the patients is very important. To respond to the current dynamic environmental changes in the healthcare system, emergency departments should be very flexible and ready to adapt flexible changing models of health care delivery. Cross-sectional survey methods can be used to analyze and describe the performance of the nurses in the Religious Healthcare. Two groups (of stakeholders) will be necessary during the evaluation: community stakeholders (paramedics and homecare) and hospital stakeholders (managers, nurses and physicians). Estimates of the design effect and sample size will be used in determining the realistic number of the prospective sampling units. Descriptive statistics will then be used to analyze characteristics and to make the comparisons of the outcomes in each section. 5.0 Strategies Religious Health Care could implement to enhance its public image and increase market share To increase its performance and win the market share, there are number of steps, which the Religious Healthcare could use. Foremost is the strategic planning. Strategic planning provides the basis of good foundation to the entire health program. Effective planning will ultimately help the Religious Health organization to improve performance. (Making Health Communication Programs Work, 2010): Become aware of the critical health issues, which need to be addressed. Set priorities which will be the foundation of the progress of the organization Derive communication programs which is crucial for the smooth running of the organization Establish the role, which the communication plays in the health communication. 6.0 Critical management  issues, purpose, functions, and performance measures of different departments within healthcare organizations The recent changes in the nature of the healthcare organizations like meeting strict guidelines, improving the quality of care and pressures to reduce cost has forced many health organizations to reconsider how they evaluate their performance. The most effective systems in the organization align organizational resources and units as well as integrate the initiatives. Therefore, three areas that needed to be addressed in the organization’s needs (Casta,1999): To guide a given health organization to a particular direction To effectively manage all the resources needed to travel in such direction To operate all the processes which make the particular health organization work. References Casta, K. (1999). Performance Measurement in Healthcare. Retrieved on November 29, 2013, from http://www.qualitydigest.com/may99/html/body_health.html Competing Values of Emergency Department Performance: Balancing Multiple StakeholderPerspectives. (2004). Retrieved on November 29, 2013, fromhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361037/ Everybody’s business: strengthening health systems to improve health outcomes: WHO’sframework for action. (2007). Retrieved on November 29, 2013, fromhttp://www.who.int/healthsystems/strategy/everybodys_business.pdf White, K. R., & Griffith, J. R. (n.d.). The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization Seventh Edition. Chicago, Illinois: Health Administration Press. Etheridge, L. (n.d.). Long Term Care. (2010). Retrieved on November 29, 2013, fromwww.achca.org/content/pdf/LTCPLC_Core_Func-R_6-07lw.pdf Making Health Communication Programs Work. (2010) Retrieved on November 29, 2013, fromhttp://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/pinkbook/page5 Martin, J. (2001). Team Performance in the emergency room: assessment of inter-disciplinaryattitudes. Retrieved on November 29, 2013 fromhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11334690 Optimizing Performance and Quality. (2012). Retrieved on November 29, 2013, fromwww.intrahealth.org/ files/ media/ optimizing-performance-and-quality/OPQ_FINAL.pdf Quality of care: a process for making strategic choices in health systems. (2006). Retrieved onNovember 29, 2013 from http://www.who.int/management/quality/assurance/QualityCare_B

Meeting Customer Needs

Content 1. 0 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2. 0 Identification and Analysis of the Problems†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 2. 1 The Problem of NBAstore-eu†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 2. 2 Marketing analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 2. 2. 1 Products Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 2. 2. 2 Price & Promotion Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. 3 SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 3. 0 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 4. 0 Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Reference†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Appendix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 1. 0 Introduction Today’s connected consumers have become far more dif? ult to please. A study by Gartner (2010), Inc, a technology research company, found that a majority of consumers rely to some extent on social networks to guide them in their purchase decisions. This ability to compare competing services and products and interact rapidly with other customers has intensi? ed competition in virtually every market. According to Peters (1987), marketing is about making sure that a business is providing the goods and services that customers want. It involves identifying and anticipating what consumers want today and will want in the future.The marketing department then plays an important role in taking these goods and services to market through all the channels the business sells through. Customer expectations are beliefs about service delivery that serve as standards or reference points against which performance is judge d. Because customers compare their perceptions of performance with these reference points when evaluating service quality, thorough knowledge about customer expectations is critical to services marketers. Knowing what the customer expects is the first and possibly most critical step in delivering good quality service.Being wrong about what customers want can mean losing a customer’s business when another company hits the target exactly. Being wrong can also mean expending money, time and other resources on things that do not count to the customer. Being wrong can even mean not surviving in a ? ercely competitive market (Woodruff, 1987). With the popularity of sports increasing rapidly among the youth of today, the businessmen have devised several different means of boosting their business with the help of the sports.One such way is the manufacturing and sale of sports merchandise, that includes articles like shoes, socks, bags and jerseys that are worn by the popular sportsme n. The game of basketball has also not remained untouched of such aspects. After years of having to search high and low for basketball gear, or pay extortionate shipping fees to get goods sent over from the US, the NBA has announced a new online store will be launched for international customers. NBAstore-eu has been launched in September, 2012, featuring a wide range of NBA-branded goods (NBAstore-eu, 2012).The site is available in English, French, Italian and Spanish with further languages to be developed. Fans will be able to make purchases in local currency and will benefit from a centralized European distribution point saving on transit time and shipping costs. Local language customer service will further enhance the e-commerce retail experience (NBAstore-eu, 2012). This report is to find out a discrepancy is there between what the customer would like and what the NBAstore-eu is providing. This report is from operations and marketing aspects to identify and analyse the problems which might cause the discrepancy.In the end, the report is going to give some recommendations to improve the match between expectation and delivery. 2. 0 Identification and Analysis of the Problems 2. 1 The Problems of NBAstore-eu NBAstore. eu is aiming to put an end to the days that fans only can buy official jerseys or team products from NBAstore in the USA and pay a lot of delivery fees (NBAstore-eu, 2012). On the other side, the fans of NBA in Europe are the target customers of NBAstore-eu, what the expectation of customers is to get the varieties of products from NBAstore-eu and pay less delivery fees to support their favourite team.Therefore, the current market/customer expectations of the NBAstore-eu and the purpose of catering service are coincident. However, the researcher discovers that there is a mismatch between what marketing has identified and operational activity actually delivers. Some fans state that (Appendix) the products that NBAstore-eu provide are much less t han NBAstore in USA and the price of products is even expensive than other NBAstore all over the world. Obviously, there is discrepancy between customers’ expectation and what NBAstore-eu has brought to them. 2. 2 Marketing AnalysisThere is no doubt that the National Basketball Association (NBA) is considered by many sports analysts as a top marketed professional sport (Salzberg, 1998). Nowadays, the fan base in Europe is growing rapidly because of superior performance of the European players in NBA. Such as Dirk Nowitzki, the best european player in NBA who is a German has carried his team Dallas Mavericks to win the 2011 NBA championship. Andrea Bargnani, who is Italian and plays for Toronto Raptors, was selected first overall in the 2006 NBA Draft. Luol Deng is Bristish who plays for Chicago Bulls, and selected for his NBA All-star game during the 2011-2012 season.Tony Parker is a french who plays for San Antonio Spurs, he has helped the team won three championships, selec ted as 2007 NBA Finals’ MVP and 4-time All-star. At last, Spain, provide a lot of greater players to NBA, and the spain national team nearly beat the USA dream team in 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. According to Ian Whittell’s (2007) report, Today, millions of basketball fans across Europe have a wide range of ways in which they can watch their heroes and favorite teams competing live at the business end of the season – even if there is always the curse of time difference to overcome.The nature of the league means overseas interest is also an ever-evolving and changing entity. Great Britain has never been considered a hoops hotbed, but generations of basketball fans who were attracted to the sport by Michael Jordan and his glory years with the Chicago Bulls have this week been able to watch two players who could star for the British team at the 2012 London Olympics – Luol Deng and Ben Gordon – dismantle the defending champion Miami Heat (Daisy, 2007) . Fans in Europe are watching a lot more basketball now and so they are better educated,† says Rich Sheubrooks (2007), who combines his duties as Nike global basketball consultant with those of global scouting director for the Memphis Grizzlies from his base in Barcelona. As there is millions of fans in Europe and the amount is growing, set up a NBAstore-eu is a wise move for NBA to expand the Europe marketing. But NBAstore-eu now haven’t reached the customers’ expectation due to the products and prices issues. 2. 2. 1 Products AnalysisNBA jerseys were once only for people who religiously followed a particular team whereas nowadays people may just be wearing a jerseys because they like the design. Basketball jerseys have also become a fashion statement and people who don’t even watch NBA can be seen wearing them, it has have the name and reputation of nike with michael jordan backing it up as well as the classic styling that will keep in fashion for a very long time too. To the fans, wearing nba jerseys also helps fans to feel like they belong to a group.It is one of the best ways to distinguish who supports which team and helps fellow fans gather together, NBA jerseys can provide good quality as well as dealing with a reputable. As the major items for sale on NBA stores, the number of jerseys in NBAstore-eu is far less than NBAstore. For some famous team, the number of jerseys on sale in NBAstore-eu is only one-seventh as the number of NBAstore. Figure1 shows the huge mismatch of five famous teams’ jerseys on sale between NBAstore-eu and NBAstore. | |NBAstore. eu |NBAstore. om | |Teams | | | |Stores | | | |Boston Celtics |13 |108 | |Miami Heat |12 |113 | |Los Angeles Lakers |21 |101 | |New Yorks Knicks |5 |85 | |Chicago Bulls |17 |84 | |Total |68 |491 | Figure 1: Comparison the numbers of five famous NBA teams’ jerseys on sale. (Sources from www. nbastore. eu and store. nba. com) There are two main types of NBA je rseys, one is called swingman jersey, and the other is called replica jersey. Replica jersey is cheaper and the numbers and names are ironed on, the swingman jerseys are the ones that the numbers and names are stitched on and they are a little more expensive, most people prefer swingman jerseys because the look a lot better. Jerseys in NBAstore-eu are major make up by replica jerseys, on the other hand, the jerseys in NBAstore are most make up by swingman jerseys.According to a basketball fan who live in England and he said that (Appendix), â€Å"I prefer swingman jerseys, because replica jerseys are for those people who don’t care about basketball and just like to wear it when they go to sleep, and a true baller or people that care about their swagger would never even wear a replica jersey. Also, even though the swingman is a little bit expensive than replica jersey, but the quality is much more better. † The varieties style of jerseys can be seen in NBA games. Normal ly the players are wearing home jerseys or away jerseys. Sometimes, the away team needs to wear secondary away jerseys owing to long time journey.Moreover, some special designed jerseys for holidays are awesome and attractive. For examples, NBA has present special jerseys every year for St. Patrick’s Day and Latin Nights, and for the 2012 Chrismas Day, several new style jerseys called big color jersey have been presented. Also NBAstore provide some fashion jersey, which can’t be seen in the games, but they all have unique nice-looking appearance. Customers can purchase all kinds of jersey on NBAstore, but in NBAstore-eu, there are just a few styles of jersey on sale, even through the advertisement of the big color jerseys for the Chrismas can be seen in each commercial channel of NBA, but there is still no stock of the jerseys in NBAstore-eu.Customize jerseys are the special offer for customers in NBA official stores, customers can buy each team’s jersey or t-sh irt what ever replica or swingman with their own name or number on it. It is an attractive deal for customers, but NBAstore-eu only provide customize jerseys of two teams, and no swingman option. As the target market of NBAstore-eu is the European market, the jerseys of European players must be an important part. Research has found that there is no Jersey of Luol Deng in NBAstore-eu (Appendix), Deng is the best British player in NBA and definitely became an all-star player last season. It is not prudent for NBAstore-eu to miss his jersey on sale.Compare the products on sale in the outlet of NBAstore-eu and NBAstore, the number of products on sale is 503 to 448. NBAstore-eu have more products in the outlet, it seems like NBAstore-eu have beaten the flagship store at this point, but the numbers occasionally can not state the truth. The products in the outlet of NBAstore-eu are most make up by headwears and souvenirs, there are 371 products in these two parts, these products are hard t o stimulate the customers’ desire to buy, and there are only 19 jerseys on sale. On the other hand, the products in the outlet of NBAstore are most make up by jerseys, t-shirts and shorts, there are 140 jerseys on sale, so that the quality of the outlet is easy to identify. 2. 2. Price & Promotion Analysis There is also a discrepancy between customers’ expectation and the price of products in NBAstore-eu. As the NBA is a league in USA, so the price in NBAstore can be the standard price. In NBAstore, the price of standard replica jersey is $59. 99, the price of standard swingman jersey is $89. 99, and the price of customize replica jersey is $54. 99. In NBAstore-eu, the price of standard replica jersey is ? 45. 00, the price of standard swingman jersey is ? 65. 00, and the price of customize replica jersey is ? 55. 00. Research has found that the price of NBA official store in China is also a valuable data to analysis.In China, the price of replica and swingman jersey i s ? 390 and ? 580 respectively. Figure2 shows the price comparison of three NBA official stores. |Type of Jersey |NBAstore. com |NBAstore. eu |NBAstore. cn | |Stores | | | | |Replica Jersey |$59. 99 37. 3 |? 45 |? 390 39 | |Swingman Jersey |$89. 99 56 |? 65 |? 580 8 | |Customize Jersey |$54. 99 34. 2 |? 55 |- | Figure 2: Price comparison of three NBA main official stores. (Sources from www. nbastore. eu, store. nba. com and www. nbastore. cn) As the figure2 shows that NBAstore-eu is the most expensive store, the price of jersey in NBAstore-eu in far more expensive than the other two. Considering the tax fee for overseas products, but NBAstore-eu is still expensive than NBAstore-cn. One of the core ideas to launch NBAstore-eu is aiming to put an end to the days of giving money to friends who are visiting USA to bring back a ton of stuff.Nevertheless, the fact is that with NBAstore-eu has set up for more than three months, ask friends who are going to USA to bring some NBA stuffs back may still save money. Moreover, research has found that sometimes purchase a swingman jersey from NBAstore even cheaper than NBAstore-eu for people living in England. Normally, if customers are living in the UK, to buy a swingman jersey from NBAstore-eu cost ? 65 and ? 4. 95 for shipping fee, total ? 69. 95. Buy a swingman jersey from NBAstore cost total $134. 33 (including international shipping fee and tax), the price is approaching to ? 82. 6, so normally purchase from NBAstore-eu when customers are in Europe is cheaper. Nevertheless, sometimes, like for some holidays, sellers always make discount for promotion.Just like the Black Friday in 2012, NBAstore-eu provided 15% discount of every single product, so the charge of a swingman jersey is simply total ? 60. 2. Meanwhile, NBAstore presented 20% discount promotion code, and the big difference is that the discount is for entire order, so that means the charge of a swingman jersey is barely ? 66 for orders in the UK. Although pur chase a swingman jersey from NBAstore is still more expensive, but the variety of products there is much more than NBAstore-eu. Six pounds differential but considerably more options, and chances to get products that NBAstore-eu do not have. Obviously many customers will prefer to NBAstore, the promotion make NBAstore-eu in an embarrassing positon. [pic] Figure 3: Comparison of the intensity of promotion. Source from www. nbastore. eu and store. nba. com) 2. 3 SWOT Analysis NBAstore-eu have some strengths that the shipping time is shorter than buy goods from other official stores, and the products have guaranteed quality. Additionally, there is more accessories products than retailers. The weaknesses of NBAstore-eu as mentioned before are the products, prices and promotion. NBAstore-eu also have great opportunities to gain more profits because europe is a huge market, and it is merely explored a small part. Moreover, the fan base is growing rapidly. The retailers or similar online st ores in Europe are few, so that there are little competitors.The main threats of NBAstore-eu are the sellers on ebay. co. uk. Because some similar products on ebay are cheaper than the official website. Moreover, basketball is not the most famous sports in most European countries, so other sports will lead to customer segmentation, then the amount of customer will decrease. |Strengths |Weaknesses | |? Faster delivery for European fans |? Far more less products than flagship store | |? Guaranteed product quality |?Higher price than other official stores | |? More accessories than retailers |? Intensity of promotion is low | |Opportunities |Threats | |? Huge explorable market |? Sellers on ebay. co. uk | |? Few of competitors |? Better products from other official stores | |?Fan base growing rapidly |? Other sports led to customer segmentation | Figure 4: SWOT analysis for NBAstore-eu 3. 0 Conclusion The report has analysis the current problems for NBAstore-eu. The principal proble ms are products, prices and promotion. The intent and purpose of set up a NBAstore for European are great, but those problems make NBAstore-eu have a colossal mismatch to the expectation of customers. The types of products there are much fewer than expectation, many customers can’t get what they want from the NBAstore-eu. The prices there are not fair to the customers in Europe.The prices there are more expensive than other NBA stores. That means if the customers are going to buy something in NBAstore-eu, they need to pay more money and get fewer options. Moreover, the promotion intensity of NBAstore-eu is not as good as others. In general, these three big problems led a huge discrepancy to the expectation of customers. If those problems can’t be solved, there will be a giant mess for NBAstore-eu. The report has also used SWOT analysis, the results show that the NBAstore-eu not only have some drawbacks, but also have some strengths, opportunities and threats. The short er shipping time is the core strengths for NBAstore-eu for sure, and the products have guaranteed quality.As the Europe is a huge explorable market with an increasing number of fans, it is a big opportunity for NBAstore-eu to occupy the market. Besides, NBAstore-eu have some threats from the retails in europe, such as sellers on ebay, and other sports will segment the market, that’s also a threat. 4. 0 Recommendations As the intent and purpose of set up NBAstore-eu is providing excellent services and products for customers in Europe. In order to give European customers chance to buy products with minor time and the shipping fee. The expectation of customers is the same as the aiming of NBAstore-eu. As a matter of fact, the NBAstore-eu provide few products and more expensive prices than purpose. In order to solve the problem of products, NBAstore-eu need to import more products.As jerseys are the major commodities for NBA stores, first of all, NBAstore-eu should import more je rseys, specially the jerseys for European players, such as the missing one of Loul Deng. NBAstore-eu as a branch of NBAstore, the amount of products there are no need as much as the flagship, but the jerseys of famous players is still needed, just don’t miss the products for those all-star players though, that can reach the expectation of customers. Second, NBAstore-eu need to import products which are selling well in the NBAstore. Such as new style jerseys, and those hot swingman jerseys. The styles of jerseys in NBAstore-eu are fewer, so NBAstore-eu need some more styles of jerseys in order to create additional profit.NBAstore-eu need to import more swingman jerseys than replica jerseys, because swingman jerseys are more admired than replica jerseys. Third, NBAstore-eu need to offer more options for customers to customize their jerseys or t-shirts. For personal, some customers may want their own name and number on their favourite jerseys, customize products also can be a wi se choice as a special gift. Meanwhile, some sport teams may need the fashion jersey of NBA teams as their team jersey, so customize jersey may become their choice. Furthermore, some fans may like to have a NBA team t-shirt with their own name on it, that’s also opportunities for NBAstore-eu to gain more profits.The price issue is also a barrier for NBAstore-eu to reach the expectation of customers. As Figure2 shows, the prices in NBAstore-eu are extremely expensive than NBAstore. There is approximately ? 8 differential for a replica jersey, ? 9 differential for a swingman jersey and ? 21 differential for a customize replica jersey. Considering the international tax fee, for customers in the UK to buy one swingman jersey from NBAstore, the international handling fee is about $20 (See figure5), it is about 22% as the price of the products for retail. Despite the fact that the international handling fee is existing, but the price there is just 122% or more as the price of produ cts in NBAstore.It’s no doubt the international shipping fee is expensive, but one of the aiming of NBAstore-eu is to provide short shipping time and products with cheaper shipping fee. For customers in the UK to purchase some something from NBAstore-eu, they still need to pay ? 4. 95 for standard delivery or ? 6. 95 for express delivery. The conclusion is the price in NBAstore-eu is higher than customers’ expectation, the NBAstore-eu need to reduce the price. The international tax and shipping fee are two factors that can’t be ignored, but in China, the prices in NBAstore-cn are still cheaper than NBAstore-eu. The price in NBAstore-cn can be a worthwhile indicative price for NBAstore-eu to reach the expectation of customers. [pic]Figure 5: Price details for purchasing a swingman jersey from NBAstore for customers in UK. (Sources from: store. nba. com) NBAstore-eu has just set up for more than three months, it’s a quite new branch in Europe. Promotion is an essential element in the marketing mix. It's a tool used by businesses, both large and small, to inform, persuade and remind customers about the products and services they have to offer. Without business promotion, companies would be stagnant and lack substantial growth because their brands would have low visibility in the market (Miranda, 2012). Promotion can help an organization: ? Increases Awareness ? Increases Product Knowledge and Preference Increases Retailers ? Increases Sales As a new branch, NBAstore-eu need those benefits. Basing on the current situation, the promotion intensity of NBAstore-eu is low, so NBAstore-eu need make reinforce the intensity of promotion. For example, NBAstore-eu can deliver more advertisements through more media in order to increase awareness. Then, NBAstore-eu can provide discounts on festival days to attract more customers, make sure the intensity of discount is not lower than NBAstore. Good promotion also can help NBAstore-eu to get the opp ortunities, mentioned on SWOT analysis, occupy the European market. Reference List: Daisy Caton-Jones. (2007).NBA fans in a London sports bar watch the Bulls beat the Heat on Sunday. [Online]http://sports. espn. go. com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story? id=2854150 [Accessed 3rd Jan, 2013] Gartner, Inc. (2010). â€Å"Gartner Research†. [Online]http://www. gartner. com/technology/research. jsp [Accessed 5th Dec, 2010]. Ian Whittell. (2007). Fans in Europe tune in for NBA action [Online]http://sports. espn. go. com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story? id=2854150 [Accessed 3rd Jan, 2013] Miranda Brookins. (2012). Why Is Promotion Important for a Business? [online]http://www. ehow. com/about_7221403_promotion-important-business_. html [Accessed 3rd Jan, 2013] Peters, T. (1987).Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution. London: Pan, p. 43. R. B. Woodruff, E. R. Cadotte and R. L. Jenkins. (1987). ‘Expectations and norms in models of consumer satisfaction’, Journal of M arketing Research 24, pp. 305–14. Salzberg, Charles. (1998). From Set Shot to Slam Dunk. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-8032-9250-5. Appendix: (Interview of a basketball fan who always wearing NBA jerseys and plays basketball in Gloucester) Researcher: Do you know there is a new NBA store launched for European customers recently? Fan: Yes, but I haven’t bought anything from there yet. All the jerseys I got are brought from ebay or NBAstore.Researcher: Why don’t you try NBAstore-eu? That store are aiming to provide products for European customers. Fan: I have viewed the website several times, but I didn’t find something I’d like to buy. I’d like to buy a Luol Deng jersey recently, but I can’t find it on NBAstore-eu. I think the products there are scarce, and the styles of products there are out of fashion. There are not many options, maybe that store didn’t import new products very often. Researcher: If you buy jersey s from NBAstore, that will charge you a lot of shipping fee and tax fee, right? Fan: Yes, absolutely. Regardless of the fact that, I prefer to pay a little more to get what I really want.Researcher: Do you ever think about to buy something from NBAstore-eu? You can pay a little delivery fee and get the products in shorter time. Fan: No, the prices there are expensive. I don’t know why, much expensive than the standard price in US. I rather to buy something from ebay, that also will charge me a little delivery fee and shorter time. Researcher: But the products from sellers on ebay are having no assured quality, how about if you buy something that is fake? Fan: I don’t worry about that, the major items I’d like to buy are jerseys, and I have the experience, I know how to identify whether the jersey is authentic or not. Researcher: What kind of jersey do you prefer? Swingman or replica?Fan: I prefer swingman jerseys, because replica jerseys are for those people who don’t care about basketball and just like to wear it when they go to sleep, and a true baller or people that care about their swagger would never even wear a replica jersey. Also, even though the swingman is a little bit expensive than replica jersey, but the quality is much more better. Researcher: How do you think the promotion of NBAstore-eu? Fan: I don’t know. Probably it is a poor effort, I haven’t seen much advertisement of it. The way why I know NBAstore-eu is because I’m a member of NBAstore, and I received a e-mail from NBAstore to notice me that. Researcher: If NBAstore-eu can provide more refined products with smart