Wednesday, July 31, 2019

The Accounting Profession In Society Accounting Essay

Accounting has traditionally been viewed by society as drilling, boring and humdrum figure crunching. Consequently, pupils who have perceived that they are non ‘good with Numberss ‘ may hold steered off from accounting as a major class of survey and as a calling pick. Initially, the literature reappraisal examines secondary school pupils ‘ perceptual experiences of the work of an comptroller and the accounting profession. It is followed with a reappraisal of the cardinal factors act uponing pupils ‘ perceptual experiences. Last, the position of accounting compared to other professions will be examined.2.2 The Accounting profession in societyTypically, comptrollers have been referred to as figure crunchers, concentrating on numerical truth, everyday recording and computation methods ( Parker, 2000 ) . Albrecht and Sack ( 2000 ) , Cory ( 1992 ) , and Garner and Dombrowski ( 1997 ) attributed these negative perceptual experiences to misinformation or deficiency o f information about what accounting is and the nature of the responsibilities that comptrollers performed. Napier and Carnegie ( 2007 ) noted that accounting has been described as an progressively societal pattern instead than a proficient pattern as it competes with other professional groups and businesss to pull and retain endowments. As a calling, accounting has come under examination in many ways ( Ajibolade, 2008 ; Adeyeye et al. , 2010 ) , peculiarly in epochs of corporate prostration. Research conducted by Mladenovic ( 2000 ) showed that pupils tend to comprehend accounting as chiefly numerical, nonsubjective and non-controversial, and are less able to comprehend the importance of originative opinion and communicating accomplishments for comptrollers. In Malaysia, several surveies have shown that accounting professions are still popular amongst the pupils ( Goon, 1975, Samidi and Tew 1995 ; Hashim et Al, 2003 and Said et al. , 2004 ) . For illustration: Goon ( 1975 ) found that the bulk of her respondents had chosen accounting as a profession. Samidi and Tew ( 1995 ) reported that the profession is still the most popular pick 20 old ages subsequently. Said et Al. ( 2004 ) found that the accounting profession ranked amongst the two most preferable callings given by the public and private university pupils. Mladenovic ( 2000 ) found that Australian university pupils tend to comprehend accounting as chiefly numerical, nonsubjective and non-controversial, with an affinity towards mathematics and statistics. Futhermore, surveies conducted in the USA, Canada and the UK ( Luscombe, 1988 ; Cohen & A ; Hanno, 1993 ; Fisher & A ; Murphy, 1995 ) show that many pupils form an feeling that ‘accountants are dull, deadening figure crunchers. ‘ Furthermore, surveies in the US have found that secondary school pupils believe that a grade in accounting would be utile to person who wants disputing work ( 74 % ) , or to be President or CEO of a major company ( 81 % ) ( Hartwell et al. 2005 ) . Hartwell et Al. ‘s ( 2005 ) survey besides found that contrary to the stereotype, merely 39 % of respondents agreed that accounting is predictable and stays the same, while 56 % indicated that accounting would be utile for person who wants assortment in work. The accounting profession certifies certain degrees of expertness, instruction, and experience of single comptrollers and these enfranchisements can be added to their list of certificates so the client can anticipate a certain degree of competency. Accountancy is one of the prima professions, good sought after by many in society today. For some clip, as a calling, it has enjoyed a comparative advantage in footings of wage, prestigiousness and occupation satisfaction.2.3 Images of comptrollersHarmonizing to the AICPA ( 2000 ) , most pupils can non accurately depict the work of comptrollers, their duties or the chances available in the accounting profession. These positions are farther supported by a figure of writers. Cobbs ( 1976 ) belittles the profession for neglecting to inform the populace on what comptrollers do and inquiries the ability of the profession to make so. Parker ( 2000 ) blames the ineffectualness of professional organic structure advertisement on the deficiency of a pprehension, and Smith & A ; Briggs ( 1999 ) blame inaction of the profession on the hapless perceptual experience. McMurdy ( 1997 ) sees the linguistic communication used by comptrollers as confounding the populace and maintaining them in the dark about what accounting is. Assorted research studies have been conducted to find how scholars ( who are still at school ) and pupils ( who are analyzing at third establishments ) perceive the work of the comptroller. Students and scholars perceive comptrollers to be reasonably isolated ( Oswick, Barber & A ; Speed 1994 ; Coate, Mitschow & A ; Schinski 2003 ; Heiat, Brown & A ; Johnson 2007:96 ) , tiring ( Cohen & A ; Hanno 1993, Hunt et Al. 2004 ; Byrne & A ; Willis 2005 ; Heiat et Al. 2007:96 ) , formal and introspective persons ( Coate et al. 2003 ) , concerned with item ( Hunt et al. 2004 ) and compliance-driven ( Byrne & A ; Willis 2005 ) . Research workers have besides concluded that small or no advancement has been made in chase awaying the uncomplimentary image of comptrollers, despite the profession ‘s representation of modern-day accounting patterns as dynamic environments necessitating people with creativeness and critical thought accomplishments ( as depicted in table 1 ) ( Fisher & A ; Murphy 1995 ; Mladenovic 2000 ; Coate et Al. 2003 ; Byrne & A ; Willis 2005 ) . But other research, major accounting houses grew really rapidly during the 1980s. The proportion of university alumnuss come ining traineeships with accounting houses peaked at over 10 % in 1987 and is presently running at about 8 % . In other several surveies in the instruction literature besides have identified that pupils shared a common belief that the accounting environment offer a higher supply of occupations compared to other countries of concern ( Paolillo and Estes, 1982 ; Wheeler, 1983 ; Cangelosi et al. , 1985 ; Kochanek and Norgaard, 1985 ) . Of effect, such belief plays an of import function in taking their calling determinations in accounting. Students frequently perceived accounting calling as extremely honoring in footings of finance and position. These perceptual experiences frequently come from their collegiate experiences. However, these perceptual experiences in world may non be true.2.4 Percepts of Accounting Study at SchoolThe demand to enroll pupils interested in accounting as a profession, has led many research workers garnering grounds from high school pupils in relation to the exposure they have received about accounting. Byrne and Willis ( 2005 ) found that the chief factors to act upon secondary school pupils ‘ perceptual experiences of accounting were the survey of the topic in school, the factual media and their instructors. In the Byrne and Willis ( 2005 ) survey, pupils who were analyzing accounting at secondary school had a less negative image of accounting compared to those non analyzing accounting. However they still held a traditional position of the profession and of the work of the comptroller. Byrne and Willis ( 2005 ) found that the ground for the findings was due to the fact that the nature of the accounting teaching method being experienced by secondary school pupils was non significantly chase awaying preexistent negative perceptual experiences or giving them a realistic feeling of accounting patterns. In fact, anterior research undertaken by Byrne and Willis ( 2001 ) into the secondary school accounting class provides grounds that secondary schools emphasized mechanical clerking and appraisal advancing rote acquisition. This attack is likely to corroborate instead than dispute pupils ‘ traditional stereotyped position of the work of an comptroller and the profession. Byrne and Willis ( 2005 ) recommended that the profession should seek to act upon the content of the course of study in secondary schools to guarantee that the work of an comptroller is seen as less definite, precise and conformity driven and more interesting. These determination are similar to that of Inman ‘s et al. ‘s. ( 1989 ) survey. Students ‘ experiences with uninteresting accounting coursework and rote acquisition may besides deter the best pupils from prosecuting an accounting major ( Inman et al, 1989 ) . Students are more likely to take an accounting major when they consider accounting interesting and gratifying ( Saeman & A ; Crooker, 1999 ) . Tan and Laswad ( 2009 ) showed that a higher proportion of accounting pupils than other concern pupils decide on their major prior to university survey. Therefore they recommended that the profession should advance the positive facets of an accounting calling non merely to pre-university pupils but besides to the populace, as this scheme would heighten the public profile of members of the profession. There is grounds to propose that the accounting course of study in secondary schools may be playing a portion in footings of pupils ‘ perceptual experiences of account ing, which may non needfully bespeak the true nature of the profession.2.5 How to give a positive perceptual experience of Accounting to pupils?Harmonizing to Albrecht and Sack ( 2000 ) , one manner to increase the figure of pupils majoring in accounting would be for the profession to pass on more efficaciously what occupations comptrollers really perform. The broad scope of calling options available to comptrollers should be emphasized peculiarly to high school pupils and college fresher. By efficaciously pass oning the properties of an accounting calling, the widespread perceptual experience that the work is deadening and uninteresting should be countered. Another manner to successfully enroll pupils to accounting is to emphasize the long-run fiscal wagess and occupations security of the profession. It appears that those who choose to major in accounting realize that possible exists for both a high income and stable employment in their callings. Given the recent negative imperativeness environing the accounting profession, layoffs and ethical jobs could finally turn out to be a much bigger barrier to choice of an accounting major that has traditionally been perceived. The horror narratives of failed callings of Anderson employees may good hold a negative impact on accounting registrations, because accounting big leagues place a high accent on occupation security. Finally, comptrollers must be wise and proactive in keeping the image of accounting as a esteemed profession. Failing to turn to the recent moving ridge of dirts is the wrong attack. They need to pass on that the accounting profession has historically been regarded as the prot otype of ethical and professional behavior and that the profession will one time once more rise to the challenges it faces today. The AICPA and some province societies have introduced several plans and selling stuffs designed to pull pupils to accounting. Employers and universities besides have a interest in pulling pupils to accounting callings. L.Hartwell, S.Lightle and Maxwell suggested that enrolling attempts should get down early and should stress the ambitious nature of accounting work and supply specific information about get downing wages. Rather than avoiding treatment of the recent accounting dirts, recruiters should see utilizing them as an illustration of the critical function accounting dramas in our capital markets. Change by reversaling the diminution in accounting registrations will non go on overnight, and can non be achieved in isolation. It will necessitate creativeness and cooperation among pedagogues and practicians, and perchance alterations in the profession itself. A particular undertaking force, Accounting Careers for Tomorrow ( ACT ) , have studied research and discussed the issues environing steep registration diminutions in college accounting plans. They determined that the WICPA must make consciousness of calling chances among high school pupils, and instructors, every bit good as others. ACT has concluded that the WICPA and its members must bring forth these positive perceptual experiences about the profession: Accounting is a profession, non a occupation Accounting is interesting, disputing and strategic An Accounting grade is a good footing for a calling2.6 Status of Accounting Compared with Other ProfessionsStudents are more likely to draw a bead on to a calling that is held in high regard by society. Irish high school pupils ranked comptrollers behind physicians, attorneies, tooth doctors and designers as professionals ( Byrne & A ; Willis, 2005 ) . However, in the Byrne and Willis ( 2005 ) study the existent ranking of accounting as a profession varied between accounting pupils ( who ranked it 5th ) and non-accounting pupils ( who ranked it 7th ) of 10 professional classs. In the US the Gallup Organisation ( 1991 ) reported that university pupils rated the profession last among the six professions of jurisprudence, medical specialty, instruction, technology, fiscal planning and accounting. In a New Zealand survey integrating the positions of high school instructors, the consequences showed that the accounting profession was of lower ranked societal position to the professions of jurisprudence, medical specialty and technology ( Wells & A ; Fieger, 2005 ) .2.7 Percept on prosecuting professional scrutinySome accounting pupils think that it is hard to go through the professional accounting programmes and merely few finalists passed with merely one effort ( Omar, 2009 ) . Jackling ( 2002 ) , examined Australian undergraduate pupils and discovered that skewed images toward the accounting profession has led to a failure in pulling pupils with creativeness and people-oriented personalities that are so urgently sought by the profession. Some pupils besides believed that professional accounting programmes are more hard than degree programmes, hence it is merely suited for those who are disciplined and extremely committed pupils and merely those with first-class cumulative clas s point sum ( CGPA ) can prosecute professional accounting programmes ( Omar, 2009 ) . Some pupils feel that it is better for them to prosecute other programmes instead than professional accounting programmes because of these perceptual experience that they heard, chiefly about the figure of efforts that most of the professional accounting pupils needed to do in order to finish the professional survey ( Omar, 2009 ) . This shows that pupils still have bad perceptual experience toward the professional accounting programmes. Harmonizing to the survey by Mazlina & A ; Mohammad ( 2012 ) , questionnaires used was adapted by Omar ( 2009 ) . They were distributed to 120 concluding twelvemonth accounting pupils in a public university in Malaysia. Majority of the respondents were female pupils than male pupils and about 69.9 % of the respondents were female and most of them ( 96.2 % ) were individual. The survey suggested that near to 70 % of the respondents would wish to work instantly after graduation and another 30 % would wish to prosecute their surveies after graduation. This determination suggested the importance of accounting lectors and practicians, every bit good as the related ministry to actively advancing and supplying information about being the professional comptrollers to the pupils, in order to positively act upon their perceptual experience and pull them to be a professional.2.7.1 Skill demands to be an effectual comptrollerProfessional accounting organic structures have long been recommending that in order to go a member of that profession, specific accomplishments should be acquired. Table 1 summarises the accomplishments demands of the undermentioned professional accounting organic structures: the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia ( ICAA ) , the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants ( CICA ) , the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales ( ICAEW ) , the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ( AICPA ) , the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants ( NZICA ) and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants ( SAICA ) .Generic accomplishmentsICAA ( 2011 )CICA ( 2011 )ICAEW ( 2011 )AICPA ( 2011 )NZICA ( 2011 )SAICA ( 2011 )Problem work outing****Communication******Strategic thinking/ alteration direction*****Business consciousness****Professional and proficient ability******IT skills*****Report writing/ presentation**Table 1: Skills demandsFrom this list of accomplishments demands ( table 1 ) , it can be deduced that comptrollers need to be effectual communicators, able to believe and move strategically, able to work out jobs, be cognizant of concern issues and be professionally and technically competent. The accountant therefore demands to hold satisfactory interpersonal accomplishments because of the regular interaction with clients, to be originative in work outing jobs, doing determinations and planning for the hereafter and to be effectual communicators.2.8 Key Factors Influencing Perceptions of the Accounting ProfessionThe accounting instruction literature has suggested that pupils ‘ perceptual experience derived from assorted beginnings. Several factors have been linked to influences on a pupil ‘s calling pick in accounting. Harrison ( 1998 ) points out that it is non merely pupils ‘ ain perceptual experiences that affect their calling determinations but besides the perceptual experiences of those around them. The 12 factors that influenced the pupils ‘ determ inations included calling chances, involvement in the topic, teacher, money, parents, enjoyment, old experience, life manner offered because of the calling, challenge, prestigiousness, utility in runing a concern, and other pupils. Therefore pupils may be influenced by their instructors at school, parents, relations or friends. However, anterior research on the impact of instructors on a pupil ‘s determination to major in accounting has produced inconclusive and assorted consequences. Some surveies have shown that instructors do non play a important function in pupils ‘ pick of big leagues ( Cangelosi et al. , 1985 ; Gul et al. , 1989 ) . In contrast, other surveies ( e.g.Paolillo and Estes 1982 ; Hermanson and Hermanson 1995 ; Geiger and Ogilby 2000 ; Mauldin et al. , 2000 ) have found referents to hold an influence on pupils ‘ determination to major. The grounds sing the influence of others, e.g. parents and friends is besides inconclusive. Other surveies have besides examined pupils ‘ perceptual experience on the accounting calling. One issue being examined is the standards in taking accounting as a calling ( Carpenter and Strawser, 1970 ; Poallilo and Estes, 1982 ; Haswell and Holmes, 1988 ; Gul et al. , 1989 ; Carcello et al. , 1991 ; DeZoort et al. , 1997 ) . These surveies by and large found salary as one of the top five standards act uponing calling determination ( Carpenter and Strawser, 1970 ; Haswell and Holmes, 1988 ; Gul et al. , 1989 ; Horowitz and Riley, 1990 ) . Specifically, Carpenter and Strawser ( 1970 ) found that the top 5 standards are foremost, nature of work, followed by chances for promotion, get downing salary, working status and occupation security. On the other manus, Haswell and Holmes ( 1988 ) found occupation handiness as the top standard, followed by chances of publicity, wage, occupation security and occupation satisfaction. Paollio and Estes ( 1982 ) found that handiness of employment as the most of import factor. Net incomes possible, old ages of instruction required, aptitude for the topic and instructor influence have a greater impact on calling pick for comptrollers compared to the other professional groups. Other surveies found that chance for advancement considerations to be act uponing the pick of a calling in accounting ( Trump and Hendrikson, 1970, Barnhart, 1971, Zikmund et al. 1977 ) . Shivaswamy and Hanks ( 1985 ) reported that occupation security is ranked first by accounting pupils in their survey. Kim et al. , ( 2002 ) conducted a survey on concern big leagues ( e.g. accounting, finance, general concern, direction, selling, MIS/CIS, and dual major ) . They discovered that the top five grounds for taking a major were: involvement in a calling associated with the major, good occupation chances, â€Å" good tantrum † with respondents ‘ abilities, a desire to run a concern some twenty-four hours, and projected net incomes in the related calling. The least selected grounds for taking a major were the repute of the major at the university, the sensed quality of direction, the parents ‘ influence, the sum and type of promotional information, and the influence of friends. Yayla and Cengiz, ( 2005 ) determined five factors that play a function in taking an accounting calling. Those factors were pupils ‘ ain pick, household and close environment consequence, interesting profession, net incomes outlooks and calling chances. In contrast, Dinc ( 2008 ) utilized factor analysis and determined the following seven chief factors in make up one's minding calling pick: great net incomes outlooks, calling outlooks, occupation experience, cognition and ability, household environment, societal position, and instruction environment. Factors as recounted above approximately taking a calling in accounting field or non can be divided into two chief groups: internal and external factors. The internal factors may include personal abilities, mathematical competence, and involvement in the field. These factors do non depend on the pupils ‘ geographical country. Whereas the external factors, such as calling chances, degree of salary a calling offers and the societal position that the calling would supply are variable in assorted geographical countries. For illustration, while there are good occupation chances in one geographical country, another geographical country may non offer the same chances.2.9 Gender EffectssTurner & A ; Bowen ( 1999 ) examined the gender spread in pick of major, specifically, the under-representation of adult females in the scientific disciplines and technology in the ninetiess. They suggest that this phenomenon may by cultural and that gender and socialisation skills/expectations may take males and females to hold different career-choice penchants. The Taylor Report ( 2000 ) states that compared to college pupils in general, accounting big leagues are more likely to be female. To the best of our cognition, merely two surveies to day of the month hold examined the chairing consequence of gender on the pick of business/accounting as a major. Leppel et Al. ( 2001 ) found that female pupils are more likely to be influenced in pick of major by a professional male parent, and that adult females from â€Å" high † socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to major in concern. Both statements were found to be the opposite for males. Lowe & A ; Simons ( 1997 ) found that female accounting big leagues ranked â€Å" the built-in nature of the capable affair † more of import than did male accounting big leagues ; females in their survey placed a higher value on the â€Å" ability to win academically in the major, † in the major being â€Å" intellectually ambitious, † and in â€Å" coverage of interesting capable affair † in their determination to take a major. This was non true for all female respondents, merely those taking account ing as a major. Research into gender differences sing perceptual experiences of comptrollers indicate that males, compared with females, perceive the accounting profession as more interesting and necessitating a higher grade of interaction ( Heiat et al. 2007:94 ) . There have been some alterations in accounting. In New Zealand, chartered accountant rank Numberss for adult females have been lifting and adult females are more often going national councilors and other office carriers. However, even in the Institute adult females have still to make a place of equality with work forces. Womans may hold been able to come in the accounting profession but that has non needfully intend that they have been every bit successful as work forces in busying all countries of the profession. Wootten and Kemmerer agreed with Ciancanelli et Al. ( 1990 ) and Welsh ( 1992 ) that â€Å" gender transmutation of a work force does non needfully intend gender transmutation within a work force † . In New Zealand in 2001, Whiting & A ; Wright carried out a postal study of public comptrollers. From this they noted that merely five per centum of female respondents were spouses, or held tantamount senior places, while 40 per centum of male respondents were spouses. Womans in the United States were more involved in what was considered the less demanding and therefore lower paid scrutinizing work and less involved in the ego directed and independent countries of confer withing. They were non encouraged to set about high profile work or cover straight with clients. Whether or non these businesss required university degree makings, adult females have been over represented in them. In New Zealand in 1984, about 70 per centum of the full-time labor force in clerking and cashier-type businesss were female as were 90 three per centum of parttime bookkeepers and tellers. Today adult females are over-represented in the College of Accounting Technician within the New Zealand Institute. The b ulk of New Zealand chartered comptrollers are still male and most accounting technicians are female. In New Zealand throughout the 20th century, there have normally been a higher per centum of adult females than work forces in professional businesss. However, surveies of these figures have systematically revealed that the bulk of the professions have remained male dominated and adult females have concentrated in a few professional businesss. Davies and Jackson showed the significance of the rise in Numberss of adult females in these once male dominated professions in New Zealand between 1971 and 1991. For illustration, the legal profession had a 12 hundred per centum addition in adult females going attorneies in those twenty old ages, while dental medicine had an eight hundred and forty one per centum addition. Accounting ‘s addition was a somewhat smaller at seven hundred and 30 eight per centum. Many professions showed similar rises with most being of a proportion that was greater than one hundred per centum.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census Essay

Race is a biological entity, but it has been proven that the concept of race can be constructed or manipulated by societies that even though since an anthropological and biological perspective the barrier between races is very clear. Ethnicity isn’t a societal concept founded by the color of skin, since everyone knows individuals of the identical race have variations of skin color. For example in European circles, Middle Easterners such as Arabs, Jews, Iranians (Indo-Europeans or Aryans); North Africans like Berbers and Arabs; Latin Americans of pure Caucasian descent and Northern Indians and Pakistanis are not considered Caucasian or white, even though anthropologically and genetically they are. People can deny kinship or invent their kinship to people of other genetic markers if this makes them keep their status or way of life; this has to do with issues like migration, religion and the like. Race refers to the bodily and biotic features for specific sets of individuals. For example: anyone may recognize an individual’s ethnicity founded up skeleton construction, predominantly the cranium, since the various races have distinctive, skeleton structures. Diverse ethnicities have diverse bone concentrations. Afro-American’s have the thickest bone because they need to stockpile â€Å"calcium and vitamin D in their bones† because of the dusky color that does not allow the sun to simply infiltrate and produce the vitamins to protect their skeletal frame (Comer, 1972). White and Asian ethnicity produce smaller skeletal density since light skin permits the sun to infiltrate into the skin easier. This makes it easier to take up vitamin D from the sun. There are a large number of variations within ethical groups than may be condensed to tinier clusters of ethnic clusters. However, ethnic groupings are not unsubstantiated and illogical societal tags. There is a plethora of fabrication concerning race around, and most 19th century anthropology scientists that studied race were mistaken concerning many facts, however the entire theory should not be trashed. Even Darwin made mistakes concerning many facts, however it should not require the complete Theory of Evolution should be trashed as well.. A societal structure may function as an instrument of organization that sustains the domination of specific ethnic races and the subservience of other races. Race is described as being â€Å" ‘Race’ is first and foremost an unequal relationship between social aggregates, characterized by dominant and subordinate forms of social interaction, and reinforced by the intricate patterns of public discourse, power, ownership and privilege within the economic, social and political institutions of society† (Commer,1997). Ethnicity merely turns out to be genuine when societies act in other habits that cause subservience to last. It converts actual once society acts toward one another that maintain the subservience. Race often causes ethically emotional discourse which includes constant practices of displacement and ethnic suffering. Principles and individuality are also societal structures (permanent. The description of individuality by Sarikaya: â€Å"†¦identity is not only a story, a narrative which we tell ourselves about ourselves, it is stories which change with historical circumstances. And identity shifts with the way in which we think and hear them and experience them. Far from only coming from the still small point of truth inside us, identities actually come from outside, they are the way in which we are recognized and then come to step into the place of the recognitions which others give us. Without the others there is no self, there is no self-recognition† (Sarikaya, 2011). It is similar to a camera, the controlling scrutiny changes an individual to thing and â€Å"†¦the normalizing gaze [is] a surveillance that makes it possible to qualify, to classify and to punish, and it establishes, over individuals a visibility through which one differentiates and judges them† (Foucault,1991 pg. 25). Race has the capacity to change anyone into a historic minute outside of that which a person is unable to step out of. Race adopts the theory that there is a pattern of regularity and accurate, each person separate from this pattern should be conveyed to the pattern – the normalcy is considered to be a young, Caucasian, Christian, man. The societal imagination is a broad area that groups is now created, made-up, placed and formed by dominate dialogues and governing society. There is no social justice or injustice of classifying or not classifying people according to the race they belong to, some can say racial classifications are harmful to the unity of the group, that it causes racism, etc. It should not be something bad or something to be afraid of or something to avoid, there should be not prejudice in the concept of race, and everyone should be happy with their ancestry and celebrate their phenotype and genotype and not suffer prejudice from society for being descendant of certain people. References: Comer, J. P. , (1972). Beyond Black and White. New York, NY: Quadrangle Books. Retried from: http://kcmo. ent. sirsi. net/client/en_US/NKCPL/search/results/? ln=en_US&q=Beyond+Bla ck+and+White&rt=&rw=0. Foucault, M. , (1991). Discipline and Punish The birth of prison (2nd ed. ) New York, NY: Random House, Inc. Sarikaya, D. (2001). The Construction of Afro-Caribbean Identity in the Poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson. Journal of Caribbean Literatures, (Spring 2011, Vol. 7, Issue 1, p161-175, 15p). Retrieved from: http://av4kc7fg4g. search.serialssolutions. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/? ctx_ver=Z39. 88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc %3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon. serialssolutions. com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:jo urnal&rft. genre=article&rft. atitle=The+construction+of+Afro-Caribbean+cultural+identity+in+t he+poetry+of+Linton+Kwesi+Johnson&rft. jtitle=Journal+of+Caribbean+Literatures&rft. au=Sar ikaya %2C+Dilek&rft. date=2011-01-01&rft. pub=Journal+of+Caribbean+Literatures&rft. issn=1086-01 0X&rft. eissn=2167-9460&rft. volume=7&rft. issue=1&rft. spage=161&rft. externalDBID=n %2Fa&rft. externalDocID=338524281¶mdict=en-US.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Analysis Of The Vietnamese Tourism Market

Analysis Of The Vietnamese Tourism Market My friend and I have passion in tourism. My friend has several years of experience working for an international travel company in Ho Chi Minh City as a travel consultant cum tour operator. She have strong relationship with five star hotels and restaurants in Vietnam. I have chance to travel to many countries and study international tourism industry. I also have a part-time job as a tour guide for some travel companies. I understand what tourists expect from a knowledgeabe and friendly tour guide , quality service as well. Thus, combining her experience in Vietnamese tourism market and my understanding about international tourists’ demands, we decide to open a travel company, named â€Å"Luxury Tour Co.† in Ho Chi Minh City. Our target market is Spain. Within the next five year, we build â€Å"Luxury Tour† as the first choice for the Spaniard when they think of travelling to Vietnam. This name guarantees for â€Å"best service,best choice† as our slogan of â€Å"Think nothing, let us†. This marketing plan is designed to highlight significant steps and other related issues to run business well and meet the goal. Market Overview Tourism is considered as the key industry in the near future. Tourism involves three sectors, they are, domestic market, inbound market and outbound market (Helmut Wachwiak, 2006:48). Domestic tourism aims to local customers, while inbound tourism aims to attract international tourists to the country and outbound tourism aims to organising tour for local tourists who want to travel abroad. Among of which, inbound tourism is emphasized most. It not only creates more employment opportunities for the local people but also plays an important role to attract foreign investment in Vietnam as MICE tours becomes popular. Tourism is based on a lot of factors. Here is the list of some changes influencing tourism in general and Luxury Tour business activities ( Lloyd E. Hudman, Richard H.Jackson, 2003:24) Infrastru cture in Vietnam . Understanding the contribute of the non-smoke industry, Vietnamese Government has invested in some projects, such as building metro, road etc. , and encouraged people take part in introducing beautiful image of Vietnam to the world ( Vietnam Tourism, 2010 ) Social behavior. For example, considering the tour price, it depends on the suppliers’quotation. They are five star hotels, restaurants, transportation etc. In peak seasons when several tourists come to Vietnam, lack of commodation or waiters/waitresses is predictable. As the result, the tour price is higher, but tourists are served less. Increased gas/petrol price. That is to say, it leads to the increase of price in transportation, flight ticket etc. The rapid development of Internet and e-commerce. According to the CIA Factbook, in 2009, 50% of Spaniard use internet, and this number is increasing repidly. It push e-commerce developped more Stable VND-Euro currency rate makes tour price stable and more competitive than other markets ( Vietnam Central Bank, 2010) Stable politics makes international tourists feel safety while staying in Vietnam New tourism trend. According to ITB World Travel Trends Report 2010/2011, Southeast Asia is sparkling as an ideal destination to EU market. They prefer enjoying â€Å"sun and beach† and discovering Eastern culture

Petroleum contract and economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Petroleum contract and economics - Essay Example It is reported that crack spreads are mostly higher in areas that have a constricted capacity for refining oil and a high demand for refined products. Some areas are categorized as having a constrained capability of refining oil and an above average growth for the demand of refined oil products. In the last decade, some areas such as Tema, have experienced higher profit margins for oil products than other areas. The location of a refinery is also vital because it affects the supply of crude oil which is processed at the refinery. It is worth noting that access to cheaper heavy crude oil helps the refinery optimize on feedback differentials such as feedstock (Economic impacts of oil spills Spill unit costs for tankers, pipelines, refineries, and offshore facilities 1993). The site for the new oil refinery was chosen for a number of reasons but mainly due to strategic purposes. Ghanaville has a well-connected infrastructure consisting of roads and an existing port. This is coupled with the recent government’s initiative (Ghana Ports & Harbors Authority) to implement new changes at the port with an aim of upgrading and modern sing the port. The site Ghanaville, has an already existing operational port with ease of access to a railway line and a network of roads that will facilitate the receival of feedstock and the shipment of refined products at the new location. The location is also very secure with regards to the specially designated area that is patrolled routinely by police officers. The security is further aided by the already established contract between the authority body and the company relating to the tenure of the land where the new refinery is going to be located. A long term lease has been already approved. The new location is surrounded by a growing urban center which will be able to offer a relatively good support system for families and businesses. The quality of life of both businesses and families that will be

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Capital Asset Management and techniques of its evaluation Essay

Capital Asset Management and techniques of its evaluation - Essay Example Although the calculation is easy to understand and simple, it still has its limitations. It ignores the benefits, or the lack of, that occur after the payback period and more importantly, the method ignores the time value of money. On the contrary The Net Present Value is an indicator of how much value an investment or project adds to the firm. The Net Present Value is a more reliable method of calculating the returns expected from investments as the method considers the time value of money. The Net Present Value compares the value of a dollar today to the value of that same dollar in the future, taking both inflation and returns into account. The technique uses discounted cash flow approach in assessing the performance of an investment. A positive Net Present Value generated from a prospective project is a good sign and should be accepted On the contrary, a negative Net Present Value resulting from projects should be rejected because the cash flows will also be negative. As such, this technique seems more reasonable in determining the returns of investments. The Internal Rate of Return is the discount rate that delivers a Net Present Value of zero for a series of future cash flows. As with the Net Present Value, this technique uses the discounted cash flow approach and is as widely used as the Net Present Value method. ... It shows the discount rate below, which an investment results in a positive Net Present Value and above which an investment results in a negative Net Present Value. It's the break-even discount rate, the rate at which the value of cash outflows equals the value of cash inflows. Moreover, the Internal Rate of Return can be found without having to estimate the cost of capital. Modified Internal Rate of Return is a similar concept to the conventional Internal Rate of Return. However, it is easier to calculate and does not produce multiple results, from irregular cash flows expected from a project, as compared with the latter. Of course the drawback of using Modified Internal Rate of Return is that it does not expect the generation of cash flows from its projects as predicted and its Net Present Value seems overstated. This is contrary to the use of Internal Rate of Return technique, since it assumes that cash flows generated from a project are reinvested within the project at the same rates of return, although they are often reinvested elsewhere within the business. The Modified Internal Rate of Return can be calculated with the use of spreadsheet package or the use of a conventional calculator. Both methods give the same results, however, the latter is more tedious and is used mainly for academic purposes. This technique uses the Present Value of investments, followed by the compounded terminal cash flow of the return phase. This is possible for more complex investments, with investment phase that stretches over several periods. The results generated by this technique are lower than the conventional Internal Rate of Return method but also presents a more realistic approach in assessing projects. Moreover, the technique uses the

Saturday, July 27, 2019

San Diego International Airport Green Project Research Paper

San Diego International Airport Green Project - Research Paper Example Therefore, airports are important regional, national and international commerce. They create an avenue for the connection of a nation’s aviation system with other modes of transport. There is a need to carry out research to solve operating problems by adopting new technologies, and introduce innovation to the airport industry. When planning to implement a terminal improvement project, the terminal planning process should provide insights on potential issues and future trends that they affect the functionality of that terminal (Ashford, Mumayiz, & Wright, 2011). Significant changes in technology, airline operations and industry structure have occurred, creating the need for a balance of importance of certain planning factors for airport terminal buildings. These changes have occurred in cost effectiveness, passenger and baggage security, gate utilization to ensure low cost, and concessions (Brown, 2010). The airport and aviation industry is ever changing. This has led to the need for today’s airport buildings to be planned and constructed in ways that will safeguard flexibility for future modification at the list expense, while responding to variations in demand, the changing passenger needs, airlines and aircraft. Therefore, there has to be a flexible, balanced and visionary planning for airport terminals to ensure future flexibility (Brown, 2010). It should be noted that the creation of plans and designs of airports that provide superior services to travelers is difficult. Airport operational needs are extremely dynamic, creating more challenges in the planning and designing of sustainable airports (Brown, 2010). Additionally, in most cases, capital investment resources for expansion and construction of modern, efficient airports are limited. Therefore, development of airport facility designs which can provide the

Friday, July 26, 2019

Cooked Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cooked - Essay Example For ten years, he learned cooking skills and he found that he could become productive in front of the stove. Certainly, there are downsides with being an inmate but the episode brought him focus and a goal, certainly a turning point in his life. After prison, life was difficult. Henderson had difficulty in getting a job. His dream was to become an executive chef and his lack of formal training and criminal record made it excruciatingly difficult to achieve his objective. He began his career as a dishwasher in Los Angeles. He had to exert extra effort and more hard work not just to prove his capability as a cook but also to prove that he is trustworthy. Even with achieving some semblance of success in Los Angeles, where he eventually became a sous chef, he encountered the same difficulty when he moved to Las Vegas. Everyone was impressed about his credentials but turned him down because he was a convicted felon. During this period, he was jobless for a longtime, which must be very frustrating especially when he has a family to support. For instance, he recalled a particularly heartbreaking experience: "At the Paris Hotel, they were introducing me to my staff before I told them about my criminal record. Then they told me to t ake a walk." It is really unfortunate what a criminal record can do to a persons prospect in life. A lesser man with no strength in character would probably took the easy way and go back to being a felon. Fortunately, Henderson is not such a

Thursday, July 25, 2019

The Role Self-Concept In Building Interpersonal Relationships Essay

The Role Self-Concept In Building Interpersonal Relationships - Essay Example Sales personnel can obtain the attention of the manager of some organization by applying his oily tongue, flattering techniques, and capability of glamorizing the scenario and articles to sell them to the customers and clients. A writer can capture the consideration of a magazine, journal or newspaper by writing the powerful article on the topic of public interest. Without self-disclosure in the present of the relevant authority, making sure headway leading to success is certainly tantamount to impossibility. It becomes evident that self-concept and self-disclosure turn out to be fruitful for the individuals to assess and estimate their abilities and exhibit the same while communicating with other members of society. Attributed to the unprecedented technological advancements, the contemporary era is frequently regarded to be the age of perfect competition, which has introduced revolutionary alterations in all fields of life, including the corporate sector all over the globe. The comp anies hire the services of highly qualified, proficient, confident and brilliant personnel against the positions in different departments with the aim of ensuring a powerful penetration into the entire business environment in a successful manner. Not only this that the companies strongly recommend the development of self-concept in the employees, but also lay stress upon the observing of the same while demonstrating their interpersonal skills while entering into interaction with the management, co-workers, subordinates, and customers at large.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

It is the following question of my last order Essay

It is the following question of my last order - Essay Example I can tell this was the best decision we could made in that situation because we had no choice. Moreover, the decision to quickly replace the interviewee confirmed how pragmatic the group was in using contingency decision making approaches. As part of this contingency plan, we did not give up the essential clips we planned to obtain as we found someone to help. Furthermore, for mine, the problem I faced was with the selection during editing. As I have mentioned before, our group took a lot of materials and the interview session was longer than we aimed for. So I needed to re-order the flow and cut out almost half of our interview clips. Honestly, it is a tough work for me since our director could not make a firm decision on which questions should be taken out when I was cooperating with her during the editing. To solve this problem, I decided to use an open-ended decision making approach where I did a short questionnaire to our module classmates to see what kind of things they were most interested in about a chef. After received their opinions, I had a brief concept for the film concerning what should be included and what should be ignored. I used that method to select the materials because I think a good documentary should be audiences based so as to attract audience. I cannot say our documentary was subjective or objective. Because half of our documentary was talking about the characteristics of Chinese cuisine and the rest are mainly on the chef’s experiences and his personal feeling. The first aspect was therefore objective whiles the second aspect was subjective. We used a mild and natural way to present the documentary. The focus on Chinese chef may be quite stereotypical of the documentary as we already assumed he might encounter more problems in cooking than other chefs (local or European chefs). The reason we had this thought was because of the geographical issue and the language

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

A Study of Shell Oil and its Stakeholders in Nigeri Research Paper

A Study of Shell Oil and its Stakeholders in Nigeri - Research Paper Example It manufactures and markets a range of petrochemical products for industrial customers. The company is also engaged in delivery of technology solutions through research and innovation. Shell operates in 90 countries, employs approximately 93,000 people worldwide, 43,000 service stations, and has more than 30 refineries and chemical plants including 3.3 million barrels of gas and oil production per day. In 2010, the company spent $2.1 billion in development of alternate energy sources and carbon emission controls, $13 billion on purchases from companies from lower income countries, and more than $21 million on voluntary social investments (Shell, 2010). Shell Group is involved in the on-shore production of oil and gas in the Niger Delta. It is also involved in the offshore production of oil and gas in Gulf of Guinea and Nigeria’s first ever deep-water project. The energy from the Shell-operated Nigerian ventures is used for the country’s industrial and domestic use. The remaining is exported to Europe, US and Asia. Shell Petroleum Development Co. under the Shell Group employs about 90% of Nigerians in the region and provides 95% of the profits from on-shore production in the Delta to the Nigerian Government. The company also employs around 35,000 third party contractor staff (Shell-a, n.d.). The Niger Delta is considered one of the most polluted regions in the world with around 6,800 recorded oil spill incidents in the last 50 years since the beginning of oil production in the region (Purefoy, 2010). In 2009, Shell’s Nigerian subsidy spilled around 14,000 tons of crude oil in Niger Delta, which were twice the 2008 figures and four times the 2007 data. The major reason is that many pipelines of Shell are corroded and old. The company has taken the responsibility of the clean-ups but blames the thieves and militants for majority of the environmental damages (Guardian, 2010). Since 1999, when Nigeria became a democracy, Shell has been trying to improve its image in the country by issuing the environmental reports every year. 1.2 Aims & Objectives of the Paper In the light of Shell’s operations in Nigeria and environmental issues associated with it, the aim of the paper is to: Identify and discuss the effects of the environmental issue on the major stakeholders of Shell in Nigeria, and the way each of the stakeholders responds to the problem. Compare and contrast the different approaches to leadership in bringing resolution to the problem based on several perspectives. From the discussion on the stakeholders’ perspectives and leadership perspective, it is expected to arrive at a practical solution to the environmental issues faced by Shell and Nigeria. 1.3 Scope of the Paper This paper has explored various stakeholder theories and models related to the case of Shell. Extensive analysis in stakeholder theory through numerous publications has been devoted to the understanding of the impact of Shell’

Taino Lifestyle Essay Example for Free

Taino Lifestyle Essay The Arawak/Taino society was basically a very gentle culture. It was characterized by happiness, friendliness and a highly organized hierarchical, paternal society, and a lack of guile. Each society was a small kingdom and the leader was called a cacique. The cacique’s function was to keep the welfare of the village by assigning daily work and making sure everyone got an equal share. The relatives of the caciques lived together in large houses in the center of the village. These houses reflect the warmth of the climate and simply used mud, straw and palm leaves. The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks or simply on mats of banana leaves. The general population lived in large circular buildings called bohios, constructed with wooden poles, woven straw, and palm leaves. At the time of Columbus there were five different kingdoms on the island of Hispaniola. The Indians practiced polygamy. Most men had 2 or 3 wives, but the caciques had as many as 30. It was a great honor for a woman to be married to a cacique. Not only did she enjoy a materially superior lifestyle, but her children were held in high esteem. HOUSING AND DRESS The Arawak/Taino used two primary architectural styles for their homes. The general population lived in circular buildings with poles providing the primary support and these were covered with woven straw and palm leaves. They were somewhat like North American teepees except rather than being covered with skins they needed to reflect the warmth of the climate and simply used straw and palm leaves. The caciques were singled out for unique housing. Their house were rectangular and even featured a small porch. Despite the difference in shape, and the considerably larger buildings, the same materials were used. When the Africans came beginning in 1507 they introduced mud and wattle as primary building materials. However, there is no record of the Arawak/Tainos having used these materials. The house of the cacique contained only his own family. However, given the number of wives he might have, this constituted a huge family. The round houses of the common people were also large. Each one had about 10-15 men and their whole families. Thus any Arawak/Taino home might house a hundred people. The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks or simply on mats of banana leaves. They also made wooden chairs with woven seats, couches and built cradles for their children. In addition to houses the typical Arawak/Taino village contained a flat court in the center of the village which was used for ball games and various festivals, both religious and secular. Houses were around this court. This was a hierarchical society, and while there was only one cacique who was paid a tribute (tax) to oversee the village, there were other levels of sub-caciques, who were not paid, but did hold positions of honor. They were liable for various services to the village and cacique. Stone making was especially developed among the Arawak/Tainos, but they seem not to have used it at all in building houses. It was primarily used for tools and especially religious artifacts. The men were generally naked, but the women sometimes wore short skirts. Men and women alike adorned their bodies with paint and shells and other decorations. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Arawak/Taino diet, like ours, centered around meat or fish as the primary source of protein. There never were many wild animals to hunt on Hispaniola, but there were some small mammals which were hunted and enjoyed. They also ate snakes, various rodents, bats, worms, birds, in general any living things they could find with the exception of humans. They were able to hunt ducks and turtles in the lakes and sea. The costal natives relied heavily on fishing, and tended to eat their fish either raw or only partially cooked. Since they did grow cotton on the island, the natives had fishing nets made of cotton. The natives of the interior relied more on agriculture and de-emphasized meat or fish in their diet. The Taino had a developed system of agriculture which was environmentally friendly and almost maintenance free. They raised their crops in a conuco, a large mound which was devised especially for farming. They packed the conuco with leaves which improved drainage and protected it from soil erosion. One of the primary crops cultivated by the Taino was cassava or yuca, which they ate as a flat bread. They also grew corn, squash, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams, peanuts as well as tobacco. (As an aside I would like to comment that many people in the pre-Columbian Americas had virtually work free agriculture. This system meant that people living in these materially simple social systems had enormous amounts of free time and often developed elaborate religious rites which took a lot of their time, but also had highly developed systems of games and recreation. There are some nice advantages to very simple living and diet!) One of the Arawak/Taino’s primary crops was cassava. This is a root crop from which a poisonous juice must be squeezed. Then it is baked into a bread like slab. The current method of doing this in Haiti produces a flat bread, sort of like a stale burrito or pizza shell. The Arawak/Taino grew corn (maize), squash, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams and peanuts. They not only had cotton, but they raised tobacco and enjoyed smoking very much. It was not only a part of their social life, but was used in religious ceremonies too. TRANSPORTATION The Arawak/Taino had no large animals like horses, oxen or mules to ride or use for work. But they did have river and sea transportation. They used dugout canoes which were cut from a single tree trunk and used with paddles. They could take 70-80 people in a single canoe and even used them for long travels on the sea. These dugouts allowed fishing the few lakes of Hispaniola as well as fishing out a bit off the coast. DEFENSE The Arawak/Taino themselves were quite peaceful people, but they did have to defend themselves from the Caribs who were cannibals. The Caribs of this area were centered at what is today Puerto Rico, but some did live in northeast Hispaniola, an area that today is the Dominican Republic. The Caribs were war-like cannibals. They often raided the more peaceful Arawak/Tainos, killing off the men, stealing and holding the women for breeding, and fattening the children to eat. Thus the Arawak/Taino had some weapons which they used in defense. They used the bow and arrow, and had developed some poisons for their arrow tips. They had cotton ropes for defensive purposes and some spears with fish hooks on the end. Since there were hardwoods on the island, they did have a war club made of macana. This was about 1†³ thick and reminds one very much of the cocomaque stick used in later Haitian days. They did not develop any armor or specifically defensive weapons (shields, etc.). RELIGION AND MYTH The Arawak/Taino were polytheists and their gods were called zemi. The zemi controlled various functions of the universe, very much like Greek gods did, or like later Haitian Voodoo lwa. However, they do not seem to have had particular personalities like the Greek and Haitian gods/spirits do. There were three primary religious practices: Religious worship and obeisance to the zemi themselves Dancing in the village court during special festivals of thanksgiving or petition Medicine men, or priests, consulting the zemi for advice and healing. This was done in public ceremonies with song and dance People had special dress for the ceremonies which included paint and feathers. From their knees on down they would be covered in shells. The shaman (medicine man or priests) presented the carved figures of the zemi. The cacique sat on wooden stool, a place of honor. (There are many surviving stone carvings of the cacique on his stool.) There was a ceremonial beating of drums. People induced vomiting with a swallowing stick. This was to purge the body of impurities, both a literal physical purging and a symbolic spiritual purging. This ceremonial purging and other rites were a symbolic changing before zemi. Women served bread (a communion rite), first to zemi, then to the cacique followed by the other people. The sacred bread was a powerful protector. (The interesting similarities between this ritual and the Christian practice of eucharist is obvious!) Finally came an oral history lesson — the singing of the village epic in honor of the cacique and his ancestors. As the poet recited he was accompanied by a maraca, a piece of hardwood which was beaten with pebbles. There was an afterlife where the good would be rewarded. They would meet up with dead relatives and friends. Since most of the people they would meet in this paradise were women, it is curious to speculate if it was mainly women who were considered good, or if some other reason accounted for this division of the sexes in the afterlife. There are many stone religious artifacts which have been found in Haiti. The zemi take on strange forms like toads, turtles, snakes, alligators and various distorted and hideous human faces. The zemi, as well as dead caciques, have certain powers over the natural world and must be dealt with. Thus these various services are ways of acknowledging their power (worship and thanksgiving) and at the same time seeking their aid. Because of these powers there are many Arawak/Tanio stories which account for the origins of some experienced phenomena in myth and or magic. Several myths had to do with caves. The sun and moon, for example, came out of caves. Another story tells that the people lived in caves and only came out at night. One guard was supposed to watch carefully over people to be sure they were well divided in the land. However, one day he was late in returning and the sun caught him and turned him into a stone pillar. Another Indian became angry at the sun for its various tricks and decided to leave. He convinced all the women to abandon their men and come with him along with their children. But, the children were deserted, and in their hunger they turned into frogs. The women simply disappeared. This left the men without women. But, they did find some sexless creatures roaming around and eventually captured them. (Actually they used people with a disease like mange since they had rough hands and could hold on to these elusive creatures.) However, they tied these creatures up and put woodpeckers on them. The birds, thinking these were trees started pecking on them and carved out the sex organs of women, thus re-establishing the possibility of survival. A different myth simply tells that once there were no women. Man brought woman from an island where there were only women. The origin of the oceans was in a huge flood which occurred when a father murdered his son (who was about to murder the father), and then put his bones in a calabash. The bones turned to fish and then the gourd broke and all the water of the world flowed from the broken gourd. GENOCIDE AGAINST THE ARAWAK/TAINO INDIANS There is a great debate as to just how many Arawak/Taino inhabited Hispaniola when Columbus landed in 1492. Some of the early Spanish historian/observers claimed there were as many as 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. These numbers seem to be based on very little reliable evidence and are thought to be gross exaggerations. However, since nothing like a census was done, the methods for estimating the numbers are extremely shaky, whether by these early historians or later critics. One long technical article on the population comes in the with the low estimate of 100,000. Several other modern scholars seem to lean more forcefully in the area of 300,000 to 400,000. Whatever the number, what happened to them is extremely tragic. They were not immune to European diseases, especially smallpox, and the Spanish worked them unmercifully in the mines and fields. By 1507 the Spanish were settled and able to do a more reliable job of counting the Arawak/Tainos. It is generally agreed that by 1507 their numbers had shrunk to 60,000. By 1531 the number was down to 600. Today there are no easily discerned traces of the Arawak/Tanio at all except for some of the archaeological remains that have been found. Not only on Hispaniola, but also across the Windward Passage in Cuba, complete genocide was practiced on these natives. Disease was a major cause of their demise. However, on Columbus’ 2nd voyage he began to require a tribute from the Arawak/Tainos. They were expected to yield a certain quantity of gold per capita. Failing that each adult of 14 was required to submit 25lbs. of cotton. For those who could not produce the cotton either, there was a service requirement for them to work for the Spanish. This set the stage for a system of assigning the Arawak/Taino to Spanish settlers as effective slave labor. This system contributed significantly to their genocide.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Identity theft and fraud Essay Example for Free

Identity theft and fraud Essay Identity theft and credit card fraud are two of the fastest growing white collar crimes in society today. Identity thieves and credit card fraud perpetrators are aided by todays continually developing technologies and low technology and crude methods like Dumpster diving or trash retrieval. However, more often than not, it is their victims own carelessness and public lack of awareness that often turn out to be these criminals biggest ally. On November 2007, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report that put the number of cases of Identity theft reported in 2005 at 8. 9 million American adults or approximately 3. 7 percent of the US adult population. (FTC Releases Survey of Identity Theft in the U. S. Study Shows 8. 3 Million Victims in 2005) What is Identity theft? By definition, identity theft is what happens when someone other than ones self and without their knowledge uses his/her personal information such as social security and credit card numbers. With this information, it is easy for thieves to run up bills by ordering items on line or even apply for credit cards in the victims name. They of course get the benefit of spending while their poor victim is left with stacks of bills for purchases they did not make on cards they do not own. Some of these victims have even gone to jail and made to pay up debts they were not even aware existed (Identity Theft: How to, 24. ) There are a number of ways by which identity thieves and credit card frauds can victimize unsuspecting and hardworking citizens. The growing number of reports of instances where people are penalized for bills and financial charges they were not even aware of is alarming. What is even more alarming however is very few people are aware of how such incidents may be prevented by simple common sense measures. Detroit based Attorney and president of the American Bankruptcy Institute Richardo Kilpatrick stresses the importance of quick action saying that the longer the victim waits to dispute bills raised through fraud, the fewer rights they can expect to have. If not done properly, victims may be made responsible for the credit card charges. (24) To avoid credit card fraud and identity theft, the FTC along with other law enforcement and consumer advocacy groups recommend the following common-sense guidelines (Facts for Consumers) to protect themselves from identity theft and credit card fraud: 1. Keep your credit card in sight every time you use it. Make sure it is returned as quickly as possible. Unscrupulous people may easily write down your card number as well as other pertinent information found on your card. There are also electronic devices called skimmers (Shannon) that can not only read and copy card information embedded in the cards magnetic strip but also the verification codes that are needed by merchants to validate cards electronically from the issuing card companies. All the data downloaded by the skimmer are all a card counterfeiter needs to produce perfect duplicates of credit cards. 2. Keep identification, licenses and credit cards separate from your wallet. In case you are out shopping and your wallet gets snatched, at least your Ids and credit cards remain safe. Jason King, a spokesman for the American Association of Motor Vehicles Administrators (AAMVA) says that there are many ways an identity thief or common burglar may use a stolen drivers license and credit card. Access to someones drivers license, for example, leads to an amazing number of other opportunities in our society, he says, such as obtaining financial and health services, and everything else from renting a car to cashing a check and boarding an airplane. (Boulard) In a case cited in the US Department of Justice web site, a woman in the Southern District of Florida plead guilty to counts of federal charges on her applying for an obtaining a drivers license in the name of her victim. The said license was used by the woman to withdraw more that $13,000 from her victims bank account as well as applying for and receiving five department store credit cards in her victims name which she the used to rack up bills amounting to $4,000. (Identity Theft para. 16) In some cases, where ID cards have been stolen, thieves have been known to break into the homes of their victims stealing from them a second time. 3. Ignore emails that request for credit card information for verification purposes. Never entertain e-mail messages asking you to go to a web site to verify your personal and credit card information. There is a scam called phishing where computer-savvy identity thieves construct mirror web sites of legit companies such as PayPal or banks, that trick customers into divulging their personal and financial information. (OSullivan) 4. Sign credit cards as soon as you receive them. 5. Shred and dispose all credit card applications you receive in the mail. If thieves can get these applications it means they could also have gotten or have access to mail containing your personal information. Some thieves also resort to low-tech and old fashioned methods such as swiping mail from mailboxes, diving through trash cans and dumpsters, or working in league with employees of postal and card companies. At times, they also work with employees at restaurants, hotels and establishments that accept credit card payments warns Johnny May, an independent security consultant and author of Johnny Mays Guide to Preventing Identity Theft: How Criminals Steal Your Personal Information, How to Prevent it, and What to Do if You Become a Victim (Security Resources Unlimited L. L. C. ) (Young) The FTC also advises bank clients to tear up the change of address: forms that come with bank statements. In some cases, mail, pre-approved credit cards and other financial documents have been diverted by identity thieves to another address simply by filling out the banks change of address form that they dug out of your dumpster. 6. Never write your PIN numbers on ATM and credit cards. Once the card is stolen, the readiness of information on the card will just make it easier for thieves to bypass whatever validation or verification processes done by the card companies. When it comes to it, dont put slips of paper containing these PIN numbers in your wallet either. 7. Avoid leaving credit card receipts, bills and documents containing personal and financial information lying around even in familiar surroundings. In the magazine article Stolen Lives: Identity Theft Is the Countrys Fastest Growing Crime. Heres How to Protect Your Most Valuable Asset-You! by Stephanie Young, she details the experience of Tahira Scott who was victimized by her housemate who was also her cousin. We started getting bills in someone elses name. Then two employees from a car dealership came to Scotts job to see if the person who had tried to purchase a vehicle in her name was actually her. Although she was a little suspicious, Scott says she had no idea about her cousins misdeeds. I just thought it was a mistake, she says. (Young) 8. Keep an updated record of all bank and credit card account numbers with their expiration dates. Make sure that you also take note of the address and contact numbers of the bank and issuing card company just in case your cards get misplaced or stolen. There are people who realize that they cannot report credit card theft or losses simply because they have no record of their account and card numbers. 9. When using your credit card in public, it is better to be paranoid and shield your card from other peoples view just in case they manage to take pictures of your card face with all the info and numbers counterfeiters need. 10. Never carry around more credit cards than you need. The more cards a thief can get from you, the bigger the balances they can spend. 11. Do not delay opening your credit card bills. This may be crucial in determining whether you can still contest the charges made on your card. In my friend Brians case, his parents were away for months and therefore only got to open the bills when they got back. By then, it was too late to do anything but pay up or else suffer marks against their credit rating. 12. Keep receipts of purchases made with credit cards. That way, it will be easy to balance out credit card bills with purchases made. Any charges made without corresponding hard copies of receipts may necessitate a call to the card company to verify the charge. Always keep tracks of your monthly financial statements. The reason why most thieves get away with their activities is because some people just do not scrutinize the monthly statements from their banks and credit cards. 13. Never sign a blank credit card receipt. If such a receipt is presented to you, draw a line on the blank spaces to make it impossible for anyone to fill in amounts later on. Do not just sign anything absent-mindedly. As with contracts, signatures mean approval. And unfortunately, carelessness is not an acceptable reason in disputing bill payment collections. 14. Do not be taken in by calls from people offering prizes or credit cards with higher limits when they start asking for personal information. Social Security numbers, birthdays, mothers maiden name or credit card number, it is most likely a scam to get information out of you. Try to ask for a written application form or notice. Do not do over-the-phone transactions with people offering these kinds of things.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Analysis of Gun Shot Residue using Electron Microscopy (EM)

Analysis of Gun Shot Residue using Electron Microscopy (EM) Nathan Dean Thompson Review of the composition of gunshot residue (GSR) in coherence with its characteristics when analysed using electron microscopy (EM) and energy dispersive electron techniques. The key piece of evidence residing at incidents involving firearms is the gunshot residue (GSR) that is created when a gun is fired. Gunshot residue (GSR) can also be labelled as cartridge discharge residue (CDR) or firearms discharge residue (FDS) produced from firing a firearm. Gunshot residue contains a multitude of burned particles (potassium nitrite) however not all of the particles are burned and some particles remained unburned (Bailey et al, 2013), the discharge of a firearm initially produces a plume of airborne particulates; this plume contains a diverse mixture of vapours and particles that originates due to the upsurge of the cartridge from the firearm. Due to the organic disposition of the propellant, it has been proven that it can be difficult to analyse the GSR’s organic make-up from the propellants residue, although various techniques have been reported leading to promising analyses. Forensic analysts therefore typically use the inorganic components originating mainly from the primer to detect GSR particles on items in relation to the incident. The particular particulate of importance is composed of lead (Pb), barium (Ba) and antimony (Sb), each in varying quantities. The combusted material escapes the weapon through the openings as vapours and solidifies as particulate that varies in shape and size from submicron to over 100 microns (ÃŽ ¼m) when exposed to the rapid temperature change between the vapour and the particulate. The three major components in the primers compound play important roles in the formation and identification of GSR; the initiator component consists of lead styphnate, the oxidizer component consists of barium nitrate and the fuel component consisting of antimony sulphide (Schwoeble and Exline, 2000). Available to GSR analysis are a vast array of techniques that can be used individually or coupled together for analysis of GSR particulates. Electron Microscopy (EM) is microscopic technique uses a particle beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen to produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes have an increased resolving power than a standard light microscope as of their ability to achieve magnification levels of up to 2 million times, whereas ordinary light microscopes are limited to useful magnifications below 2 thousand times. The electron microscope uses electro-charged and electromagnetic lenses to control the magnitude and intensity of the electron beam before focussing it to form an image. In conveyance, the electron beam first gets diffracted by the specimen, and then the lenses re-focus the beam into a Fourier-transformed image of the diffracted pattern for the investigation of the targeted area of the sample. Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM-EDX) has developed to become the technique of choice for GSR analysis due to it being widely available, spatially judicious and non-destructive. SEM looks at identifying different particles that have a light molecular weight, while the heavier elements rely on a technique known as x-ray diffraction (XDF). The electrons interact with the samples atoms that get detected through the detector, stored and produce signals containing information about the samples surface topography, composition and other elemental properties like conductivity. Throughout the interactions of primary electrons secondary particles; these electrons arise due to inelastic collisions between primary electrons (the beam) and loosely bound electrons of the conduction band (more probable) or tightly bound valence electrons. The energy transferred is sufficient enough to break the bond that binds them to the solid and are ejected. The interaction ejects electrons typically have ≈ 5 50 eV. 50 eV is an arbitrary cut-off point at which anything below this value is deemed to be secondary electrons. In SEM-EDX the spectra produced through the analyses of the backscattered electrons provides qualitative information of the particles present due to the high proportion of the numerous scattering effects. However the backscattered particles produced by the ionic beam customarily undertakes a single scattering event; this single event also encourages for the quantitative understanding of the particles energy levels and through being stored electronically and then gets presented on a spectra. The particle spectrum (EBS) allows for the calculation of the total charge being deposited against the dissimilarity of the charges present within the matrix’s signal as a function of depth; this allows the X-ray absorption to be calculated accurately thus further enabling the quantitative analysis of the constituent elements. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy is also a non-destructive method of analysis but lacks spatial resolution and also suffers from quantification problems. While SEM coupled with Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM-WDX) utilize a micro calorimeter detector which offers a greater enhanced sensitivity to detect minute trace elements compared with SEM-EDX but is incapable of providing quantitative information for the type of element present (Molina et al., 2007). Micro Particle Induced X-ray Emission (ÃŽ ¼-PIXE) uses an ionic beam consists of protons with energy values between 2 and 3 MeV to produce the same intensity of X-ray emissions as the SEM-EDX technique (Romolo et al, 2013), however ÃŽ ¼-PIXE detects elements at the value of mg kgÃâ€" ¾1 due to the lesser primary bremsstrahlung background of decelerated charged particulates produced by protons. Previous preliminary work has shown that ÃŽ ¼-PIXEs sensitivity levels are far greater than those of SEM/EDX to the trace elements in GSR particles (Christopher et al, 2013). Furthermore similar studies have recently demonstrated that ÃŽ ¼-PIXE coupled together with Particle Induced Gamma Emission (PIGE) technique is capable of providing an unprecedented characterization of the GSR particles that arise from primers not containing lead. Multivariate analysis confirms the validity of the approximations used in order to streamline the method, thus increasing the validation of the analytical procedures used. This procedure has the ability to provide reproducible and quantitative measurements of a population of GSR particles. A quantitative and discriminative protocol for populations of GSR’s is unprecedented, thus the grouping behavior of the particles from three cartridge designs from one manufacturer can be shown. The method was shown to be non-destructive even under unrealistically prolonged analysis times. Relocation of the particles from SEM technique was demonstrated down to diameters of 1 ÃŽ ¼m, and new developments in the technology could lower this limit in the near future (Dockery and Goode., 2003). The reproducibility of the method for reanalysis of the same set of particles showed variations in the measured concentrations for most elements of around 10% and to those that reflect the spatial inhomogeneity in the particles as well as the precision of the protocol. Two populations of particles from the hands of the shooter of the same make of cartridge could not be discriminated under the same protocol, however the discrimination between the three different makes of ammunition was obtained with a significant separation value with above 99% confidence rating after analysis of the shooters hands. This is particularly interesting in forensic science because we have studied three makes all containing lead, antimony and barium in the primer. Correspondingly, particles produced by one make of cartridge and compared with different firearms were not discriminated (Christopher et al., 2013) (Romolo et al., 2013). SEM-EDX is not a technique which should be dependent on upon the determination of firearm discharge by an individual, nor is it a reliable technique to determine self-inflicted sustained wounds or not self-inflicted. Moreover a positive GSR result may be of use, while a negative result produced is not helpful as the result may indicate that a person discharged the firearm post to death or whether the firearm was discharged prior to death. When the different types of cartridge shells or cases, belonging to a multitude of different firearms are recovered from the crime scene, the GSR particles are thoroughly compared and analysed, with a known ‘control’ source compared against the samples obtained from the suspect can lead to the inconclusive match between the particles morphology and characteristics and the discussion of the evidence in court. This is because of the sensitivity of the technique utilized to analyse trace elements and its inability to offer quantitative information from single particles having much lesser sensitivity levels to analyse light and heavy metals. Therefor this creates a requirement of a technique that retains its non-destructive nature with the enhanced sensitivity to analyse both light and heavy metal particles more efficiently (French and Morgan, 2015), yet it has a much greater proficiency than SEM-EDX to collect chemical information from singular GSR particles and quantify th is information allowing for greater judgement between multiple sources. The effectiveness of sample sizes is significant at low particle numbers. However their evidential value might still be added even at their low number of particles by excluding possible sources for a GSR sample. However there are still implications to be measured that arise from forensic investigation and the observation of analysis to be considered, including the need to prevent contamination of the sample through primary, secondary and possibly tertiary transfer during the collection phase, as well as the importance of acknowledging the potential risk of contamination that will result in the loss of integrity and the evidential value in court that might arise through firearm incidents reconstruction for further evidential analysis is also stressed. Through the means of experimental studies, present techniques can be advanced to further improve the dynamic understanding of GSR dynamics of transfer, depositing and assisting in forensic reconstruction of firearm incidents. References Christopher, M, E., Warmenhaeven, J, W., Romolo, F, S., Daghi, M., Webb, R., Jeynes, C., Ward, N, I., Kirkby, K, J., Bailey, M, J., (2013). A new quantitative method for gunshot residue analysis by ion beam analysis. Analyst. 138, (16), 4649-4655 Molina, D, K., Martinez, M., Garcia, J., Daimio, V, J., (2007). Gunshot residue testing in suicides: part1: analysis by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray. Journal of Forensic Medical Pathology. (3), 187-190 Schwoeble, A, J and Exline, D, L., (2000). Current methods in Forensic Gunshot residue analysis. 1st ed. New York: CRC press Romolo, F, S., Christopher, M, E., Donghi, M., Ripani, L., Jeynes, C., Webb, R, P., Ward, N, I., Kirkby, K, J., Bailey, M, J., (2013). Integrated Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) in Gunshot Residue (GSR) characterisation. Forensic Science International. 231, (1-3), 219-228 Rosenberg, M, B and Dockery, C, R., (2008).Determining the lifetime of detectable amounts of gunshot residue in the hands of a shooter using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Applied Spectroscopy. 62, (11), 1238-1241 Dockery, C, R and Goode, S, R., (2003). Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for gunshot residue on the hands of a shooter. Applied Optics. 42, (30), 6153-6158 French, J and Morgan, R., (2015). An experimental investigation of the indirect transfer and deposition of gunshot residue: further studies carried out with SEM-EDX analysis. Forensic Science International. 247, 14-17 Weblearn, [online] accessed 27th April 2015, available from https://bblearn.londonmet.ac.uk/webapps/portal/execute/tabs/tabAction?tab_tab_group_id=_1_1>

Saturday, July 20, 2019

African Americans Essay -- essays research papers

Differences in race lead to divergent levels of economic development within the United States. Analysts often try to explain this phenomenon by observing a specific ethnic group's tradition and cultural ideology. Economists expand their analysis on the economic behaviors of African Americans by taking into consideration personal histories and value systems of the group under study. American families measure economic status in terms of income, and factors associated with material security as a whole. These factors may consist of health care, college funds, and retirement plans. However, African American families lag well behind when conceptualizing economic development under these terms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reason is due to numerous instances of discrimination that occur in the U.S. Many of America's public policies aid in the underdevelopment of non-white families. Increased economic development within America is the key to upward political and social mobility. If minorities are denied inevitable rights to equality, access to economic development becomes a highly difficult process. Despite America's idealized view on equal opportunity, it is valid to assume that economic security has been limited on the basis of race. Therefore, it is important to investigate why white American families are economically better-off than non-white American families. One must take into account aspects of political participation, education, and the number of children a family has in the home in order to understand this research question. Contemporary Viewpoints:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The lack of political participation of minority groups is a prevalent issue within the United States, explaining why non-white American families are less economically developed when compared to white American families. According to Douglas S. Massey (1995), minority families increasingly speak languages and bear cultures quite different than the established norms within the U.S. regime. He has found that ethnic groups carry their customs into new generations, leading many non-white families to become displaced and impoverished. Brinck Kerr and Will Miller (1997) believe that it is necessary for non-white American families to participate in elections in order to obtain equal representation that they are now lacking. They go on to say that political representation is the key t... ...to ethnic prejudice and discrimination as the United States continues to assimilate into the melting pot for the American dream. Political participation, education, and the number of children within the home are variables that allow the transition to become a less arduous process for white American families. However, if non-white American families continue to do poorly in terms of economic development because of these variables, non-whites will continue to lag behind the income scale in comparison to whites.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Research along these lines will lead to the study of relative differences between ethnic cultures. An example is the discovery of why almost half the number of minorities return to their country of origin after experiences of economic injustice. Previous research may also benefit other analysis in the field of economics by itemizing fertility rates in terms of the higher number of non-white American families who lack the finances to properly nourish their children. These new variables along with my research can in time become valid determinants in explaining why white American families are economically better off that non-white American families.

Soy Protein: Can It Really Prevent Cancer? Essay -- Research Biology E

Soy Protein: Can It Really Prevent Cancer? Society possesses a natural fear of the disease cancer. Even though this term is common, uncertainty surrounds its meaning. What exactly is cancer? A simple definition for a complicated disease is this: abnormal cell growth. Cancer can develop in just about any part of the body, and as abnormal cells grow, they crowd and destroy healthy tissue. This disease is not infectious, for if it were, a vaccination would have probably been developed by now. However, extensive research is continuously being conducted to find a cure or more effective treatments for this mysterious disease. "Evidence shows that lifestyles and diet are mostly responsible for the different cancer rates around the world." The following information discusses possible cancer prevention by the consumption of soy products. Again, a familiarity with the studied term is necessary. What is soy? "Soy" comes from soybean, a legume which is native to Northern China. It is often called a complete protein. This is because it is the most complete protein source from vegetables and is as good as animal protein in meat products. Soy protein, which has been stated to be of "highest caliber," contains many essential nutrients. It has been stated that populations who regularly include soy protein in their diets and reduce meat intake are generally healthier in that their risks for certain diseases are reduced. These include cancer, especially breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. The basic assumption that has been made about soy is that its consumption as a dietary staple reduces the risk of a variety of cancers, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. A relat... ... Works Cited Barnes, S., et al. "Soy Isoflavonoids and Cancer Prevention." Advances in Experimental Medicine & Biology 401. (1996): 87-100. Barnes, Stephen. "Anticancer Effects of Genistein." The Journal of Nutrition 125 (1995): 777S-783S. Bergan, R., et al. "Genistein-stimulated Adherence of Prostate Cancer Cells Is Associated with the Binding of Focal Adhesion Kinase to Beta-1-integrin." Clinical & Experimental Mestastasis 14(4) (1996 Sept.): 389-398. Messina, M. J., et al. "Soy Intake and Cancer Risk: A Review of the In Vitro and in Vivo Data." Nutrition & Cancer 21(2) (1994): 113-131. Steele, Vernon E., et al. "Nonisoflavone Soybean Anticarcinogens." The Journal of Nutrition 125 (1995) 713S-716S.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Professional Boundaries Essay example -- Health, Nursing, Medical Dire

Introduction Nurses frequently work in situations where the boundaries of the nurses are being tested. Their respond to these â€Å"tests† is a matter of nurses and professional integrity, by virtue of the power inherent in their professional role are expected to do the right thing even it is not always clear what â€Å"doing the right thing† might look like. Similar to the fence around one’s yard or the walls around one’s house, metaphorically boundaries mark the parameters of the professional role. (Baron, 2001; Wysoker, 2000). According to Holder & Schenthal (2007), a broad definition of professional boundaries is the â€Å"limit which protects the space between the professional’s power and the patient’s vulnerability†. Professional boundaries are the spaces between nurses and patients, nurses and doctors or even nurses with others multi inter professional health worker. The power of the nurses comes from the professional position, increase of knowledge, advance of role and accountability. Establishing boundaries allow the nurse to control this power differential and allows the safe connection in other to meet patient needs. The government policy makers shown that nursing service are provided and to affect the career pathways and education. The policies are impacting on professional roles and boundaries in health care service. Nurses are becoming more individually on their own practice and they have been at the vanguard of new role development. The nursing profession has also been challenges by advances technology in health care. By becoming more knowledgeable about policy, legal and ethical standard decision-making, nurses can conquer these challenges. The demand of policy, legal and ethical standard would promote greater knowledge, acco... ...ere taken to protect nurses. Common practice here is medical directive. Medical directive means a medical instruction given to paramedic regarding medical management or procedure to perform to patient. The document should include the procedures approved that can be performed by nurse and endorse by the head of department. These documents also have to audit frequently to ensure it is updated and relevant with the current situation and demands. As conclusion, crossing a professional boundaries bring a lots of benefits and weaknesses. However, nurses must remember they are nurses all the time thus it is vital to seek advice early when problem around professional boundaries arise and as for the medical profession, they have to value nurse’s knowledge and expertise in order to shares experience, knowledge and skills for future development of healthcare practitioner.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Best Buy Co., Inc. Customer-Centricity Essay

The consumer electronics giant, Best Buy, was first established in 1966 with a single location and a staff of three in St. Paul, Minnesota, selling audio equipment targeted at 18-25 year old males. Initially Sound of Music/Best Buy grew through acquisition, expanding to nine locations in the Twin Cities area by 1978. The name, Best Buy, and expanded product line, ranging from audio and video equipment to large appliances, were a result of a â€Å"best buy† sale of damaged inventory at bargain prices in 1981. In the mid-1980s, Best Buy launched superstores similar to those of their main competitor, Circuit City and expanded by 15 stores between 1985-86. In 1989, Best Buy launched itself as a self-service, value-store staffed with a salaried sales force to provide a no-pressure shopping experience. This approach resulted in Best Buy becoming the second largest electronics retailer. By 1995, Best Buy was opening an average of 35 new stores annually and in 2000, the retailer respo nded to the market by launching BestBuy.com. Best Buy attributes some of their success to their SOP, standard operating platform, which is a 200 page â€Å"how to† manual for nearly every feasible store situation ranging from product sales and service to inventory management. The purpose of the SOP was to train the sales force and promote uniformity across the organization. In addition to the SOP, Best Buy’s skillful merchandising and marketing, along with their sales force (â€Å"Blue Shirts†) are credited with the success of the retailer. Blue Shirts received extensive training and enjoyed a unique and rewarding corporate culture, with part-time associates making $8.00 per hour and full-time employees earning $20.00. Sales associates often received public recognition for strong performance in addition to immediate rewards such as restaurant vouchers. Supervisors were also incentivized based on annual department and store performance. Starting store managers in mid-size stores were compensated with salaries between $50,000 and $150,000. The success resulting from these practices did not go unnoticed by competitors such as Wal-Mart and Dell, who imitated many of Best Buy’s strategies and stole well trained Blue Shirts. Best Buy continued their growth by opening new stores and through the acquisition of various competitors through the U.S. and reaching into Canada, with the acquisition of Future Shop Ltd. in 2002. By November 1995, Best Buy operated 796 Best Buy stores plus 20 Magnolia Audio Video stores in the U.S. and 162 Best Buy owned stores in Canada (978 stores, not including Geek Squad outlets). In contrast, Circuit City operated over 600 stores in the U.S. and Canada around the same time, however, Best Buy managed to double the sales per square foot of their main competitor. With nearly 1600 stores between the two main players in the electronics market, the market is nearing saturation and growth will have to be achieved by a means other than new store openings. Best Buy’s pre-centricity model was easy for competitors to imitate and encroach on Best Buy’s market share. Best buy borrowed the superstore concept from Circuit City and Circuit City mirrored Best Buy’s staffing model and merchandising decisions. Low prices and a wide selection are hardly inimitable characteristics. While wide selection and expansive product offerings at discount prices (due to volume purchases) may be difficult for new entrants to copy, it is a minor/temporary barrier to entry with the introduction of the internet. Best Buy’s CEO, Brad Anderson, joined the company in 1973 when he joined the staff of three at the then single, Sound of Music, location. A music buff addicted to sales, with his long tenure with company and in the industry seems like the logical choice to lead the company to even greater success as CEO. Prior to becoming CEO in 2002, Anderson had spent 11 years as President and COO of Best Buy. Like most industries, it seems electronics consumers were prone to change as products evolved, so did the end-users and their buying habits. Best Buy had a history of being able to adapt to the changing markets and their ability to do so contributed to their success (i.e. the vastly expanded product line, evolution to superstores, expansion, acquisition, converting from commission to salaried sales force.). The perception that customers were focusing less on the technical aspect of products and redirecting their attention to service and support, led to Anderson’s custom-centricity initiative. This transition and the rollout of 144 new â€Å"centricity† Best Buy stores was being blamed for the company missing third quarter earnings in 2005, resulting in a 12% decline in stock value and a loss of nearly $2B in market capitalization. Did Anderson perform the proper strategic market planning analysis before selecting and implementing the centricity initiative? Assess the need for a change in Best Buy’s strategy when Brand Anderson became CEO. If the centricity concept is being blamed for not meeting earnings and the decline in Best Buy’s stock price and market capitalization, the question becomes was there a need for this change to the company’s strategy, was the strategy poorly implemented, was there a delayed market response to the change, or was the launch an overly aggressive action of a newly appointed CEO? The Best Buy leadership team first needed to evaluate whether there truly was a need for a (drastic) change and if so, was centricity the appropriate response to the market. The electronics industry and retail in general is cyclical and while Best Buy needs to be proactive and receptive to market changes, it is not uncommon for the industry to experience temporary contractions that would not require (costly and risky) restructuring of the company’s value proposition. Granted, Best Buy’s one style fits all approach may have been too broad and unrealistic for the long-term. Ignoring the signs that the market was changing or a delayed reaction to those changes could be more costly or even fatal than centricity and the alleged result on earnings and stock price. There are several approaches for Best Buy to evaluate this situation, the most desirable of which might be the Structure-Conduct-Performance-Paradigm. I will provide somewhat of a Resource Based View (listing a few marketing resources) and mention some of their Dynamic Capabilities, as provided in the case. Best Buy should fist consider their resources and the strengths that have made them successful in the past. While the past is not always indicative of the future, a historical perspective will provide some insight as to not only what has worked in the past, but how the company was able to implement various strategies to learn from their successes and failures. Historically, Best Buy has utilized their knowledge resources well. Their rapid growth and success would imply a strong customer and competitor knowledge. Overall, the Best Buy reputation, as the place to get brand name electronics at discount prices with just the right amount of customer service, has proven to be a positive reputational resource. Blue Shirts are a (human) resource that should not be overlooked; retention is crucial, as training is costly. Blue Shirts are a valuable (informational) resource to gain insight into what customers â€Å"really want,† as sales associates have the most direct customer interaction. Extracting this information from sales associates is a cost effective approach to assess the market before implementing major changes, such as centricity. Best Buy’s unique culture and structure are organizational resources that distinguish the company from the competition and support (non-managerial) employee retention. While supplier relationships are clearly a solid relational resource, customer relationships are somewhat of a gray area for Best Buy, as many customers are not loyal and often buy through various channels. Best Buy has responded to trend by launching their Reward Zone program to incentivize return customers and as a source to gain customer knowledge. An obvious physical resource of Best Buy is its number of stores, which results in volume purchases, allowing the company to sell brand name merchandise to customers at discount prices. In contrast, an operation of this size with nearly 1000 stores and 120,000 employees incurs significant overhead costs (a potential weakness and often the first resources to be cut in an effort to reduce expenses). Many of the aforementioned resources are imitable in some way or another. For example, employees can be trained or Blue Shirts poached or the competition could open more stores and purchase more inventory, strengthening their relationships with suppliers and pass along the resulting volume discounts to customers. A resource based view would indicate that while these are valuable resources to Best Buy, they (along with many of the company’s resources and capabilities) are substitutable (i.e. suppliers can be interchanged) and imitable by the competition. In response, Best Buy strives to not only offer the customer similar products and attributes as the competition, but to find a way to do so that provides a sustainable advantage. What makes Best Buy superior to its rivals? This requires a constant assessment of Best Buy’s marketing capabilities and this need to differentiate might explain Anderson’s drastic centricity approach. Pricing management is a complicated marketing capability at Best Buy with new technology products being constantly introduced, while others are becoming obsolete. It seems Best Buy excels in the selling and channel management marketing capabilities, with their ability to attract and retain knowledgeable sales associates and to maintain ongoing relationships with key suppliers. The likely and often misused approach would be for the organization to perform a current SWOT analysis to consider their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I have already listed a few of Best Buy’s strengths (size, supplier relationships, Blue Shirts). Additionally, Best Buy has a history of evolving in response to the changing market and applying various innovative concepts in response. The ability to foresee or quickly assess and respond to market change seems to be a strength of the retailer. While extensive product offerings are a strength of Best Buy, having a significant inventory of products that rapidly become outdated is a necessary weakness of being an electronics retailer; finding a way to manage this would be a significant opportunity. Accordingly, keeping up with rapidly changing products and customer interests are a threat of Best Buy any technology retailer. Anderson is exploring the opportunities component of the analysis when he and his team identified and pursued the following initiatives: â€Å"customer centricity, efficient enterprise, win with service, and win in entertainment,† ultimately selecting on customer centricity. A few obvious threats to be considered are competitors such as Wal-Mart, Circuit City, and Amazon, as well as the ever changing electronics market. Not keeping up with the latest trend, product, or channel could be fatal and explains why Anderson and his team concluded the need to focus on customer centricity, which he felt was a proactive response to the shopping experience that customers were seeking going forward. What does the Customer-Centricity strategy imply and how is it different from a strategy of simply providing great service? The Customer-Centricity strategy implies that Best Buy knows their customers well and that only a few sub-segments are profitable enough to merit an increased level of service and attention. This increased focus on these target segments or fewer/more profitable clients and the assumption that catering to these customers will result in solution purchases is the foundation of Anderson’s initiative. The concept seems to do very little to increase sales to the groups outside of the target segment(s) and seemingly does not consider the untapped potential of these customers. This approach is in contrast to the concept of trying to be â€Å"everything to everyone† or â€Å"one style fits all.† Centricity was an effort to meet customer individual needs while still maintaining the chain’s broad focus. The idea of centricity was based on research that had found many of Best Buy’s customers were leaving dissatisfied and that roughly 20% of customer visits were unprofitable. It was an effort to revamp the store’s value proposition, which was a deviation from their previous winning formula and questionably a step a in a different direction from a core competency. Instead of the â€Å"one style fits all† approach which admittedly would leave some customers dissatisfied, while attempting to cater to the masses, Best Buy’s approach to centricity involved focusing on only one or two distinct customer segments at each store, which also required a new set of segment leaders. This approach was also a focus on Best Buy’s most profitable segments in an effort to deter their unprofitable shoppers. Best Buy could have expanded their customer service efforts, while still maintaining the â€Å"one style fits all† concept through a far less radical change than centricity required. This would seem to be the logical choice and would have relied more on the strengths that made Best Buy great. With the market nearing saturation due to the number of stores, the focus became to sell more to existing customers (versus adding stores to acquire new ones) based on a better understanding of customers’ requirements and â€Å"lavishing them with attention, service, and know how.† This would have been attainable by tweaking Best Buy’s current strategy. Both approaches would involve collecting and analyzing customer data and creating an appropriate action plan based on the findings. One aspect of the change was to â€Å"encourage employees to think and behave as owners and engage with customers to meet their unique needs.† This is one way to provide great service and obtainable outside of the centricity strategy. The objectives of building loyalty with profitable segments and leveraging the company’s existing assets, is not unique to centricity and could have been achieved by providing great customer service to all customers, while focusing on those that are more profitable. Both options involve customer research and additional training of sales associates; it would seem not implementing centricity, which required revamping the store format, new processes, and risked isolating some segments would be the more cost effective method to address the expected shift in the market. Best Buy assumed that their customers were comprised of 5 major segments, who combined accounted for 50%-90% of total revenue. These 5 segments were identified by shoppers’ demographics, behaviors, and attitudes, then assigned a name (Barry, Buzz, Jill, Ray, or BB4B (small businesses with less than 20 employees)) and assigned a segment leader focused on deeply understanding their segment’s shopping behavior and attitude. The case states â€Å"the idea behind customer-centricity was to become the customer’s â€Å"smart friend† and provide a â€Å"complete solution.† While being a trusted advisor to customers and working to sell bundles of products is a logical response to the changing customer orientation, this could have been achieved by less drastic means than those used to implement Anderson’s centricity. This concept seems to center around Best Buy’s market orientation, specifically the increasing customer benefits component, as Be st Buy already cannot take much action to further decrease the buyer’s costs. The introduction of Reward Zone was a step in the right direction for the centricity initiative. The benefits of the reward program were multifaceted; providing additional customer data as well as incentivizing current customers to be repeat customers and to make additional purchases. This is one means by which to help Best Buy achieve a SCA, however, many competitors offered similar programs. It is unclear whether Best Buy directed much, if any attention on their competitor orientation. In addition to gathering and analyzing customer data, it is advisable for the company to consider the strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and capabilities of their competitors. Anderson’s centricity plan does not appear to consider competitor orientation and focuses solely on a few select target segments. Keeping with the market orientation research, Best Buy already uses low costs as a source of competitive advantage and they are hoping that centricity will be a source of differentiation, however, competitor orientation is critical to the success of such an initiative. Customer-Centricity has many similarities to simply providing an increased level of customer service. The most significant difference is the focus on the chain’s most profitable segments, specific to each store and complicated testing and implementation process that was chosen for the launch. Both concepts could be used to move toward solution selling and the â€Å"smart friend† concept. Centricity and improved customer service could involve empowering managers and encouraging employees to think and behave as owners. Centricity was a drastic way to improve customer service, which resulted in some pilot stores reporting double the performance gains of other U.S. locations. There were many benefits that resulted from Anderson’s strategy such as reward zone and Geek Squad, which complimented the goal of providing a solution by adding a service component that Best Buy did not previously provide. Geek Squad was also a means by which to suggest a solution sale as well as it placed the retailer in the customer’s home or business, further strengthening the relationship with customer and providing the opportunity for addition recommendations and referrals when the â€Å"Geek† was onsite. The scientific approach that was used in the implementation of centricity was unique to the strategy, but in many ways could have been applied to multiple approaches to improve the customer experience. Centricity was ultimately a differentiation strategy used in hopes of being difficult for competitors to imitate. When Anderson launched centricity, he clearly realized that long term survival is more important than short-term profits. If nothing else the st rategy is rare and difficult to imitate. How was the new Customer-Centricity strategy implemented? What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy’s implementation as described in the case? The Customer-Centricity strategy was first introduced in 12 laboratory stores, then 32 pilot stores (most of which were in California), then introduced to 110 addition stores after some pilot stores reported performance gains double some comparable U.S. stores. Deviating from the clearly defined SOP, associates were now trained to approach problems using a scientific method involving the creating of a hypothesis regarding the customer, testing it, and analyzing the results. If the hypothesis was substantiated, it could be tested in other stores, and ultimately become a general recommendation throughout the organization. This was concept of centricity that empowered associates and increased innovation from within, which is a strength of the new strategy. In contrast, the SOP was created to promote uniformity across the organization; this scientific component of centricity is a deviation from the uniform concept(s) that had been attributed to the company’s success. The resulting confusion in practices and procedures, while they may ultimately lead to a positive outcome and greater innovation, could be viewed as a weakness of the strategy (at least during the transition period). The additional responsibilities placed on managers and staff, were a struggle and weakness. Employees who had previously been given guidelines for most any issue were now being given the freedom to develop and test their own responses, however, they were held accountable for the resulting outcomes. It was now up to the store manager to execute the value proposition. GMs were expected to lead by example, in light of the increased responsibility. The new processes were stated to take â€Å"five times more time† and while the resulting innovation is good, the extra effort required resulting in a turnover rate of two-thirds among GMs and an expectation among associates to be compensated for their extra effort. However the ability for associates to tailor responses to individual customer situations, should ultimately improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased profits. The entire focus of centricity is to increase customer satisfaction and improve retention, as acquisition is becoming increasingly difficult. This realization and reaction is itself if a response to the changing market, which is a strength of the organization. The empowerment of employees will result in exceeding customer’s initial expectations, as they are not accustomed to individualized solutions. This is another strength of centricity and how it was implemented. I question why the majority of the initial 32 pilot stores were in California and why only top performing stores were selected for centricity conversion. It would seem focusing on a single geographic region would generate findings based on an isolated group of similar customers. Marketing studies suggest that in order to increase confidence, research must be replicated in diverse environments over time. This does not appear to be the approach with the testing of centricity at Best Buy and could be viewed as a weakness. I further question the decision to launch the concept in only top performing stores. It makes sense to test the strategy in some top performing stores to see if their performance improves further; it does not make sense to risk a large number of top performing locations with an unproven theory that could negatively impact their performance. It seems logical to use the profits from top performing sites to offset some of the potential losses that are typical with the ramp up period of any significant launch or change. If a store is a top performer, I would first analyze what contributing factors make those stores top performers, be it location, management, or customer interactions, etc. to see if these points of differentiation could be applied to other locations to improve the performance of lesser stores, before revamping how the most successful locations achieve their success. There are many strengths and weakness of centricity and how Best Buy chose to implement it, the reality is that it is a long-term approach, which typically result in short term struggles and reduced profits. How would you resolve the tension between the three parts of the organization (merchandizing, stores, and segments)? Is the notion of a three-legged stool viable? Can Best Buy sustain its competitiveness with P&L responsibilities residing with three different organizations? The new strategy forced collaboration among groups that had not previously collaborated. It increased responsibility and accountability, while taking away control from groups that were accustomed to being in power. Shifting focus from a wide segment to a particular customer’s needs was a new concept requiring different resources. Segment organizations were now held accountable to deliver incremental growth. As a result of all these changes, the various parts of the organization felt â€Å"completely handcuffed.† As the previous sections indicate, higher gross profit margins could not compensate for the conversion costs of the changes being implemented. While the goal may have been to â€Å"have everybody feel like they’re part of the same story,† making three parts of the organization responsible for their individualize P&L only added to the tension. I do not dispute that the organizations should monitory P&L and be held accountable, but when the success of the organization is the common goal, they should be working together to improve the overall P&L of the organization. This approach made it unclear which part owned customer insight and who should report to whom and how they should work together. Clarifying these gray areas of ownership and responsibility are the first step in resolving the tension among the groups. The current practices promote confusion and tension. A uniformed approach would be optimal. In a retail organization, such as Best Buy, merchandizing, stores, and segments, are all critical to success. In varying situations, one â€Å"leg of the stool† may receive greater attention or responsibility, but that is typically for the advancement of the organization as a whole or to offset some of the focus of another part of the organization. All three legs are necessary for Best Buy to properly deliver their value proposition and all three are necessary to help management implement the marketing strategy. Merchandizing, stores, and segments are all part of Best Buy’s marketing mix. Merchandising and segments contribute to stores, but all are intertwined. The individualized P&L structure and scorecard assessment add to the tension and switch the weight placed on each leg, but without a leg or if one leg gets too weak (not enough focus), the stool (entire organization) could collapse. As new products are suggested and tested, this changes the (buying and selling) processes, causing merchandising to be more reactionary than they were accustomed to being in the past, shifting the weight from one leg to another, but not reducing the importance of that organization. The absence of any one particular group or attribute could be detrimental to the organization as a whole. While each piece is interdependent and critical to the whole and policies should be designed accordingly. The realization that each piece contains and shapes the other will result in policies that help to reduce the tension between varying parts of the organization. While Best Buy is focusing on the customer and tailoring products and services to meet their needs a reflection on internal practices and satisfaction would be helpful and achieving those goals and should be considered, tested, and adjusted as well. It will difficult for Best Buy to sustain its competitiveness with P&L responsibilities residing with three different organizations. As mentioned in the prior to sections, this practices ad tension to the organization, which is not good toward long-term success, and causes undue competition among the various organizations. Merchandizing is encouraged to improve their P&L, this may come at the price of a negative impact on the store’s P&L. This is the result of collaboration and reduces the competitive advantage of the overall organization. Centricity involves significant and complex changes, which both help and hinder the marketing strategy implementation. The success of the change will require the cooperation of all groups within the organization, especially merchandizing, stores, and segments. Having policies and practices in place that discourage cooperation within the organization by holding complimentary groups accountable for separate measurements does not help Best Buy (or any organization) create synergies leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. The degree of alignment in itself is an implementation driver and contrasting accountability measures do not lead to alignment of goals. Best Buy experiences enough competitive rivalry in the marketplace without encouraging it internally among organizations. Best Buy is clearly a marketing organization and contributing factors of success are: â€Å"all the components of marketing organization fit together †¦ in a way that simultaneously fits with the requirements of the firm’s strategy †¦ while also matching the needs of the marketplace.† Centricity is Anderson’s strategy to match the needs of the marketplace; the changing strategy requires some changes in various aspects of the company (including merchandizing, stores, and segments), however, it is still a requirement that they fit together, like the legs of a stool. I question if the continuation of separate P&Ls are the optimal way to maintain the fit and cooperation that is necessary for the success of a marketing organization. This seems contradictory to fit and is obviously a source of tension. How long before this becomes apparent and reveals itself to the marketplace; what effect with this have on stock price and market capitalization? In order for centricity to be successful, Best Buy must alter their resource deployments to conform to their strategy changes to achieve the intended goal(s) vs. creating practices that foster tension without any long-term benefit. Granted, it is a tradeoff to fit the strategy to the structure or the structure to the strategy, which is complicated by the complexity of the organization. It is a requirement that they match their resources to their capabilities to their strategy and to market conditions. I hope that I have provided a few suggestions on how they could go about achieving this goal. While I have questioned many aspects of centricity and its implementation, it was obviously a success as unlike Circuit City; Best Buy still exists today (although they continue to struggle due to short product life cycle and the ever changing technology market).