Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Of losing families and conquering one’s fears Essay

Jamal Wallace made a very important point in the movie just about before the movie ended: †¦and what’s the reason in having a file cabinet full of writing and keeping the shit locked so nobody can read it? What is that man? I’m done with this shit! – Wallace, Finding Forrester The movie is about a young African-American student who is very smart but does not have any focus in his life, particularly, in his academic studies. He was noticed by an elite school, The Mailer-Callow School, when he scored very high in a standardized test across the state of New York. He was offered a scholarship by Mailer-Callow provided that he will play basketball in the school’s basketball varsity team. It was also about this period when he accidentally met William Forrester (whose identity Wallace only found out later) and has since then became his writing mentor. Forrester has detached himself from the society after writing a Pulitzer-winning novel, The Avalon Landing. No one knew the reason why Forrester has gone dark. The two characters became friends and have started to experience change that could not have been possible without each other. Wallace became a personality in the school because of his natural talent in basketball and more importantly, his unexplainable gift in writing. And because the gift cannot be explained, a certain professor, Crawford, somehow was challenged. Crawford and Wallace had a conflict when Wallace tried to stand up and protect his classmate from the intimidating Crawford. The argumentation ended up with Wallace being an enemy of Crawford. The conflict of the story was made more obvious at the end of the movie when Wallace and Forrester had an argument on whether Forrester should go to Jamal’s school for the latter not to be accused of academic fraud – plagiarism. Wallace submitted an article with a sub-title similar to what Forrester has already published before. The only way for Wallace not to be implicated is for Forrester to get out, present himself in the academic board in Wallace’s school (or write a letter), and tell them, that he authorized Wallace to used his words. Wallace has secluded himself for years and he was not about to open up that easily to the society just because of a certain boy stupid enough to break his rule (the essay that Wallace has submitted is an essay Wallace wrote inside Forrester’s house – Forrester and Wallace had an agreement that anything written inside that place will not get out of there). Clearly, the movie’s conflict is more than just Forrester’s â€Å"power† to save Wallace from academic doom. The movie is about the two characters overcoming their fears. In the case of Wallace, he needs to get rid of his racial bias†¦ to get out of the mindset that everything is about the elite and the underdogs. Forrester, on the other hand, has to conquer his fears of developing new friends, new companionships. Forrester is not angry at the society. He is, more than that, afraid that he might, again, lose people that are close to him, people that he has learned to love. The movie showed us how everyone, no matter how satisfied and happy they might seem, have their own fears and discontentment. It seems that more than just Wallace finding Forrester, as his mentor, as his friend, the movie has successfully showed how Forrester found Wallace – a new friend that made him overcome everything that he has tried to avoid and to run away from. The movie Finding Forrester is not just about losing families and finding new ones. It is about fighting your own self, and in the process, finding the new you.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Riba & Its Types

Riba' The word â€Å"Riba† means excess, increase or addition, which correctly interpreted according to Shariah terminology, implies any excess compensation without due consideration (consideration does not include time value of money). Types of Riba: 1. Riba' AnNisi'ah: This is the stipulated interest which the lender takes from the borrower in consideration of the time given to the borrower to pay back the capital. It is HARAM based on the Quran and the Sunnah and the consensus of Muslim scholars. . Riba' Al Fadl:   This applies to barter (exchanging one commodity for another), where   commodities of the same type are exchanged in unequal amounts, especially the exchange of precious metals and foodstuffs, it is HARAM, by the Sunnah and the concensus of scholars; as it paves the way for Riba' nNasi'ah. Numerous ahadith have demonstrated the prohibition with regard to gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates, and salt. The Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wa sellem said, â€Å"Gold for gold, and silver for silver, and wheat for wheat, and barley for barley, and dates for dates, and salt for salt, like for like, equal for equal, from hand to hand (the transaction must be completed before the two sides leave each other). But if the types are different then sell as you wish, as long as it is hand to hand. †Ã‚   (Muslim) The Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wa sellem also said, â€Å"Whoever gives more or asks for more (than what he gave) commits an act of Riba', the given and the taken are equivalent (in the sin). (Muslim) The Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wa sellem said, â€Å"Prohibited selling food (of the same variety) except equivalent in weight and hand to hand. † (Muslim) â€Å"Do not sell gold for gold unless equivalent in weight (and from hand to hand), and do not sell less amount for greater amount or vice versa, and do not sell silver for silver unless equivalent in we ight (and from hand to hand), and do not sell less amount for greater amount or vice versa and do not sell gold or silver that is not present at the moment of exchange for gold or silver that is present. †Ã‚   (agreed upon) To lend a bank money or borrow from it on the condition of a payment of a fixed annual or monthly percentage rate of interest, say 2%, or more or less, is a form of PROHIBITED RIBA'. â€Å"†¦ whereas Allah has permitted trading and forbidden Riba' (usury)†¦ †Ã‚   2:275 Poverty isn't an excuse for Riba'. Mudaraba: which is a form of partnership where one person invests money and the other invests his skill and effort, and they share the profit or loss of the enterprise, so Islam did not impose any hardship on the people (by prohibiting Riba') but rather it provided them with a viable alternative to it, among them are the following: . Qard Hasan (a beautiful loan): Istead of a Muslim loaning his money on interest which causes pollution and blight on all his property and oppresses the borrower, Islam encourages him to make the loan Qard Hasan, and promised him a gracious reward for it;   Allah said, â€Å"Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan so that Her ma y multiply it to him many times? †Ã‚   2:245 2. Giving an extension to a person who cannot repay the loan on time because of financial difficulty, until he gets back on his feet. And Islam encourages the lender to forgive the loan altogether in this circumstance;   Allah said, â€Å"And if the debtor is in a hard time (has no money), then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay, but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know. † 2:280 3. Mutual Aid by all means: This encompasses mutual aid on a social level, in industry and in agriculture, and social security by financing farmers and industrialists and craftsmen in order to enable them to produce effectively. This returns a benefit to the whole Ummah. Also, opening schools and buidling hospitals and homes for the elderly and the incapacitated and all other items alike fall under the mutual aid mentioned in the verse†¦ â€Å"†¦ help you one another in Al Birr and atTaqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety);†¦ †Ã‚   5:2                    The society which realizes these means will proceed, in the shade of this comprehensive mutual aid, happily and far removed from the distress of Riba'. . We should not forget the payment of Zakat to those who deserve it. This will have a major impact on getting rid of Riba'. BEWARE:   from putting your money in a *nonIslamic bank*. Even if you don't take interest on it, the bank takes your money and loans it out to gain interest. So you are helping the Riba' system, and are indirectly responsible and beware from taking loans from those banks.

The Brave One Essay

Movie: The Brave One Actress: Jody Foster playing Erica Bane In The Brave One, Jody Foster plays Erica Bane she is the host of a radio show call Streetwalk. The movie starts out showing her happy. She is planning her wedding, picking out colors for invitations. She attends a friend's art show. He fiance show up to surprise her after he says he can't come. They walk home together arm in arm. They then get their German Shepard, Curtis, and take him for a walk in the park. They throw a ball and Curtis runs into a tunnel to go get it but doesn't return.After a few minutes they go to look for him. In the tunnel there are two mean with a video camera and they are holding their dog. Erica and her husband ask for the dog back but they two men start to taunt them. They grab at her and begin to hit them both very violently. They beat them with a metal pipe and all the time they are video taping and the dog is barking. Erica wakes up in the hospital where they tell her that her fiance is dead a nd they have already buried him. She has been out for several days. There are detectives at the hospital viewing a body of a murder victim.They talk to the dead woman daughter who is in the waiting room and her step father shows up. The detectives ask Erica to look at some mug shot and what she can remember but it hard for her to talk about and she doesn't remember much. She returns home and starts having flashbacks of the attack. She wakes up in the middle of the night and takes some kind of pills. A friend calls on the answering machine and asks to take her out to do something but she just ignores the call. When she leaves the apartment, I child on a skate board startles her and she seems agitated.Erica then goes to the police station to see about her case and she is told to wait. After a while she leaves and you get the sense that she feels helpless. She goes and tries to buy a gun. The man at the store tells her that there is a thirty day waiting period. To this she replies that she won't survive thirty days. She gets a gun from some man and he teaches her how to use it. She starts smoking. The detective from the hospital is trying to keep the little girl away from her step father because he is trying to make a case against him and think that he killed the little girls mother because she was going to testify against him.A little later in the movie Erica is in a store and the clerk gets shot. She is in the back and the shooter didn't know she was there until her phone rang. He looked for her and she shot him before he could shoot her. She is also having trouble at work and talks on her show about how she fears New York, the city she once loved, and wonders if she will ever be the person she once was. She is riding the subway and some men start to harass another passenger. He gets off but she stays in her seat. They then start to harass her and she shoots them also.She notices that her hands aren't shaking anymore. She knows what she is doing is wrong and th at she didn't have to shoot them. She returns to the scene after police have arrived and she talks to the detective telling him that she is interviewing him for her show. He recognizes her from the hospital. The police come up with a vigilante theory. Erica becomes friends with the detective and she does a piece for her show about him. She walks alone at night almost seeming to look for trouble and finds herself in a few more situations where she kills people who mean to harm her or someone else.During this time she has become close friends with the detective and he kinda suspects that it might be her committing these crimes. He tells her that they found a ring that was stolen from her during her attack and she looks for the men following a lead from the pawn shop where he ring was found. She finds them and kills them. The detective responds to the shots and he finds her there. He tells her to take the dead man's gun and shoot him in the shoulder and get out of there. He doesn't tur n her in. She gets her dog and the movie ends.I think that Erica Bane has Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. From my lecture notes someone most present at least one thing from each of the following categories. 1. A life threatening event 2. A response the event-helplessness or fear, recurring thoughts about the event or flashbacks, or nightmares 3. Avoidance- problems with memory, decreased interest in activity, foreshortened future, a decrease in affect, and or a detachment from other people through derealization, depersonalization, or dissociation 4.Physical symptoms of arousal such as sleep problems, irritably/anger, problems concentrating, exaggerated startle response, and or hypervigalence Erica's symptoms: -Life threatening event- being attacked and having her fiance killed -She avoids talking about what has happened with the cops saying that its hard for her to talk about -After returning home and throughout the movie she has flashbacks of her attack -She has trouble sleeping an d is taking some type of medicine when she wakes in the night -She doesn't answer calls from friends who want to do things with her -She spooks easily, kid on skate board She buys a gun saying that she has to have it now that she won't survive 30 days -She starts smoking and when a neighbor tells her that it will kill her she says that she doesn't care -She says that she feels like there is a stranger inside her -She has problems at work -Goes out walking the streets alone at night looking for trouble putting herself in more danger

Monday, July 29, 2019

Introduction of Thesis Dignity in Elderly Care Essay

Introduction of Thesis Dignity in Elderly Care - Essay Example experienced throughout the past years, as well as failure of will, which once engrained within the mentality and daily attitudes of the elderly, tends to persist till their very death. The media both local and foreign has depicted on diverse occasions, the scrupulous levels of neglect and abuse that the elderly may experience at times within the health care systems (Mark et al., 1998); while often there are also reports of direct killings of the elderly patients perpetuated by their caregivers (Wainwright, 2008). in this context, The World Health Organisation defines the term â€Å"Elder Abuse† act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person† (WHO, 2011). This abuse can take place in three different ways: psychological/ emotional abuse, physical abuse, financial abuse, and sexual abuse. The basic notions of human dignity were first conceived within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) that states in its preamble â€Å"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† (UNDHR, 1948). Based on this guiding principle, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states in its first article, â€Å"human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected,† thus, proclaiming that dignity in an integral part of all human existence, and human dignity must always be upheld. Article 3 of the Charter focuses on physical and mental integrity, whilst article 4 focuses on the protection against inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 25 focuses on â€Å"the right of the elderly to lead a life of dignity and... All forms of undertaken research work consist of a fixed procedure, which is made up of a series of varying enquiries on the selected issue/ problem that are systemic in nature. These systemic enquires enable the research scholar, to imbibe new knowledge on that particular theme. This thesis paper will comprise of both primary and secondary work, though the primary nature of the research work carried out in this paper is secondary research, defined as â€Å"analyzing [the] already collected data within another study† (Sarantakos, 2005, 297). Secondary researches generally involve a detailed study of all the available data, which is perceived as necessary, owing to the fact that often ‘a wealth of data’ that has been collected for various other non-research objectives, can also be used quite effectively to answer one’s questions in a research paper. Secondary research work generally creates a broader perspective for the concerned researcher to study and coll ect a large number of required data from various resources. The research process methodology as followed for this paper is based on the outline given by Graziano & Raulin, in their paper.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Business Statistics and Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Statistics and Application - Essay Example We need to find product of p-value and standard deviation that yields $200. Hence, ii. We need to assume that the observations are normally distributed. In addition, normal distribution is to satisfy seven requirements: (1) the graph should be bell shaped curve; (2) mean, median and mode are all equal; (3) mean, median and mode are located at the center of the distribution; (4) it has only one mode, (5) it is symmetric about mean, (6) it is a continuous function; (6) it never touches x-axis; and (7) the area under curve equals one. ii. The sample is consistent with the company’s data if and only if the policy’s time is within the sample’s control limit. Since 120 seconds is within the control limit, then the 30 days’ data is consistent with the policy. f. The toothbrush that has the best performance to price ratio is Durodont Multituft. This brand of toothbrush registered the highest performance to price ratio of 51 (performance is 51, price is %1). The worst is Oral-B Spring Ideal which charges the highest price of 4.95 but garnered a low score of 59. g. I would likely recommended Mascleans Flex Direct for consumers who want the maximum comfort and has adequate amount of money to afford the high price. The brand has a price of 3.96 but also has a high performance rating of 83%. For price sensitive consumers which wants the best value for their money, I will recommend Durodont Multituft which has the best performance to price ratio. For the average consumer, I will recommend Farmland Adult with a low price of $1.95 and performance rating of 69%. To compute for the seasonal index, we compute for the ratio of values to moving average. Afterwards, the ratio is averaged for the values during the quarter. Since there is only one value, it also serves as the quarterly seasonal index. The seasonal factor is computed as the geometric mean of the quarterly indices. The values are shown in the following table. 7. a. Simple random sampling

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Cryogenic system, gas separation and liquifaction Research Paper

Cryogenic system, gas separation and liquifaction - Research Paper Example It is used in the production of gases like O2, N2, Argon, Neon, Krypton, and Xenon. Cryogenic separation has proved to be economical, increases the difference in the boiling points of constituents, process takes up large quantities and achieving purity of gases is tenable. Cryogens like LOX, LH2 are used in rocket propulsion while LH2 is being considered for automobile (Flynn, 2005). LN2 is used as a coolant in cryogenic systems as well as gas refrigeration in cases where low-temperature gases are required. Refrigeration makes use of the principle of heat change in the system, which is equal to the total internal energies (U) and the work (W); . It makes of the first and second Law of thermodynamics. Cryogenic systems are closed cycle systems comprised of the compressor, liquid containers, expander, and heat exchanger. Analysis of cryogenic process follows the Joule-Thompson expansion, which is an isenthalpic expansion process;  (Barron, 1985). The systems are engineered to obey Laws of physics from the field of thermodynamics, heat transfers and

Friday, July 26, 2019

Review of the journal article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Review of the journal article - Essay Example The main key points are highlighted in the summary segment. Then the essay is evaluated in details in the critique segment. Finally in conclusion segment; important points of entire report have been summarized. Many MNCs of the developed companies have many advantages like brand-value, sophisticated technologies, innovation of products and services and efficient management systems. They also have vast pool of talent and finance. Emerging companies also have many advantages over well-known MNCs. If these advantages are applied efficiently then it can prove fruitful for emerging companies. Example is India’s Tata Group have created a plan and implemented it to develop talent and raise capital. Emerging companies have the advantage to exploit on the knowledge of local product markets. They can capitalize on the advantage at home by adapting on the knowledge of the customers. To grow across the borders, emerging giants exploited the similarities on the countries that are geographically nearer. Local companies have the advantage to realize the customers’ needs and taste. Emerging markets have the advantage to capitalize on local capital markets and local talents. Therefore this can help in a cost effective manner to serve customers in local and abroad. Major example is Indian IT companies such as Wipro, Tata consultancy services, Infosys and Satyam. Institutional void should be treated as a business opportunity as it helps to enhance the credibility of the claims that are made by the sellers and facilitate the flow of information. It also enables to facilitate transaction by creating forum or by distributing goods and services. But MNCs has an edge on intermediaries business. Despite facing bureaucratic and financial issue in the local markets companies used strategies to be successful in global market. Some of the companies exploited their advantage of knowing local talents and capital markets. Some of the companies capitalized on the advantage of

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Opinion of experinces at Commonwealth Scientific of Industrial Research Paper

Opinion of experinces at Commonwealth Scientific of Industrial Organization (CSIRO) - Research Paper Example The objective of the organization guides it toward performing certain activities. The objectives of the business in most cases are directly related to the organization’s core business activity. After going through the company’s history, I have realized that the main role of CSIRO is carrying out scientific research for Australia’s benefit and facilitating the application of the research results. Other functions include international scientific liaison, research workers training, maintenance of measurements standards, distribution of scientific and technical information and publishing scientific papers. However, the activities and products of the organization may to some extent affect the society. I believe that CIRO as a reputable organization manages its products well and engages in social responsibility. Given that nanotechnology may have a lot of implications in the future, I hope to find out from my experience in the organization what these implications will be. There are various types of businesses including sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited companies. Each of these has its advantages and disadvantages. With almost no doubt CIRO is a company. Yet again, there are various forms of partnerships that may be established at the institutional level. Organizations normally work together to achieve various goals, sometimes sharing resources and in other cases sharing knowledge. Joint ventures are, for example, established so that the companies involve benefit from each other or gain advantage where there are restrictions in case they go alone. I have learnt that CIRO engages with various organizations at different levels in the course of its duties, something that I believe is beneficial to it. I hope to establish with time which organizations CIRO engages with chiefly, and the relationships that exist between them (joint venture, partnership, research partner†¦). I believe I will appreciate these relationships

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Research Paper Thesis Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Thesis Statement - Research Paper Example e basic potential marketing needs for Toyota Company is to identify the most effective means to facilitate effective and productive expansion of the company in the modern intricate global market (Markus 2005). The understanding of the customers’ needs as well as proper utilisation of transfer market channels is some of the main market needs of Toyota Motor Corporation. The financial and economic forces in Toyota Motor Corporation are the consistent fall in the financial situation of the company and the identification of the most valuable market strategy to prosper in modern economic advancement. Moreover, for the Toyota Motor Corporation to flourish in present market, the company ought to deal with some legal and social forces that entail understanding of the existing legislation in new markets as well as adapting to changes in policies in different states and political settings. Socio-economic forces have also become a major challenge in a considerable number of multinational corporations. To achieve its long terms goals, the Toyota Motor Corporation ought to understand the socio-cultural needs of different social and cultural settings. The understanding of the competitive forces in global markets will be very essential for the success of the company. In this regard, the Toyota Motor Corporation should undertake a comprehensive analysis of all its competitors in global market to understand their economic and financial

Causal Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Causal Argument - Essay Example Causes of Pollution As noted by the US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, pollution could be caused by either human or natural processes. In environmental pollution, air pollution has been commonly reported in industrial towns. Raven, Berg and Hassenzahl (12) categorize air pollutants into gaseous and particulate pollutants. These gaseous and particulate matters get released into the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels including petroleum and coal. Such activities cause the release of both fine and coarse particles, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur compounds, radioactive substances and halogens. The main sources of this form of pollution are motor vehicles using either diesel or gasoline, rail roads, aircraft, agricultural burning and industrial processes among others (Awosanya, Sebiomo and Idiagi 612). According to Shafi (3), a combination of the effect of these processes results in the release of 91.0, 25.7, 30.2, 29.1 and 18.7 metric tons of carbon monoxide, particulate matte r, sulfur oxides, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxides respectively. Pesticides have also been noted to cause a spread of ungraded ions in the air thus possibly contaminating the air. Metallurgical industries, petroleum refineries, fertilizer and chemical industries and pulp and paper mills have been noted to contribute greatly to air pollution. They produce gaseous emissions that pollute the air. Various solid and liquid wastes pollute water. Organic and mineral wastes and industrial by-products or effluents carried into water bodies cause pollution. Furthermore, pollutants emanating from agricultural fields containing phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers eventually reach water bodies. According to Shafi (4), these pollutants deoxygenate and intoxicate the water causing a lethal or sub-lethal reaction to the micro-organisms in the water. Examples of sources of water pollution include food processing industries such as canning, brewing, refineries and dairy industries, chemical plants, oil drilling wastes, blast furnace washing, rubber production factories and research laboratories among many others. Raven, Berg and Hassenzahl (405) also note that metallic wastes like zinc, lead, copper and mercury released as effluents or wastes from industries eventually reach water bodies. These not only deteriorate the quality of water but also get deposited in the bodies of the living organisms that consume the water. Additionally, sewage effluents, organic wastes and exudates promote the life of microbes that thrive on organic matter like algae, fungi, helminthes, bacteria and viruses. These are known to cause dangerous diseases in both the flora and fauna. Lastly, pollution of the soil could result from the insanitary habits of humans or disposal of semi-solid and solid wastes. The atmospheric fall-out also causes soil pollution. The current rapid urbanization has led to limited space in which solid wastes could be deposited (Shafi 6). The disposal of these wastes on land has led to toxic materials seeping deep into the soil which affects the course of ground water. Agricultural practice has seen pesticides, manures and fertilizers introduced to lad leading to chemical and biological contamination. Wastes containing micro organisms pollute soil and could cause these micro organisms to enter into the food chain and subsequently consumed by humans. Radiation could be

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Human Relations - Conflict Resolution - MAYER Essay

Human Relations - Conflict Resolution - MAYER - Essay Example It is to be pointed out that the value of this book is more than that of a guide for conflict practitioners, but it helps an individual to withstand conflicts in future. The central issue in this book concentrates on unique perspective of conflict resolution and prevention. The book can be divided into two distinct parts, first deals with conflict, i.e. the problem, and the second part deals with resolution or solution for the problem. Three dimensions of conflict are pointed out, i.e. perception, emotion and action, and it consists of practical vision of understanding conflict. The description of the causes of conflict points out conflict resolution as a social service. Mayer points out that, people’s approach towards conflict is unpredictable because of individual difference. So, the goals and objectives of a practitioner or a mediator must focus beyond mere resolution. The foretold goals and objectives should go ahead of resolution, and it must change the ethical and moral value system of our society. Different types of conflicts are discussed like cognitive, emotional and behavioral. So the role of individuals in conflict is varied and th ey are mentioned by Mayer as-advocate, mediator, expert, arbitrator, or witness. But communication and understanding plays the prominent role in conflict resolution. The next set of ideas mentioned is that of conflict resolution. First of all, Mayer points out three dimensions of conflict resolution. He is with a different idea on mediation as method to resolve conflict. Effective and practical approaches like distributive and integrative negotiation are mentioned but the radical idea is that of confronting an impasse while negotiation. The importance of the role of mediators and their limitations are also mentioned. He further goes beyond the traditional methods of conflict resolution and it leads him to the search for alternative conflict resolution procedures. The

Monday, July 22, 2019

Literature Search Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Literature Search Worksheet Essay Select a literature search topic relevant to your practice. The topic must be sufficiently delineated in scope without being trivial. You will revisit this article in the Week Five presentation. Possible topics include but are not limited to: Non-pharmacological pain relief with childbirth Effects of shift work and fatigue on medication errors Best practices for pin site care Nurse satisfaction in magnet hospitals Accurate temperature assessment methods in neonates Pain assessment in the cognitively impaired d type II diabetes and obesity Complementary and alternative therapies for control of menopausal symptoms Best practices in nurse-led smoking cessation classes Thermoregulation in the operating room Best practices for pain assessment and management in specified area of practice Complete the table below: Which topic did you choose? Thermoregulation in the operating room Which three databases will you use? 1.EBSCO host 2.Proquest 3.Google Search each database, using key words, for relevant research on this subject. What key words did you use in the Search Strategy fields? Include all attempts and limitations used to refine your search. 1.EBSCO host- operating  room, temperature regulation 2.Proquest- Thermoregulation in the operating room 3.Google- Thermoregulation in the operating room Report the number of citations identified from each database in the number of articles found field. 1.EBSCOhost- 2 2.Proquest- 1502 3.Google- 185,000 Select one article from a peer-reviewed nursing journal published within the last three years—or a germinal article which may contain an earlier publication date—and provide the citation in APA format. Horosz, B., Malec-Milewska, M. (2013, January). Inadvertent Intraoperative Hypothermia. Anesthesiology Intensive Therapy, 45(1), 38-043. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3sid=64fddb23-3c98-455f-a30a-67ad87d009dc%40sessionmgr115hid=126 Answer the following questions using your selected research article: 1 Is this qualitative or quantitative? What is the study design? What criteria did you use to determine the study design? It is a Quantitative. In the research there are numbers that indicate temperature regulation as variables. The study tests the patient’s core body temperature in the operating room when they are under anesthesia and with controlling the room temperature during surgery. The criteria I used out of this study were to determine the study design was that numbers were used in this study. The research was using a relationship between variables, the temperature of men vs. women and also the time that the person was in the operating room in and under sedation. There was documentation done in a drop of core temperature the longer the person was sedated and in the operating room. 2 How did you confirm that the journal you selected was peer-reviewed or germinal? I determined that the journal article was peer-reviewed because I selected  peer-reviewed form the EBSCO host database and it came from a credited web base. In the publication it also states that it is peer-reviewed. 3 Does this research article generate support for evidence-based practice? If not, state why it does not. Please review the critical appraisal guideline on pg. 466-480. It does provide evidence based research, In the article it describes ways of warming to prevent hypothermia in the operating room all based on research to keeping patients with warm fluids and warm blankets and monitoring the core temperature of the patient while they are sedated.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

A history of refugees

A history of refugees According to the United Nations, a refugee is a person who flees their home country due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. From ancient to recent times, from poor areas to developed countries, refugees could be seen almost everywhere. Nowadays, although the global economy has been developing very fast, the problem of refugee still exits. With the old issues remain unsolved, the new ones also emerging, the situation of refugees did not improve a lot much. The number of refugees has kept raising and their geographical distribution has kept widening, how to find the solution to refugee problems has become a cross-century challenge for the whole world. Poverty is one of the fatal roots of the refugee problem. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in their report on the global food and agricultural situation, points out that there are still 13% of the human species on earth (about 800 million) are still starving. And the phenomenon is most serious in the African continent there were about 400 million people lack of food or clothes; Asia following Africa sees the less worst situation there are about 300 million people are still suffering from hunger all day long; And the population in Latin America who live under the poverty line reach the number of 70 million. We notice that, the number of refugees in each continent refers to a considerable proportion of the number of people suffer from starvation. The latest United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics shows that there are more than 2100 million refugees in total worldwide, of which 8.44 million in Asia, 5.33 million in Africa, 1.04 million in North Ame rica, 570 thousand in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe is home for 564 thousand refugees among whom mostly come from Africa, Asia and Latin America. In recent years, our whole world sees the continuous development of science and technology along with the global economy. However, food shortage is still a very fatal and serious problem. In a report released by Food and Agricultural Organization in March, it demonstrated that due to continuous natural disasters, there are now 60 million people living in 33 different countries are facing various degrees of food insecurity problems. The report, entitled Shortage of Food and Crops, said that some African area in the south of sub-Saharan region is facing the most serious food deficit 16 countries in that area are in extreme food shortage. In East Africa, although the situation of the year-long drought has been improved last year, yet 18 million people live in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania still need the international community to continue to provide emergency food aid. In Mozambique and other southern African countries, the recent outbreak of floods caused severe damage to crops, and these countries also need access to food aid too. Many countries in Asia are also troubled by the shortage of food. Serious food crisis has begun in Afghanistan due to continuing civil war and drought. East and Central Asia countries such as Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan are also in the need of food aid due to the droughts happened in their domestics. Food shortages directly threaten the lives of local residents, in order to survive, the population in poor area was forced to leave their homes and become refugees of no fixed abodes. Another reason for refugee problems are very difficult to solve is the deteriorating economic situation and the over grown population in some certain countries. Lets take the case of Africa for instance. In recent years, with the African political situation is easing and the economic situation began to improve, people seem to think that everything is going to be OK. However, there are still many countries out there lack of funds for development and many countries are carrying very heavy debt. According to international organizations latest statistics, the total external debt of the entire Africa reached 360 billion US dollars. It is more than 24 times of what it was 30 years ago. Heavy debt, on the one hand, brings deathly heavy burden to the African countries, and also seriously hampered Africas economic and social development strategies. Africas share in international trade continue to decline, till now they only have 2% while the foreign direct investment put in the whole Africa c ontinent every year is only 1.5% of total international investment. Relatively backward economic conditions lead to the fact that the proportion of poor people in Africa is far more than that in other continents. Africas population accounts for over 12% of the total population of the whole world, yet, Africas GDP is only about 2% of that of the globe. Africa now has a population of about 700 million; the average annual population growth rate is 3%, with the growth in agriculture only goes to 2.5% per year. In some countries, there might be even negative growth in agriculture. There cant be enough food grown to feed the fast increasing population. Too fast growth of population has also caused a shortage or even depletion of natural resources in some parts of Africa. According to researches, every year in Africa, more than 4 million hectares of forests are destroyed. There are severe desertification in many areas which leads to abnormal climate change, floods, droughts and pests. Human destruction contributed a lot in creating this vicious cycle. The ecological environment in many African countries is deteriorating, many places are no longer suitable for living, and the former local residents were forced to leave and find other places to live. Besides, race, religious conflicts and territorial disputes caused intensification of the conflict and wars could be counted as another reason for refugees. In the Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict which has last for a century has one worst consequence that it created a ripple of Palestinian refugees and the problem of these refugees even have an influence throughout the whole Middle East region. The wave of refugee formed by this conflict was the biggest and longest one in history. Currently, among the 21 million refugees worldwide, the Palestinian refugees make up the biggest part with a number of 3.5 million in total. From the emergence of the first generation of Palestinian refugees till now, the problem of them has continued for over 50 years and we could not even clearly see the hope to solve it. The problem of Palestinian refugees has become a big obstacle to remaining peace between Israel and Pakistan. Balkans refugee problems caused by the ethnic conflicts are quite bad too. Since the broke up of the civil war in the early nineties in the 20th century, the number of refuges in the Balkans has reached millions, of which women and children are the majority. In March, ethnic Albanians extremists had a large-scale armed conflict with the government forces; it caused another new refugee flow in Macedonia. The long-lasting civil war in Afghanistan make more than 7 million refugees ran away to Iran and Pakistan. In South Africa, the largest number of refugees could be found in Angola and Mozambique. These two countries recent 20 years were occupied by civil war or natural disasters, millions of people become displaced refugees. In Central Africa, because of the armed tribal conflict between Rwanda and Burundi, more than 2 million refugees fled to eastern Congo (DRC) region, and led to the conflict between Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, as well as Burundi and Uganda. It once caused the refugee c risis. The situation of refugees in eastern Africa is also increasingly worse: the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia lasts for over 10 years forced thousands of refugees flew to other countries; The Sudans civil war which nearly lasts for 50 years, forced large number of refugees fled to Ethiopia, bar Doyle, Central Africa and Kenya to survive; Now, in Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Colombia and other countries, bloody conflicts and terrorist activities are still forcing local residents to flee their homes and become homeless refugees. Natural disasters are also important reasons contributed to the refugee problem which we cannot ignore. According to materials released by international organizations, that the average death caused by natural disasters every year is 1.44 million, 57 thousand injured and 5 million homeless. Severe famine caused by natural disasters kills at least 73.6 thousand every year. In the past decade, various types of natural disasters caused the loss of 608 billion U.S. dollars in total and millions of refugees left their home and become wandering. Refugees not only bring problems to developing countries, but also bring burdens to developed countries. Large numbers of people move from developing countries to developed countries every year and among them, there are a lot of illegal immigrants who just becomes the economic refugees. Their existence with uncertainty of safety and economical support lead to social problems in developing countries. After World War II, to deal with the refugee issue left in Europe by the war, the international community set up a temporary agency in Geneva to solve the European refugee problem in the year 1951. It was responsible for the specific work of resettlement of the refugees. Later on, with the increasing number of refugees all over the world, this agencys scope also expanded and finally become the current United Nations Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR is funded mainly by contributions from the international community, 2% of the annual budget allocation by the United Nations, and the remaining 98% of pledges by countries. The annual budget of the UNHCR in the early ninetieth in the 20th century was 120 million and that in the year 2002 was 78 million U.S dollars. The current agent of UNHCR, former Prime Minister of Netherland Ruud Lubbers holds the opinion that to solve the refugee problem, the budget every year should at least be more than 110 million dollars. Resettlement work is a systematic project, in addition to rescue. At present, there are three major and general solutions to the refugee problems: voluntary repatriation; local integration and third- country resettlement. After the United Nations Higher Commission of Refugees was founded, the scope of its assistance activities continued to change: European refugees in the 1950s; focus move on to Africa in 1960-1970s; in the late 1970s, serious refugee problems have been all over Asia, Africa, and Latin American continents, the total number of refugees grow over 10 million; After the cold war in the late 1990s, ethnic conflicts and religious conflicts have become increasingly prominent in some parts of the world. Conflicts, civil wars and political instabilities led to large-scale influx of refugees. United Nations statistics show that in the last ten years in the 20th century, the number of refugees in the world increased by a variety of more than 7 million, from 15 million in 1990 to 22 million in the early of the year 2000. Among them, the worlds total number of refugee in 1991 was 17 million while this data became 23 million in 1993 and later in 1995 to a record 27 million. World Refugee Day occurs on June 20. The day was created in 2000 by a special United Nations General Assembly Resolution. June 20 had previously been commemorated as African Refugee Day in a number of African countries. In the United Kingdom World Refugee Day is celebrated as part of Refugee Week. Refugee Week is a nationwide festival designed to promote understanding and to celebrate the cultural contributions of refugees, and features many events such as music, dance and theatre. History tells us that the refugee problem is threatening our step of development in secure and peace. There are so many complicated reasons that cause the problem of refugee and there is no simple solution to it. Human beings must face the fact that we have these problems all around and work out ways to effectively eliminate this piece of dark shadow that has always been on our planet.

History and overview of mass customization

History and overview of mass customization Mass Customization is an idea of bring mass production economics to further more value in customers satisfactory than before with just deliver one unit which is unique. David J. Gardners declare that he been helping manufactures implement mass customization since the early 1980s before Stanly Davis bestselling book in 1987 written about mass customization more in high-level business strategy for implementing mass customization to a manufacturing company.[1] Mass Customization have become standard now in the 21st century. Lets have some quick view for the evolution of the different business paradigms over the time: In above diagram, we can see that in the 19th -20th century many manufacture are inventing their business with the method of craft production, mass production and engineer-to-order technology by producing end product in profit and speed. When nearly the end of 20th century most manufacture try to revolute their businesses to mass customization paradigms which is more to distinct business paradigms by producing an product on demand and more in customers preference fit.[2] 1.2 Introduction to Mass Customization Mass Customization term was become well-known since Joseph Pine published his book Market of One- Creating Customer Unique Value through Mass Customization. In this book he defined Mass Customization as producing, developing, marketing and delivering affordable low cost and high quality of goods and services that give customer nearly what they want. In other words, the goal is provide end product that meet exactly what they want. [1][2] In Mass Customization business paradigms it must be dynamic or flexible enough to provide customer to design needed products themselves. Thus, it must be quick responsiveness to what customer needs, quantity supply, time of deliver and etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ In order to provide customer satisfaction the pricing cost and quality of products are important to be improved. [1] In this 21st century the most popular industry that success implements the Mass Customization and made a great benefit providing economic price to customer is Dell. Dell has become the world leader for PC markets in direct sales via Internet. In the way Dell site sell its computer is simply using the concept build-to-order which other words are for mass customization. They provide an arrangement of products and explain clearly to their customer what options the customer can select by their individual needs. The excellent job that Dell has done is build the on demand customize end product after customer proceed the order at their site and ship to customer less than 24hour. This is how Dell success in their business strategy by organized easy customized product across the enterprise and become the extended enterprise that the whole world known. Even though there are many companies in different kind of industry was success implementing the Mass Customization but there is also many of them fail. In the case study of business and economic research team with the title Failure of the Automobile Industry in Mass Customization Practices they mention that Mass Customization is not feasible for all companies or industries. Thus, in order for a company to success in implement Mass Customization strategy they need some key success factor require of strategy. [1] This will further discuss later chapter in the subject Key Success Factor. 1.3 Mass Customization (MC) toolkit Many companies in different kind of industries started to offer customer opportunity to customize their own products online. The companies provided a web-based mass customization (MC) toolkit that allow customer who prefer to have individualized products just like PCs and Laptops (Dell.com), T-Shirt (CustomInk.com), Sneakers (Nike.com), Kitchens (IKEA.com), Skis (Edelwiser.com) or Cars (Mini) to their specific preferences. MC toolkits defined as a set of user-friendly design tool which allow user to trial and experience of the design process and it deliver simulated immediate feedback on the outcome of design idea. Once a satisfactory design are made and paid, the products specification will be transferred to manufacture production system to be produced and delivered to the customer. Below have some of the existing web-based MC toolkit examples from different kind of industries: Figure 1.0 An Overview of MC toolkit examples from (www.mass-customization.de/mc07/) Mass Production Vs Mass Customization 2.1 Characteristics of Mass Production Mass production development process in to produce large amounts of standardized products in the arrangement of assembly lines.[4] Typically use large-scale production lines moving tracks or conveyor belts moving down the object of various workers.[4] Usually mass production is suitable for large and semi-homogeneous consumer groups. [4] Mass production is a large-scale capital-intensive production process: Although low labor costs and production efficiency, but through large-scale production machinery itself requires a lot of money and skilled labor to install equipment in large quantities.[4] Advantages Reduce the possibility of human error, improve product quality, reduce labor costs and reduce non-productive work. [4] Disadvantages Assembly line products are difficult to change once implemented and hard time of establishment. [4] Figure 2.0 Ford factory, first moving assembly line, 1913. 2.2 Characteristic of Mass Customization According www.madeforone.com, declare that mass customization enable customers to determine the exact product or service specification, and have the product or the price available to them closer to a general public for such services have replaced. [4] Mass customization often rely on production output, is customized for each user the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing system. [4] Mass customized products in minimizing the cost of using the build-to-order method, in which a project is not constructed until the receipt of the order, is an important factor. [4] The product is built to meet the needs of individual customers. [4] It is a software-based product configuration that allows it to add / change a core product features. [4] In many cases, if a company offers individual products, the products are not made separately, but the emergence of mass production and variants or become personalized. [4] The interface or configure the system, is one of the important part that mediates between consumers and manufacturers as a key success of mass customization without a friendly-user interface and ease of use, the company will be difficult to be successful. [4] 3.0 Benefits and Drawbacks of Mass Customization (MC) 3.1 Benefits of MC Since the increase in number and variety of custom device by increasing the efficiency of reducing low-profit. Mass customization is a way to improve profits and reduce costs strategy of species. Whether your company is looking for incremental improvements or take your business next level, your company can not thrive as a custom, if the number and / or types are increasing. Mass customization is an enterprise-wide business model to improve efficiency across the enterprise, increase efficiency, expand your sales channels. Accelerate collaborative mass customization, the correct implementation of, and created a real excitement. 3.1.1 Benefit in the perspective of manufacture May help to gain a competitive advantage Lower costs (storage costs, costs related to Product is not for sale) Higher income the amount of profit agency manufacturers are likely to fall into account, and customers willing to pay customized products at higher prices. Build customer loyalty Better needs analysis customers through design their own products to provide a number of information about their preferences. Manufacturers and less endangered by demand changes in preferences (market turmoil) 3.1.2 Benefit in the perspective of customer Products more suited to customer preferences Greater opportunity to evaluate alternatives Whether it is possible to buy at any time and any place (In the case of purchase through the Internet) Convenience of customers 3.2 Drawbacks of MC 3.2.1 Drawbacks in the perspective of manufacture As for the management of high demand and production systems. Sometimes costly investment in IT, a flexible manufacturing system and the necessary training. The risk of failure in addition to mass customization success stories, there are some cases of failure are too many. 3.2.1 Drawbacks in the perspective of customer Takes longer deliver period Cannot experience the final product Before buying More complex buying process Usually anonymous purchase 4.0 From Mass Production to Mass Customization In according to the journal Cracking the Code of Mass Customization the researcher has come out with the factors that needed in order to emerge from Mass Production to Mass Customization. The factors are Three Fundamental Capabilities (solution space development, robust process design and choice navigation) and also with several approaches and tool to help companies to develop those capability.[2] 4.1 Three Capabilities Required (Fundamental Capabilities) 4.1.1 Solution Space Development Identify the product attribute differences along these customers. [2] Innovation Toolkit: This software enabling customers to the large pool into a unique product change their preferences, so that each customer stressed that the demand may not be happy. Virtual Concept Testing: An effective through the creation of virtual prototyping and evaluation of submitted scores differentiated products approach the concept of potential customers. Customer Experience Intelligence: A tool for continuous collection of customer data transactions, behavior or experience and analyze information to determine customer preferences. 4.1.2 Robust Process Design Reuse or reorganization and value chain of existing resources to meet the different demands of customers streaming [2] Flexible automation: Automation is not fixed or rigid, and can handle custom tangible or intangible goods Process modularity: Split into reusable or re-performance of the module differentiated customer value chain of existing organizations and resources. Adaptive human capital: Developing the management and staff who can handle the new and ambiguous tasks. 4.1.3 Choice Navigation Support customers in defining their own solutions, while minimizing the burden of complexity and choice [2] Assortment matching: Software solution to match an existing space charactenstics (is a set of options) with the customer demand model, and then make product recommendations Fast-cycle, trial-and-error learning: Is a way to enable customers to build their demand model and test the interaction between the model and the available solutions to match Embedded configuration: Products that understand how they should adapt to the customers and then reconfigure itself accordingly 4.2 The Mass Production-Mass Customization Continuum In order for a business from mass production to mass customization they must go through the process of building the organizational capabilities (solution space development, robust process design and choice navigation). During the process company might need to improve all three capabilities at the same time. Dell, has done developed their personal organizational capability toward mass customization that suitable for them and bring ford great result of sales and customer satisfactions. [2] Figure 3.0 Dell define it solution space and build a very robust processes, choice navigation still improving. 5.0 Key Success Factors Mass customization is that manufacturers able to produce customize product on demand, large-scale and lower costs.  But how can we do this?  Most experts believe that mass customization will success depends on the following factors: [1] 5.1 Modular Product Design Each module retains its specific processes (or work) business authority.  Without this, personalized products will be very difficult, time consuming, the terms of the slow and very expensive.  In modular product design, product designs are under some module or process so that able to produce any type of customization. [1] Requirements When necessary preparatory work (which requires an effective supply network), skilled and qualified staff of highly educated investment. High standardization of components For organizational structure, improve the coordination between modules Benefits Standard components maximize in number of forms used in all products. Shorten production time: because all the modules can be done simultaneously (and not in a sequence) to complete, and therefore greatly reduce the time needed for the production. Easy to diagnose production problems (quality, defective products and etc.), resulting in a special isolation control potential quality issues 5.2 Flexible Manufacturing Process Mass Customization produces a variety of different products.  This requires a high degree of flexibility in manufacturing systems.  This factor reflects the capacity to adapt to the differences in the products as a result of the lead time, cost in changing the system and small sum of ordered products. Usually if a company is to effectively organize its modular product design, flexible manufacturing system, so it provides the type and characteristics of time reducing costs. [1] 5.3 Sophisticated Order Management Mass customization is based on deep understanding of customer needs.  Because individual needs are very different, order management system is critical to enhance the manufacturer and customer relationships.  It (the system) to provide such a database, each client works open a wide range of profiles, and manage the large number of orders for many customers and clients the breadth, and through tracking, and allows easy access to the status of each order in anytime. [1] Requirements Close the relationship with customers High system capacity to handle large amounts of information (databases, transactions, etc.) Along the value chain (through the order management system) is highly integrated: a high degree of customer participation in the means of product configuration, marketing, sales, manufacturing, distribution, customer requirements also need to know accurate information. An order management system, a typical example is Dell Computer.  The site (www.dell.com) allows customers to interact directly with the companies presented their demands.  Customers from a number of options, select with the products, just click on the screen to order these products.  As the inventory and manufacturing, integrating all the departments Dell sales, marketing, finance, billing, logistics, such as through the website, order processing, all of these sectors at the same time, the result is that customers can immediately know, in a very fast and accurately all  conditions of purchase. 5.4 Integrated information system Information systems role in mass customization is the key to success.  The main features of mass customization the uncertainty of the requirements plus the requirements of flexible manufacturing, short delivery times, flexibility and rapid response capacity accurately, for an efficient information system to ensure that the information mobile phone is smooth and accurate  between customers and manufacturers, has become the companys segments.  In order to manage this small to minute, and more to multiple decision-making, decision support systems, integration of all participants in the organization of information, as well as with customers and manufacturers is essential. [1] 5.5 Postponement of assembly The uncertainty of demand for mass customization is a production operating costs are a major obstacle.  The system run-time requirements than low production capacity point of view is a fear of sleep, because the manufacturers have closed down days operating on fixed assets, inventory management costs, salaries of maintenance work, heavy, etc., but these costs can be eliminated if the company solutions to lower demand for delay operations.  However, it can still ensure that the operation will restart quickly, if demand suddenly rose.   A solution to address this challenge is generated by externalities.  For example, Nike does not produce itself and its partners in Asia, responsible for the production through the contract.  Nikes investment in assembly, material inventory of machines, workers, and factory management is essentially zero.  So, when demand falls, Nike just to adjust the contract delivery schedule.  In this way, the burden of fixed costs is no longer Nike.  For some products, its packaging division is the foundation, the company can outsource packaging steps to reduce the uncertainty of demand fluctuations. [1] 6.0 The Evolution to Mass Customization Mass Production Craft Production Mass Customization Engineer-to-Order Craftsmanship Time 18th century 21st century 6.1 Craftsmanship Craftsmanship is the oldest thousands of years the only methods of production.  It is based on a few handmade commodities and delivery of services in a small workshop manual production.  At the end of 18th century and in the beginning of 19th century there was a breakthrough and started move in to craft production. 6.2 Craft Production Craft production or (One-off production- individual article or a large-scale production prototype) is the process of manufacturing by hand with or without aid of tools. [5] Therefore, hand tools begin to display by machine and the craftsmanship productions goods and services important reduce from time pass though process in moving to craft production. In term of craft production it refers to parts of the handmade production is automated, but through human factors (skills, experiences and traditions) remains is significant. Craft production was move in at 19th century. 6.3 Mass Production Mass production  (also called  flow production,  repetitive flow production,  series production, or  serial production)  is production of large number of standardized products, including in particular on the assembly line.[6] In different way of production goods and delivery services simultaneously with manufacturing machine is mass production. In craft production one shop craftsmen busy get parts and assembly together, but in mass production one or more duplicate each worker using the same tools to perform the same consistent product flow or near the action-related tasks.[6] In the starting of 20th century Mass Production was being a standards for many companies. So, what is the improvement from craft production to mass production then? See below advantages and disadvantages of mass production. Advantages Shorter time to production (exact tool or parts always on hand cut short assembling time) [6] Human error are reduce cause mostly process carry by machinery. [6] Reduction labour cost and increase production speed per unit carry out by machinery in large-scale. [6] Disadvantages Inflexible or difficult to change the production line and takes long time to implement it. [6] Difficult to satisfy individual taste by the similar production.[6] 6.4 Engineer-to-Order Engineer to order (ETO) is a manufacturing concept, the finished product built to unique customer specifications. General Assembly and the raw materials inventory, but may not go to the product assembly, until the receipt of customer orders and part of the design.  ETO products may require a project number, a unique set of materials, as well as routes, and usually a very long time and complexity.  Active participation and engineers throughout the design process of ordering products. [7] ETO same time may refers to Build-to-Order (BTO) which is also a production approach of waiting the order confirm and build it. BTO and ETO are the approach that is most nearer to Mass Customization approach because it waited customer to confirm their order that they choose and produce it. In the middle of 20th century ETO was being implemented. 6.5 Mass Customization Mass Customization is an approach that combination with mass production, but is delivering customize product to individual. According to Frank Piller et al said in the business of consumer-focused line of creative strategy, mass customization can be seen as first elaborated the concept, with more than twenty years (the term was created in 1987, Stan Davis) history.  [8] Mass customization, it seems becoming the 21st-century standards.  It offering customize product that meet individual demands and still remain the efficiency of mass production. To achieve these efficiency requirements, mass customization system is defined by a fixed solution space in order to stabilize but still flexible, the characteristics of the reaction process.  [8] Therefore, the costs associated with mass customization should allow for a price level that does not mean the market as a switch.  The solution is the use of space, who is in the process of the manufacturers comprehensive definition of value creation, configuration or modify the options in a given choice of their respective solutions.  If you do not deeply involve in the customer, the manufacturer will not be able to fully fill the needs of each individual product.  Special tools package should enable customers to perform their tasks in this configuration. [8] From the evolution from craftsmanship to mass customization, we can see how business flow comes through started focus on individual, then to many consumers and lastly come back again to focus back on individual needs to gain competitive advantages. Mass customization can be categories into three type (Sung Park) said: Digital Front End/Digital Back End: Described it as like the Amazon based on your interest in a fully digital fashion unique pages. [8] Digital Front End/Physical Customization and Assembly: Most businesses will fall into this bucket of mass customization.  You design Web-based CAD interface stuff, and some of its factories for the production of improved traditional manufacturing process.  E.g. NikeID, fashion Playtes, or Paragon Lake. [8] Sensor based Front End/CAD-CAM Back End: This is a relatively passive experience, the best description of the Bronte sisters.  In their case the sensor, so that your mouth model, and automated equipment (three-dimensional printer) produces a scanned copy of the physical.  There is little human intervention or interference. [8] 7.0 The Effects in Mass Customization Through the research of Mass Customization (MC), I found a very good journal that support MC effects that generate value to customer which title The I Design It Myself Effect in Mass Customization. Many companies has offer their website that enable customer to customize their own individual customize product which manufacture can produce once confirm order. To this matter, MC toolkits was the significant and roles to gain competitive advantages to generate economic value to customer. There were four factors for MC toolkits needed to achieve: [3] Preference fits: achieved by self design products (should be as high as possible) [3] Design effort: which is refers to cost (should be as low as possible) [3] The awareness of being the creator of the product design: a feeling of accomplishment from the process of self designing in subject value of the product. [3] Willingness to pay: when the feeling of accomplishment of the self-design are high then the WTP will be high also and generate value to the creator. [3] Above factors are important for companies to develop MC toolkits generate values to the consumer. Therefore, the user-friendly interface, innovative and design of MC toolkits should be good enough to gain customer satisfaction in term of the effects that mention above. 8.0 Critical Evaluations 8.1 Why I choose Mass Customization for FYP project? For explain question above, first we need to know now normally most people can sell things online within just 15min or less than 30min, then they can create a website and start their businesses from (ebay, blog and free siteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc). So, what is my purpose to implement Mass Customization approach in my FYP project? It is to gain competitive advantages and innovative of web design to attract people come to my site. As now ecommerce have been commonly heard and become a traditional way for businesses online. So, what will makes it different? Lets see the answer below: Picture 1: This is the traditional way of T-shirt selling online from (www.t-shirts.com) Picture 2: This is the site that implemented mass customization method that selling T-shirt by customer own design from (www.rainbowsports.com) Now, we can clearly see the answer of implementation of mass customization in online business is important and some strategies and factors to success in mass customization as I have discussed above at Chapter 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 7.0. 8.2 What is the way to create Mass Customization Site? Well, there is no fix way or range of making a mass customization site as long as we can develop the MC toolkits. As we study in IT in TARC College we learn a lot of technology, software tools and programming languages that can help us to design and come out with our own toolkits by the range our knowledge and effort we put in. I have decide some several ways to create a T-shirt Customization tools with using Asp.net (visual basic code) for the Web pages, Oracle database (Oracle Express 10g free version), Silverlight or Adobe Flash CS3 Professional (Flash which use to create the MC toolkits for T-shirt customization). 8.3 Does MC make your FYP project applicable to real business? Yes, it will be possible if my project been successfully meeting those requirements in the key success factors and achieved the effects that mention above chapter 7.0 and 5.0. Thus, also include with the advanced of programming code and tools being used to develop a standard website that can probably compete against other companies website. MC website can be in three type of categories that mentions at the 6.5 mass customization to make our site in specific area focus on customer. Thus, to create a uniqueness MC website we need to refer to 4.1 Three Fundamental Capability that needs to be continuously improved for goods and services provided using MC toolkits. 8.4 Will your complete your FYP with what you have planned? For this matter, it will be possible done but in term of time given maybe is a bit rush and hard to complete fully with myself alone. So, this is where the challenge I should face and to wisely spending the time in researching coding and designing user-interface. Therefore, I may look forward to my friend in other courses to help in different area such as flash in action script 3.0 and designing. Lastly, I hope this project would be successful completed in time and in future work it may possible for me to look forward 3D customization in web design. Harvard Reference [1] Pollard, D. and Shirley, C. and Brian, L. 2008. Journal of Business Economics Research: Strategies For Mass Customization. Vol. 6, No.7, pp.77-86 [2] Salvador, F. and Holan, P.M. and Piller, F. 2009. Cracking the Code of Mass Customization. MIT SLOAN Management Review. Vol.50, No.3, pp.71-78 [3] Franke, N. and Schreier, M. and Kaiser, U. 2010. The I Designed It Myself Effect in Mass Customization. Management Science. Vol. 56, No. 1, pp.125-140 Online/ Others Resources [4] Seaman, K. 2007. Mass Production versus Mass Customization. Viewed on 24 October 2010. Available from: [5] Wikipedia, 2010. Craft Production. Viewed on 30 October 2010. Available from: [6] Wikipedia, 2010. Mass Production. Viewed on 30 October 2010. Available from: [7] BigMachines, 2010. Engineer-to-Order (ETO). Viewed on 30 October 2010. Available from: [8] P2P Foundation Wiki, 2009. Mass Customization. Viewed on 30 October 2010. Available from: [9] David J. Gardner. 2009. Some Benefits of Mass Customization. Viewed on 30 October 2010. Available from:

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Pearl Harbor - The United States Should Have Anticipated the Attack :: World War II History

Pearl Harbor - The United States Should Have Anticipated the Attack Many have compared the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. They argue that both attacks were just as astonishing, unwarranted and unpredictable. The World Trade Center buildings in New York City still lie in ruin, an icy reminder of the terrorist attack. Both the U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S Utah remain on the floor of Pearl Harbor, each a ghostly, decaying tomb reminding all of the thousands that gave their life on that fateful day, also, they are both reminders of seemingly how easily the attack was carried out and of how America, the world's big brother and perhaps the most powerful nation in the history of the world, was caught with 'its guard down.' The attacks are also similar in that, generally, those who lived through them divide time: time before the attack and time after. After Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan, and thus Germany and Italy with the signing of the Anti-Cominter n Pact and latter the Tripartite Pact, and after was slingshot into the Cold War, and after the September 11 attack, concepts that may have been unthinkable before the attack are being considered such as torturing detainees and racial profiling and, arguably, security has been further fortified in airports and other public places. Both attacks were turning points in American history; they had and will have profound effects on life after them. The details of the September 11 attack are still buried in distant lands while the on Pearl Harbor happened over 60 years ago; therefore most of the documents and information concerning the attack have been released. When analyzing the documents and accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack, historians are not able to avoid the fact that many warning signs of the approaching attack existed. The neglect of these signs can, in most cases, be attributed to some sort of human error in dealing with those signs. Although human error played a large part in the reason that those in power did not take further advantage of those signs, it was not the only reason. Most of the signs were neither tangible nor very specific of the location, date or degree of ferocity at which Japanese would attack. Another reason is that for years before the attack, a feeling of isolation and thoughts that the United States need not interfere in European matters presided over the minds of many Americans.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Knight in Rusty Armor :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Knight in Rusty Armor The Knight in rusty armor depicts our mental processes, or cognition that plays a complex and dramatic role in my life. I have learned that our cognition makes us human. I can cope only by first sensing and understanding my environment, just like the knight. sometimes I misperceive and wrongly interpret certain situations, causing problems for myself. My expectations and response partly determine how I see the world. My attitudes, suspicions, and conclusions about others also determine how I relate to people. like the knight my hopes, dreams, and/or fears become self-fulfilling prophesies and determine the future to some extent. As we saw in chapter 2, our values and goals determine the directions our lives take. The knowledge of human behavior, including self-help skills, and our rational planning partly determine our success in achieving our life goals. Our motivation also determines how far we go in the directions set by our needs and values. The discrepancies between reality and our ideals will determine how satisfied we are with ourselves and our lives. The knight from an early age viewed himself as unattractive because his nurse told him that he had a face only a mother could love, this early feed back encouraged him to where a face mask that did serve the purpose of protection from dragons and battles but also helped him to hide his unattractive face. I feel that this prompted him to pursue being a knight which gave him positive feed back as a defender and hero. This was a seemingly good idea on the outside but in reality he was hiding who he really was, he neglected his role as husband and father by ignoring his wife, and son. His wife Juliet tried to tell him that he was not rescuing damsels in distress and slaying dragons because he was such a good knight, but that he was doing it for himself, it made him feel good about himself and not so much for the good of others. Juliet made at good point when she told the knight that he did not love her but that he loved the idea of her loving him, meaning that he did not give love but took love. I believe this to be a mistake many people make in relationships they do not have love for themselves, and cannot give love, so they seek out The Knight in Rusty Armor :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Knight in Rusty Armor The Knight in rusty armor depicts our mental processes, or cognition that plays a complex and dramatic role in my life. I have learned that our cognition makes us human. I can cope only by first sensing and understanding my environment, just like the knight. sometimes I misperceive and wrongly interpret certain situations, causing problems for myself. My expectations and response partly determine how I see the world. My attitudes, suspicions, and conclusions about others also determine how I relate to people. like the knight my hopes, dreams, and/or fears become self-fulfilling prophesies and determine the future to some extent. As we saw in chapter 2, our values and goals determine the directions our lives take. The knowledge of human behavior, including self-help skills, and our rational planning partly determine our success in achieving our life goals. Our motivation also determines how far we go in the directions set by our needs and values. The discrepancies between reality and our ideals will determine how satisfied we are with ourselves and our lives. The knight from an early age viewed himself as unattractive because his nurse told him that he had a face only a mother could love, this early feed back encouraged him to where a face mask that did serve the purpose of protection from dragons and battles but also helped him to hide his unattractive face. I feel that this prompted him to pursue being a knight which gave him positive feed back as a defender and hero. This was a seemingly good idea on the outside but in reality he was hiding who he really was, he neglected his role as husband and father by ignoring his wife, and son. His wife Juliet tried to tell him that he was not rescuing damsels in distress and slaying dragons because he was such a good knight, but that he was doing it for himself, it made him feel good about himself and not so much for the good of others. Juliet made at good point when she told the knight that he did not love her but that he loved the idea of her loving him, meaning that he did not give love but took love. I believe this to be a mistake many people make in relationships they do not have love for themselves, and cannot give love, so they seek out

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Deductive and Inductive Methods of Research Essay

In the quest for logical, supportable and verifiable scientific answers there are two basic methods of reasoning used to approach the subject matter to be studied. These are known as the deductive and the inductive approaches. The two approaches provide quite different lines of attack when attempting to prove or disprove social theories. The information that is gathered is used by social work researchers as supporting evidence to establish connections between theories and empirical data. Rafael Engel and Russell Schutt, The Practice of Research in Social Work, explain â€Å"Theories help us understand how social problems emerge; they guide us in the design of interventions to help individuals, groups or communities†(Rafael. Schutt. 2005. p. 39). In the case of deductive reasoning studies the research is begun from a theoretical basis, focused on a topic, and then narrowed to an; ‘If-Then’ hypotheses that can be tested. Research is conducted to gather data through observations, to confirm or disprove the hypotheses. Inductive reasoning is in a sense a reverse study, as it is through observations made that have initially picked up on certain trends, or established regularities that the hypotheses or theory is developed. In the field of Social work research it is not at all uncommon to utilize both methods of research, and Engel and Schutt refer to this as the â€Å"Research Circle† (2005. p. 45). Research often involves variables, and hypotheses often must stand up to multiple studies to arrive at a conclusive answer. The authors cite the Sherman and Berk’s, 1984, study of domestic violence â€Å"as an example of how the research circle works†(2005. p. 43). They said that first based on data regarding spousal abuse a hypothesis was developed regarding arrest rates. After data was researched that corresponded with the theory, the study was then followed up with inductive research based on the statistics of the data gathered. As noted often the researchers will go around the circle a number of time, as Sherman and Berk’s study did, adjusting variables and methods, to test a multitude of hypotheses. According to Engel and Schutt the â€Å"Inductive research process is more often the strategy used in qualitative methods† (2005. p. 38), and that deductive is â€Å"Most often used in quantitative methods† (2005. p. 38).

Billabong Case Study

Introduction Billabong International throttle (BBG) produces graze br some tree trunkly, sports lop and accessories for the breakers, skate and sno(prenominal)board markets (Macquarie, 2012). The starchy recorded an 18. 4% decrease in net profit to A$119. 1 million in 2011 (Billabong Sh beholder look back 2010/2011). After intense acquisition efforts, which pr everyplaceb Billabong get over 11 stigmas ( vermiform app windupix A), the club was forced to chthoniango a study restructuring, closing 150 stores and cutting cd jobs world gigantic (AAP, Feb 2012).The report ordain be analyzing the Billabong check, specifically its range fag in Australia, to distinguish the underlying crucial issues that essential be addressed. Current opportunities and little terrors that Billabong back supplement on leave al iodine be placed, consequently weighed against the firms internal strengths and weaknesses in parliamentary procedure to subjoin sales. Solutions in key give away of returns with Billabongs heraldic bearing of striving to throttle pertly benchmarks done new- trended manner path dents and bangs will be look ford. Situation compend & Problem IdentificationTo identify the profound issues and opportunities that Billabong is facing, an summary was conducted on the fol modest-toneding atomic subprogram 23 argonas. cecal append time B shows the consolidated list of issues Billabong faces. 1. guests (Appendix C) The guest inhabit Cycle was used to identify pick up opportunities much(prenominal) as up(p) the Purchase context with great interactivity with nodes. A nonher opportunity was to promote an eco-friendly behavior to incarcerate of used harvest-tides patch gaining rewards. 2. Competitors and setting (Appendix D, E & F)A PEST abridgment of the Australian market reveals a demographic toss to the under -15s market (Euromonitor 2012), which was an opportunity for Billabong to propose. use Porters Five Forces (Appendix E), a Positioning Map and Competitor threat analytic thinking (Appendix F) to analyse the boardsport industry sustain that competition from a few macroscopical channel- circuit breaker check offs was eminent and that all had a strong mug following and richly instructlighted the admit to differentiate its products from them. 3. fellowship (Appendix G) The Balanced bill was used to measure Billabongs performance.They had high crack sensation of 86% in Australia but a lower mutation ordinate of 46% (Billabong 2012), which presents an opportunity to target those already aw ar of Billabong. 4. Collaborators (Appendix H) Billabong has yet to explore the opportunity to unsource, allowing for node coactions in pattern board scam. An other(a)(a) bea to explore could be coopetition with glide brands to face up problems which affect the pasture strike industr y. Th hard-boiled an opportunity and threat matrix, the consolidated lists of issues were pri oritized. Opportunity hyaloplasm threat MatrixThose with the highest probability of success and attractiveness in the Opportunity Matrix and those with highest probability of situation and seriousness in the Threat Matrix were taken into con lieuration as key issues. Those chosen were the most pressing issues that Billabong would be up to(p) to address with a s come up chance of success. give away Issues/Opportunities Key Objectives undifferentiated shopboard die products To produce a bracing product line that is among competitors non accessible by other circuit breaker wear brands by 2013. misfortunate changeover locate condescension high brand To plus alteration tread to 52% and sensation brand consignment by 7% by 2014. glide wear is declining in prevalentity as a To revive the popularity of channel- circuit breaker wear as form of daily fit delinquent to ontogeny cursory wear and increment sales by 10% gettableness of cheaper alternatives from the 34% of nimble Lifestyle consumers. Australians be increasingly To s stub an environmentally friendly environmentally apprised(p) product range by end of 2012. Shifting demographics to under 15s Create activities for consumers under 15s to garner 50% brand aw arness by 2014. Solution Scenarios & Implications Solutions to the determine key issues/opportunities were gathered from the Active grind away, ERRC Grid and CEC (Appendix I, J, C).The What if analysis (Appendix K) was used to consolidate the beginnings. Active SWOT Scenario 1 Building a new Billabong node Experience Key Issues turn to With the main object lens of increasing spiritual rebirth rate by 6%, Billabong physiologic stores will be revamped to offer 1. Low conversion rate despite a new breakers witness for nodes. high brand aw beness The mind think of, from the CEC, is an burning(prenominal) factor 2. Undifferentiated surf wear products among competitors 3. Shifting demographics to under 15s in the s ell decease as stimulating the quin senses causes it to be memorable and engaging.As identified in the ERRC grid, Billabong channel-surf vill long clock will be constructed at popular surf b separatelyes to be side by side(predicate) to potence nodes. A surf educate will be arrive atd to defy under 15 year old guests glide lessons and to present them to Billabongs products by dint of a grower kit. Interactivity and a multi afferent take in somatic stores will be implemented finished surfboard simulators so that customers tin try how their app atomic number 18l sees analogous while surfboarding. shop enthusiasts will be take away as sales associates to spread the rage of surfing to customers and to increase sell expertise a weakness highlighted in he Active SWOT. Scenario 2 Differentiating Billabongs surf wear products Key Issues Addressed discover Billabongs surf wear by dint of apprise adding rather than reducing legal injury. correctable boardshor ts (one 1. Undifferentiated surf wear products among competitors side featuring a formal fancy and the other a fun physique) will be let ond as a main differentiating arrest from competitors in the market. Low conversion rate despite high brand aw beness To capitalise on the mortality of surfers, their ego Esteem cling to, customization of app arl will be 3. Surf wear is declining in popularity as a form of casual ntroduced through Billabongs e-commerce internet site and boutique stores. apparel due to increasing availability of cheaper To create exclusivity and cringe over-supply, Billabong alternatives can reduce the bar per collection and increase the frequency of collections to adjudge up with trends. Collaborations with strong up known way of life designers, celebrities or pro surfers can be explored for express rendering ranges. Billabong can portray a customer innovation programme, where customers give feedback or submit designs through their e-commerce site and personal stores. This ensures that styles remain relevant. A CRM governing body can e installed to track customers barter fors and calculate successful collections. Scenario 3 Incorporating Environmental Sustainability to replete a competitive advantage Key Issues Addressed 1. Australians are increasingly environmentally conscious Billabong will either lock in in a coopetition with a interpretr or competitor to invest in super C research and development for the surf wear industry. The brand can as well as rely on its strength of topping research and 2. Undifferentiated surf wear development skills highlighted in the Active SWOT. products among competitors An advanced way to engage customers and 3. Surf wear is declining in ifferentiate themselves from competitors in the popularity as a form of casual Disposal mise en scene (from the CEC) is to launch an apparel due to increasing environmental disposal programme for Billabong availability of cheaper wetsuits an d boardshorts. It would allow customers to alternatives recycle their used ones in supersede for a discount on their next acquire. Billabong could adopt a jet plane approach from business practices to the design of the physical sell outlets. These solutions would motivate environmentally conscious consumers to buy their products correct if it is more than than(prenominal) expensive than casual wear alternatives.Scenario 4 Transformational schema Key Issues Addressed Billabong learns to focus on product and experience to 1. Undifferentiated surf wear products among competitors good luck charm to the action sports shopping center and active lifestyle segment (Billabong, 2012). It will focus on simplifying its business by cutting down on style duplications and Low conversion rate despite leverage on the Billabong brand to register the high brand awareness customer experience across bring including their ecommerce and physical store. Customer insights research will be und ertaken. Customer driven innovation capability will alike be mplemented. Its retail stores will be revamped to be more customer centric and retailing IT organisations will be updated to gather more customer insights through its dose of sales. The lack of retail expertise will in any case be addressed. Recommendation & Justification This matrix helps prioritize which of the 4 scenarios from Billabong is more urgent and which would sacrifice a greater electric shock upon the company. We can imbibe that Scenario 2 is rated high in urgency and high in potential impact. at that placefore it is recommended that Billabong conduct a precise planning and implementation of this scenario immediately.This is urgent because Billabongs product line is the core of its business if its products are non attractive, creating other strategies should be secondary. Furthermore, a luck and Return Analysis (Appendix L) on the recommended solution shows that the returns are much higher than the r isks involved. Surf wear brands look similar due to restrain styles. Customers save low exchange costs and can intimately bargain for a nonher surf brand or fast devise brand. However, with differentiated products much(prenominal) as reversible boardshorts, Billabong offers greater honour at its exist scathe.Furthermore, differentiated products would head teacher to an increase conversion rate among customers erst they see the appreciate in buy Billabongs products over others. Costs incurred to fabrication such boardshorts are high a budget of $1. 5 million was allocated. some(prenominal) factors that Billabong has to consider are the specialised equipments, hygiene (i. e. shorts must be safe and sound and white to be languid on both sides in the same day) and materials used. In addition, Billabong will introduce customization services at its boutique stores and ecommerce weapons platform to conjure up to customers single(a)ity.By universe able to customize their surf wear, customers would find greater protect in their purchase versus off -the-rack. To ensure Billabong apparels are trendsetters, quantity per collection will be limited to 500 pieces per design. With that, Billabong can introduce more collections per year line uping with period trends. By limiting quantity, it ensures Billabong inventory moves readily before the season changes. This reduces the risk of selling excess inventory through sober discounting (Walters 2012) and obsolete products.Billabong will introduce a new product line by 2013, the limited edition collection, which will be addressable for sale in Billabongs boutiques only. These collections feature collaborations with vogue designers and pro surfers. sum of money will be limited to ccc pieces throughout Australia to ensure exclusivity. Such collaborations are presumable to cost Billabong $3. 5 million. However, the returns are much higher as the limited quantity encourages customers to be purchas es faster. To advance customer rangeicipation, Billabong can introduce a platform to collect customers feedback on what they would like to see in the upcoming collections.A Customer birth Management (CRM) system will be installed at sales points to track customers purchases and take up selling apparel in launch to launch similar successful collections in near future. Although the be three scenarios exonerate similar problems i. e. undifferentiated surf wear products amongst competitors, tho, the returns as seen in KPI measurement under would enable Billabong to fulfil its key objective of increase of 6% conversion rate and 7% increase of brand loyalty through the various enterprisingnesss. Objectives Measures Target Initiatives (actions cypher (in (KPI) (Current) ased on scenario planning) $) Financial 1. Monthly 1. make up 1. lance 1 new 1. $70,000 stance sales profit sales by collection each 15% by 2015 month, instead of the 1. append in circulating(prenominal) pla n of revenue launching new collections once every 3 months. 2. hang 2. Operational 2. Reduce 2. Lock in several costs expenses costs by main suppliers to gain 2. $800,000 10% by 2015 EOS Customer 1. Brand loyalty 1. retell Perspective conversion rate purchases 1. traverse 1. $500,000 purchases using CRM system 1. Increase in brand loyalty 2. Improve brand 2. Market brand 2. Increase 2. Exclusivity of cognizance arket Billabongs products shares by (Limited edition line) shares 2. $1,000,000 15% by 2015 3. Improve 3. Customer 3. Increase product oblations Satisfaction rate gratification rate by 10% 3. think of-added 3. $2,500,000 product reversible shorts by 2015 Capabilities 1. scrap of 1. Increase 1. Customers perspective customized by 15% by collaborators / Mass 1. $850,000 products 2015 customization 2. Delivery 2. percent of 2. Reduce 2. Invest in lumber whole tone product failures product worry control / rejections failure by 1. Customization 2. $600,000 20% by 2015 Innovation 1. Number of 1. put on 1.Introduce a Perspective feedback from 15% of platform to collect customers that customer customers feedback 1. Usage of Billabong feedback customers implemented feedback 1. $500,000 Conclusion To be able to differentiate its product crack would give Billabong a competitive march on over the few big instituteers in the market who clear all been competing on the same dimensions for the past hug drug. The focal point is to understand consumers through the CRM system and the instruction is crucial in gear up to design products and activities that appeal to them increasing conversion rate and building loyalty to Billabong.By keeping its mission statement in mind of constantly setting a new ensample in board sports through youthful lifestyle brands and experiences, the brand will be able to increase sales by selling the right product and oblation the best experience. (2096 words) Appendix Appendix A hero sandwich Brands under Billabong Inter national Sub Brand Description Element A line of shoes for technical skate footwear and for girls. Von Zipper Eyewear, accessories and premium apparel targeting the boardsports and general action sports sectors. Kustom Surf godly footwear brand.Palmers Surf Surf hardware brand specialized in the manufacturing of surfboard wax and surfing accessories, including deck trance and legropes. It alike offers an apparel range of t-shirts, boardshorts and walkshorts, as well as workwear. Honolua Surf excite by the iconic Hawaiian waterman and has a strong presence Company in Hawaii. Nixon Offers watches and accessories. Xcel Offers specialty wetsuits and a lie protective product line. Tigerlily Markets swimwear and apparel products in Australia. Sector 9 Skateboard brand specializing in skate longboards. DaKine Engages in the design and development of technical bags and ccessories for the surf, skate, snowboard, ski, mountain bike, windsurf and kite disciplines. RVCA Lifestyle brand offering apparel in the action sports category. Appendix B Consolidated table of issues/opportunities identified Opportunity Customer Increase consumers sensory experience by creating a Billabong Surf Village. Increase relational and selfexpansion appraise by hiring surf enthusiasts to impart knowledge to customers and increase sense of belonging. Encourage a individualized experience by introducing a CRM system which furnishs to individual customer preferences. Introduce a simulated surf machine into selected retail utlets to increase element of fun and encounter entertainment value. Raise status value of Billabong products by increasing exclusivity create limited edition items. Threat Emphasize customers individual identities through customization of boardshorts. Create an incentive for customers to dispose of their Billabong products in an environmentally friendly manner. Launch a tradein program where customers may exchange their old boardshorts for a discount on a new pair. condition take to be add Billabongs products Lower purchaser confidence and their surfer experience on affects discretionary expenditure other avenues beyond price reating price conscious distinction. consumer forward- flavour market of customers under- demographic qualify decreases 15s the customary 15-39 years old sports consumption age conference. increase convergence of surf Increasing convergence of wear and casual costume leads surf wear and casual wearable to opportunities for greater leads to threat of substitute differentiation among surf brands trunk size shift and high Surfwear is decreasing in concerns of soundbox Image leads to popularity and fashionability a trend towards end-user (due to travel trend) customization and advanced(a) shapewear. Growing environmental political relation support, GST appraise onsciousness among reprieve, stronger Australian Australians and the growth of eco dollar bill and break-dance network and ethical turn brands inf rastructure give rise to more e-tailer competitors who offer lower prices and the ability to do price comparison. Innovations in car park surf wear technology and creation of sustainable materials Growth of m-commerce and proliferation of smartphones leads to new retail formats A real driver for growth in the Australian opulence goods market from universal bourgeoisie Australians shows an opportunity for collaboration with opulence fashion brands. Competitors Little differentiations between roducts leads to low switching cost and lower brand loyalty Little differentiations between surfer experience provided by Billabong, Quiksilver and Hurley Surfwear and other shoreward e-tailers poses a strong threat as online buying becomes more popular with Australian customers. Windows shoppers who are online shoppers who try products in physical shop with the intention to buy from an onshore e-tailer. To introduce customer customisation and more innovative surf wear technology into pro duct range Collaborator Customer collaboration through Unsourcing allowing peer-to-peer support among user or through esign collaboration (The Economist 2012) provider Collaboration through collaboration with green supplier for new sustainable materials and green technology like ecosupreme suede to be incorporated into Billabong products Competitor Collaboration to tackle problems which affects the surf wear industry in general to increase overall enliven in the surfing culture or environmental isssues Company High brand awareness, low conversion rate. Convert remaining 54% of those already aware of Billabong into customers. manage down on number of designs, Designs non catering to focus on those popular with consumers needs customers.Re-evaluate which designs are favoured by market. tighten down number of suppliers in order to achieve economies of scale. Appendix C Customer Experience Cycle The Customer Experience Cycle (CEC) explains Billabongs latest value prompting and th e proposed improvements. Fig 1 Customer Experience Cycle Billabongs existing value proposition (red dots) Search mount ? Functional lever W biddy searching for reading somewhat Billabong, customers would entrust a website that provides all that they need in one place, so as to achieve their objective easily. Billabong provides a comprebiddysive website that fulfills this. Sense lever Customers would like an interactive experience when searching for information as it would make things more interesting and break the monotony. ? Linking judge Customers would appreciate having a place that connects them to other pile who may provide information to them. Billabong currently has platforms such as Facebook which facilitate this. ? cheer Value Since Billabong is sells apparel, customers who search are likely to be searching leisurely, and not for urgent purposes. As such, they would enjoy having a fun website which provides information while excessively being engaging.Billabong up loads videos of their team of surfers, which engages the customers. ? Convenience Value Information about Billabong is easily obtained online through its website or at any retail outlet in Australia. Purchase scope ? Functional Value Billabongs retail outlets and its e-commerce platform provide customers with the features infallible to purchase their products, which achieves the desired outcome of buying new products from Billabong. ? Confidence Value W hen purchasing Billabong products online, customers desire for it to be safe and reliable, without the risk of having their credit posting details stolen.Billabong certifies its e-commerce platforms to be safe, using online warranter programs Mcafee Secure and Norton Secured to protect consumers. ? Convenience Value It is important for customers to be able to purchase Billabongs products quickly and easily. For it to be convenient, a store selling their products should be easily accessible. Billabong owns 287 stores in Australas ia (Billabong 2012), even if 50% were in Australia alone, that would be 143 stores, not including its wholesale outlet. This indicates that it should be easy for a consumer to find a store selling Billabong products near to where they are.Purchasing online makes it even more convenient to purchase Billabong products. make use of stage setting ? Functional Value Billabongs products must be able to fulfill the basic purpose that the consumer bought it for. An example would be that boardshorts should be lasting and comfortable to wear, as expected of surf wear. Billabong has been known for its high quality products (Billabong 2012), which indicates that customers are satisfied with the manoeuver of their products. ? Linking Value Billabong customers unavoidableness to be associated and be part of the Billabongs community which brings surfers together.Billabong does this well through various surf events such as Billabong Pipe Masters and Australian Open of Surfing (Billabong 2012). Their Facebook page is also a platform for customers to network with each other. ? Confidence Value Billabong customers desire to set out apparel that can withstand the rough water and weather conditions reliable surf wear that can be worn repeatedly. As mentioned, Billabong has been known for its high quality products which satisfy customers. Billabongs proposed value proposition (blue dots) Search Context ?Relational Value In order to increase a sense of belongingness when customers begin to search for Billabong products, they could start a customer collaboration. Unsourcing An online forum controlled by Billabong, with contributions by customers. They could share about their experience with Billabong products and recommend what to buy (The Economist 2012). Billabong could also hold contests where customers design boardshorts, with the winning design being produced and sold in retail outlets. Customers would feel a part of the Billabong family as they contribute towards the bran d. It also helps Billabong to understand what customers want.Purchase Context ? Sense Value W hen a retail environment stimulates the five senses, it would become a memorable experience for customers. Billabong could open a Surf Village by the beach, where there are a combination of retail outlets, eateries and surf classes are held. Having retail outlets by the sea would also enhance the sight, sound and smell of the Billabong surf experience. ? Relational Value Store assistants should be friendly and able to hold a conversation with customers. Towards high-value customers, they should be able to acknowledge the person by name. This would cause customers to feel a sense of belonging. vanity Value Billabong could adopt a Customer race Management (CRM) system, whereby it tracks purchase history of individual customers. When customers login to the e-commerce platform, the system could provide personalised suggestions for each customer based on their purchase history. It would make the customer feel valued and become a personalised experience. ? Entertainment Value Customers would enjoy a fun experience while shopping at the retail outlet. A simulated surf machine could be placed in selected outlets to entice customers to surf, leading to higher conversion rates.It would be fun and also a way to attract more people to learn surfing. ? Self-Expansion Value In order to facilitate customers tuition experience, Billabong could hire surfer enthusiasts to work as store assistants. Their job would be to engage customers in conversation about surfing skills and knowledge, also to pass on the fondness of surfing to customers. Another idea would be to include a surfing school in Billabongs Surf Village, where newcomers are welcome to take lessons. Every purchase of a pair of Billabong boardshorts could entitle a customer to a discounted price for a surf esson. Hence, customers would be encouraged to introduce in the surfing experience. Use Context ? Status Value As Billabongs target market consists of aspirational surfers as well as actual surfers, they would value apparel that speak of their surfer status. Billabong could aim to raise its status value through sponsorships of surf-related movies. Strong Billabong brand placement could be used in the casts wardrobe, accessories and filmed in its retail outlets. Billabong could also produce limited edition apparel, which only sells for a short season.This would increase its exclusivity as a brand and as a result, increase its status. ? Self-Esteem Value Customers value experiences that emphasize their individual identity. In response to this value, Billabong could create a platform for customization of boardshorts and other surf apparel. It could be designed on Billabongs website and then submitted online, or at the actual retail outlet itself, where computer terminals are available for customers to design the clothes. Wearing clothes that are customized yet branded would increase the customer s sense of identity as an individual. Disposal Context Price Value If customers were able to obtain a hard currency discount when disposing of their old surf apparel, they would make the effort to do so. Billabong could launch a program where customers trade-in their old surf apparel for a discount on their next purchase. ? Self-Esteem Value Australians soak themselves in being environmentallyfriendly, therefore, being able to recycle their surf wear would appeal to them as it emphasizes their identity. ? Convenience Value The cycle surf wear program must be convenient for customers as well, so that it can be done quickly without much effort.Recycling bins could be made available in the shops and customers would allowed to trade in shorts at any of Australias some an(prenominal) Billabong outlets. ? Self-Expansion Value The recycling project would boost customers learning experience and be a new initiative for many. They would learn how to properly dispose of their surf wear t hrough a unused programme. APPENDIX D PEST Analysis General Industry Analysis Billabong Forces (Australia) Implications governmental / Legal ? Push for online retail ? presence Domestic brick-and-mortar retailers must adapt to multi- Australian Retailers channel retailing to stayAssociation (ARA) is pushing competitive. local anesthetic retailers to adopt an online store or march on their ? Rise of local and contrasted current online or mobile internet retailers with wide of the mark presence to facilitate range of surf brands as product, location and strong competitors. possible action hour searches (Euromonitor 2012) ? Carbon Taxes ? Australia is set to introduce a Australia has obligations tax on ampere-second emission in under the mode Change July 2012 which taxes Convention and the Kyoto companies as well as rail Protocol to reduce its transport and domestic help carbon impression aviation for each tonne of Euromonitor 2012) to carbonic acid gas emitted. encourage Au stralia to move towards a clean energy ? future. Apparel industries in Australia are unlikely to be liable however they will feel an indirect impact through various increasing costs, namely through freight and electricity costs. ? There is exploitation consumer scrutiny of the processes used to reconcile and source products. ? Green Sustainability ? industry is to align green The Green Party in Australia credentials with value-for- is today a of import political money fashion. force (Euromonitor 2012). ? obligation Barriers Australian governments ontinued protection of the domestic wearable and The challenge for apparel ? Trade responsibility barriers on foreign export increase the price of goods produced by Billabongs foreign manufacturing industry through the maintenance of (Hawaiian Island Surf & tariff barriers (TPJ Sport) and Californian International 1999) ? competitors Hawaiian (Pacific SunWear). No GST Taxes on imported ? Online channels will become goods a more popul ar shopping Online shoppers have win a choice due to savings from reprieve from goods and taxes and stronger Australian services tax (GST) on dollar. More local retailers mported goods worth less have to catch up with an than A$1,000 (US$1,030). online presence. Economic ? Weaken Consumers ? Creating a price-conscious consumption price being a Confidence Severe floods, the world-wide more important determinant scotch downturn and with consumers expenditure less increased unemployment on clothing by looking for rate from 0. 1% to 5. 2% cheaper options. (Australian authorization of Statistics 2012) have ? Rise of value clothing made weaken consumers available via cheap imports confidence affecting from mainland China or online channels. discretionary expending. ? Many Australian retailers use xtensive and prolong sales ? blow over per capita and activity to coax customers back vividness per capita declined which might not be sustainable between 2005 and 2010 in the long ru n. (Euromonitor 2012). ? delay of the ? Australian dollar Offshore retailers are of interest to local consumers due With an increase of about to appreciation of the 31% against the US dollar Australian dollar and the (April, 2012). 1. 00AUD = relatively lower prices available 1. 05526USD (XE, 17 family line on surf apparels abroad. 2012) Social ? scotch Characteristics of ? Rise in price-conscious consumption consumers want the Australians he best possible value for their Despite the strong economy, a purchases. consumer vox populi survey conducted by the Boston Consulting assemblage (BCG) ? This includes measures such as revealed that Australian postponement for the next inevitable shoppers were among the most disturbed and financially wave of industry-wide price unfixed in the Developed slashing, purchasing less items World, with many planning or pursuit value offerings additional reductions in their through mass merchandisers, discretionary spending shift down to a l ower price (Euromonitor 2012). band. ? ? Consumers seek clothing suited automobile trunk Image o all body shapes and sizes. According to a survey Garments that coddle and conducted by Mission compliment a range of body Australia on 30,000 under-25 types are a crucial aspect of the participants Body Image is trend towards end-user apparently the number one customization. concern for young Australians, frontward of the environment and family issues. ? Shift in fairish body size ? Sportswear have great potential Men in Australia are also for design features that cater to undergoing a body size shift. big body sizes, with The average male slant innovations in shapewear and rose from 77. 4kg in 1989-1990 ther performance-enhancing to 83. 6kg in 2004-2005 support garments. (Euromonitor 2012). Weight gain is not just due to ? Compression card-playing garments fat, with muscle bulk deemed are likely to drive growth in preferred by many Aussie sportswear as consumers blokes. become better informed about their benefits for optimum muscle performance and recovery. ? Demographic shift ? Critically, there will be a squeeze As seen in fastest-growing age on the traditionally core 15-39 band over the coming decade year old sports consumption age will be the over-65s, followed band. by the under-15s (Euromonitor 012). ? showy refinement ? Apparel items can provide a key Sporting activities play a incentive to participating in central role in Australian physical activity and sports. This cultural life signifies a growing need for well- Australians are currently designed and correctly-fitting encouraged to adapt simple, clothing which enhance day-to-day changes for better performance as well as injury health as part of the Measure prevention. Up nationwide existence awareness campaign (Euromonitor 2012) ? Extreme sports/expeditions ? specialiser apparel is facing challenge to go consumer is currently ranked as no. 10 nterest in sport with growing in a Euromonitor demand for value fashion as International from FDS seen in the example of Stella Internationals Supporting McCartney has a line of Sport survey as one of the sportswear with Adidas. top 10 self reported sports interest (Euromonitor 2012). ? Beach Culture ? Australian male has always prided himself on being laid back With the considerable majority of and casual, this impulse has Australians living inwardly a short been replaced among many by distance from the beach, the an urge to succeed and reflected order of the beach culture by the greater demand for suits, s significant, particularly in dress shirts and ties. However Sydney and up the einsteinium coast there must be strong emphasis of Queensland. This was on how price conscious their reflected by Australian fashion tastes tended to consumers spending of A$29 become. per capita spending on swimwear (Euromonitor 2012). ? Dressing Down ? Euromonitor (May 2012) also Inexpensive, everyday fashion has steadily become the primary revealed trends of Australians type of fashion purchased by bandaging down in times of Australian shoppers. economic uncertainty. Australians are dressing down and filling their wardrobes with nexpensive, clothing, according to the deoxyadenosine monophosphate Capital Shopping Centres Shopping goal Report (2012). ? Attitude to Luxury Products / function ? There is a real driver for growth in the Australian extravagance goods market coming from ordinary research by American Express patronage Insights published on fashion website middle-class Australians who are looking to splash out on something special. This shows fashioinmag. com appears to an opportunity for collaboration underpin the appeal of luxury with luxury fashion brands. products and services to a new group of luxury consumers, referred to as the newcomers, who are not articularly rich but who are spending a lot in high-end fashion and restaurants (Euromonitor 2012). By 2010, newcomers share of luxury spending rep resented 14% of the total luxury spending in Australia. ? Domestic Holidays ? though there is a rising outward touristry due to the Australia contains a wide appreciation of the Australian variety of holiday options dollar and cheap fares from low in spite of appearance its own borders making cost carriers, domestic holidays Domestic holidays typically are lull more common involve visits to the hoidenish and outnumbers the number of coastal areas that are in close oreign holidays taken by near proximity to Australias major cities. ? guild to one (Euromonitor 2012). Given various choices for ? This reveals an opportunity to types of holidays, market boardsports as a tourism respondents ranked nature activity within Australia holidays, (beaches, especially in coastal areas like waterways, wilderness and Secret Harbour (Perth), Noosa wildlife) setoff in terms of (Sunsine Coast), Bondi Beach interest, followed by holidays (Sydney), Boomerang Beach involving relaxation, health ( Pacific Palms) and many more and indulgence (travelintelligence. com) entertainment, nightlife and hopping arts, culture, history and hereditary pattern and food and wine. ? Key principal motivations lav tourism includes to get away from everyday life, and to do/experience something new. some other motives also include to master a skill and to engage in thought-provoking physical activities (Cooperative Research Centre for sustainable Tourism) ? Eco Consciousness ? among Australian Eco-friendly brands are tip to show upbeat growth consumers over the next five years, albeit from a low base. Deadly bushfires in Southeastern Australia and prolonged periods of drought across the region have brought issues of climate