Saturday, August 31, 2019

Gatsby Assignment

The Great Gatsby Assignment Directions: * For each chapter (except Ch. 9), at least one of the three columns (Device – Passage – Connection to Meaning) is completed for you. Your job is to correctly and meaningfully complete any blank column. Passages should be directly cited and effectively chosen (Include page number[s]). * Each â€Å"Connection to Meaning† entry will require multiple, thoughtful sentences. * Each â€Å"Connection to Meaning† entry must include: (a) discussion of meaning in the immediate context of the device, and (b) discussion of meaning in the greater context of the novel.You are expected to complete the â€Å"a† portion of your discussion as soon as we read the chapter. You are expected to return to each completed â€Å"a† portion at the conclusion of the novel, as you attempt to find new insight and complete the â€Å"b† portion of your discussion (remember that Ch. 6 is your model for the third column, but your s should be 2-3 sentences longer and more developed). * Send me an email when you get home, and I will send you the assignment electronically. This way you can type the assignment and turn in a printed copy. My email is cecily. [email  protected] org * This is due Thursday, March 28 (TYPED! ) Chapter| Device/Strategy| Passage and page #| Connection to Meaning| 1| Juxtaposition| â€Å"There’s a bird on the lawn that I think must be a nightingale come over on the Cunard or White Star Line . He’s singing away,† her voice sang. â€Å"It’s romantic, isn’t it, Tom? † The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact, all subjects vanished into air. (15)| | 2| | â€Å"But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and giganticâ₠¬â€their retinas are one yard high. † (23)| | 3| Allusion (41)| | | 4| | â€Å"Yeah, Gatsby’s very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend’s wife. † (72)| | 5| Tone shiftTone #1Tone #2Tone #3Tone #4| | | 6| | | Jay Gatsby invents parents because he does not like what his mother and father represented.Gatsby is new money and is in opposition to the old money; new money was not respected since it was earned fast and quick and not inherited or used to raise and culture those it was passed down to. So, Gatsby â€Å"creates† the image that is needed in order to fit into the society in which Daisy belongs. He creates a perfect, omniscient heritage that only can be achieved by one according to Christianity, and he became the faithful servant to that image.This allowed him to achieve the status that only his â€Å"heavenly† Daisy could complete. | 7| (a) Logos (b) Ethos (c) PathosHint: You need to provide a clear example of e ach appeal in the argument to â€Å"win† Daisy. | | | 8| | â€Å"She was the first nice girl he had ever known. In various unrevealed capacities he had come in contact with such people, but always with indiscernible barbed wire. He found her excitingly desirable. † (148)| | 9| | | |

Friday, August 30, 2019

How an economy works ? Essay

I wasn’t entirely surprised by the article considering that, in truth, when we open ourselves up to the myriad of thing that the course teaches, all of these can be learned. Only our interests make us choose what we learn more, what we retain and what we want to forget. Stating that more people learn the â€Å"economic way of thinking† I feel that I have to agree with the 75. 5% of people who learned â€Å"how an economy works. † The difficulty of economics is, indeed at a high level considering that there is a drill on models and computations. This focus reveals that the analytical aspect of economics that we are applying is based on current existing models that we have to work around with. However, it is not complicated as to integrate the intricacies of its liberal roots. Although there are touches of it, it isn’t drilled in too deep. The role of critical thinking is highly important and for economics to weigh more on models and computations to analyze the economy is a little detrimental on the part of course itself. This is because many of today’s economic problems are not entirely reliant on predictable circumstances that models and computations simplify the world to be. It is therefore more instructional and beneficial for students to give a little more emphasis on the liberal arts side, forcing students to think out of the box. Many of the critical thinking skills that economics has given me largely relies on the fact that every issue about our current economic state makes me think about what economic models to use. However, as an independent thinker, I also believe there is more that policymakers and today’s economists can give rather than recycling old methods and using old analyses. As an economics major, I feel that the class has taught me that there are a myriad of solutions waiting to be explored and there is certainly no hard and fast rule to come up with a solution.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Accounting Investors and Earnings Management

This study deals with analyzing the current issues in accounting field (Miller and Power 2013). In this particular assignment, emphasis has been given on bringing out the real causes behind the collapse faced by Dick Smith Electronics. The current segment discuses various accounting related issues that Dick Smith had to face because of unpredictable situations that come their way. This particular company is based in Australia and deals in selling electronic products to the potential customers (Messier 2016). One of the major issues that the company faced is the excess stock-in-hand that was not required by them. They faced several complaints from the customers claiming that delivery was not done for weeks. This present segment elucidates bringing together all the potential issues faced by the company and the reason for the cause at the same time. At the end, proper recommended actions have been given that will help Dick Smith in getting over with this situation within a short span of time (Lukka and Vinnari 2014). Dick Smith Holdings Limited is one of the Australian-based retail chain companies that sell consumer electronic goods, electronic project kits as well as hobbyist electronic components (Dicksmith.com 2017). This particular company had expanded in New Zealand as well as other countries. By the year 2016, Kogan, an online retailer has traded under the brand name (Dick Smith) and started online operations and covering countries such as Australia and New Zealand (Jindrichovska and Kubickova 2015). This report will be discussing the current accounting related issues faced by the retail giant who sell electronic components known as Dick Smith (Hunton, Mauldin and Wheeler 2015). This company was alleged by many people after the Collapse. This study will discuss regarding what made Dick Smith face the issues and the reason behind the same (Dicksmith.com 2017). Below is the reason with proper justification: From the administrator statement, it is clearly mentioned by McGrathNicol who sets out opinion on the reason for business falling for some time (Hunton, Libby and Mazza 2015). In this case, receivers as well as administrators work with the wreckage of Dick Smith collapse. Addition to that, the responsibility of rebates from suppliers majorly influences administration while undertaking purchasing decision. It requires understanding their capability to mask the actuality of income information in a clear manner. In the year 2014-2015, more than $72 Million reported as earnings before interest, reduction as well as tax and amortization. After excluding rebates and promotion subsidy, this figures will be accustomed to a $ 119 Million EBITDA loss (Henderson et al. 2015). The auditors signed off on Dick Smith financial records in the year 2015. This reveals that intentional administrators were selected for treating the accounting concepts in the recent field of secretarial (Gupta, Chiles and McMullen 2016). There was lot of consequences found at the time of accounting treatment of rebates as a part of Dick Smith collapse. Rebates were one of the current issues that are faced by Dick Smith (Dicksmith.com 2017). In the recent financial year, Target was in spotlight by their accounting team by way of treating rebates resulting to inflated earnings. Addition to that, Wesfarmers Limited had investigated the issue whereby several staff members left the organization at that time (Francis, Hasan and Wu 2013). In Britain, one of the giant retailers named as Tesco Multinational Corporation was alerted to issues with the secretarial action of rebates in the year 2014 after whistleblower contacted with the corporation universal counsel (Elliott et al. 2013). Tesco Multinational Corporation flagged it as presenting the overstated figures of first half profits. This was found at the time when it has viewed from an exaggeration of level of presentation for prior three monetary years. In this case, Tesco Multinational Corporation is still under examination by Serious Fraud Office as well as Financial Reporting Council (Hunton, Mauldin and Wheeler 2015). Some of the issues arise from interpreting accounting standards resulting from numerous entities especially in frequent jurisdiction. These are well known as well as unstated within the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) framework (Deegan 2013). The ubiquitousness of the problems as well as subjectivity of global accounting standards is consistent in nature (Coad, Jack and Kholeif 2015). This ensures high level of consistency as well as apparent submission is likely to little console to Dick Smith. This company has 3300 former human resources based in Australia as well as New Zealand or the investors who are set for losing their cash. Management at Dick Smith is anticipating the possible consequences that need to be considered as far as possible (Dicksmith.com 2017). According to Professor, they had flagged the audit quality as a problem. These professors were of the opinion that audit profession for understanding the addressed shortfalls in audit quality (Christensen, Nikolaev and Wittenberg?Moerman 2016). Addition to that, new accounting standard will definitely clarify the principles for revenue recognition that will be affected by 2018. In this theory, it will mainly address the issues concerned with the treatment of rebate. Therefore, it mainly relies upon introducing new accounting standards (Dicksmith.com 2017). The accounting occupation will be bound by code of principles that mentions accountants act meeting the public attention for a good reason (Bonin 2013). In other words, the code provides principles as supported by professionals who are responsible for navigating in the complex business environments. This will help in taking business decisions like treatment of revenue as well as inventory that will fulfill with strict request of standards and law. This will comply with the spirit for achieving the objectives (Bebbington, Unerman and O'Dwyer 2014). Most of the company faces failure that has the potential for undermining the profession constant whereby principles relies upon based approach and more on regulations (Beattie 2014). In other words, there is no doubt that increased regulation will reach at the tipping point. It strongly depends upon the warning against the tick the box mentality as well as potential for more adverse outcomes. It is the fact whereby financial regulators are getting frustrated from the content of intervention by the government (Hunton, Libby and Mazza 2015). Addition to that, accounting profession will bring value as well as expertise to business and society in broadly aspect. This majorly occupies the position of trust in and among the community people. It means being entrusted with such social science that take place from huge responsibilities as well as high expectations (Ball 2013). As rightly put forward by Deegan (2013), it was announced by the Senate regarding an injury in terms of orientation that majorly covers up the collapse of Dick Smith Electronics. There had been lot of senators who pore over ways that floated towards failure of Dick Smith. As far as economic theory is concerned, it explains the failure of Dick Smith as it is consistent with a dynamic economy (Dicksmith.com 2017). Addition to that, it is necessary in understanding the business that do not particularly utilize economic resources in an efficient way as compared to its competitors. Therefore, the failure is widely linked with the series of ugly looking proceedings that are conflicting in a inefficient market. According to Deegan (2013), Senate discuses on the good opportunity that needs to be discussed by considering issues that make Australia like a nasty place for investing in shares. This includes: In the year 2012, it has been viewed that Anchorage Capital had purchased Dick Smith business from the other retail giant in Australia known as Woolworths Limited amounting to $ 115 Million (Hunton, Libby and Mazza 2015). By the year 2013, Dick Smith was floated with market capitalization amounting to $ 520 Million. This float was from the greatest private equity heist whereby the Founder of Dick Smith gets involved in describing the utter greed and unethical in their practices (Dicksmith.com 2017). There is divergent of financial information surrounding sale of Woolworths Limited of Dick Smith business to Anchorage (Hunton, Mauldin and Wheeler 2015). This reveals the fact that the parties did not agree on the book values of Dick Smith record at that particular time of sale transactions. Addition to that, the parties have irreconcilable accounting at those particular transactions. It has been reported that Woolworths Limited claims it by making it a small gain after a sequence of devaluations as well as requirements. Therefore, Anchorage claims for making gain of $ 146 Million as it brought business in a given reduction to the fair value of net property (Lukka and Vinnari 2014). There has been subsequent financial information that concerned inventory in timely manner. In the year 2015, Dick Smith astonished the market by declaring the company requires inventory write-down of $ 60 Million for 3 months as mentioned in the financial statements. In the same year, it was found that the company was audited bit with no adverse findings (Hunton, Libby and Mazza 2015). Most of the retail industry including Dick Smith is accused of chasing rebates by way of inflating profits at faster pace (Hunton, Libby and Mazza 2015). Addition to that, Australian retailers had even experienced a tough year by way of facing severe competition by tumbling prices as well as weekly dollar. It is also noticed that there is huge pressure on the Senior Management leader within the retailers who are turning those business with a view to become successful in shorter period. Even though, new accounting standards that will be coming up by the year 2018, will give clear idea on how revenue such as rebates will be best accounted for in any situation (Hunton, Mauldin and Wheeler 2015). Some of the protected creditors decide regarding whether offers for selling a commerce can be satisfactory or not (Hunton, Libby and Mazza 2015). This can be understood as only banks and receivers will have actual information regarding any types of offers. This means economic incentive of banks in a given company will find ways for maximizing their payoff and come at a cost for the sake of other stakeholders. It requires more number of days when receivers as well as administrators will appoint Dick Smith. This will take place by collecting financial information from shareholders as well as unsecured creditors in the most appropriate way (Lukka and Vinnari 2014).   The collapse of electronics retail sequence named as Dick Smith has sent shockwaves from the retail business. Some of the recommended measures are mentioned below that will help in overcoming the current situation. Inventory Management- Managing Inventory is essential for solving the issues faced by Dick Smith. Dick Smith inventory problems started to increase in the second half of 2015. This company had even revealed the fact that they would write down the value of its inventory at 20% amounting to $ 60 Million. The company declared that they bought stock anticipating of certain level of sales that they will achieve in near future. They failed in achieving the sales target and they are finding ways for clearing the stock as far as possible. Dick Smith followed the write down and labeled a mammoth clearance sale. They had prices on old stock slash by more than 70%. Addition to that, Dick Smith had explored alternative funding. Even though the directors of the company was of opinion that alternative funding will not be supported by short-term funding requirements as well as allows Dick Smith in ordering required stock for next 4 to 6 weeks. Therefore, Dick Smith had struggled enough in clearing out excess old inventory as well as securing finance for purchasing new stock. Role of private equity floats- This explains that role of private equity group Anchorage Capital in Dick Smith aims at providing essential context to the retailer collapse. This indicate that private equity floats that cannot be otherwise visible. Addition to that, Anchorage purchased Dick Smith business from the Australian retail giant (Woolworths Limited) for $ 115 Million in the year 2012. They aid $ 20 Million upfront as well as floated the company on ASX by the year 2013. They had the market valuation of $ 520 Million. Management of Dick Smith discusses in undertaking turnaround programs for bringing improvement in company cash flow problems. Within the time span, Dick Smith debuted on ASX listings staring with a price of $ 2.20. Initial public offering of Dick Smith was overvalued at first place. Customer Service is important in a competitive market- It is essential in considering the fact that consumer electronics market is Australia is extremely competitive market whereby customer service plays major role. In one of the case, it was posted on the Facebook by an angry customer who claimed that online orders had not been delivered. This was for a week’s whereby customer representatives hung on phone for resolving the query. There will be lot of complaints by the customers that needs to be resolved by the retailers who compete in this global marketplace. Most of the retailers receive high volume of customer complaints at the time of busy trading periods. This will take place whereby company running in a huge sale but it is the responsibility of the representatives in solving the query of customer without any delay. In this case, Dick Smith faced the same query by the market at the time of downgrading of market values. At the end of the study, it is concluded that Dick Smith faced various accounting issues that is needed to be resolved at urgent note. Dick Smith had fallen by more than 80% at the time it got listed in Australian Stock Exchange. This company was even placed in liquidation by their creditors as they were suffering a loss of $ 260 Million. Finally, the founder of Dick Smith dismay at the closure as well as put it down to the utter greed of modern capitalism. The above analysis had given detailed presentation of the issues with recommended actions. These actions should be taken into consideration by Dick Smith for bringing smooth operation of business enterprise. In case of Dick Smith, the court heard that the management selects its products for maximization of rebate. This is the money that retailers will get from the suppliers for keeping the stock as well as promoting the goods at the same time. Ball, R., 2013. Accounting informs investors and earnings management is rife: Two questionable beliefs.  Accounting Horizons,  27(4), pp.847-853. Beattie, V., 2014. Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework.  The British Accounting Review,  46(2), pp.111-134. Bebbington, J., Unerman, J. and O'Dwyer, B., 2014.  Sustainability accounting and accountability. Routledge. Bonin, H., 2013.  Generational accounting: theory and application. Springer Science & Business Media. Christensen, H.B., Nikolaev, V.V. and Wittenberg?Moerman, R., 2016. Accounting information in financial contracting: The incomplete contract theory perspective.  Journal of Accounting Research,  54(2), pp.397-435. Coad, A., Jack, L. and Kholeif, A.O.R., 2015. Structuration theory: reflections on its further potential for management accounting research.  Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management,  12(2), pp.153-171. Crawford, E.R. and Lepine, J.A., 2013. A configural theory of team processes: Accounting for the structure of taskwork and teamwork.  Academy of Management Review,  38(1), pp.32-48. Deegan, C., 2013.  Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Dicksmith.com. (2017).  Dick Smith Automotive Group serving Columbia, Lexington, St. Andrews, Greenville, Charleston, and Moncks Corner, South Carolina. [online] Available at: https://www.dicksmith.com [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Elliott, W.B., Jackson, K.E., Peecher, M.E. and White, B.J., 2013. The unintended effect of corporate social responsibility performance on investors' estimates of fundamental value.  The Accounting Review,  89(1), pp.275-302. Francis, B., Hasan, I. and Wu, Q., 2013. The benefits of conservative accounting to shareholders: Evidence from the financial crisis.  Accounting Horizons,  27(2), pp.319-346. Gupta, V.K., Chiles, T.H. and McMullen, J.S., 2016. A process perspective on evaluating and conducting effectual entrepreneurship research.  Academy of Management Review,  41(3), pp.540-544. Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K. and Howieson, B., 2015.  Issues in financial accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Hunton, J.E., Libby, R. and Mazza, C., 2015. Retraction: Financial Reporting Transparency and Earnings Management.  The Accounting Review,  90(4), pp.1711-1711. Hunton, J.E., Mauldin, E.G. and Wheeler, P.R., 2015. Retraction: Potential Functional and Dysfunctional Effects of Continuous Monitoring.  The Accounting Review,  90(4), pp.1709-1709. Jindrichovska, I. and Kubickova, D., 2015. Czech accounting academia and practice: historical roots and current issues.  Accounting and Management Information Systems,  14(2), pp.328-361. Kaplan, R.S. and Atkinson, A.A., 2015.  Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning. Lukka, K. and Vinnari, E., 2014. Domain theory and method theory in management accounting research.  Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal,  27(8), pp.1308-1338. Messier Jr, W., 2016.  Auditing & assurance services: A systematic approach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Miller, P. and Power, M., 2013. Accounting, organizing, and economizing: Connecting accounting research and organization theory.  The Academy of Management Annals,  7(1), pp.557-605. End your doubt 'should I pay someone to do my dissertation by availing dissertation writing services from

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Colorado Plateau Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Colorado Plateau - Essay Example Colorado plateau covers an area of 140,000 square miles and it extends in four states of USA i.e. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. River Colorado drains this area. It is unique as it has very less vegetation cover so whole rock strata are exposed as a rare example. Another interesting fact is that Colorado Squawfish is nearly six feet in length. Before I started reading this book, I had all this prior knowledge about Colorado topography and Geology, but never in my life had I paid attention towards the social life fabric in Colorado. The book thus linked my knowledge of Geography and Geology to sociology and the study of culture and history of this region. The experience of reading this book differs a bit from the reality. In the present day Colorado, in comparison, a lot of the things have changed. The way of living of people from Colorado has changed a lot over the passage of last few decades. The book mentions the era of late 19th century when America as a whole and Colorado region in particular was dependent upon primary economic activities. When I looked it up on the internet to find some interesting pictures of the region, I realized that life has changed a lot in this region by now. The beauty of Colorado plateau has always attracted me. Having a natural love for nature and especially of the rugged look and interesting Geology of this region, the book attracted me a lot. It is a land of exceptional wild beauty. High relief and less vegetation cover due to arid climate is the prominent feature of this area. Most of the rock structure of Colorado plateau is made up of sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are mostly formed under sea water. It means that Colorado plateau was formed due to upliftment about 15 million years ago. Weathering by wind and erosion by fast moving water has resulted in the distinctive topography of this plateau. With my interest in Geology and topography of the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Compare and contrast the four distinct categories of presidential Essay

Compare and contrast the four distinct categories of presidential personality described in James Barber's habitual action patterns approach - Essay Example In the active positive presidential category, Barber described them as adaptive. They are also self-confident and flexible. They tend to create opportunities for actions and enjoy exercising their power. They usually do not take themselves too seriously. In addition, they are optimistic individuals. Power is considered as means to achieve beneficial results by this group. They spend much energy in their job and enjoy doing the job. The group is also productive, result-oriented, and successful in pushing programs through (Barber 6). A good example is George W. Bush. His character of taking action without too much caution as was the case with the Iraq invasion portrays a key characteristic of this group. The second group of active negative tends to be compulsive. They mainly tend to use power as a means of self-realization. This group expends a lot of energy on the job but derive little joy in the process. They are always preoccupied with whether they are succeeding or failing in their job. In addition, they tend to have low self-esteem. Mostly, they are rigid, pessimist, highly driven, and have problems when it comes to aggression and management. They usually want to get and retain power to prove to others that they are people to reckon with. A good example of active negative presidents is Woodrow Wilson. Wilson put much effort in his work but did not receive any emotional rewards. He rarely received satisfaction with the work he did. He was said to have a compulsive and perfectionist personality. The other group is passive positive. This group tends to be compliant and usually seek to be loved. They are easily manipulated. The have a low self-esteem, which they overcome by adopting an ingratiating personality. They are reactive, lack initiative, and are superficially optimistic. They spend less energy on the job but like doing the job. William Taft and Warren Harding are typical examples of

Monday, August 26, 2019

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS & PROCESSES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS & PROCESSES - Essay Example 57). In some cases, the concept of share price performance has been thought to be another important tool used in assessing the success of a company. However, it is important to understand that the success of a business organisation is often the sum total of all the different business process and functions (Chroneer, Johansson &Malmstrom 2015, p. 95). In this understanding, business managers are supposed to ensure that they create functional teams in their respective organizations in order to harmonize the different efforts to cause a general uniform success and achievement of the business goals and objectives. In many companies and other business organizations, success often means effective performance of the share price or simply general profitability. The process of comparing profitability in the industry among different firms is often aimed at establishing profitable companies in order to undertake the comparison process. However, this approach is not always the best because different companies and business organizations do not particular comparators because the respective business mix lacks similarity (Sedek 2012, p. 509). It goes without mention that in general, the success of the organization’s different organisation is the main point of concern when it comes to assessing the overall success of the firm. It is therefore this kind of understanding that this paper draws its main source of concern, examining the contribution made by the human resource department in its compensation role towards ensuring that the business creates and consolidates on its market share. Baldwin & Wilkinson (2000), explains that in every organisation, effective management of people and resources is an important process that is thought to be the core of its success (57). Whether businesses have the department in charge of people management or not, there will always be a person charged with ensuring that the welfare of staff is

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Felix Longorias Wake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Felix Longorias Wake - Essay Example In fact, it states that the wake could not be held because whites would not like it. This event catapulted the fight against discrimination of the Mexican- American overnight. The controversy helped build careers of some politicians while also bringing to an end the life of others. The resultant effect of the action was the fight for recognition. The purpose of the book is to create the picture of the events that occurred in the struggle against racism which includes events surrounding the life of Felix Longoria. The book is organized in a structural way including the development of the plot. The book can be read with ease, but has several repetitions that make it boring for readers especially when rereading the book. The book is essential when addressing the social issues affecting the American society including the current status of the country. It elaborates the issue of racism and the steps undertaken to combat racism. The focus of the book is on the Mexican Americans and their struggle for identity and rights. The book is excellent especially for students studying the American society and the impact of various rights’

Analysis of the Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Analysis of the Business Environment - Essay Example The daring steps in the formulation of the monetary policy have been taken in order to contain the deflation in the country. Despite the continuous efforts of the government the yield of the bonds issued by the government of Japan has remained more or less static and low. On the other hand the net public debt of the economy of Japan is as high as 134 % of the GDP. This is one of the highest levels of public debt out of the advanced economies of the world. In such a situation the Abenomics policies of 2013 to bring about a surge in the growth rate of the country and to bring about inflation in the country is considered to be having a lot of uncertainty and is dependent on the proper implementation of the strategies. This report is an analysis of the key measures under the policies, the main objectives as well as the long term implications of the policy. Scholarly resources have been consulted extensively in order to conduct the research and to draw appropriate inferences. Discussion B ackground of the Japanese economy In the post world war period Japan experienced spectacular growth of the economy. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the average rate of the economy had been 10%, 5% and 4% respectively. The country moved to being one of the advanced economies. However, Japan witnessed a burst in the assets bubble in the early 1990s. There was an economic slowdown which resulted in a high level of unemployment in the country. Adding to this there was a huge amount of deficit in the budget which occurred due to the ventures of the government to finance the projects related to public works in the country. However the stagnation in the economy could in no way be stimulated by the different infrastructure projects. In order to battle such an economic situation the Japanese government took policy measures that would take out the speculative part of the surplus liquidity from the stock markets as well as the real estate markets. These policies led the country into a phase of intensive deflation during the phase of 1990 to 2004 (Arslanalp and Lam, 2013, pp. 12-16). Due to the policies the economy recovered once again but the deflation still persisted. At the time of the financial crisis which had hit almost all the countries of the world, Japan experienced a loss in the level of GDP by 0.7% in the year 2008 and about 5.2% in the year 2009. On the other hand the growth rate of GDP of the country was negative in 2009. The volume of international trade in the country also suffered a decline of 27%. Key policies under Abenomics The policies under Abenomics comprise of mainly three strategies which are better known as the â€Å"three arrows† (Itoh, 2013, pp. 2-3). The three pillars are Bold monetary policy Flexibility in the Fiscal Policy Strategy to induce growth The Prime Minister intended to take a bold monetary policy through the introduction of quantitative easing as well as increasing the level of spending on the public expenditure along with the attempt to devalue yen. The Bank of Japan intended to undertake a strategy of Quantitative Easing through this policy. The bank would be buying assets from the open market worth $ 1.4 trillion so that the money

Saturday, August 24, 2019

First amendment assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

First amendment assignment - Essay Example He also tried to stop them from distributing their printed materials using the same claim. Members of this group were removed from the city by force and illegally searched for Labor Union pamphlets. The Supreme Court found that the city's actions violated the citizens rights under the assembly clause of the First Amendent. In addition to that, the Court found that the original city ordinances preventing communist groups from meeting were also a violation of the assembly clause of the First Amendment. This was because the city officials could deny a meeting permit to any group for any reason, simply by claiming that he felt it had the potential to lead to disorderly public conduct. While city officials do have a duty to prevent unlawful conduct from occurring, they cannot infringe on the right to assembly in order to do this. Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536 (1965) http://supreme.justia.com/us/379/536/case.html Cox v Louisiana was a case of the police overstepping their boundaries on di spelling riots or disruptive demonstrations. A civil rights group was protesting the arrest of some African-American students by gathering on the far side of the street from the courthouse, picketing, and singing songs. At some point, the leader of the group encouraged them to participate in a sit-in protest at the diners on that side of the street. The police construed this as an intent to disturb the peace, and forced the group to disband using tear gas. The group's leader was then arrested for â€Å"peace disturbance, obstructing public passages, and courthouse picketing†. Similarly to the Hague v CIO case, the Supreme Court found that the laws defining a peaceful demonstrations versus a disturbance were overly broad. They were designed to protect the peace, but it came at a violation of the First Amendment rights of the populace. In addition, the Supreme Court found that the laws about â€Å"obstructing public passages† were not being enforced. Enforcing them in th is case seemed like intentional discrimination and a violation of Cox's right to assembly specifically. Hill v. Colorado, 530 U.S. 703 (2000) http://laws.findlaw.com/us/530/703.html Colorado passed a law that stated that petitioners could not approach other visitors to a health care facility within 100 feet of the entrance to that facility in order to hand out printed materials, display signs, or verbally protest their actions. This law was primarily put into place to protect women who were visiting abortion clinics from overbearing protesters. The law was appealed in court because Hill felt that it was a violation of their rights to both free speech and assembly, since citizens could not gather at the entrance to a healthcare facility to engage in peaceful protest. The Supreme Court upheld the law, but only by a 6-3 vote. It was considered acceptable because it limited the places and ways in which speech and assembly could occur, without limiting their right to do so. Petitioners w ere free to gather at the healthcare facilities and protest, as long as they did so within the confines of the law. However, the dissenting opinions pointed out that the law was only being enforced at abortion clinics and so involved the content of the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Finding a Familiar World Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finding a Familiar World - Personal Statement Example Seeing people with chinky eyes, slim and with smooth reddish skin seemed so cool. It was of course different from where my own color. The people both the men and the women seem to be attractive with unique color and features. As a navy, being in the sea for most of the time, seeing people with friendly faces is a treat. We got to tour the place and it was amazing. I easily got caught by the different tourists' destinations and got to enjoy looking at the fashion and electronics products on the country. The city was really clean and the people seemed to be so discipline. The most prominent symbol in Singapore is the Merlion. The Merlion is "an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish" and "its name combines 'mer' meaning the sea and 'lion'" (http://en.wikipedia.org, 2009). The symbol is so popular in Singapore that you see it around the country. There is a Merlion on Sentosa, on Mount Faber, and there is also the famous Merlion near the Esplanade Park and fronts Marina Bay. It is particularly visited during the night as it becomes more of an exciting view. Singapore boasts of rich art, history and culture as proven by its beautiful places such as the Singapore museum, Singapore River and Chinatown. It is also filled with the feel of nature and parks such as the Singapore Zoological garden, Crocodila Park, Haw Paw Villa, Singapore Night Safari and Singapore Botanic garden.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Romeo and Juliet Tragedy Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Tragedy Essay Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy play by Willam Shakespeare. The play is about two young adults who are in love. They are both victims of a bitter feud between their well-respected families. I have looked up Romeo in the dictionary to give me an insight as to what the play was about and as soon as I read the meaning of Romeo I knew it was a love play: A hero- hence a man who is an ardent lover The play is set in the city of Verona. Romeo and Juliet (the main characters of the play) are part of the Montague family (Romeo) and part of the capulets family (Juliet). The play begins with a street fight between the servants of both families. The price brings the fight to an abrupt end. Juliet is meant to be getting married to Count Paris, chosen by her father. However Romeo and Juliet, who meet at a ball, soon fall in love and get married in secret. Juliet fakes her own death with a drug friar Lawrence issued her and is found in bed dead on her wedding day in which she is too marry Count Paris. She is buried in a tomb, which is where Romeo finds her. Romeo has not yet received a note saying that Juliet is not dead and kills him with poison. Juliet wakes up after the drug has worn off and Romeo dead and she kill herself (for real) with Romeos dagger. The two grieving families end the feud between them at the end of the play. Only do they end the feud when death is struck upon them. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because Romeos and Juliets love was singled to end in death and is the only thing that ends the feud between the families: The fearful passage of their death-marked love I understand that dramatic tension is when someone is creating a scene being big and powerful, having something struck upon you suddenly. This relates to the play because the play is powerful and it captures the audiences attention. It has a lot of cliffhangers for example; where Romeo kills Tybalt in act 3 scenes 1 we think what will happen next? Will Romeo die? What will Juliet do if her love is brutally murdered by her own family? All of these create dramatic tension. By the use of characters, events, lanuage the essay aims to explain my views on Romeo and Juliet and to tell and explain to people the play of Romeo and Juliet so that they understand what is happening and what it is all about. It will also increase my knowledge of the play so I can understand it and put myself in their shoes hopefully capturing what they must have felt and been like. From reading the prologue I understand that both of the capulets and Montagues is as equal as one another, they both have the same amount of wealth and respect: Two households both alike in dignity I know that Romeo and Juliet are madly in love and are destined for one another: A pair of star crossed lovers takes their lives A pair of star-crossed lovers could mean that Romeo and Juliets love is doomed by the influence of the stars and that they are madly in love. However the stars are crossed and this shows us that there is a shadow in the way and that something will go wrong. Also from the prologue the audience is told of the ending of the play, they are told that the lovers are fated, they are star-crossed, their love will end in death, and that the lovers death, and the lovers death is the only thing that will end the long feud between the families. But their childrens end, nought could remove In act 3 scenes 1, Mercutio, who is Romeos best fiend, picks a fight with tybalt who wants to fight Romeo. Instead Romeo trys to prevent the fight between Mercutio and tybalt. Romeo then kills tybalt and flees the scene of the murder. Before Romeo appears on the scene he has come from his secret wedding to Juliet. Friar Lawrence has married them, so only the friar, Romeo and Juliet know about the marriage and the Montagues and capulets are bonded. They are bonded through the two lovers marriage, unknown to lady Capulet she is now Romeos mother in law. I think that this scene has more dramatic tension because in this scene we are really on edge as to what will happen to Romeo now that he has murdered tybalt. Also we are anxious to know what will happen to Mercutio now that he has been wounded and we wonder whether he will live or die. Mercutio is brave in this scene and when he is injured by tybalt he puts a brave face on and pretends his injuries are not serious and people believe him because he is known as the fool, however after a while Romeo realises he is lying and that he is dieing. This also causes tension because when Mercutio is first injured we (the audience) believe that he is not really hurt, so we wonder what will happen? Will he be ok? Will his injuries cause his death? The action in this scene is crucial because it keeps us on edge and makes sure that we continue watching the play to see what happens, the action builds up the tension for the final scene when both Romeo and Juliet take their own lives. The action shows that whatever happens Romeo is still a good guy because although he has killed tybalt he has done it in good faith for Mercutio. The characters involved in act 3 scene 1 are Benvolio, Mercutio, tybalt, Romeo, Petrucio, a citizen, the prince and lady Capulet, lady Montague. My thoughts/ impressions of the families from this scene are: The capulets are an evil family who only care about them selves. However there is some caring members of the family (Juliet), as she does not hold any grudges against the opposite familys think the family is uncaring because when tybalt kills Mercutio although he did not mean it he does not show any signs of sorrow for what he has done. I think that the Montagues are a caring family because as soon as Romeo enters he talks about love, this shows he has loving feelings for someone, also Romeos best friend Benvolio is a peacemaker and does not like fighting: Out of her favour where iam in love Romeo does not want to fight, he does not want to harm anyone or cause trouble or fight with a member of the family and he only kills tybalt because he has murdered his best friend, and this shows that Romeo values friendship: I thought all for the best Mercutio pretends or trys to tell everyone that he is not in pain and this makes us wonder whether he is lying or whether he is telling the truth. However Romeo sees through him and we realise how much Mercutio and Romeo are hurting and we wonder what will happen next. Romeo is hesitant to get involved because he is Tybalts cousin, because he is a member of the family. This shows that he cares not just about himself and his reputation but that he cares about his family as well. At the end of the scene lady Montague feels that Romeo must not live and hat he deserves to die a tybalt has. I think that this has come about because Romeo has killed tybalt therefore he is a murder, and in time when the first play was wrote, death was a penalty for murder. I also think that the capulets do not want to accept that a member of their family was in the wrong. The characters change in act 3 scene 1 because Benvolio turns into a troublemaker; Romeo shows the audience his bad side and turns really angry and upset resulting in the murder of tybalt. In act 3 scenes 1 lady Capulet takes up the violence of the fed and demands that Romeos punishment is death. She does not change throughout the play and remains a hard, unfeeling, unsympathic woman who pushes her daughter away and is party responsible for her death. In act 3 the prince is personal because Mercutio is a kings man has been killed, the prince fulfils his words from act 1. Instead of killing Romeo the prince banishes him from the country as a result of causing death of tybalt: Else, when hes found, that hour is his last The play ends in tragedy. The death of two lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo arrives at the tomb where Juliet has been buried, meets Paris and kills him. Believing Juliet is dead, Romeo takes the potion and dies. Juliet awakens, sees that Romeo is dead and commits suicide. As a result of this the capulets and Montagues promise never to feud again: Poor scarifies of our enmity I have learnt hat dramatic tension is as I thought it to be; it is something that is big, powerful but also keeps the viewers on edge because we wonder constantly what will happen next. In this play there are lot of themes. The themes involved are: Disorder this is a theme because there is fighting, anger, passion and false love (between Juliet and Paris) disorder means: A lack of order or confusion There is light and darkness because there is death, violence, sadness and secrets. Lightness is represented by the love between Romeo and Juliet. Darkness id represented because Romeo is sad and depressed and the sadness at the end of the play of the lovers death. Light is represented by love, life and hope. Darkness means: Gloomy, dismal, sullen, threating, obscure, mysterious, evil, in secret Light means: A way of looking at or considering a matter; aspect There is also love and passion because Romeo is in love with Juliet and passion because lady Capulet is only in her marriage because it makes her wealthy and noticeable. Romeo also shows passion regarding his feeling for Mercutio when he kills tybalt in revenge. Love means: Deep affection and warm feeling for one another Passion means: Strong desire or lust Overall I think that the play is very dramatic. The other themes as well are lies, deceit, truth, love and hate.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Showtime Sound Lighting System Information Technology Essay

The Showtime Sound Lighting System Information Technology Essay The Showtime Sound Lighting System undertaken as a project is based on relevant technologies. The main aim of this project is to develop software for sound lighting System. This project has been developed to carry out the processes easily and quickly, which is not possible with the manuals systems, which are overcome by this software. Hence it provides the complete solution to provide customer services and time management. The software provides good services and remove the repetitions in order to nurture the needs of the customer by providing various ways tasks. Also, to improve time management to handle large volume of business. Current Problems faced by the system Currently, the traditional manual system holds the information on clipboards until it is entered on the computer system. The current system is the one that evolved as the company grew from a part-time, one-man business to a full-time operation with permanent employees. The system does not ensure that the services can be provided to the customers needs. They are using computers to store the information or customer data i.e. Proposals, orders and invoices, in MS-WORD documents and thus redundancy of data is created which leads to inefficient programming and also decrease in the productivity. System Requirements Showtime Sound Lighting System is intended to help the user keep account of his customers in an efficient way. Thus provide good services and increase the productivity. It helps to handle the large volume of business, to provide good services to the customers, to remove the redundancy by providing various technicalities. The system is required to run in a more efficient way thus save time. If it is not feasible for customer to get the proper services then he has got no option left. The main aim of project will be to minimize these limitations and provide customer with better functionalities and services. Requirements Specification Requirement analysis is the first technical step in the software engineering process. It is at this point that a general statement of software scope is redefined into concrete a specification that forms the foundation for all software engineering activities that follow. There is no doubt that the presentation of specification has much to do with quality of the solution. Developers working with incomplete, inconsistent, or misleading specifications have to ultimately deal with confusion and frustration. The quality, timeliness and completeness of the software suffer as a consequence. Software Requirement Specification is developed as a consequence of analysis and market surveys. Review is essential to ensure that the developers and customers have the same perception of the problem. Unfortunately, even with the best of the methods, the problem is that the requirements keep on changing conditions. So it is necessary that during the requirement specification, user should know competence of the software. Requirements are prone to issues of ambiguity, incompleteness, and inconsistency. Techniques such as rigorous inspection have been shown to help deal with these issues. Ambiguities, incompleteness, and inconsistencies that can be resolved in the requirements phase typically cost orders of magnitude less to correct than when these same issues are found in later stages of product development. Requirements analysis strives to address these issues. Take a long time to produce Begin to limit the implementation option available Are costly to produce Requirements for both the system and the software are documented and reviewed with the customer. Scope of Project Today, the information technology has become the very advance and so the convenient means of handling the lots of information. The Showtime Lighting System is an application for maintaining a customers account in a company. The system provides the access to the customer to create a request, validate provide services to customers. Project Objectives And Deliverables: The objective is to design a tool which consists of all basic functionalities of an organization that holds all information of the customer using this application, value added services provided by the company that can be accessed by the users (customer and administration) through a user-friendly interface. There can be a possibility of online business. Target Customer Base: This system is made in such a way that this will be able to meet the basic requirements of advanced user as well as for the user those who are new to the system. Having a user friendly GUI, this application is a good option to used by a large section Feasibility Analysis Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest term, the two criteria to judge feasibility are cost required and value to be attained. As such, a well-designed feasibility study should provide a historical background of the business or project, description of the product or service, accounting statements, details of the operations and management, marketing research and policies, financial data, legal requirements and tax obligations. Generally, feasibility studies precede technical development and project implementation. Technical Feasibility Technical Feasibility centers on the existing manual system and to what extent it can support the proposed system. According to the feasibility analysis procedure, the technical feasibility of the proposed system is analyzed and the technical requirements such as software facilities, hardware facilities, procedures, inputs and outputs are identified. It is one of the important phases of the system development. In technical feasibility the following issues are taken into consideration. Whether the required technology is available or not Whether the required resources are available Manpower- programmers, testers debuggers Software and hardware Once the technical feasibility is established, it is important to consider the monetary factors also. Since it might happen that developing a particular system may be technically possible but it may require huge investments and benefits may be less. For evaluating this, economic feasibility of the proposed system is carried out. Showtime Sound Lighting System requires only the software to be installed on the system and the information can be accessed by authorized user in the organization. Economic Feasibility An economic feasibility test focuses on returns and costs of a proposed plan in both the short and long-term. An economic feasibility study (EFS) should consider investment and operating costs, the time value of money, risk and uncertainty, quality of available data, and the sensitivity of assumptions. An economic feasibility study should demonstrate the net benefit of the proposed course of action in the context of direct and indirect benefits and costs to the organization and to the general public as a whole. An EFS makes a business case, prepares analytical worksheets and other necessary supporting documentation. An EFS should be required for both pilot and long-term activities, plans and projects. For any system if the expected benefits equal or exceed the expected costs, the system can be judged to be economically feasible. In economic feasibility, cost benefit analysis is done in which expected costs and benefits are evaluated. Economic analysis is used for evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed system. In economic feasibility, the most important is cost-benefit analysis. As the name suggests, it is an analysis of the costs to be incurred in the system and benefits derivable out of the system. Showtime Sound Lighting System requires the software to be economically feasible. It should be according to the cost benefit analysis of the company. Organizational Feasibility The success of investment projects depend to a large extent on the capability of those responsible for managing them. The feasibility analysis should investigate the legal status of the organization, the level of staffing and the capability of the management and staff. Organizational Feasibility is conducted to determine whether a proposed business has sufficient management expertise, organizational competence, and resources to successfully launch its business. This also involves questions as whether it brings an excessive amount of change, and whether the organization is changing too rapidly to absorb it. It involves the questions as: Is the current organisational structure able to provide the necessary support during the implementation phase? How can a managing scheme for the project be crafted out of this structure and effectively interface with it? Will the systems introduction create new needs that cannot be accommodated by the current organisational structure? Is it possible to plan and implement all needed organisational changes in time, so as not to delay the systems implementation and operation? Showtime Sound Lighting System requires the software to be designed according to the needs of the organization Schedule Feasibility The schedule feasibility shows the estimated time to complete the project. This includes the schedules of each process in a project and the total project time. This can change if unexpected challenges occur. A project will fail if it takes too long to be completed before it is useful. Typically this means estimating how long the system will take to develop, and if it can be completed in a given time period using some methods like payback period. Schedule feasibility is a measure of how reasonable the project timetable is. Given our technical expertise, are the project deadlines reasonable? Some projects are initiated with specific deadlines. You need to determine whether the deadlines are mandatory or desirable. Showtime Sound Lighting System requires the software to be built within the stipulated time in an efficient way. Resource feasibility This involves questions such as how much time is available to build the new system, when it can be built, whether it interferes with normal business operations, type and amount of resources required, dependencies, do you have enough resources, what resources will be required, what facilities will be required for the project, etc. Showtime Sound Lighting System requires the software to be built by skilled and expert resources. Not only should the software be handled further by expert resources. Current Systems Specification UML Case Diagram This diagram displays the brief description of the current existing system. In this SSL System receive request from customers, then the request is validated, it will check for the equipment availability, after the equipments available then generate proposal, after that generate order and then the bill is provided to the customer. Major Description This diagram describes all the scenarios in detail with all possibilities of the current prevailing system SSL System gathers information from customers, put it on the clipboard, then validate customer request, then enter into the computer system maintaining the customer information. If existing customer then update the information otherwise create a new customer. After that, check for the mode of request. Whether it rental or information is for purchase or operators support. Accordingly the equipments availability is checked by the user. If the equipment is available and the associated employee is also available, the order is generated. Then the services are provided to the customer. Structural Model (Class Diagram) The below diagram displays all the classes and their relationship of the existing current system. In this diagram, different classes have been generated with attributes and methods. First is customer class with attributes and methods getcustomerdetails(), addnewcustomer() and updatecustomer(). Then the class event is created with methods addnewevent(), updateebent(). There is 1 to many relationship between customer and event. Employee class is created with methods getemployee(). One customer can deal with only one employee at a time depends upon the availability of employee. Then order class is generated with methods generateorder(), generatebill(). One employee can generate many orders at a time. . Activity Diagram This diagram shows all the activities of the prevailing system. In this diagram, first get the request from customer, check for the equipment availability, then process the request mode i.e. whether it is rental request, or request for purchase or request for the operators support. After taking the decision the information is first written on the clipboard, and then stored in the computer. After checking the time requirement and employee availability, the proposal is generated. Once the proposal is confirmed, the order is generated and the services are provided to the customer. Structured Design Models A Context Analysis Diagram A Context Diagram confines project scope to an agreed limit by obtaining agreement from the customer on the data flows that are included in the scope of a project. The Context Diagram focuses on relationships with external entities and identifies the information that is exchanged between these external entities and the business system under review. The external entities themselves are outside the scope of the project but the data flows between the entities and the business system are within the project scope. Customer SSL SYSTEM Customer Provide services Generate Proposal Equipment Availability Information request Equipment details validate request Generate Order Request Type request details validate proposal A LEVEL 0 DFD On Level 0, a DFD shows all the data flows from the system to the external entities, with the whole system being represented as one large process. A Level 0 diagram is sometimes created to show the interaction of the system with external entities, some of which may also be systems. Process Request CUSTOMER CUSTOMER Information Services A LEVEL 1 DFD Customer request information Collect information on clipboard Process Request Provide Services Update Information Generate Order details check for equipment Generate proposal Process Equipment availability validate information equipment available Employee availability Schedule Timing Mode of request rental,purchase,operator support A LEVEL 2 DFD 1.2 Check for equipment availability 1.1 Process Request Customer send request details 1.3 Process Request Type provide services equipment details 1.4 Generate order order details A Level 1 DFD A Level 1 DFD normally shows very few (8 10) processes, and is intended to explain the basic functioning of the system. A Level 1 diagram should show all the processes of the system and the external entities that the system actively interacts with (and in some rare cases exchange of data between those external entities, when absolutely necessary). A Level 2 DFD This level is a decomposition of a process shown in a level-1 diagram, as such there should be a level-2 diagram for each and every process shown in a level-1 diagram. In this example, processes 1.1, 1.2 1.3 are all vital of process 1. Together they wholly and completely describe process 1, and combined must perform the full capacity of this parent process. Proposed System Specificaion UML Model Detailed Use Case Model Problem Situation Showtime Sound Lighting (SSL) Inc is an organization deals with the equipments related with sound and lighting systems. SSL deals with wide range of customers. Many local organizations, churches, and entertainment businesses have contracts for support of sound, projection, and lighting in their facilities. SSL provides different types of services such as provide equipments on rent, for purchase; they also provide operators support to the customers. To produce a large amount of business, they frequently upgrade the cost of equipment but this leads to their loss. They also occasionally upgrade damaged or obsolete equipment. Currently SSL system is divided into four major business activities in providing services and products to its customers. Collect and process customer information and requests. A customer provides a request to SSL. If the request is from an existing customer, it is compared to previous requests. This process requires information from the customer file. The information of the customer is then updated. If the customer is new, a customer file is created that records the newly obtained customer information. Match customer requirements with equipment availability. The customers order information is collected, specifically listing the customers needs. Customer requirements can range from a simple set of items to purchase to a request for consulting services resulting in recommended alternative system solutions to a request for a full set of equipment complete with operators. After availability of equipment, the order can be generated. After that match the details with customer time requirements as well with the availability of employee. There are two types of employees working in the organization i.e. Permanent employees and contractors which are again full time part time. If the employee schedules match with the customer requirements, then the proposal will be raised. Customers want SSL to bid. To prepare the bid SSL must compare needs with equipment and personnel availability. Equipment and personnel requirements must be planned for and reserved in the event that the proposal is accepted. This is often the case for organizations that must obtain approval from finance committees. When the organization accepts the proposal, the order is then created, and the equipment and personnel are scheduled to support the event. After that the service provides to the customer. In current environment or system there is no proper database being maintained. All the information gathered from the customer is stored on the clipboard and then written on MS-WORD to convert and store data electronically. In this way, the data can be repeated. It means the same order, information of the customers, etc. can be repeated which is not an efficient way of programming. Moreover, redundancy leads to the confusion in the system. There can be the confusion that which equipment is available, or which of the equipments has been given to which customer etc. Then Provide services and products. The process entails the actual support of the event. SSL management prepares a list of all support needed for the event so that the technician delivers everything SSL has agreed to provide. This list is essential because the support needed for a large gathering must be on hand and functional at the time of the event. All order information is provided to the technician. This allows the tech nician to load all necessary equipment and to ensure that the proper contract workers, if required, are available for the event. At the conclusion of the event, the technician must report that the order was successfully completed. If any overtime was required, the technician must report this as well so that the contract workers are properly paid. The technician also evaluates the performance of the contract workers; this information helps SSL decide which workers to hire for future events. Finally, the technician notes any equipment problems that may require immediate attention or routine maintenance. Comparison and Analysis SSL provides different types of services such as provide equipments on rent, for purchase; they also provide operators support to the customers. To produce a large amount of business, they frequently upgrade the cost of equipment but this leads to their loss. A manual system stores the information on clipboards and later on enters the information in computer system. In this way an efficient data and accurate data cannot be stored for later use.. Moreover there can be redundancy of data that leads to confusion. The system currently does not ensure that customer information is readily available to support daily operations, nor does it provide information needed for decision making by management. As a result, much of the information in the set of customer files is repetitious. The business currently does not have a system for assigning customer numbers or cross-referencing documents. Locating information about a specific order, previous customer service provided, and other business acti vities are time-consuming and difficult. This deficiency in turn has a negative impact on servicing customer. All order information is provided to the technician. On the contrary, the Proposed Showtime Sound Lighting System is a system based on relevant technologies. The main aim of this project is to develop software for sound lighting System. The software provides good services and remove the repetitions in order to nurture the needs of the customer by providing various ways tasks. Also to improve time management to handle large volume of business. The traditional manual is being overcome by the information stord in proper databases in the proposed system.Currently, the traditional manual system hold the information on clipboards until it is entered on the computer system but in the proposed system , the data will be stored in the databases for all the functions and activities take place in the organization. There should be more permanent employees which are of full time to increase the productivity.Collect and process customer information and requests. For this a separate customer database should be created with the relevant fields. Cust_id should be the key field. That it stores only unique records, not more than one same record can be stored. A customer provides a request to SSL. Check for the existing customer in customer database and update the information.. If the customer is new, add his information in the database through addnewcustomer() method. Match customer requirements with equipment availability. The details of the equipments should be stored in another database called item .If the equipment is available then (check for the availability from the database) then validate request. In validation, check for the genuine order being placed by the customer. After this check which type of request is being made, i.e the order is for rental, purchase or the operators support is needed. Again this information is also stored in separate database. If all the information is stored in separate database, then there would be no chances of redundancy and smooth functioning of the system. As far relationship is concerned, relation can be with the cust_id. Many customers can place the orders at the time and all the details should be stored in their respective databases. Only one equipment should be provided to one customer. For the availability of the equipments, check the database and update the database side by side. Match the requirement with the employee availability and also with the time required. Update the database of the employee for the same to validate the request. The customers order information is collected, specifically listing the customers needs. Order should be generated and the details should be stored in order database along with its type and the shipping details of the customer To increase the productivity and goodwill , the company should appoint more and more full time skilled employees. In this way they can provide good services to the customers.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Quality Management Implementation In The Indian Automobile Industry Management Essay

Quality Management Implementation In The Indian Automobile Industry Management Essay To examine the success level of TQM implementation in an automobile industry by analysing the strengths and weaknesses of its critical success factors. 2. Research Questions What are the critical success factors of TQM implementation in an automobile industry? To what extent have the critical success factors of TQM been implemented in the automobile industry through the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the critical success factors of TQM? 3. Hypothesis 1. In an automobile industry there exists a critical set of success factors for successful implementation of total quality management. 2. The extent of TQM implementation is positively and significantly associated with the strengths of the Critical Success factors. 4. Introduction Total Quality Management is not a destination but a journey toward improvement. V. Daniel Hunt. Quality by no means is a new concept in modern business. In October 1887 William Cooper Procter, told his employees, The first job we have is to turn out quality merchandise that consumers will buy and keep on buying. While working with Daimler Chrysler to improve its quality several decades ago, a Vice President of the United Auto Workers stated the importance of quality: No quality, no sales. No sales, no profit. No profit no job. One of the key elements of Fords 2002 Revitalization Plan was to Continue Quality Improvements. The top two vital few priorities set by Fords president for North America were Improve Quality and Improve Quality. Thus we can see that quality assurance has been an important aspect of production operations throughout history. Although initial initiatives focussed on reducing defects and errors in products and services through the use of measurement, statistics and other problem solving methods, organizations began to recognise the lasting improvement could not be accomplished without significant attention being given to the critical success factors that contribute to the quality of the management practices used on a daily basis. The real challenge today is to ensure that managers continue to apply the basic principles on which quality management and performance excellence is based. The global marketplace and domestic and international competition have made organizations around the world realise that their survival depends on high quality. As the business world becomes more complex, quality must be approached from a system, rather than a process perspective. Quality has transitioned from control, to assurance, futher on to management. Thus it is important to understand the various critical success factors which are responsible for the effective implementation of TQM. 5. Literature Review 5.1 Background The roots of TQM can be traced back to early 1920s when the concept was developed in Japan in the late 1940s and 1950s and pioneered by Americans Scholars Freigenbum, Juran and Deming. Total quality management (TQM), in its total effect is to involve all stakeholders in organization fully in programs that will increase organizational productivity, its profitability, effective work-place efficiency, improved job satisfaction, employee morale, and continuous product quality improvement. Quality is a term that has significant meaning to both the producer and customer. In todays global cut-throat marketplace, the demands of customers are continuously increasing as they require improved quality of products and services. Total quality management (TQM) has become increasingly prevalent as one of the management strategies in companies today with the objective of ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty, besides improving products and service quality and reinforcing continuous improvement known as Kaizen. TQM is the only instrument to either maintain competitive advantage or survive competitive disadvantage (Spitzer, 1995). Total quality management is a major factor in the business quality revolution that has proven itself to be one of the 20th centurys most powerful creators of sales and revenue growth, genuinely good new jobs, and soundly based and sustainable business expansion (Feigenbaum , 1999). 5.2 What is Quality? In todays business there is no single definition for quality. One of the ways quality can be defined is as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy the given needs (American National Standards Institute, 1978). Quality can be defined as the process to meet or exceed a customers expectation. The term Total Quality Management was developed by the Naval Air Systems Command to describe its Japanese style approach to quality improvement and became popular with business in the United States during the 1980s. Total quality is based on 3 basic principles: To focus on customers and stakeholders Ensure participation and teamwork by everyone in the organization Creating a process focus supported by continuous improvement and learning Total quality management is one of the measurements used in the automobile industry to ensure that the cars manufactured are reliable, satisfying the consumers at large and to ensure competitiveness in the market, as well as conformance to the international standard. All the existing automotive industries have reduced costs, increased process efficiency and strive to improve the quality of their products and services by meeting the needs of the people they serve through the application of total quality management (TQM) principles. As the competition is increasing globally quality management is gradually becoming important to the leadership and management of automotive industry. By implementing the following quality management tools, organizations will produce benefits for owners, employees, customers, suppliers and society as a whole. 6. Concepts of TQM Philosophy Many companies like Ford Motor Company, Motorola and Toyota Motor Company have implemented TQM in order to meet customer requirements. There are six main concepts of TQM philosophy (J Juran, G Merli): Concept Main Idea Customer Focus Goal is to identify and meet customer needs Continuous Improvement A philosophy of never ending improvement Employee Empowerment Employees are expected to seek out, identify, and correct quality problems Use of quality tools Ongoing employee training in the use of quality tools Product Design Quality should be in built in the process, sources of quality should be identified and corrected Managing Supplier Quality Quality concepts must extend to a companys suppliers Measurement Feedback Process performance in financial and non financial terms should be measured and feedback provision should exist. Training Development Training programs along with education for the suppliers and subcontractors are covered 6.1 Customer Focus For every company customer is the king. The automobile industry also depends on their customers and strives to meet their needs and also exceed their expectations (ISO) by providing a perfect product. It is never easy to determine what a client desires due to their changing tastes and preferences for cars. The automobile companies must constantly gather information constantly, by research groups, market studies, and meetings with clients, in order to remain close to clients tastes. Customer Driven Quality Cycle The customer driven quality cycle provides a view of the process in which customer needs and expectations are translated into perceptions during the design, production, and delivery processes (Bruce T. Barkley, James H Sailor, 2001). 6.2 Continuous Improvement The term continuous improvement means incremental improvement of products, processes, or services over time, with the goal of reducing waste to improve workplace functionality, customer service, or product performance (Suzaki, 1987). Customers expectations are always shifting to a higher level due to better and better results. When customers assess quality, not only do they compare companies to their last years performance but also to every other competitor that company has (B. Abohimed, 2001). TQM is concerned with continuous improvement in all spheres of work like strategic planning and decision-making, to detailed execution of work elements on the shop floor. Kaizen as it is referred in Japanese means change or the action to correct while Zen means good implying that Kaizen means a change for good or an action to correct something to make it better. Kaizen aims to eliminate waste by improving standardized activities and processes. One of approaches that help automobile companies is to constantly improve is the plan -do- study act (PDSA) cycle which describes the activities a company needs to perform in order to incorporate continuous never ending improvement in its operation (Deming, 1950). Source: Chicago Tribune PDCA cycles first step is to plan. Management must evaluate the current procedures and make future measures to evaluate performance implementation plans based on any problems they find. The next step is to Do which means implementing the plan by documenting all changes made and collecting the data for evaluation. The third step is to Check, i.e. study the data collected in the previous stage. The data is evaluated to see whether the plan is achieving the goals established in the plan phase or not. The last phase of the cycle is to Act according to the results found in the first three phases. Over the long run, superior performance depends on superior learning. (Peter Senge, 1960). Continuous improvement should be a part of the daily work by being practised at personal, work unit, and organizational levels. 6.3 Employee Empowerment Empowerment as a process of decentralizing decision making in an organization, whereby managers give more discretion and autonomy to the front line (Brymer, 1991). Continual and extensive training in quality measurement tools is provided to the workers in order to empower them to make decisions relative to quality in the production process and their contributions are highly valued. Source: Employee Empowerment: The Rhetoric and the Reality (Pearson, 1995) One good strategy that enhances the feelings of empowerment in employees is expressing confidence in them as well as establishing a realistic high performance for them by creating opportunity for employees to participate in decision making and giving them the autonomy to form bureaucratic constraints. Employees are always in the best position to detect problems and impose improvements if they are equipped to take steps to make improvements (Wilkinson, 1997). 6.4 Use of Quality Tools TQM requires the employees to identify and correct quality problems using certain graphical and statistical methods to plan work activities, collect data, analyse results, monitor progress, and solve. These are also known as the seven means for quality control which are: Cause and effect diagrams Scatter diagram Flowcharts Pareto chart Histogram Control charts Checklist 6.5 Product Design Every company should ensure that while building quality into a product it should meet a customers expectation which is not an easy task as customers often speak in everyday language. A product that is meant to be attractive, strong or safe can have different meanings to different customers. It is necessary to convert customers everyday language into specific technical requirements in order to produce a product that customers want. A valuable tool to translate the voice of the customer into specific technical requirements is Quality Function Deployment (QFD). QFD originated in 1972 at Mitsubishis Kobe shipyard site. It benefits companies through improved communication and team work between all constituencies in the value chain, such as between marketing and design, or between design and manufacturing. For example an automobile manufacturer would evaluate how changes in materials would have an impact on the customer safety requirements. Designing Production Systems for Quality These three are the important production system design objectives. After Ford acquired Jaguar, Jaguars quality improved rapidly due to production system changes. This was due to Ford adopting Toyotas production process at the Jaguar plant which proved that production system affects quality (Smith, 2001). Also Ford analysed incidents when defective purchased parts caused Ford to halt shipments of vehicles which made Ford conclude that manufacturing problems caused 83 percent of these incidents, while design problems caused17 percent. (Wilson and Sedgwick, 2002) QFD is a systematic procedure which is used to help build quality into the upstream processes and also into new product development while avoiding problems in the downstream production and delivery processes. 6.6 Managing Supplier Quality TQM extends the concept of quality to a companys suppliers. The philosophy of TQM extends the concept of quality to suppliers and ensures that they engage in the same quality practices. If suppliers meet preset quality standards, materials do not have to be inspected upon arrival. With the shift in emphasis from price to quality, automobile manufacturers have had to restructure their ties with their suppliers. Spokespeople for the automobile manufacturers generally emphasize how they are trying to build more cooperative relationships with suppliers, based upon long-term contracts, information sharing, and trust (Gardner, 1993). Some of the benefits of developing long term business partnership include: Reduction and elimination of the inspection of supplied parts and materials. Improved product and service quality, and delivery performance and responsiveness. Value for money purchases Security and stability of suppliers Transfer of ideas, expertise and technology between customer and supplier and dissemination and implementation of best practise. Exposure of the supplier to new tools, techniques, systems and business practices. 6.7 Measurement Feedback Deming has given utmost importance to the fact that all business processes should be a part of a measurement system along with a feedback structure. The feedback received should be studied by managers to identify the causes of variation at each step in a process, and then concentrate on improving that subset of processes. (Paul Arveson, 1998) This framework translates the voice of the customer into measures of performance which the organization can identify and improve. It also deals with internal measures of performance, assessment of the suppliers and development of rewards and recognition. 6.8 Training Development Companies committed to quality and high performance invest heavily in training and education as such investments add value to organizational capabilities. The leaders in quality like Deming, Juran, and Crossby actively promoted quality training and education. Training generally includes quality awareness, leadership, project management, communications, teamwork, problem solving, interpreting and using data, meeting customer requirements, process analysis, process simplification, waste reduction, error proofing efficiency and safety. 7. Studies on TQM As the Indian economy is globalising, achieving quality excellence is becoming one of the basic goals of all companies specially the automobile companies. Many companies are trying their best to get their hands on the Deming Award awarded for achieving for quality standards in their manufacturing activities. According to a few studies done around the world by a few companies on TQM, it has been found that TQM has got a positive influence on a companys growth and success. When the financial performance of 600 quality award winner companies was analysed, it lead to the conclusion that when TQM is implemented effectively, the financial performance also improves drastically (Singhal and Hendricks, 1999). TQM also helps companies to increase their market share and improve their competitiveness as found in a study done by Mohrman and Powell in 1995. TQM is considered to be a direct factor in influencing the corporate performance of a company. According to a study carried out on the efficiency levels of TQM in India, it was found out that TQM implementation in Mahindra Mahindra, one of the top India automobile companies considerably improved its performance. A similar survey carried out in Larsen Toubro concluded that TQM has a significant impact on the companys financial performance (Singh, 2000). TQM implementation in Indian industries even though is in its growth stage, is bringing about incredible changes in the performance of the organizational work force and helps in increasing the productivity and reducing costs. Total Quality Management has gained for itself a substantial acceptance in Indian automobile industry with the aim to raise the performance standards if Indian companies to world class level (Dinesh Sethi, Deepak Tripathy, 2006). But implementation of TQM is not an easy task. Many companies still do not commit themselves to its implementation whole heartedly (Downs and Mohr, 1980, Miller, 1993). One of the major success factors for implementation of TQM is a strong level of organizational commitment. Four more indispensible questions required for each company to answer for the successful implementation of TQM are: 1) Is there a presence of top management involvement? 2) Does the company face opposition from workers organizations? 3) Is the middle/upper management involved and interested? 4) Does there exist an organizational quality culture? A Total Quality strategy is effective only through the long-term commitment and devoted appliance by the top and middle management. The top management is held responsible for setting goals, strategically planning and allocating resources to aid implementation of all plans and initiatives. (Deming, 1982 Oarvin, 1987). Another important aspect for successful TQM implementation is employee participation promoted at all levels. Individual responsibility can be discharged only if power is delegated in different degree at all levels across the organization. Also the mission, vision and policies of a company should be consistent with those of TQM. Visionary leadership of the top management and complete involvement of the middle management along with the support of employees results in TQM being a successful endeavour in the company. It is has been found out that 62% of the Indian automobile sector believes to follow TQM as a guiding philosophy while 38% has still not adopted TQM as a guiding philosophy (Caravatta, 1997, Sharma, 1997, Agrawal, 1999). It is estimated that 70 % of the India automobile sector promises on time delivery more than 80 % of times. According to the world standards, Indian automobile industry is lagging behind. Only 52 % of the automobile companies are working towards achieving a cost reduction of more than 5% while shockingly still 48% of the organizations do not consider cost reduction as an important aspect. Unfortunately only 10-15% Indian automobile companies are using quality cost as measure of their quality performance thereby loosing an opportunity to spot critical areas for improvement (Harrington, 1997) 8. Six Sigma Motorola pioneered the concept of Sex Sigma as an approach to measuring product and service quality in the year 1987. Six Sigma provides an outline for implementation of a total quality system. The word Sigma in Six Sigma implies process performance. Six Sigma acts as a differentiator between world class and average manufacturing companies with benefits in scrap and rework costs, reject rates, achieved through teamwork and by removing organizational boundaries. It is a statistical unit used for measuring a units quality, with not more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities which imply achieving a quality standard of 99.99966%. Six Sigma covers the whole organization, including suppliers and customers (Quality Times, 1998). Six Sigma approach focuses on reducing variability and achieving excellence by working on three key strategies: Process optimization, standardization, and control Part standardization and certification of supplier Following a design for Manufacturability Six Sigma Conversion Table Source: Journal of Management Research, 2006 Six Sigma has been applied in product development, new business acquisition, customer service, accounting, and many other business functions. It is not possible for all processes to operate at a Six Sigma level. The appropriate level depends on the strategic importance of the process and the cost of improvement relative to the benefit. It is generally easy to move from 2 Sigma or 3 Sigma level to 4 Sigma levels, but moving beyond that requires much more effort and sophisticated statistical tools (James Evans, 2008). The problem solving methodologies used by Six Sigma are: DMAIC used for projects aimed at improving an existing business process. DMADV used for projects aimed at creating new product or process designs. 8.1 DMAIC Source: wordpress.com Define The first step while implementing Six Sigma is to define the problem in operational terms to facilitate further analysis. A good problem statement identifies customers and the Critical to Quality (CTQ) factors that have the most impact on product or service performance and identify the performance metrics and the cost implications of the project along with defining what is to be done by whom and when (Thomas Bertels, 2003) Measure This phase of DMAIC process focuses on how to measure the internal processes that affect CTQs. This requires an understanding of the relationships between process performance and customer value. Analyse This stage focuses on why defects, errors, or excessive variation occur. Finding the answers requires identifying the key variables that are most likely to cause errors and excessive variation the root causes. One of the tools of identifying the root cause is the 5 Why technique which forces one to redefine a problem as a chain of causes and effects to identify the source of the symptoms by asking why five times (George Patterson, 2003). Improve Once the root cause of a problem is understood, the team needs to generate ideas for removing the problem and improve the performance measures and CTQs. Some of the techniques used to facilitate idea generation are brainstorming, checklists, etc (Osborn, 2003). The ideas generated are then evaluated and the most promising ones are selected, confirming that the proposed solution will positively affect the key process variables and the CTQs. Control This part of DMAIC focuses on how to maintain the improvements, which includes putting tools in place to ensure that the key variables remain within the maximum acceptable ranges under the modified process. Controls might be as simple as using checklists or periodic status reviews to ensure that proper procedures are followed or employing process control charts to monitor the performance of key measures. 8.2 DMADV The DMADV project methodology, also known as  DFSS  (Design  for  Six  Sigma),  features five phases: Source: SixSigmaTraining.net Define  design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise strategy. Measure  and identify CTQs (characteristics that are  Critical  To  Quality), product capabilities, production process capability, and risks. Analyze  to develop and design alternatives, create a high-level design and evaluate design capability to select the best design. Design  details, optimize the design, and plan for design verification. This phase may require simulations. Verify  the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it over to the process owner(s). In India, only 5% of Indian automobile companies seem to implement the Six Sigma rule due to which they have not been able to achieve steady level of quality based on  ±3 Sigma limits around the specified target value. Six Sigma is a tool for continuous improvement making an organization to concentrate on the requirements of customers, process alignment, and timely well planned execution (Skaria, 1995). Thus to be able to compete internationally Indian automobile sector should follow Six Sigma program in order to install the TQM philosophy. This would in turn help them to map their performance overtime and to take required prior measures. Although automobile sector in India implemented Six Sigma to gain competence in its quality aspect, it still failed to implement it in the right direction. This was due to a number of reasons like: Absence of top management involvement commitment Practising an authoritarian behaviour and a hierarchical thinking. Lack of adequate education and training for the employees. No strategic goal setting and a weak system of monitoring. Inadequate knowledge in the field of Six Sigma and its related tools. Lack of passion to be the best in quality. No building up of the practise of Kaizen, the culture of continuous improvement. Not paying enough attention to the needs of the customers. Impatience to develop a new strategy to achieve quality and thus resorting to a quick unreliable way of fixing things. Lack of collaboration, integrity, excellence and respect for each other. During the 1970s and early 1980s there were not many automobile manufacturers in India the growth of this sector was slow. But in 1983 a dramatic change in the scenario occurred when Maruti was taken over by the Indian government and Maruti entered joint venture agreement with Suzuki (Japan) which stirred a revolution in the Indian automobile industry. With the adoption of the policy of economic liberalization by Indian government in 1991, major car manufacturer companies such as General Motors, Fiat and Honda, got a chance to set up their manufacturing bases in India. Even after two decades gone after implementing TQM in the automobile sector, India is still a very small player in the world auto market production. The overall economy of India is a direct factor influencing the growth of the Indian automobile sector and still lot is required to be done by the companies to implement TQM tools like Kaizen, Six Sigma, 5S and TPM. Since growth of automobile in any country is an indication of overall economy, thus lot need to be done by the automobile sector in implementing TQM quality tools particularly 5S, Kaizen, Quality Function Deployment and Business Process Re engineering. 9. Lean Organizations Lean production was a concept developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation to focus on the elimination of waste in all forms, including defects requiring rework, unnecessary process steps, and unnecessary movement of materials or people, waiting time, excess inventory, and overproduction. One of the key tools used in lean production is the 5 Ss : Seiri Refers to ensuring that each item in a workplace is in its proper place Seiton Refers to arranging materials and equipments so that they are easy to find and use. Seiso Refers to a clean working area so as to reduce maintenance problems. Seiketsu Refers to formalize procedures and practices to create consistency and ensure that all steps are performed correctly. Shitsuke Implies keeping the process going through training, communication and organizational structures. 10. Conclusion All types of automotive industries aim to have reduced costs, increased process efficiency and improved quality of their products and services by working towards achieving the needs of their customers through the application of TQM. With growing cut throat competition, TQM has become an important aspect of the management of automotive industry. With the implementation of the quality principles discussed above, companies will produce profits for themselves and also satisfy the needs of owners, employees, suppliers and society as a whole.