Cuba Speech Essay

This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9 A.M., I directed that our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed and completed our evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this Government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail. The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of installations. Several of them include medium range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of striking Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area. Click photo for high resolution Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic missiles — capable of traveling more than twice as far — and thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared. This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base — by the presence of these large, long-range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction — constitutes an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas, in flagrant and deliberate defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this nation and hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, and my own public warnings to the Soviets on September 4 and 13. This action also contradicts the repeated assurances of Soviet spokesmen, both publicly and privately delivered, that the arms buildup in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no need or desire to station strategic missiles. on the territory of any other nation. The size of this undertaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months. Yet, only last month, after I had made clear the distinction between any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles and the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11 that, and I quote, â€Å"the armaments and military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes,† that there is, and I quote the Soviet Government, â€Å"there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons for a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba,† and that, and I quote their government, â€Å"the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union.† That statement was false. Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup was already in my hand, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko told me in my office that he was instructed to make it clear once again, as he said his government had already done, that Soviet assistance to Cuba, and I quote, â€Å"pursued solely the purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba,† that, and I quote him, â€Å"training by Soviet specialists of Cuban nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no means offensive, and if it were otherwise,† Mr. Gromyko went on, â€Å"the Soviet Government would never become involved in rendering such assistance.† That statement also was false. Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation’s security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace. For many years, both the Soviet Union and the United States, recognizing this fact, have deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great care, never upsetting the precarious status quo which insured that these weapons would not be used in the absence of some vital challenge. Our own strategic missiles have never been transferred to the territory of any other nation under a cloak of secrecy and deception; and our history — unlike that of the Soviets since the end of World War II — demonstrates that we have no desire to dominate or conquer any other nation or impose our system upon its people. Nevertheless, American citizens have become adjusted to living daily on the bull’s-eye of Soviet missiles located inside the U.S.S.R. or in submarines. In that sense, missiles in Cuba add to an already clear and present danger — although it should be noted the nations of Latin America have never previously been subjected to a potential nuclear threat. But this secret, swift, extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles — in an area well known to have a special and historical relationship to the United States and the nations of the Western Hemisphere, in violation of Soviet assurances, and in defiance of American and hemispheric policy — this sudden, clandestine decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outside of Soviet soil — is a deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which cannot be accepted by this country, if our courage and our commitments are ever to be trusted again by either friend or foe. The 1930’s taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war. This nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country, and to secure their withdrawal or elimination from the Western Hemisphere. Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as befits a peaceful and powerful nation which leads a worldwide alliance. We have been determined not to be diverted from our central concerns by mere irritants and fanatics. But now further action is required, and it is under way; and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth; but neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced. Acting, therefore, in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to me by the Constitution as endorsed by the Resolution of the Congress, I have directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately: First: To halt this offensive buildup a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948. Second: I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance of Cuba and its military buildup. The foreign ministers of the OAS [Organization of American States], in their communiquà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ of October 6, rejected secrecy on such matters in this hemisphere. Should these offensive military preparations continue, thus increasing the threat to the hemisphere, further action will be justified. I have directed the Armed Forces to prepare for any eventualities; and I trust that in the interest of both the Cuban people and the Soviet technicians at the sites, the hazards to all concerned of continuing this threat will be recognized. Third: It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. Fourth: As a necessary military precaution, I have reinforced our base at Guantanamo, evacuated today the dependents of our personnel there, and ordered additional military units to be on a standby ale rt basis. Fifth: We are calling tonight for an immediate meeting of the Organ[ization] of Consultation under the Organization of American States, to consider this threat to hemispheric security and to invoke articles 6 and 8 of the Rio Treaty in support of all necessary action. The United Nations Charter allows for regional security arrangements, and the nations of this hemisphere decided long ago against the military presence of outside powers. Our other allies around the world have also been alerted. Sixth: Under the Charter of the United Nations, we are asking tonight that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be convoked without delay to take action against this latest Soviet threat to world peace. Our resolution will call for the prompt dismantling and withdrawal of all offensive weapons in Cuba, under the supervision of U.N. observers, before the quarantine can be lifted. Seventh and finally: I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two nations. I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man. He has an opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction by returning to his government’s own words that it had no need to station missiles outside its own territory, and withdrawing these weapons from Cuba by refraining from any action which will widen or deepen the present crisis, and then by participating in a search for peaceful and permanent solutions. This nation is prepared to present its case against the Soviet threat to peace, and our own proposals for a peaceful world, at any time and in any forum — in the OAS, in the United Nations, or in any other meeting that could be useful — without limiting our freedom of action. We have in the past made strenuous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. We have proposed the elimination of all arms and military bases in a fair and effective disarmament treaty. We are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides, including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny. We have no wish to war with the Soviet Union — for we are a peaceful people who desire to live in peace with all other peoples. But it is difficult to settle or even discuss these problems in an atmosphere of intimidation. That is why this latest Soviet threat — or any other threat which is made either independently or in response to our actions this week– must and will be met with determination. Any hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, will be met by whatever action is needed. Finally, I want to say a few words to the captive people of Cuba, to whom this speech is being directly carried by special radio facilities. I speak to you as a friend, as one who knows of your deep attachment to your fatherland, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice for all. And I have watched and the American people have watched with deep sorrow how your nationalist revolution was betrayed — and how your fatherland fell under foreign domination. Now your leaders are no longer Cuban leaders inspired by Cuban ideals. They are puppets and agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against your friends and neighbors in the Americas, and turned it into the first Latin American country to become a target for nuclear war — the first Latin American country to have these weapons on its soil. These new weapons are not in your interest. They contribute nothing to your peace and well-being. They can only undermine it. But this country has no wish to cause you to suffer or to impose any system upon you. We know that your lives and land are being used as pawns by those who deny your freedom. Many times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty. And I have no doubt that most Cubans today look forward to the time when they will be truly free — free from foreign domination, free to choose their own leaders, free to select their own system, free to own their own land, free to speak and write and worship without fear or degradation. And then shall Cuba be welcomed back to the society of free nations and to the associations of this hemisphere. My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead — months in which both our patience and our will will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing. The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are; but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission. Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right; not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.

Behavioural Issues Within Budgeting Essay

Objectives of Budgeting Through budgeting organisations can provide information for strategic planning and control, these are the two main objectives of the budgetary control system. Management and management accountants must work together and operate a system that achieves these objectives, they do so through a system called variance analysis. Management accountants compare the actual results against the budgets; they then send reports to the management concerning the extent to which budgets are being met. Management can then control activities by making possible steps to stop situations where the budget is being ignored or overlooked. To meet their controlling and planning needs, management and management accountants adapt the feedback and feed-forward principles (types of controls). As well as feedback, budgetary systems consist of feed-forward controls, where expected outcomes can be compared with desired outcomes. A recent report Tayles (1998) suggests that, â€Å"†¦feedforward control consists of a prediction being made of anticipated future outputs. If the expected outputs differ from what outputs are desired, control actions are implemented to minimise these differences. Control is therefore, achieved, if the control actions are effective, before any deviation from the objective output occurs†. Feedback is the detection of a deviation between actual results and an objective; normally this is carried out after the event and is essentially error based. Research has shown that up to date, accurate feedback has a motivational effect, delay and inaccurate data are demotive. Most organisations adopt th ese controls, as they are effective and aid the pursuit of a budgetary control system. Target setting is another objective of budgeting and may possibly have motivational benefits. Setting targets that are realistic and clearly stated will encourage employees to make more effort to achieve it than they might otherwise do. However, the motivational effect of budgetary control is far from clear, as we shall see later in this report. In addition, there is no  point in having targets and controls if they are kept a secret. Through communication, organisations can enhance the level of information that flows from top management to employees (subordinates). These are just some of the arguments for budgeting. The rest of this report will concentrate on the behavioural issues in a budgetary control system. Behavioural Considerations When drafting and planning a budgeting system there are behavioural issues to consider as budgets can have implications for human behaviour and, budgeting can have harmful side effects on performance. There is a danger that employees will concentrate solely on the objectives set by the budget, regardless of whether or not it is organizationally desirable. This means that individuals would set out to exploit the rules of the budgetary control system to boost their individual performance, ignoring other areas not monitored by the control system. Drury (2000, p.600) found that â€Å"†¦actual behaviour may be modified so that desired results appear to be obtained, although they may have been achieved in an undesirable manner which is detrimental to the firm†. In addition, budgets may give management a means of judging the performance of their teams. It’s assumed that, the setting of performance measures should complement the setting of new strategies and objectives and the implementation of action plans for the organisation. However, that adherence to the budget alone cannot measure all aspects of a manager’s performance. Therefore, it is important that managers achieve their targets frequently enough to give positive feedback in their efforts. Another behavioural aspect to consider when introducing a budgetary control system is the controls set by the new system, as these may cause negative attitudes. A potential cause of negative attitudes is the way a control is applied, if targets are considered unachievable and applied too rigorously, they may cause negative attitudes. This may also lead to harmful side effects such as the lack of goal congruence and organisational performance. However, if care is taken in designing the control system negative attitudes may be avoided. Drury (2000, p.601) makes a similar argument, â€Å"The way that  a control system is applied can be just as important as the design issues in determining the success of a control system†. Importance of Behavioural Considerations in the Budgetary Process Participation Interaction of managers and employees or budgetees to the targets that are incorporated in their budgets is known as participation. Tayles (1998) suggests that, â€Å"†¦participation in the budget process and discussion over how results are to be measured has benefits in terms of budget attitude and performance of the budgetee†. This would be of an advantage to an organisation as employees would be more receptive of the targets and more committed to achieving them. In addition, the levels of staff morale would be greater than before. Participation can also improve communications and tends to improve the degree to which budgets are met. For example, participation creates a common understanding of the organisations objectives and makes achieving goals more likely. Communication Communication is a necessary activity in all factors of management and can be broadly defined as an exchange of information to bring about a mutual understanding between two parties. Welsch (1988) Defining or clarifying the lines of communication within an organisation can be a powerful aid in the construction of the budget. Communication can have an important part to play in the budgets objectives, targets and responsibilities throughout the organisation. Carried out properly, this can have considerable benefits in promoting co-operation at all levels. Therefore, in order for an organisation to wok effectively there must be lines of communication so that all parts can de kept fully informed of the part they are expected to play in achieving the budget. This aspect can have important behavioural implications throughout an organisation as the attitude of the person who receives the communication may be affected. Motivation By setting challenging but realistic targets, well-designed budgets can play a significant part in motivating managers and employees to perform in line with the organisational objectives. The targets must be clear and achievable, and the manager should participate in setting his or her own budget, as it is more likely to be acknowledged. Generally, it’s believed for budgets to motivate, higher objectives should be set. The levels of expected performance that are set influence the motivation of managers responsible for target achievement. If levels are set too high, then there is a strong disincentive to management involvement in the budgetary process, and a low level of motivation. It levels are set too low, then managers can achieve targets easily despite inefficiencies. This is known as budgetary slack. Setting appropriate levels of attainment in budgets is a complex and difficult activity with an important behavioural dimension. Therefore, it can be said that motivation is a process of arousing and sustaining goal-directed behaviour induced by the expectation of satisfying individual needs. Goal Congruence Goal congruence means that as people work to achieve their own goals, they also work to achieve the goals of the organisation. Nevertheless, there is a danger that employees will concentrate only on what is been monitored, leading to a lack of goal congruence. Focused on preventing this undesirable behaviour and encouraging goal congruence is controls, for example, action or behavioural controls. Action or behavioural controls involves managers watching employees as they go about there work and if the managers know what actions are desirable (or undesirable) the desired outcomes will come about. Performance measures may be used as a good indicator of what is desirable to achieve an organisations goals and some measure may encourage goal congruence or organisationally desirable behaviour. For this to be effective management must also ensure  that desired actions are taken. Goal Definition A further use of budgets is as a basis for setting performance standards and rewards, for example, bonus, status or enhanced promotion prospects are often linked to budget attainment. This may be defined as a process theory of motivation that focuses on the process of setting goals, Emmanual (1992). It is argued that the natural human preference to set and strive for these goals is useful only if the individual both understands and accepts a particular goal. Therefore fundamental to goal attainment is: *an understanding and acceptance of a particular goal (goal congruence) *skills to achieve the goal *confidence that they have the skills to achieve the goal *a reasonable expectation of achieving that goal People work more efficiently when they have goals and targets. Therefore, if the targets are agreed and accepted by individuals, they should achieve goal congruence and motivation. Conclusion It will be apparent from this report that budgets serve various purposes and in some cases, these purposes can be in conflict and have a consequent effect on management and employee behaviour. Nevertheless, if controls are put in place that focuses on preventing undesirable behaviour, employees of an organisation would be discouraged from taking part in such actions. Budgets serve as a means of forecasting, planning, control and a channel of  communication and motivation. But, a good budgetary system should be designed to: *meet the objectives regarded as most important by senior management *provide information which is useful in meeting those objectives *Reduce the risk of unintended and undesirable behaviours. REFERENCES Drury, C. (2000) Management & Cost Accounting, 5th edition, Thomson Learning Emmanual, C. Otley, D. Merchant, K. (1992) Readings in Accounting for Management Control, Chapman & Hall Tayles, M. (01 Dec 1998) budgetary control – the organisational aspects Available at: www.acca.com [Accessed 7 April 2002] Welsch, G.A. Hilton, R.W. Gordon, P.N. (1988) Budgeting – Profit Planning and Control, 5th edition, Prentice Hall

Andrew Jackson Democracy

Andrew Jackson and his supporters have been criticized for upholding the principles of majority rule and the supremacy of the federal government inconsistently and unfairly. The validity of this statement varies in the cases of the re-charter of the Bank, the nullification controversy, and the removal of the Native Americans. In the case of the re-charter of the bank, the statement is not valid. He did uphold the principles of the majority rule and not of the supremacy of the government.The bank and its branches received federal funding and they were to be used for public purpose by serving as a cushion for the ups and downs of the economy. Biddle, head of the bank, managed it effectively. But his arrogance led many, including Jackson, to believe that Biddle was abusing his power and was serving the interests of the wealthy. As a result, Jackson declared the bank to be unconstitutional even though it was previously said to be constitutional.In the election of 1832, Clay wanted to cha llenge Jackson on the issue by trying to persuade Congress to pass a bank re-charter-bill. Jackson vetoed it, saying that it was a private monopoly and that it favored the wealthy, and in turn led to the backfire of Clay’s plan. The majority of the voters agreed on his attack on the â€Å"hydra of corruption. † And as a result of this issue, Jackson got the majority of the votes and won the election. In his second term Jackson killed the national bank by vetoing its re-charter and by removing all of its money.In his veto message Jackson said â€Å"But when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustices of their government†. He then took the money and put it into so c alled â€Å"pet banks† that were located throughout various state banks. He did this because he did not uphold to the ideas of the federal supremacy.Jackson is usually for state’s rights, but not if it leads towards disunion. That is exactly what happened in the issue of nullification. Around 1828 the legislation of South Carolina declared that the Tariff of Abominations, which was and increased tariff, was unconstitutional. According to Calhoun, Jackson’s vice-president, and his nullification theory, each state had the right to decide whether or not to obey it or to declare it void. Daniel Webster, of Mass. , debated against Hayne and attacked the idea that any state could leave the Union.Jackson believed that the Union should be preserved. South Carolina held a convention to nullify both the tariff of 1828 and the newly formed tariff of 1832. The convention determined that the collection of tariffs within a state is against the constitution. Jackson didnâ€⠄¢t like this, so he forced military action by persuading the Congress the pass a so-called Force bill to give him authority to use military action in South Carolina. But the troops did not go. Jackson decided to open up for compromise and to lower the tariff.Jackson did not uphold to the principle of majority to rule in this case because it only dealt with one state, but he did for the supremacy of the federal government. In the case of the removal of the Native Americans, the statement is valid. Jackson’s view on democracy did not extend to the Native Americans. Like the majority he did sympathize with the land-hungry citizens who desperately wanted to take over lands held by the Indians. Jackson thought that the reasonable answer was to require the Native Americans to leave their homeland and head towards west of the Mississippi.He signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which forced a resettlement of many thousand Native Americans. In 1831 the Cherokees challenged Georgia in the courts, but the Supreme Court ruled in this case (Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia) that the Cherokee’s where not a foreign nation and couldn’t sue in a federal court. In a second case, Worcester vs. Georgia (1832), the Supreme Court ruled that the laws of Georgia had no force within the boundaries of the Cherokee territory. In a dispute between state’s rights and federal courts, Jackson sided with the states.He said, â€Å"John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it. † In a statement by Edward Everett, he said, â€Å"The Indians, as was natural, looked to the United States for protection. They came first to the President, deeming, and rightly, that it was his duty to afford them this protection. They knew he had but one constitutional duty to perform toward the treaties and laws – the duty of executing them. He informed them that he had no power, in his view of the rights of the States; prevent their extending their laws over th e Indians. This shows that he upheld the principle of the federal supremacy because he abided. Many presidents that have served in the U. S. have had criticisms against them because of the actions they have performed, Jackson being one of them. The validity of the criticism against Jackson varies with the issues regarding the re-charter of the bank, the nullification crisis and the removal of the Native Americans. His presidency changed the way that we look at presidents today.

Business Planning (Spanish Restaurant) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7250 words

Business Planning (Spanish Restaurant) - Essay Example The key for gaining success for ALJARAFE restaurant in the market of the UK will be to provide unique as well as contemporary dining experience, to control the expenses and to concentrate of employee retention. Through proper planning, ALJARAFE restaurant will also aim to create an atmosphere where every employee will be satisfied to work and thus, will render greater contribution towards delivering high quality products and services to the ultimate customers. Focusing on this aspect, the report presents a comprehensive business plan including the description of the business, product as well as service offerings, industry analysis, market segmentation, marketing plan, operation plan and key financial requirements as well as projections. With respect to consumer market, the restaurant segment of UK is considered as the fourth biggest segment. It has often been argued that the foodservice segment of the UK is complicated in comparison to grocery retail segment. In accordance with the study of United States Department of Agriculture, the UK’s foodservice segment is divided into two separate dimensions which are ‘profit stores’ and ‘cost stores’. In profit stores, profit acts as the key motivator of business, and thus, pricing of products and services becomes flexible. This type of business approaches can be identified in restaurants, pubs and hotels. On the other hand, in cost stores, prices of products and services are controlled to avail quality goods at lower product cost. This type of businesses can be found in educational institutions, prisons and hospitals. In the UK, restaurants are the most prevalent in foodservice industry. There are numerous independent players which dominate the restaurant segment in the UK. Illustratively, in the year 2004, about 90% of restaurants were signified as independent restaurants (Agriculture & Agri-food Canada, 2011). 2.1 ALJARAFE Restaurant’s Relative Position ALJARAFE restaurant is a proposed restaurant business which will be located in Manchester city, UK. ALJARAFE restaurant will aspire towards being established as a remarkable, fresh and causal Spanish restaurant which will provide variety of food menu with particular appeal to Spanish fragrances. While maintaining rigid principle towards profit generation, the restaurant will also aim to create a notable and rich eating experience for the customers. The legal form of the business would be based on a sole proprietorship model. This legal standing has been selected because it is the

Cause and effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cause and effect - Essay Example Indeed, at the very early stages, there was very little to show as the advantage and merits of space program and so many were they who felt that the program did not need to continue. But after decades of journey into space, there is much evidence to suggest that much revelations are being made about space life that are highly necessary for the survival of the human race on earth. If for nothing at all, the earth as we know it to be today was not discovered in a day. In fact the five planets of the earth were discovered at different times in world history but together, a collective society of planet called earth can be boasted about, being connected with a simple device called the computer, causing the whole earth to be nothing more than a global village. So who knows what the future relationship between the earth and space would become? Will it be prudent to stop the battle half way? Why would it be necessary to see the glass as half full instead of half empty? Indeed, if the discove ry of the various continents had been seen as a waste of money at any point in time, there is no the regional benefits being enjoyed today would have been present. The following points shed more light on reasons why continual investment into space program should continue to be seen as a necessity for the country and not as a liability. Hub of Resources for Medicinal Purposes There is evidence to the effect that the survival of the human race is highly dependent on medicine and for that matter, the pharmaceutical industry. This is because this industry has been responsible for the production of life saving drugs that have protected the human cells from depleting and destroying at a rate, faster than it was originally created to be (Doniger, 1999). But has the medicine industry come to that stage where it can be said that it has completed its entire breakthrough with medicine and drug production? The simple answer is no. as a matter of fact there remains so much to be done such that m an has resorted to the use of the weirdest forms of interventions, only to make discoveries and breakthroughs in medicines. So for the fact that after 1985 Dan Carter joined the NAASA and came back from space with the development of space-produced crystal used in the production of atomic components of albumin, which acts as an essential human protein (Adamu, 2012) would be called a useful discovery associated with investment in space. Knowing cancer to be one of the deadliest medical conditions that man has ever battled, it is refreshing to note that the findings made through the space-produce crystal led to the development of various cancer drugs and skin care medicines (Wagner, 2006). If such precious resource exists in space for the medicinal need and use of humankind, there can certainly not be a justification on why investment into space program should be halted – for who knows; tomorrow may be the discovery of resources for the production of drugs to cure AIDS. Advancem ent in Information Technology There is a saying that if you do not know where you are going, any road takes you there but you will never knows whether you have reached (Brophy, 2002). In simple terms, not

Business Function Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Function - Essay Example In the second category, the enterprise is not registered with the relevant authority as a business. It comprises two types of ventures: This is the oldest, most common, and most basic business type. As the name suggests, this type of enterprise is owned and managed by one person, who is in charge of all operations conducted on behalf of the business. Since it is the easiest to start, it manifests in form of small retailers and utilities like beauty services, photographers, repairs and maintenance, transport, cleaning, etc (Akdeniz, 2013:16). This type of business is inexpensive to start and, as a result, is often supported by the founder’s savings until growth necessitates external funding. In its simplest form, a partnership resembles a sole trader, with the only difference occurring in the sharing of ownership (Gevurtz, 2014:21). All partnerships should have partnership agreements that explain the rights and responsibilities of the various partners involved. In light of this, there are different types of partners, who are all covered by the partnership agreement. For example, there may be dormant, â€Å"sleeping,† or quasi partners, who own a share of the enterprise but are not actively involved in its management (Cornell, 2013:36). Partnerships have unlimited liability, and are common in careers like accountancy, dentistry, medical practice, law, etc. Starting in 2001, there has been a new type of partnership known as a limited liability partnership. This is like a hybrid of a partnership and a limited company, since it has limited liability (like all limited companies) but must be owned by not less than two members (making it a partnership). Limited liability partnerships, also known as LLPs, are formed to aid professional partnerships among doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and others, who are barred from forming limited companies because of constraints imposed by their professional

Business Analysis Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Analysis - Lab Report Example The company operates more than 700 stores in the UK and has expanded their business especially in retail sector internationally. 49% of their business is based upon homeware and clothing and 51% of their business based upon on food. Marks & Spencer are known for their green credentials due to their focus upon eco plan. By the year 2012, the company has decided to provide no waste on land and to reduce overall operational waste. The company prepares their plans for each year, for the year 2010-2013 their plan is to improve business strategies in the UK. The development can be done by improving Marks & Spencer’s brand, stores and food business. The company’s next plan for the year 2013-2015 is to make more profit by increasing their business capabilities internationally. The largest store of M&S is situated at Marble Arch on London’s Oxford Street. They have built their shops at various locations like high streets, stations, retail parks and airports (Marks and Spe ncer plc, 2012). The objective of the paper is to prepare a business analysis of the company Marks & Spencer. The analysis will include assessment of the business environment and strategic capabilities of the company along with critical analysis of the performance of the business since the year 2008. The paper will also include potential future strategies for M&S for their local as well as global markets. Business Environment of Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer has been operating in the UK for a long period of time. The changing political uncertainties in the UK certainly create varying challenges for the company to successfully operate in. The political structure affects the retail shopping centres in a number of ways. The political structure in the UK has a direct impact on the retail centres. The retail shopping centres face a lot of issues related to national debates in the UK which has evolved recently due to various political conditions. There is certainly a significant imp act in the UK of the political parties upon the various locations of land and the usage of lands for diverse purposes. Since 1990s there have been tight restrictions on use of land, and thus it has become difficult to obtain permission regarding the set up of retail sectors at various town centres. This restriction has evolved due to health issues at town centres and to develop the towns as a strong part of urban structure (Burt & Sparks, 2003). Pricing is the other important aspect on political grounds. Pricing is very much complex towards consumers as the consumers react differently to diverse prices given to the products. The retailers also position themselves accordingly to different prices at various market locations. The issue of price directly relates to market power as many of the organisations’ mergers were blocked a decade ago. The government desires to enhance the price competition among the retailers (Burt & Sparks, 2003). The economic impact on the UK’s re tail sector is very much based upon the demand of the retail based products in the UK. As the demand of the products of retailers is quite steady in the UK, thus it has enabled the retailers to operate with quite a sustainable operational growth. Local market knowledge is significantly required to know the needs of the consumers but large retailers have incorporated computer knowledge to analyse

Physical Architecture Layer Design Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physical Architecture Layer Design - Coursework Example It involves the plan for the hardware and software used in the system, security of the system, communication infrastructure and global support. It is at the physical layer architecture design that a decision on the type of physical architecture of the system is made. The architecture can be chosen from server-based, client-based or client –server architectures depending on the system to be designed. Architectural components The components of a physical layer can be widely grouped in two categories, mainly hardware and software (application). Hardware components may include the computers (clients and the servers) and the network used in the system while the software components comprise data storage, data access logic, application logic and presentation logic. Software components are as vital for the running of the system as the hardware.(Wixom, 12) Among its many functions are: data storage; achieved by documenting data in the CRC cards, presentation of the information to the u ser while accepting the user commands through the application logic and processing needed to access data like database queries through data access logic. The hardware components on the hand include the physical computers and the networks connecting the computers to form a distributed system. The computers can either be sever or client. Different arrangement of the computers gives different physical architectures. Physical architectures Physical architectures are composed of clients (I/O hardware used by user, PCs and terminals), servers (mainframes, minis or micros) and network (hardware and software to connect client to server) and are grouped in three categories namely client based, server based and client server based. (Denis, 2) In Server based architecture, the server performs all the four application functions presentation logic, data access logic, application logic and data storage. The client only need basic hardware like the monitor and keyboard to communicate with the serv er. Upgrading this type of architecture can be quite expensive beside the fact that the server can become overloaded since the server does everything which may result to system failure. (Kendall, 8) As opposed to Server based architecture, in Client based architecture the client does most of the work as the server just deals with data storage functions. All the logic resides in the client computer while data is stored in the server computer. All the data must travel over the network to the server for processing which may lead to a lot of network traffic. This type of architecture is simple to develop but hard to maintain. Client-server architecture is more preferable as compared to server and client based architecture since it balances processing between the client and the server unlike the two other architectures. It is the mostly used architecture in modern system among the three architectures. The client computer mainly deals with the presentation and application logics while dat a access and data storage logics are handled by the server computer. There are two or more tiers available for this architecture depending on the partitioning of the application logics. Scalability is one of the major advantages of client-server archi

Bible Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bible - Research Paper Example Though both Old and New Testaments reveal the qualities of God describing the creation of the heavens, earth, hell, Adam, Eve and their offspring, yet both these Scriptures differ to one another in tone and interpretation. It is therefore the image of God described in the Old Testament is considered to be the authoritative and commanding one in comparison with the God portrayed in the New Testament, where He appears to be far more benevolent, kind and merciful while making comparison with the Old Testament. The articles under study also reveal the same, according to which God appears to be stringent towards the disobedient, announcing punishments to the wrong-doers time and again, while New Testament draws out the blessings sent by Him from high heavens to His creatures. The expulsion of Adam and Eve on tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree (Genesis, 2-3), curse on Cain on killing Abel, Noah’s flood and destruction of his corrupt and defiant nation (Genesis 6-7), where God s aved the pious men and all the animals which rode on the arch (John 10:7-11), punishment inflicted upon Pharaoh for humiliating and killing the Hebrew people, and trial of the Hebrew people on worshipping the golden calf (Exodus, 32-34) show that God of Israel or Old Testament deals with the rebels with an iron hand; while God of the New Testament forgives the entire cruel nation, which left no stone unturned to cause pains and sufferings upon Jesus Christ and his companions. Not only this that God in the New Testament did not announce any penalty to the transgressors, but also Jesus himself served as the most polite and forgiving personality, and ignored the butcheries and ruthlessness of his people. Hence, this difference of attitude creates some ambiguities whether the God of OT and NT is one and the same, or they are two different gods maintaining divergent dispositions and parameters while dealing with the human beings. Bassler (1986) has made a comparative analysis of the image

Working with Leading People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Working with Leading People - Essay Example A few months ago, 63 people applied for the post but only a handful applicants came anywhere near the required standard. Clearly something is not going well. You have been appointed as a HR officer, tasked with improving the standard of recruitment and selection in the company. 1. Prepare a job advertisement for a Marketing Manager for Delicious Food. Delicious Foods UK requires a Marketing Manager to spearhead and executive strategies such as planning, market research, promotions, sales, advertising and PR for the Organization. Candidate should be able to educate and motivate the sales team. Ideal candidate should have at least five years of experience in the relevant field which demonstrates pro-activity, team management and positive sales results. The Marketing Manager will be responsible for key marketing functions like planning marketing strategies, conducting research, advertising and promotions, public relations. The role also involves managing the productivity of the marketin g team and carrying out period reviews of all the marketing activities. 1. Provide an example of a marketing activity that you have successfully carried out in the recent past. 2. What are some of the typical challenges that you face in marketing? 3. Give an example of a situation where a marketing campaign that you handled was not a success. Give reasons. 4. What would be the first few things that you would do if appointed as the Marketing Manager of Delicious Foods? ... Secondly, the preliminary interview would be more comprehensive so that only the best of the lot move to the main interviews. The third step would be to make sure that two rounds of interviews are conducted by senior Marketing officials who would be able to gauge whether the candidate meets the necessary brief. 3. Discuss the legal, regulatory and ethical considerations in recruitment and selection process. As per the employment legislation, an employer is bound to provide certain specific rights to the employee. Therefore, an employer should always provide the right to equality and a workplace without any discrimination (Williams et al, 2010). This should also be applicable during the recruitment process. In addition, many organizations are also likely to face conflict of interest during the recruitment process because of previous associations. Such conflicts also should be avoided and a fair and equal chance should be given to all the candidates. 4. Evaluate the key factors that ar e essential for the success of the recruitment and selection processes in organizations. The key factors that are essential for the success of the recruitment and selection process of any organization include the availability of budget and resources, ensuring that the procedure is carried out with fairness in an ethical manner, detailed process of arriving at job description and role description, comprehensive and evaluative interview process and employee friendly hiring process (Hughes and Rog, 2008). In addition, it is also necessary that these processes are carried out in such a manner that everyone gets equal opportunities. 5. â€Å"One-fourth of interviewers around the world look at candidates' pages on social networking websites to gather information on

Using Social Networking Websites for Social Media Marketing in Fashion Industry Essay Example for Free

Using Social Networking Websites for Social Media Marketing in Fashion Industry Essay Social media is â€Å"the media that is published, created and shared by individuals on the internet, such as blogs, images, video and more† (Strokes, p. 350), as well as â€Å"online tools and platforms that allow internet users to collaborate on content, share insights and experiences, and connect for business or pleasure†. (Strauss Frost, p. 326). The term social media marketing describes the usage of blogs, online communities or social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook for marketing, sales, customer service and public relation in order to engage online communities for the purpose of generating the exposure, opportunities and sales. Social media marketing is a process where interest and excitement is generated in a service or a product through various online social outlets. Fashion industry is one of those areas which fly under the radar of a lot of social media marketers. Social media marketing in the fashion industry is a marketing style which allows brand to connect with their target audience through online outlets such as Facebook, Youtube, Blogger, Twitter,etc. The number of fashion insiders accepting social media has skyrocketed. Companies get to capture a larger target audience by becoming a part of the social media network. Since internet has become such an inexpensive and easily accessible tool, it has become an ideal platform to gain the loyalty and build consumer trust. It is the practice of expanding the number of one’s business and social connects by making connections through individuals online. The online promotions and discounts offered by a brand helps them to create customers and have them choose one brand over another. These online incentives also increase brand competition which in turn urges these brands to optimize their social media presence. From a brand’s perspective, fashion is an experience with very specific feelings and emotions they hope to create for the wearer. The idea of going social frightens quite many brands because they are not very sure as to how to translate these feelings online. Although many brands believe that this might weaken their relationship with the customers but it has proved to be a very healthy and genuine interaction between brand and client. The majority of the industry thought this would tarnish brand image, but American Apparel, TopShop and emerging independent designers were early adopters of social marketing. Once they started reporting positive results, other brands followed. Now almost every brand from Louis Vuitton to Victoria’s Secret have created a presence in several social communities, the most notable being Facebook. â€Å"Customers can feel like they are part of the brand’s extended family, and therefore the brand itself, while the interactive element further deepens that relationship,† said Alex Bolen, chief executive officer of Oscar de la Renta. The emergence of communities like social networks, forums, wikis and blogs made the brands aware that they need to participate and create dialogues with people online. The apparel industry being a product and service-based industry largely depends on the consumer needs and acceptance for growth, and therefore the customer is of prime importance. A one to one communication with the client, which is generally not achievable for retail organizations, can be increased as this medium can enable easy feedback, brands loyalty and personal attachment with the product. By implementing interactive strategies, video messages and blog contents every business type can interact and create a network of people interested in the services offered. While retailers and brands are still battling with social media to measure its marketing value, they have used Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social communities to develop digital marketing strategies to enhance online sales and increase retail store traffic. Gucci is doing it. Social Media Platforms There are various components of social media marketing solutions. These options also help in creating awareness and connecting with the user base. Social Media Marketing Platforms: 1. Blogs are a great traffic source. Popularly employed by businesses, it is a very effective method of marketing the services being offered by the firm. They allow companies to give a detailed description of their products and services. The description may include anything from its use to its justifications to links to other pages. 2. Applications, fan pages, groups and communities etc are great platforms for promoting the business and interacting with consumer groups. Facebook or Twitter for example give companies a chance to promote their services in an individual manner by the help of a separate page. They allow the brand to put up videos, images, detailed descriptions,etc. 3. Many businesses have made hay using online video sites like YouTube and Vimeo. Banking on the fact that e-commerce is scaling new heights, in the present time, substantial business with the buyer is done through the net. Keeping this in mind, a high-fashion garment exporter for instance can build a business page on facebook for his company. Catering to the fact that today even the buyers are active users of such sites, one can create a focused buyer group and though the page, can market his products to all potential buyers at the same time. This makes business easier, accessible to people worldwide and reduces travel time. Simultaneously by creating a Linkedin profile, the employer and all the employees can promote themselves making the company more reachable and in turn more sensitive to the needs and concerns of the industry. The designers can blog about the new trends and styles spreading a positive energy of fashion around the business, which will eventually mark a professional impression for the organization at large. Alternatively, one can use social media to simply spread awareness and exporter can create a buzz about what are they doing and what they wish to do in future.

Consumer Packaged Goods Industry Essay Example for Free

Consumer Packaged Goods Industry Essay Wonderware relies on their services and expertise to take it into new opportunities and markets. From the 625 VAR/OEMs, approximately 2. 5% use Wonderware software to create solutions for food-products machinery in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. Out of almost exactly 3,000 SI companies currently active in the Wonderware Solution Provider Program, more than 46% devote some portion of their practice to serving customers in the CPG industry. 63 % of Wonderware Certified SIs and 82% of Wonderware’s ArchestrA Certified SIs are involved in the CPG industry. But just what do we mean when we talk about the CPG industry? The free reference section at Hoover’s online (www. hoovers. com/free/ind/dir. xhtml) includes a useful directory of industries and the following general definition: Consumer Products Manufacturers Companies that design, manufacture and/or market apparel, cleaning products, hand and power tools, home furniture, housewares, linens, and consumer electronics and appliances. However, things may not really be that simple. It’s actually more meaningful to describe the CPG industry as a set of consumer behaviors rather than trying to draw boundaries around a specific list of product names or brands. And the key behavior that best describes the CPG market is that of replenishment on some regular or frequent basis. The items are in fact consumed, in some sense or another, fairly rapidly. This means that they do have a shelf life – whether it’s the perishable nature of a snack food item or the fleeting glamour of a cell phone with features like text or pictures or videos. And of course that can mean that the value of an entire warehouse inventory, for a whole generation of product can go to zero in a hurry! Those behaviors tend to result in a steady flow of small recurring expenses (for a tube of toothpaste, a pack of beverages or even the latest personal electronic gadget) rather than large infrequent ones like the acquisition of a major capital asset for manufacturing. The problem for our manufacturing customers is that those small replenishable items still require the major manufacturing assets to produce them. The ability to rapidly reconfigure and re-task those expensive production machines and factories when customer whims change – in other words, agile manufacturing – can make the difference between profitability and receivership. The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Industry and Solution Providers Page 3 2. Industry Comparisons The financial research tools at www. etrade. com (account membership required) offer some useful comparisons between the consumer goods industry and other major industry sectors. It’s not necessarily the fastest-growing business ector – compared to general technology, financial or energy companies – but certainly respectable when it comes to overall sector profit margins. The non-cyclical sub-category of the CPG industry, in fact, ranks well above the Transportation, Basic Materials, and Capital Goods and Services industries. The consumer cyclical category includes apparel, recreational products, personal electronics, automobiles and replacement parts such as tires. The non-cyclical category includes beverages, tobacco, personal products, office supplies and food items. The Industry Browser information tools at the Yahoo! Finance Industry Center (biz. yahoo. com/p/3conameu. html) may surprise you in terms of the relative sizes and profitability of some segments in the Consumer Goods categories. For instance, the top five segments by market capitalization are as follows: The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Industry and Solution Providers Page 4 Segment Auto manufacturers Food – major diversified Cigarettes Beverages – soft drinks Cleaning products Market Capitalization ($B) 296 281 269 266 205 The largest segments are not necessarily the most profitable, however. The top five segments by overall profit margin are: Segment Cigarettes Cleaning products Beverages – brewers Beverages – soft drinks Confectioners Net Profit Margin (%) 17 13 12 11 10 Somewhat surprisingly, the largest segment by market capitalization – Auto Manufacturers – is one of the least profitable at just 1. 8%. The sizable and highly visible – but keenly competitive – Electronic Equipment category is squeezed down to just 2. 5% overall net margin. 3. What CPG Companies Need from Solution Providers For our Consumer Packaged Goods customers to succeed, they must deal with a number of internal and external pressures and demands. Those internal drivers include: Protecting or increasing profits Reducing costs related to: o Supply-chain management – Net asset turns on raw materials and finished goods inventories, efficient sourcing decisions and reducing scrap or return rates o Manufacturing – Improving operational efficiency and employee productivity o Information technology – Cost containment and outsourcing, standardization and consolidation of server assets, increasing reusability, and an application infrastructure that protects and maximizes key databases and information assets Mergers, acquisitions, breakups and spin-offs The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Industry and Solution Providers Page 5 o o Integration (or disconnection! ) of supply-chain linkages Operational complexity and startup costs – dealing with dissimilar bestpractice philosophies, variations in processes, applications and technology, and training to improve and align vital human resources. External forces and demands that our CPG customers face include: Meeting changing customer needs and requirements Preserving brand integrity – through product quality and safety as well as regulatory requirements Speed to market with more (and often complicated) new products. Now, with all those pressures facing our Consumer Packaged Goods manufacturing customers, what can we – a world-class community of solution providers and a world-class software supplier – provide to help them face such challenges? First of all, we can provide a platform for growth – an eco-vision – that can grow and evolve as the fickle customer marketplace changes and the companies adapt. We can offer an architecture built around re-usable components – not just software objects, but encapsulated best practices and intellectual capital. That means lower project-to-project costs and a common service architecture from production to process. We can deliver an architecture for incremental investment, avoiding the â€Å"big bang† approach that held back the promise of advanced manufacturing execution systems (MES) for so long, for example.

Yahoo Advantages Disadvantages

Yahoo Advantages Disadvantages Yahoo In APA Style Strategic Management and Policy In the growing world of technology we often see many advantages and disadvantages associated with the growing population of Internet companies with there advertising techniques and strong thresholds on the American society through innovation and design. In the case of Yahoo it is apparent that there is an emerging culture growing inside the walls of the technological structure that allows Yahoo to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage through Internet applications and services provided by the Internet giant. Yahoo has a structure unlike any other internet provider in which they are able to maintain a strong barrier against new and emerging providers to enter the market world of technology and over throw the internet giant. Also, they have the sustainability to achieve a mass bargaining power through the buyer and seller who use the services of Yahoo to achieve an overwhelming curve in the market place. With the advantages that Yahoo holds with the products and services it allows a strong barrier to increase so that substitutes can not and will not grow within the walls of the technological structure. With this in mind Porters five forces was the best resource to improve on my analysis of the corporations growth and competitive advantage in the internet society. The threat of new and emerging entrants in the internet society is very low in these circumstances because of the product differentiation, capital requirements, and the access to distribution channels (Strategic Management, 2007). Product differentiation under these circumstances would cause a new entrant who wants to publicize an internet publication on the World Wide Web to spend a fortune to achieve what Google and Yahoo have spent a decade achieving through product loyalty and customer satisfaction. A new entrant also does not have the capital needs to achieve there desired results because of the extreme overhead and production cost included with beginning a new and emerging service. Also, the availability of distribution channels needed to publicize the internet page owned by the new emergent would quite possibly be owned solely by there strong competitor Yahoo or Google and dominance could cause a crushing blow to the competitors technological advancements. The bargaining power of buyers has made an everlasting impact on Yahoos financial stability and advantage on market growth because of the strong leadership shown by CEO Terry Semel. Terry has integrated the internet service to become a virtual shopping guide know to all man kind through smart acquisitions and also mergers with top communication leaders such as SBC global, Verizon communication and Overture Services. This has allowed for service providers to advertise there many products and services on the World Wide Web and gain the advantage that Yahoo has provided, as being the next step generation in technological advancements. This in return has allowed Yahoo to charge a fee accompanied with advertisements so that the firms financials statements will increase in value and also will look extremely enhancing to those looking to purchase Yahoos stocks on the exchange. These advantages have done nothing but encourage the advertisement industry to buy their advertisements with Yahoo because of the well known technique and broad market that it connects with, but also to gain the top market share price that every corporate executive is trying to achieve. With the bargaining power of buyers in mind we will now turn to the suppliers bargaining power so that we may introduce some factors that encourage supplier power. In this cause the supplier for Yahoos internet access is the American public that continues to thread the needle that sews Yahoos financial stability and continued growth throughout the world. Suppliers in this instance would be similar to the buyer when they are looking for a service that can generate a market power for the products and service that are being advertised on the Yahoo site. It is extremely difficult for the supplier to gain and advantage in this instance because of the strong control and marketing capabilities that Yahoo has over other leading advertisers such as television and radio. But, since yahoo has been able to form acquisitions with SBC and Verizon it is able to communicate over a much more â€Å"mobile† coverage area than before and therefore will enhance the suppliers to use the services of fered by Yahoo extensively for product and service development. The threat for new or substitute products and services is extremely high for Yahoo because they have the competitors AOL and MSN to always compete with and trying to overturn any investment opportunities that Yahoo has been involved with. The one major advantage that Yahoo has acquired is that they have the capabilities and resources to expand there service realm across many divisions of the consumer wants. Yahoo has the virtual reality of diminishing AOL and MSN by overturning the technology through broad band communication at the tips of your fingers with the cell phone industry. And also by acquiring a major search engine component which allows many consumers to search multiple things and acquire a result plus a solution for there disrupted efforts of confusion. With this being the situation in all business efforts we will now turn to the intense rivalry within the industry. In every business unit we will always have a rival picking at our feet to see what integrative tactics we have in store for the future. In this case the customer base has lead to believe that Yahoo and its executives are in a win win situation because of the barriers it has created within the organization. Including the differentiation that Yahoo has created a commodity and not just a service it is something all Americans depend upon when they are travel so that when they get to there hotel they may pull up on the search engines on places to dine within the city that they are staying and get listings as well as suggestions. Also, they can use the service offered by the wireless internet on the mobile phones to get reservation for a room while the consumer is still in flight. In this situation Yahoo has gained an extraordinary advantage against MSN and AOL in the service aspect of the business unit. We have discussed all the forces that can and might drive an industry into an undesired state for which its products will not be desired and the business units will strongly fade away we as corporate leaders need to find a foundation of formulation. This will encourage our buyers and suppliers to continue to operate with our services and allow us at Yahoo to overcome the forces and achieve excellence within the market and service realm. Formulation in this situation will increase the power that Yahoo has over the other competitors in the industry and it will also give them a stepping stone or building block to creating an implementation for their business strategy. First, would be the forming of the overall cost leadership within the firm to allow Yahoo to create that barrier between AOL and MSN. The issue of human resource management has lead me to realize that it would be in the best interest of Yahoo to continue to allow the casual dress for its employee base so that the employees are in a continual state of comfort while they are working and can provide the best and top quality service at an affordable rate. This statement may seem off the wall but just take for instance an employee who is always demanded of for service and top quality production at a high level industry, do you think that they are going to produce more under high pressure and uncomfortable atmospheres or are they going to perform under the most relaxing conditions imaginable. The structure of overhead costs has reduced a huge amount of dollars because there have not been a large number of administrators at Yahoos corporate level and this in return has gained the advantage over the competitors who have that large overhead expense involved with creating value for its customers. Along with the control of the organizations administrative cost, Yahoo should use the service realm to produce high quality technicians who are constantly monitoring progress or down time within the browser to ensure that all users are pleased with the experience they are receiving from Yahoo. Along with the service that Yahoo delivers to there clients I that is so well known Yahoo also, delivers a unique parity to there clients with a speedy and creative innovation through there brand image which in turn will result in a powerful differentiation effort towards pleasing there customer base. Yahoos brand image that has attracted millions in my opinion is â€Å"with a click of a mouse you can have the world† and is very true to some aspects. The main strategy of Yahoo is to create a â€Å"virtual Disney land†(Jamal Shamsie, 2007) says CEO Terry Semel by engaging in numerous links that any American can access through one web mail address which enhances the convenience sector and also enriches the dealers networks that have advertised with the world service provider Yahoo that has continually strived to bring success as well as an invisible feature of differentiated search engines that allows individuals to look for any piece of information around the world at a quick response rate and also receive a suggestive comment back as to the best possible choice for the convenience of the consumer. And as we have discovered through the discussion of differentiation was that the focus strategy for Yahoo was simply to be above all the rest and capture the consumer eyes through technological, innovative, and brand image strategy to gain all competitive advantages in the market world. Yahoo has maintained a unique strategy of â€Å"being different† from all the rest by not concerning itself with profitable area but to allow its customers to have a service that produce more output than all the others combined. Focus strategy in Yahoos case would be considered a differentiation focus that strives to targets a segment of the market world by allowing its users to choose from a wide variety of services from financial consulting to broad band internet access from the convenience of the cell phone. This gives the Yahoo firm the advantage it needs to gain and keep market shares increasing by dissolving the new entrant gap of trying to achieve the dominance factor to make an internet providers dream come true. With this statement from the core of the analysis has concluded that the strategy that has been chosen to completely analyze and formulate the Yahoo firm has been done to establish a broad base on how the Yahoo firm can initialize a base mission and statement and keep turning the eyes of AOL and MSN so that Yahoo stands one step ahead of the competitor to achieve competitive advantage. The philosophy of Yahoo was to â€Å"work within a framework and if it is free for all we wont take advantage of the strengths of our company†(Jamal Shamsie, 2007) says CEO Semel which allows the company to achieve great deeds on the weakness of the firm because we all know that one hundred percent of a strong company is a lot better than fifty percent of the strengths and fifty percent of the weaknesses. Meaning, fix the bad and leave the good alone because the good got there for a reason and they dont need to be adjusted but the bad has issued needing to be addressed. References Dess, Lumpkin, and Eisnor (2007). Porters Five Forces, Business level Strategy, McGraw and Hill Strategic Management. Shamsie, Jamal (2007). Yahoo Case, McGraw and Hill Strategic Management p. 792-797

Hamlet :: essays research papers

Great literary works retain their popularity as a result of many different factors. One such factor which can lead to popularity of a work, current or consistent discussion of a work's merits, can come into play when an author or playwright leaves questions unanswered in his work. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare creates such a situation. As a result of the ambiguity of clues given throughout this play, critics may argue for or against the idea that Prince Hamlet's "antic disposition" put on as a facade to mislead the royal family pales in comparison to the disposition of Hamlet's lunatic mind, or in other words, that Hamlet in fact truly succumbs to insanity. Evidence for this opinion can be derived from Hamlet's erratic mood changes, careless slaughter of those not directly involved in the murder of his father, and interactions with the ghost of King Hamlet. For a man thought to be feigning insanity, Prince Hamlet seems to have very little control of his emotions. In fact, Hamlet admits this to Horatio, his confidant, when he says, "Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting / That would not let me sleep" (5.2. lines 4-5). This lack of restraint leads to Hamlet's unpredictable mood swings throughout the play. Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia easily spawns such dramatic alterations in the prince's attitude. For example, when Hamlet first suspects Ophelia acts only as the pawn for Polonius's ploys, he reacts rashly, bitterly denying that he ever loved her. "You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so / inoculate our old stock, but we shall relish of it. I loved / you not" (3.1.117-19). This massive reversal in disposition is later contrasted by another reversal when Hamlet leaps into Ophelia's open grave at her funeral to dispute Laertes and claim, "I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers / Could no t with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum" (5.1.252-54). These abrupt mood changes also appear in Hamlet's relationship with his mother. He seemed to believe in his mother's purity and goodness, but eventually Hamlet seems to hold a great mount of contempt for Gertrude, especially when he mocks her words, and then snidely proclaims: "You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife, / And would it were not so, you are my mother" (3.4.15-16). Such mood swings as these definitely prove, if anything, that Hamlet could not keep adequate control of his emotions.

UBIQUITY :: Essays Papers

UBIQUITY As many people have expected, We are living in an environment saturated with wired and wireless connections. This technological explosion has become a part of our daily lives; but we don't really realize, to what extent , our trivial behaviors rely on informatic systems and our interaction with them. While we are living in the era of pervasive computing, we may wonder about the change that pervasive computing has brought to our lives and our social and cultural responses to these fascinating technologies and increased change. Some people remain fearful of the impact of the brain machines on our human behavior, on the other hand, others are struggling to make our environment filled with intelligent machinery, like the air we breath, and to make our interactions with this machinery as smooth as possible. The story of creating smart machines equipped with the same reasoning capabilities of humans is very old but the era of computers makes it very realistic in the eyes of scientists. Since we have machines that manage to do all these tasks, it is time for a new generation of machinery that can do exactly what we can do or better; from understanding our behavior to making decisions on their own. The article: " A Bayesian Computer Vision System for modeling Human Interactions", provides and excellent example of what people interested in artificial intelligence are trying to do. In fact, they focus on creating machines that understand human behavior and respond according to this interaction. It is stated in the article: " Our approach to modeling person-to-person interactions is to use supervised statistical machine learning techniques to teach the system to recognize normal single-person behaviors and common person-to-person interactions" (Oliver, Rosario, Pentland 831). There are many l imitations to accomplish this goal as any new technology or knowledge but the dream seems to be realistic for these people. according to the same article, if the models are trained to recognize a limited number of human behavior, how to make them understand new patterns without limitations : "A major emphasis of our work, therefore, is on efficient Bayesian integration of both prior knowledge (by the use of synthetic prior models) with evidence from data (by situation-specific parameter tuning). our goal is to be able to successfully apply the system to any normal multiperson interaction situation without additional training". This article provides an example of what is going on in many laboratories spread throughout the world and how artificial intelligence focuses on creating smart practical machines that understand and interpret our behavior and probably surpasses our reasoning capabilities.

The Rift Wars :: essays research papers

THE RIFT WARS Long before humans came to this part of the world, dwarves and elves made their homes in Caspia. Neither group bothered the other because they did not desire the lands of the other. After a time, however, their racial incompatibility began to wear on them. Since their basic attitudes and outlooks were so different, their infrequent encounters became less and less civil. Eventually, their leaders forbade their subjects to have anything to do with the other race. Feelings of mistrust and dislike grew as the years passed, eventually blossoming into hatred. Often, the younger, more hotheaded dwarves and elves disobeyed the orders of their elders. Members of each race began to stage guerilla raids on the other. Finally, the elves and dwarves declared an all-out war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The elves, armed with powerful magic, reduced the fortresses of the dwarves to rubble. Their skilled archers also decimated the dwarven offense in the forest. Defeat for the dwarven army seemed certain, but the dwarves were not to be easily beaten. Exploiting the blustery winds of the Rift, the dwarves lit and burned large tracts of woods. Either to avenge the burning forest or to escape the mounting flames, the elves poured out of the woods in droves. As they emerged from the flaming trees, half blinded by hot ash and choking smoke, the dwarves mowed them down. The blood of these two peoples ran thick in the Caspian River.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meanwhile, the truly evil god Morgion with his orcs and goblins capitalized on a chance to wreak havoc on two of their most hated enemies. They began to covertly destroy the villages of both elves and dwarves, knowing that the feuding creatures would blame each other for these atrocities. The young, the old, the crippled, and the infirm of both races began to feel the bite of both lawful and chaotic blades.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For a time, this ruse worked perfectly. The slaughter of the innocents served to inflame the passions of the combatants, and they fought all the more fiercely because of it. The elves and dwarves might well have exterminated one another, had not an elven child escaped the carnage in one of the orc raids and told his rescuers of the monsters who were actually responsible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then the elves and dwarves met under a flag of truce, where they agreed to set aside their differences and deal with the common enemy. Their combined forces were mighty enough to crush the hordes of the evil Morgion.

Training plan for employees

Recruitment, selection, training and evaluating employees Section A I have been hired by Laurent Bank of Canada, as a consultant to assist in hiring employees for the Commercial Banking Branch located In Montreal, Quebec. Laurent Bank Is a Quebec regional bank that has been In operation since 1846 and their head office Is located In downtown Montreal. The bank offers retail and commercial financial services. I will be consulting for the hilling of employees working at a new commercial branch located next to Concordia University, in Montreal.These employees will be working as Commercial Account Managers in the banking industry. The Laurent Bank Commercial Banking sector offers different types of loans for small business owners such as Credit Lines, Term Loans and Business VISAS. The Bank makes a profit by collecting the interest they have charged on each of their loans. The Bank is looking to hire 3 employees who have had previous experience working in the banking Industry as well as an educational background in Finance or Accounting, preferably at a University level (I. E. Bachelor's Degree).The newly hired employees will be responsible for managing a portfolio of existing business clients. They will also be required to bring In new clients to the Bank. Section B I will conduct the following job analysis to obtain Information on the skills, knowledge and ablest required for the Job: Identify and Isolate the component tasks Involved Examine how the tasks are performed Identify the main areas of responsibility Identify the working conditions I will use the 3 following methods to gather data from existing employees or sources to conduct my Job analysis: 1 .Interviewing existing Account Managers: I would meet with a few current employees working in Commercial Banking and ask them specific questions about their Job. 2. Perform an online search: I would search inline on Commercial Account Managers in order to gain knowledge on the field and specific requirements. 3. I would obtain access to the weekly activity logs: All Account Managers are required to submit a weekly actively log to their superiors. This log contains detailed Information on the work that was done during the week.Job Description: The Account Manager is responsible for structuring credits and addressing perceived risk. This includes completing necessary due diligence, establishing pricing and terms of credit, and also producing ongoing credit reviews and risk ratings that fleet knowledge of Bank policies and procedures. With respect to business development The Account Manager continually develops and broadens relationships with existing customers by cross-selling relevant and value added financial products and services. It is also a priority to build new relationships through referrals from customers and other sources.Section C I will recruit prospective employees by posting the Job description on Social Networking sites such as Linked and Faceable. I will also use job search we bsites also post the available position in the careers section of the corporate website of Laurent Bank. Social Networking sites are good way to attract Job seekers since almost everyone use Linked and Faceable. The majority of the population is using a smart phone nowadays with these applications already installed. Faceable would help me do a background check on applicants by having access to their network of friends, activities and hobbies.It would not, however give me much information on their education, skills or work experience. Linked is a more useful application for recruiters because its main use is to connect professionals through their work experience. Linked is an excellent calibration tool to help me assess the depth of the potential talent pool. The following 3 selections techniques will be used: I will compare the credentials from each candidate's profile or posted resume; I will personally message those who I have selected and inform them on my decision to pursue an i nterview; I will also perform background reference checks on the candidates.Comparing profiles between candidates will enable me to narrow down my search; however there is the possibility that I choose one candidate over another strictly based on the presentation of their online profile or resume. Sending a personal message to chosen candidates is good ways of letting the applicant know that we are interested. However, this method can also backfire when the applicant refuses to respond to the message in a timely manner, resulting in wastage of time. Background checks are always a good source for gaining insight on the applicant's past work experience.However, it is important to make sure you are speaking with the right person. It is not always easy to contact a candidate's previous boss due to availability. Old Boss' are not always eager to take the time out and speak about a past employee. Section D Once hired, the employees' performance will be evaluated on a weekly basis. The Men tor or personal in charge of training the employee will be required to fill out a performance form. The form will contain several sections about the different tasks required for the role of an Account Manager.The Mentor will grade each section with the following: A (achieved), F (failed), AN (non-applicable) and IP (in progress). This weekly evaluation will serve as an indicator of the employee's progress. It will also clearly indicate the areas where the employee needs improvement. The following training methods will be used: 1 . Job Shadowing with an existing Account Manager. This will enable the new employee to gain insight on the day-to-day activities of an account manager. It will also give the employee to ask questions on specific tasks.However, it can slow down the efficiency of Account Managers if they spend too much time answering questions. 2. Helping Account Managers with their portfolios. This will be both beneficial to the new and existing employees. New employees will gain experience by analyzing credit applications and financial statements. While the existing Account Manager will have more time work on other tasks and duties. However, the work submitted by the new employees will have to be revised by the Account Manager before submission. Section E The following 3 training programs will be used: 1 .Moody Analytics Account Manager. New employees will be required to complete the Commercial Lending program that involves online lessons on the specific skills needed for this role. Financial statement analysis, risk management and business development are the three topics covered in the lessons. After every lesson, employees are required to complete an examination testing their skills learned. The scores from these exams ill be sent directly to the Mentor. This will teach the employee on the three most important skills needed for an Account Manager.However, employees must be trusted to not consult other employees when answering the exam questions. 2. Financial Statement Analysis New employees will be given financial statements from new and existing clients to analyze. They will be required to calculate key ratios in order to determine the performance of the company in the current and past year. Financial statement analysis is a skill that must be mastered in order to be a successful Account Manager ND this is a good way to practice. The employee, however, might feel discouraged at first since all financial statements are different and can be very confusing at first. . Case Discussion New employees will be given the opportunity to discuss the risk associated with lending to the clients they have analyzed through financial statement analysis and job shadowing with an Account Manager. This will give a chance to new employees to express themselves and share their ideas. Some new employees, however, might feel too intimidated or shy to fully express their opinion. PART 2: Company Culture Section F I will advise leaders to help employ ees reach personal and organizational goals by pointing out the paths they should follow and by providing them with the means to do so.They would need to show concern and support for subordinates. The leader should use a transactional leadership style, where they can clearly identify the needs of their followers and give rewards in exchange for performance. They can set goals and expectations, reward effort and provide feedback. Section G Commercial Account Managers often work out of the office, visiting clients, checking out loan applications, and soliciting new business. Account Managers may be required to travel if a client is out of town, or to work evenings if that is the only time at which a client can meet.Employees in this role have the flexibility to work from home as well. Normal business banking hours are Monday to Friday from mamma to pm. An Account Manager manages his/her portfolio; therefore they usually manage least 37. 5 hours per week. Employees will be eligible for 4 weeks of vacation annually, however weeks must be reserved in advance to avoid too much vacancy at once. The office will be well located in central downtown Montreal. This will give employees the opportunity to take public transportation instead of driving their vehicles. It will also enable Account Managers to easily penetrate the commercial market.The office building will be connected to an underground metro station, which will facilitate travel during winter. All account managers will be provided with their own work space in the form of an open concept cubicle. This will encourage teamwork and also enable employees to interact with each other more frequently. There will be private rooms that can be reserved for client meetings. Upper Management will have private closed offices. There will also be a board room for meetings and presentations. The thermostat will be electronically adjusted to provide ideal temperatures for winter and summer.The lighting will be sufficient for des k work and each workstation will have its own computer, printer and telephone. There will also be a cafeteria open to all employees with a fridge and microwave. This will encourage employees to interact during lunch hour. I would be aware of the following psychological and social concerns: Job Autonomy and Harassment. I would assess the degree of satisfaction an employee has with their current role because it will be reflected in their reference. If the employee is not fully satisfied, they will feel exhausted with their role and eventually would not care to perform.This could eventually lead to the employee leaving their Job. Harassment is very serious and must be handled severely. Employees who face harassment might be too intimidated to report it. If it is not handled immediately, it can lead to serious lawsuits towards the organization. The policies on harassment will be clearly explained to all employees upon Joining the organization. Section H Stress in the workplace often coi ncides with the following behaviors in employees: rower productivity, reduced motivation, increased errors, and increased turnover.The role of an Account Manager often results in the following stresses: Role Overload. Employees feel there are too many tasks in too short time period. I would attempt to minimize stress using the following 3 programs: Improve communication 0 Share information with employees to reduce uncertainty about their Jobs and futures. Clearly define employees' roles and responsibilities. 0 Make communication friendly and efficient, not mean-spirited or petty. Consult Employees 0 Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their Jobs. Consult employees about scheduling and work rules. Be sure the workload is suitable to employees' abilities and resources; avoid unrealistic deadlines. 0 Show that individual workers are valued. 0 Offer rewards and incentives. As Employee of the Month. 0 Provide opportunities for career development. 0 Promote an â€Å"entrepreneurial† work climate that gives employees more control over their work. Cultivate a friendly social climate 0 Provide opportunities for social interaction among employees. 0 Establish a zero- tolerance policy for harassment. 0 Make management actions consistent with organizational values.

Blackber

blackberry Objective Regain blackberries 20% lost market share, and improve overall net profit vs. last year by 13% Offer the services that have already been introduced by competing company, and also work on providing customers with innovative applications Summary BLACKBERRY FOR BUSINESS Built to keep your business moving Where multiple devices ownership models, applications and operating systems exist, BlackBerry ®Ã‚  perfectly balances end user and corporate needs to keep your business moving.Blackberry  is a brand that was created by Research in Motion’s (RIM) Founder Mike Lazaridis in 1996, providing wireless web enabled devices across multiple networks. RIM is a Canadian based company founded in 1984 that formally worked with RAM and Ericsson, developing a two way paging system and wireless email network. The company’s goal and vision is clear: â€Å"to provide solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the Bla ckBerry Smartphone to provide mobile access to email, applications, media and the Internet. † (RIM website: http://www. im. com/company) Since the creation of Blackberry, it commands over 20% of the world’s Smartphone sales, available in over 91 countries on over 500 mobile service operators. Blackberry has sold over 100 million devices and still trumps the Iphone is sales since its development. With the development of the  New Blackberry Torch  we see the progress that Blackberry has made. Not only does Blackberry dedicate so much time and funds to research and development, but they have successfully built the brand strong and have reached different demographics in the past 5 years than any other company.There is no doubt that Blackberry has been, and will continue to be, the leader in research and development in wireless realm. Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBer ry solution in 1999. Since then, BlackBerry products and services have continued to change the way millions of people around the world stay connected. With the launch of BlackBerry ® 10, we have re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry.Not only did we introduce a new mobile experience to our global community of BlackBerry users, but we are also introducing a new name for the company. Research In Motion now operates globally under the iconic name BlackBerry. Corporate Responsibility Global Growth. BlackBerry is a company driven by ideas. We believe that innovation and collaboration will foster sustainable growth for our business. BlackBerry and its subsidiaries and affiliates (â€Å"BlackBerry†) are committed to offering the best tools for communication and social collaboration and working towards minimizing our environmental impact.BlackBerry  strives to act responsibly and expects the same of our partners and suppliers. Corporate Philanthropy BlackBerry Blac kBerry seeks to make a positive impact in our communities, engaging the talents and resources of our people and partners to harness the power of technology. BlackBerry strongly believes in the importance of education and works to inspire the next generation of minds, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. Outreach efforts are concentrated on students at public elementary and secondary schools.Proud2Be program BlackBerry supports employee efforts to give back to communities through Proud2Be, a set of internal programs which present several opportunities to support our communities through fundraising drives and volunteerism. Through the Volunteer Recognition Program and the Child and Youth Active Living Program, BlackBerry  donated to 294 organizations around the world. Through these programs and a variety of corporately supported events and activities, employees volunteered more than 14,800 hours in fiscal 2012. Junior Achievement Europe innovation campsAs part of our commitment to furthering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), BlackBerry  has partnered with JA-YE Europe, Europe’s largest provider of entrepreneurship education programs. Our partnership has supported the facilitation of one-day STEM innovation camps, which have provided real life technology based business challenges for the students to tackle with our employee volunteers. Over 900 students and 70 employees in Italy, Spain, South Africa, France, Sweden and the UK have all had the chance to participate in these forward-thinking innovation camps.An employee volunteer from Italy explained: â€Å"It was a fantastic experience, seeing how these young people were so engaged and energized. They loved to learn about BlackBerry and were able to use their creative skills to come up with some brilliant innovations. And for me personally, I really enjoyed being able to play my part in helping guide these students and see them gain confidence and get excited about innovation for the future†. Science, technology, engineering and math BlackBerry  successfully reached over 1. million students over fiscal 2012 to encourage their interest in (STEM) through programs such as the Canada Wide Science Fair, FIRST Robotics, and the BlackBerry Hands On Workshops (BBHOW) series. The BBHOW program teaches 11 to 17 year olds the science behind mobile technology and explores careers in technology. Fiscal 2012 saw the expansion of this program into the U. K. , with employee volunteers delivering workshops to eager students. In all, more than 9,000 students were able to participate in this learning program.BlackBerry and Free the Children BlackBerry is proud to partner with and help build on Free The Children’s record of local and global youth engagement to take action towards an inspired vision for tomorrow. Free The Children has taken the unique notion of â€Å"children helping children† to affect social change around the world. Its work has resulted in significant changes in two distinct areas, both of which BlackBerry is proud to support. The first and most direct is access to education.The second is an increased level of awareness and engagement that changes the way the youth who volunteer view themselves and the world around them—a mechanism for shaping the leaders of tomorrow. Through domestic empowerment programs and leadership training, Free The Children inspires young people to become socially conscious global citizens as well as agents of change for their peers worldwide. BlackBerry Build A Village Awards Going into its second year, the  BlackBerry Build A Village Awards  program sent 50 students to India and Kenya in July and August 2012.These students helped provide access to basic needs in the context of Free The Children’s four pillars of community development: healthcare, water and sanitation, education, and alternative incomes. They also had the opportunity to see the development projects that last year’s award recipients completed, including the schools and classrooms that are now open and the water and sanitation stations which are so vital to improving quality of life in Eor Ewuaso, Kenya and Bagad, India. The school that BlackBerry award recipients helped build in Eor Ewuaso was honoured by Free The Children for several academic achievements.More than 1,000 students, teachers and parents attended the award ceremony which celebrated achievements from the previous year. Eor Ewuaso won eight awards, including best school overall. We Day Waterloo The third annual  We Day Waterloo  took place on Wednesday, November 14, 2012. Close to 6,000 students from throughout southwestern Ontario came together to experience an event like no other. Free The Children co-founders, motivational speakers, and celebrity guests helped rally these young people to take on leadership roles in their communities.With the help of social strategy consulting fir m Mission Measurement, Free The Children was able to capture unprecedented insight into the impact of our last We Day Waterloo upon students, educators, and their schools. Highlights include: * 97% of students believed they could make a meaningful difference, up from 66% last year * 85% of students felt more educated about social justice issues * 96% of students planned to lead or play an active role in a social justice initiative * More than half of the educators in the audience returned to their schools with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm forPublic Policy and Government Relations BlackBerry As one of the world’s leading communications technology companies with customers in more than 175 countries, BlackBerry actively participates in governmental proceedings, industry associations and technology standards bodies. Shaping public policy and engaging in regulatory affairs BlackBerry  helps to drive innovation, shape global policies and promote access to leading-edg e technologies. BlackBerry  partners with national and international organizations and industry bodies around the world to advance the development of wireless technology and mobile communications.In fiscal 2012, BlackBerry  participated in public consultations across multiple jurisdictions on a range of issues including spectrum, privacy, security, convergence, accessibility, intellectual property, and other issues. Lawful access Lawful access is a request by national or international law enforcement authorities to telecom carriers or technology suppliers for access to user communications for the purposes of law enforcement, investigation or prosecution as duly requested under the laws of a jurisdiction.A common requirement around the world, lawful access may be required for reasons such as investigating, solving or prosecuting crime, or for ensuring national security. Like others in our industry, from time to time, BlackBerry may receive requests from legal authorities for lawf ul access assistance. We are guided by appropriate legal processes and publicly disclosed lawful access principles in this regard, as we balance any such requests against our priority of maintaining privacy rights of our users. We do not speculate or comment upon individual matters of lawful access.Additionally, BlackBerry  does not provide special deals for individual countries, and we clearly stipulate that BlackBerry  has no ability to support the access of BlackBerry ® Enterprise Server (BES) communications as only our enterprise clients have control over the encryption keys for these communications. BlackBerry  is committed to operating its business in accordance with recognized industry standards of business and social responsibility in the markets we serve. BlackBerry  will continue to evaluate the markets in which we operate, we will engage and express our views to government and we will continue to operate in a principled manner. Learn about BlackBerry lawful acce ss principles Content filtering Content filtering refers to the ability to remove access to inappropriate and/or illegal Internet–based content. While often applied in the home or in a business to screen inappropriate content such as malware or pornography, content filtering requirements are generally established by national governments or voluntarily in many countries by Internet service providers, including telecom carriers. BlackBerry  is not an Internet service provider.Like our competitors, we support our carrier partners around the world to meet their obligations or commitments by working with them to ensure the availability of appropriate content filtering solutions for BlackBerry smartphones. Child online safety and protection Online safety and the protection of children and young people in the mobile environment are especially important to BlackBerry. For BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry ® PlayBookâ„ ¢ tablet applications, BlackBerry ® Worldâ„ ¢ offer s content rating and filtering options based on the CTIA Wireless Association’s  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Guidelines for App Content Classification and Ratings†.This feature enables parents to set a rating filter in BlackBerry World  to restrict content of specified ratings from being displayed or purchased. In addition, BlackBerry  introduced new parental control features that give parents the ability to control and restrict their children's use of various services and applications on BlackBerry smartphones, such as browsing, text messaging, BlackBerry ® Messenger and access to social networks. Furthermore, BlackBerry  and other leading companies have joined the â€Å"CEO Coalition to make the Internet a better place for kids†, which is a voluntary initiative esigned to respond to challenges arising from the diverse ways in which young people go online. Product Sustainability BlackBerry Creating products with the earth in mind BlackBerry is always on the lookout for sus tainable innovations that meet the needs of the present without compromising the future. Our commitment to reducing our environmental impact is visible throughout the lifecycle of our products—from initial concept to final delivery. Improving product sustainabilityIn fiscal 2012,  BlackBerry worked with experienced sustainability consultants to conduct in-depth, baseline assessments of our sustainability policies, programs and product development activities. The Natural Step, an international non-profit research and advisory organization, conducted a Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA). The SLCA provided a strategic overview of the sustainability of our products, highlighting the ecological and social impacts of current products throughout their life cycle.To further assess the impact of our products,  BlackBerry worked with Five Winds International, an experienced sustainability management consulting firm, to conduct comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) stud ies on the BlackBerry ® Torchâ„ ¢ 9810 smartphone and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The assessment provided an in-depth view of each product’s environmental impacts at every stage in its life cycle, from the materials used in the product, to production and distribution, to its use, and for the end of its useful life.Together, the SLCA and the LCA equip  BlackBerry with information to help focus our efforts on reducing our overall environmental impact. * Learn more about LCA * Sustainable at the source Sustainable sourcing, conflict-free minerals and higher recycled content all play a role in the development of our products. Working with suppliers and manufacturers, processes and policies are established to help deliver more sustainable products and enhance the customer experience. * Learn more about our materials * It’s more than just a box Moving toward a more sustainable, holistic packaging approach reduces BlackBerry’s environmental footprint.New eco -friendly packaging for BlackBerry ® smartphones, along with reduced transportation emissions, paperless documentation and new BlackBerry accessories, help us deliver more sustainable products. Learn more about our packaging * More energy, less waste * One of BlackBerry’s goals is to design more sustainably at each stage in the product life cycle by adopting Design for Environment principles and formalizing energy efficiency considerations in the Research and Development design processes. New charger and battery-saving tips help increase the energy efficiency of BlackBerry products. Learn more about energy efficiency * BlackBerry recycling BlackBerry  offers a variety of options for customers to responsibly dispose of BlackBerry devices that have reached the end of their useful life. Learn more about BlackBerry recycling Responsibility at BlackBerry BlackBerry BlackBerry is committed to global sustainability by improving the economic, social and environmental impacts of o ur day-to-day operations. BlackBerry teams implement programs across the organization to identify, execute and measure sustainable initiatives.Contact the BlackBerry Corporate Responsibility team 2012 Corporate Responsibility Report Download  (PDF) Corporate governance Learn about corporate governance at BlackBerry (BlackBerry Code of Business Standards and Principles, information regarding the Board of Directors and more) Corporate carbon footprint Learn about BlackBerry’s initiatives to reduce our corporate carbon footprint: * Learn about BlackBerry’s participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project * Learn about climate change initiatives * Learn about BlackBerry greenhouse gas initiatives * * Corporate operations BlackBerry is committed to reducing the environmental impact of our operations. * Energy Efficient Buildings * New data center built to green standards * Green IT * Waste diversion * Paper recycling * Paper procurement * View the BlackBerry Paper Procureme nt Policy  (PDF) * ISO 14001 Environmental Management System * The wireless handheld manufacture and repair services operations in Ontario are certified to the ISO 14001 standard. In fiscal 2013, BlackBerry will continue the process of expanding the scope of our certification to include research and development activities. Learn more about the BlackBerry ISO 14001 program Recognition by others BlackBery strives to create the best work environment for employees through a variety of programs. We are proud to have these efforts recognized by others. * 2012 Waterloo Region Top Employer * 2012 Canada’s Top 100 Employers for Young People * Randstad Canada’s Most Attractive Employer 2011 * Philanthropic and Community Leadership Award, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce * Community Outreach Award, Rolling Meadows Chamber of Commerce * Outstanding Corporate Chamber Partner of the Year Award, Greater IrvingLas Colinas Chamber of Commerce Finding success with BlackBerry Thousand s of companies, government agencies and non-profit organizations worldwide have increased their success with the BlackBerry solution and are effectively improving people’s lives. Success stories, such as  TDI,  R3SM,  Herrle’s Country Farm Market,  International Medical Corps  and  Missing Children of South Africa, showcase how organizations are using the BlackBerry solution to benefit society. To find out why the BlackBerry solution was the best fit for these and other customers, visit the BlackBerry Customer Success website  www. lackberry. com/go/success. Supply Chain BlackBerry BlackBerry is committed to ensuring that the management of our supply chain activities is socially and environmentally responsible. As a multinational company we recognize that our supply chain operations reach many parts of the globe and a diverse range of communities, each with their own culture and business norms. As a responsible organization, we also recognize that there a re certain standards of employment and environmental performance that must be respected wherever we operate or have business relationships.These standards are encapsulated in our Supplier Code of Conduct, which was published in 2011. Supplier compliance with the BlackBerry Supplier Code of Conduct and Responsible Minerals Policy is an expectation for doing business and is fundamental to our supplier engagement activities. BlackBerry  continues to be an active participant in the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI). View the BlackBerry Supplier Code of Conduct  (PDF) View the BlackBerry Responsible Minerals Policy  (PDF) Learn about the EICCLearn about the GeSI Supply chain social responsibility implementation BlackBerry  uses a risk-based approach for monitoring supplier conformance to our Supplier Code of Conduct. In fiscal 2012, BlackBerry established an enhanced process for evaluating supplier social and enviro nmental responsibility (SER) risk and prioritizing suppliers for assessments. The first step is a high-level risk assessment based on such factors as supplier location, commodity, relationship and history. The high-level risk assessment intended to be conducted annually on our identified supplier list.The output of this assessment is a prioritized list of suppliers, who will be required to complete detailed self-assessments. BlackBerry  intends to use the EICC-ON system to gather this information. BlackBerry  supports a common industry solution to supplier SER management and is actively engaged in the continued development of the system through work with EICC. BlackBerry  has formalized a process for reviewing the supplier self-assessments and plans to use the results as an input to BlackBerry’s SER audit schedule. Learn more about our auditing process Freely chosen employment in our supply chains BlackBerry  supports the principle of freely chosen employment and does not support the use of slave labor in any of its forms, including forced labor and child labor. View the BlackBerry Statement Regarding Freely Chosen Employment In Our Supply Chains  (PDF) Building capacity through training Like many other companies in our sector, we conduct on-site audits to check that our suppliers are complying with our Supplier Code of Conduct.We also recognize that auditing is only one of a number of tools that can be used to help drive improvements in supply chain performance. We are interested in developing additional sustainable solutions and in this respect BlackBerry  is a co-leader of the EICC/GeSI Learning ; Capability Work Group. During 2011 the group developed and launched supply chain training programs focused on health and safety in the workplace and worker-management communications, including sessions hosted by BlackBerry  suppliers. Supply chain carbon reportingBlackBerry  is participating in the EICC’s carbon reporting system. Thro ugh this system we will survey many of our direct suppliers of materials, which will give us insight into the carbon emissions associated with BlackBerry’s supply chain. It will help us to identify areas for improvement and opportunities to work with suppliers on projects to reduce carbon emissions. It will also help to raise awareness within our supply chain of the impact of carbon emissions on the environment and the benefits that can be gained through reduction programs.Conflict minerals It is widely recognised that control over the valuable raw material resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries has contributed to armed conflict and serious cases of human rights abuses in the region. BlackBerry  does not support the use of minerals that are illegally mined, transported or traded, nor metals derived from such minerals, including gold, tantalum (columbite-tantalite), tin (cassiterite) and tungsten (wolframite).In January 2012, BlackBerry   published a  Responsible Minerals Policy  to clearly state our position. * Learn more about BlackBerry work to address conflict minerals Solutions for Hope In fiscal 2012, BlackBerry  joined the Solutions for Hope project which aims to create a process to deliver conflict-free tantalum material from the DRC in accordance with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. The process is based on a â€Å"closed pipe† principle in which tantalite ore mined from specific sites within the DRC is traced along its secure supply chain to the smelter.The smelter, who is a participant in the CFS Program, converts the ore to capacitor grade powder and wire that is then shipped to AVX Corporation, who in turn manufactures the capacitors and ships them to participating customers, including BlackBerry. Not only does this program help to ensure that tantalum used in our products comes from verifiably conflict-free sources, but it also provides hope to the small artisanal miners and communities who rely on this work to support themselves and their families. Learn about Solutions for Hope Supplier diversity Launched in the U. S. nd Canada in fiscal 2012, the BlackBerry  Supplier Diversity Program works to create mutually beneficial business relationships with diverse suppliers that strengthen communities. The goal is to provide opportunities to diverse suppliers who satisfy purchasing and contractual standards. Diverse businesses include small businesses, businesses owned by veterans, minorities or women, and those in historically underutilized business zones. Sourcing areas of the corporation are encouraged to identify and include diverse suppliers and consultants in the procurement process. * Learn about the BlackBerry Supplier Diversity Program