The Effects of Post-Colonialism and Hybridity in a Culture free essay sample

Post-Colonialism is how a culture changes after ideas are dominated by new beliefs on how ways life should be. Hybridity, when talking about post-colonialism, can be described in two different ways. Hybridity can be viewed as a mixture of groups or cultures in which one then compliments the other so that a new group or culture is formed. Either group or culture will then practice with an understanding from both beliefs. In the other view of hybridity it shows the overall loss of identity, or the process of identifying oneself among a different culture. Each of these definitions of hybridity is expressed through the writings of Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace, Robert J. C. Young’s Postcolonialism, and Gandhi. Amitav Ghosh expresses hybridity in The Glass Palace through characters who adapt to the mixture of culture, and to those who experience the loss of their identity because of this mixture. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effects of Post-Colonialism and Hybridity in a Culture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Robert J. C. Young’s Postcolonialism, the example of Algerian rai music is described as a hybrid genre. Hybridity can also be seen through the early writings of Gandhi according to the European education system and how it completely evolved from the previous form of education established in India. Each society is forced into an overlapping culture with their dominating colonial power, changing every aspect of their previously known lifestyle, thus having to adapt to the new style of living. When talking about hybridity in the sense of mixture, The Glass Palace shows hybridity through the change of clothing styles. Saya John is normally dressed in the traditional â€Å"longyi† because of his country, but as colonial power it’s imposed on his lifestyle, he then begins to dress in more traditional European clothing. The transformation to the European style of clothing symbolizes his overall transition into a hybrid culture. In Robert J. C. Young’s, Postcolonialism, the example of Algerian rai music is described as a hybrid genre due to the combination of various Spanish, French, and Arabic influences found within the single category of music. He writes, â€Å"rai does not consist of one kind of music that can easily be described in general terms. It has always been mobile and shifting as it changes its functions and locations, its instruments and its audiences† (Young 70). Rai music changed due to the hybrid culture in which it was founded. It became a mix of sounds and phrases from multiple regions, forming an entirely new expression of music. One of the simplest forms of social expression was changed due to the combination of multiple cultures. Both the transformation of clothing styles and development of rai music illustrates the definition of hybridity in the sense of a mixture of two cultures. Views of hybridity can be seen by some aspects of post-colonial like: political structure, economic strategies, and social models of a culture. In Ghosh’s The Glass Palace, Rajkumar, an orphan from Burma, takes on a new economic role due to the combination of his previously known culture with that of the Europeans. Originally, Rajkumar himself served as a source of labor in the teak lumber yards, yet as he gains knowledge with age, he acquires a teak yard of his own using procedures similar to those of the Europeans. He uses the British tactic of maintaining slave labor for economic advancement. The lifestyle that Rajkumar attains is a direct result of colonial rule and power. The British colonizers were able to change the entire economic system of the teak yards, and once Rajkumar was exposed to this, his original ideas about labor were transformed as well. During his confrontation with Uma, Uma states, â€Å"What you and your kind have done is far worse than the worst deeds of the Europeans† (Ghosh 214). Uma’s reference to the slave labor, Rajkumar, has been enforcing in his camps displaying the fact that he has not only blended with the culture of the British, but he has surpassed their traditional actions. This reinstates the other idea of hybridity causing the loss of oneself. Rajkumar is no longer able to identify with his previous Burmese culture, but rather he has transitioned into a European mindset. A similar instance pertaining to the overall loss of oneself can also be seen through Dolly’s character in The Glass Palace. She is originally from Burma, but she spends the majority of her time in India with the Royal family. Due to her location, she encounters a first-hand experience of a lifestyle under colonial domination. She experiences an overall loss of identity with her previously known territory and culture. During her conversation with Uma, she is asked whether she would ever want to return to Burma. She responds by saying, â€Å"Never†¦if I were to return to Burma now, I would be a foreigner-they would call me a kalaa like they do Indiansa trespasser, an outsider from across the sea† (Ghosh 96). Dolly refers to herself as a foreigner when referring to her homeland. By going through a lifestyle under British rule in another country, she has completely lost a sense of who she once was, and is unable to identify with her previously known culture. The idea of Dolly referring to herself as a â€Å"foreigner† within her own homeland displays the loss of herself and her identity which represents the meaning of hybridity. Dolly’s emotions towards herself and her homeland are compared throughout the writings of Gandhi. The elements of hybridity are interpreted through the exploration of Britain’s imperial rule over India. The education system in India had completely evolved in its transition to a post-colonial territory. The traditional form of education in India was transformed into that of the traditional European education, causing both social and political elements of hybridity to form throughout the territory. Gandhi speaks against this transition, stating that â€Å"[they] should have today a free India†¦not as if they were foreigners in their own land†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gandhi 127). Similar to Dolly, many Indians had begun to lose their identity, and felt as though they were foreigners in their own land. There was not a single sense of their previous culture that remained within themselves, or their daily routines. The Glass Palace portrays various pieces of hybridity through each of the characters and their positions in their society and culture. Rajkumar is able to learn positive economic benefits from the combination of British tactics and traditional Burmese standards. However, Uma’s perspective embodies the second definition of hybridity. She believes that Rajkumar has fully transitioned into the European culture, leaving no trace of his previous Burmese identity to be found. And Dolly takes on this perspective for herself, completely losing her previous identity and culture due to the colonial-dominated area she grew up in. Between clothing styles, genres of music, political structures, economic developments, and social models of a culture, hybridity has emerged throughout post-colonial areas, and is still affected the daily lives of the people in societies and cultures today.

Redact

Redact Redact Redact By Maeve Maddox A reader has requested a discussion of the word redact: Your article on degradereminded me of redact, a verb whose meaning is shifting because the usual context in which it is used nowadays is when a document is partially censored or has portions elided. Perhaps you would like to do an article on redact. The current use of redact to mean â€Å"elide or delete† is not so much a shifting of meaning as the development of a narrowed meaning that exists in addition to other established meanings. The earliest OED citations of redact (1475) show it used in the sense of â€Å"to combine†: Romulus redacte alle the cites in to oon. [Romulus redacted all the cities into one.] The Romanes didde redresse and redacte these lawes of Salon in to x tables. [The Romans did redress (reform) and redact these laws of Solon into ten tables.] The sense of redact to mean, â€Å"to combine ideas and writings,† developed to mean, â€Å"to prepare a text for publication.† The noun redaction (something that has been edited for publication) is first recorded in the 18th century. Both redact and redaction continue to be used to refer to the act of editing in the sense that editing includes collecting, organizing, and deleting portions of texts that are being readied for publication. A special branch of biblical study is called â€Å"redaction criticism.† It concerns itself with the motives of the people who compiled, edited, and organized texts into their existing state. When government censors are called upon to redact soldiers’ letters during wartime, or to prepare classified documents for public release, the only aspect of editing that concerns them is deletion. A document â€Å"redacted† by a censor may have words and whole paragraphs blacked out. For that reason, the words redact and redaction have come to be synonymous with delete and censorship in the minds of many speakers. Not all dictionaries have caught up with this use of redact. The paid versions of M-W and OED that I use do not recognize the new usage. The free M-W Online, on the other hand, offers these definitions: redact: 1. to put in writing 2. to select or adapt (as by obscuring or removing sensitive information) for publication or release 3. to obscure or remove (text) from a document prior to publication or release In addition to their use to refer to the censoring of sensitive documents, redact and redaction have become computer terms: The technique of Blacking out parts of screenshots and other images is called Redaction. Being able to blackout, or redact, parts of an image is easily done with the Preview App that is always shipped out on all Mac computers. Click and hold your mouse down at one end of the text you want to black out (redact). Context should provide the necessary clue to how redact and redaction are being used. For example: As Professor Chauvin remarks in an Appendix to that work, the Persian redaction of this tale was made in modern times. The Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board voted to redact pages from its textbooks tied to abortion and reproduction. The [Carolingian] writer of these notes had plans to redact them into a set text, but never really got to do so. The only caveat I would offer regarding the use of redact in the sense of obliterate is to avoid the tautology â€Å"redact out†: If I scan a page and want to go in and redact out 10 blemishes, I have to keep going to the menu to select â€Å"mark for redaction† each time. Please redact out references to social security numbers and birth date on transcript copies. Redact is a transitive verb: I want to go in and redact 10 blemishes. Please redact references to social security numbers. No out needed. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"Disappointed + PrepositionPreposition Review #1: Chance of vs. Chance for

Results and Discussion and abstract (action research paper) Essay

Results and Discussion and abstract (action research paper) - Essay Example The results revealed that the behaviors of Kinder Adlaw students during whole group sessions before introducing the clip system were not that good; the attitudes of the students towards the clip system were well behaved, competitive, confident, and very participative; and there are huge changes in the behavior of Kinder Adlaw after implementing the clip system. Research provides information about the behaviors of Kinder Adlaw students during the whole group sessions before introducing the clip system, the attitudes of the students towards the clip system, and lastly the changes in the behavior of Kinder Adlaw after implementing the clip system. It was found out that behaviorally, Gabriel often talked out of turn during the whole group sessions before introducing the clip system. He was very minimal in raising hand and was minimally called. With his very minimal raising of hand he was not called. He sometimes raised hand and talked out of turn as evidenced by the total frequency values of 1 (1. Raised hand and was called), 1(2. Raised hand and was not called), 2 (3. Raised hand and talked out of turn), and 11 (4. Talk out of turn) respectively. This means that Gabriel was very noisy, talked out of turn, yet attentive and active, but, lack discipline and respect for the one who is talking. This means that Gabriel was very attentive, but, he usually cannot wait for his turn. He is also very excited to share his answer and forget to raise his hand as he just shouts out his answer even if the teacher did not call for him. This shows that he has not learned the value of courtesy in social setting like classroom. Gabriel's attitude towards the clip system was that of eagerness to gain clips, and shows interest in the discussions. It is remarkably notable that Gabriel became more interested with the discussions. He often raised hand but sometimes forgot to control him self and talked out of turn. It was then improved because he controlled his excitement in answering teacher questions. In fact he has 11 clips in talked out of turn in pre test then reduced to 1 clip. This is remarkably a good sign that students' behavior can be improved. 2. Ilysse Ilysse behavior was almost the same with Gabriel. She also often talked out of turn during whole group sessions before introducing the clip system. She also has very minimal occasions in raising hand and was minimally called. Despite her very minimal raising of hand, she was not called. She also experienced raising her hand and was not called, and then turns to raised hand and talked out of turn. In that manner she became noisy, then, turns to talk out of turn. In this regard her behavior before introducing the clip system was very noisy, talked out of turn, yet attentive and active, but, lack discipline and respect for the one who is talking. She was too sleepy and inactive during the session but she shows an eagerness to gain clips. Her interest in the discussion was not that good. It is important to note that Ilysse became conscious with her actions. She did not talked out of turn after implementing the clip system and became more interested with the discussions. In fact she often recited on the whole session even though she often was not called by her teacher. This means that Ilysse developed a self-confidence and discipline within the entire session. 3. Louis Louis is the quietest during classroom discussions. But when he is

Alcan case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alcan case study analysis - Essay Example In its entirety, business management is highly critical and constantly evolving especially in the aspect of resources, and this is the central idea where the Alcan case revolves around, managing the work force, because people is the most essential asset of any business that hopes to be successful for the long term2. In the Alcan case, the conflict created by lack of communication and the inability to effectively manage the work force created placed the smelting industry at risk of loosing enormously even to a point of closure. The succeeding paragraph will therefore attempt to dissect each of the issues contributing to the tension as well as the solutions that were implemented, ending the rift between management and labor union. The main issue involved in the Alcan Case is Industrial labor relations creating an impact in the productivity of the manufacturing plant. In an industry that utilizes human resource as the main key to productivity, human resource management plays an imperative role in the sustainability of that industry whereby excellent degree of skills are required to handle issues from recruitment requisites, skills training and performance ensuring personnel and management policies conforming to regulations. Managing the work force as well production is a very complicated task that requires a higher level of understanding of theories related to management and organization. There are many proponents to these theories, and almost all of them are relevant to the issues present in the Alcan Case. It is important to note that the core of the Alcan issue involves the increasing grievances of the workers owing to the tension within. Among the theory applicable to this case is the system theory whereby managers are to recognize the various parts of the organization when attempting to resolve issues There are several contemporary theory of management, among them includes contingency, system and chaos theory. Contingency theory asserts that when managers make a decision, they must take into account all aspects of the current situation and act on those aspects that are key to the situation at hand3. System theory on the other hand, helps managers view the organization from a broader perspective, since this theory brought a new perspective for the interpretation of patterns and events in the workplace. It recognizes various parts of the organization, specifically the interaction and coordination within central administration with its programs, engineering with manufacturing, supervisors with workers. Chaos theory recognizes that events indeed are rarely controlled. In his article, Mcnamara claimed that many chaos theorists refer to biological systems when explaining their theory and suggest that systems naturally go to more complexity, and as they do so, these systems become more v olatile (or susceptible to cataclysmic events) and must expend more energy to maintain that complexity. As they expend more energy, they seek more structure to maintain stability. Mcnamara further said that this trend continues until the system splits, combines with another complex system or falls apart entirely. This trend is what many see as the trend in life, in organizations and the world in general4. The underlying root cause of the Alcan/Lynemouth smelting industry was a classic case of human resource mismanagement. There was an

Hemorrhoids Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hemorrhoids - Research Paper Example Hemorrhoids are actually very simple to develop, which is due in part to the fact that hemorrhoids already exist in the body. All it takes to disrupt them is an increase of pressure in the lower rectum. Aspects that can cause increased pressure are straining during bowel movements, sitting on the toilet for long periods of time and chronic diarrhea. Other factors include obesity, pregnancy and anal intercourse. It is also possible to inherit the ability to develop hemorrhoids, as well as the possibility of developing them simply due to age. Signs and symptoms connected to hemorrhoids are painless bleeding during bowel movements, itching in or around the anal region, and swelling or painful lumps around the anus (Salinitri, pg. 16). Other symptoms include hemorrhoids jutting out from the anus that are very painful. The types of symptoms that an individual experiences is based entirely on where the hemorrhoids are, whether internal or external. When hemorrhoids are on the inside of the body, they are harder to feel, do not cause pain and often go unnoticed unless they start to bleed. Numerous options are available for treatment of hemorrhoids. Unfortunately, there is no cure for hemorrhoids, though there are plenty of methods to help alleviate the pain. Once a person develops hemorrhoids, and even after they have disappeared, it still remains in their body, capable of reappearing in the future. For more mild symptoms, over-the-counter creams and suppositories can be used. Their main purpose is to help relieve the pain caused by the hemorrhoids. For more painful symptoms, a doctor can prescribe other medications. There are other options to help with the treatment of hemorrhoids, such as rubber band ligation, which is when the doctor places rubber bands are an internal hemorrhoid to cut off its circulation (Kelsey, pg. 43). Injections are also available to help shrink the hemorrhoids, though this is not as effective as rubber band ligations. With

A Case Study And Analysis On Apple Inc Marketing Essay

A Case Study And Analysis On Apple Inc Marketing Essay Apple Inc. (previously Apple Computer, Inc) is a multinational corporation that is established on April 1, 1976 in California and incorporated on January 3, 1977.  [i]  The company for 30 years was named as Apple Computer, Inc. but it changed its name to Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007 as it wanted to expand to the consumer electronics market and do not only stay in the computer market.  [ii]   Furthermore, the company for the year 2010 employs 46,600 full time employees and 2800 temporary employees and contractors.  [iii]   Apple designs, manufactures and markets a range of computer software, hardware products and personal computers. Some of its products are the following: Products Hardware Products Application Software Operation System Software Displays Peripheral Products Marketing Tools SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is used inside a company in order to discover its strengths, its weaknesses, its opportunities and its threats. The SWOT analysis is a strategic marketing planning tool that is usually used to help each company understand and analyse its strengths and weaknesses, identify the threats of other businesses and the various opportunities in the market share. The SWOT analysis is divided in two sectors. The strengths and the weaknesses refer to the company and its products as internal factors, while the threats and the opportunities refer to the external factors of the company in which it has no control. In SWOT analysis it is usual to list the strengths, the weaknesses, the threats and the opportunities in the same page. This is done by dividing the page into four squares and entering strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) in the top two squares and opportunities and threats (external factors) in the button square. The SWOT analysis should be brief and interesting and should not exceed more than four or five pages. An example of a SWOT analysis is the following 4: (How to write a marketing plan [electronic resource] / John Westwood, Westwood, John, 1947, London ; Philadelphia : Kogan Page, 2006, 3rd ed), (Malcolm McDonald on marketing planning [electronic resource] : understanding marketing plans and strategy / Malcolm McDonald. Publication Info. London ; Philadelphia : Kogan Page, 2008.) STRENGHTS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS The number of individual SWOT analysis will defer from company to company. The most common levels that SWOT should be undertaken are the following: For the organisation as a whole For every major Competitor For every major product or service For every major market share The SWOT analysis is used for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation, etc. This tool is very useful for each company to understand and make decisions in all kind of situations. (4, McDonald, Malcolm and Adrian Payne (1996), Marketing Planning for Services, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 77-117) A good example of Apple to explore their strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats is to develop a Swot analysis for the company. The Swot analysis for company is showed below: STRENGHTS: Apple is producing innovative, quality and easy to use products. The innovation made Apple such a powerful company. This is obvious if we look its past: 1970-2001-Apple was making changes only to its computers (face-lift), end of 2001-Apple introduced iPod, June 2008- Apple introduced the cinema displays, March 2007- Apple developed Apple TV, June 2007- Apple entered the Mobile Market with iPhone, 2010- Apple introduced iPad. Every year Apple spent around $1.5 billion for the development of new products in order to keep the existing customers satisfied and recruit more new ones. [3] Apple has a very powerful brand loyalty. As it is one of the most profitable and healthy companies in the World, it managed to adopt a large amount of loyal customers. [1] This happened because Apple periodically, provides updates to all its application and operating systems not only for the Mac computers but for Iphone, Ipad etc. With this way Apple keep the customers satisfied and willing to buy its new products. [3] The key success for Apple is its dedicated personnel and more specifically the CEO team. This team includes all the executive team( Steve Jobs, Andrea Jung, Arthur D. Levinson, Millard S. Drexler) and the employees in technical, marketing and staff positions.[2] Steve Jobs, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Apple Inc. plays a vital role inside the company. During his absence (1985-1996) Apple experienced many financial problems. However, when Steve Jobs came back to the company in 1996, he focused on developing new ideas and in 2001 he introduced iPod which is making a lot of profit to the company. Therefore, Steve Jobs is definitely a strength for Apple.[2] Apple developed a partnership with Intel ® microprocessors in June 2005. This was very useful for Apple because it is addressed in a wider market. Furthermore, as Steve Jobs specified Intel is the strongest processor roadmap. Therefore from then until now, Apple computers is much stronger and more stable.[4] Apple has managed to adopt loyal customers through its stable and reliable products. Therefore, in order to make some profit in the introduction phase of its product, it announces a pre-order technique in order for the innovators to pre-order the product and pre-pay it. With this technique Apple gain a large amount of money and invest them in other areas. WEAKNESSES: Apples hardware and software products and services are very complex and high technology that most of the times contain defects such as bugs. For example, when iPhone 4G came to production, everyone was complaining about the signal when they make a call. Therefore, Apple introduced an update to fix the problem. However, there is no guarantee that Apple is able to detect and fix all the defects in its products and services.[3] This failure results in harming its reputation and sometimes losing customers because they are not satisfied.[3] In the US, Apple has made a contract with a specific carrier for selling and promoting iPhone. If this carrier cannot compete with others in the U.S. market concerning the quality, coverage and pricing or if he cannot promote iPhone correctly into the market so as for the customers to buy it, then this will have a negative impact on the sales and the profit for the company as it will not sell enough units.[3] Furthermore, as Apple decided to make a contract with one carrier, it will lose the loyal customers from other carriers Steve Jobs, is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. During the departure of Steve Jobs from the company, Apple was facing many financial problems because it did not have any innovative products. Therefore, if Steve Jobs leaves again from the company then it might face the same problems. Therefore Steve Jobs is both a strength and a weakness.[2] When Apple announced in June 2005 that is going to leave from IBM and to switch to Intel, some specialists commented that it might lose the loyal IBM customers because the swap would confuse them. Apple has very high prices in its products, so it addresses in a low market- share and not to all customers. OPPORTUNITIES Due to the high competitive market, Apple has to introduce new products, services and technologies and enhance existing products and services so as to simulate new and existing customers to buy the new and upgraded products and services.[3] With the success of iPod and iTunes, Apple entered to the Consumer Electronics market. By introducing iPhone, Apple has expanded to the Mobile Communications market. Therefore, now Apple has the opportunity to expand to further markets like home stereo, TV or even a gaming system like play station.[2] Apple made a contract with Intel to install their processors to Apple computers so as to prompt business to replace Pcs with iMacs. They did this in order for their business applications to become stable and reliable. The first example of replacing their computers with iMac is in Japan. Aozona Bank Ltd replaced their computers with iMacs. Therefore, Apple has to find a way to establish themselves as a major player in business applications.[2] Apple have to create a strategy that will expand its product line to other products that is going to be less expensive. THREATS The biggest threat that all the IT companies face is the high level of competition in the technology markets. The most common feature is the price competition. The competitors reduce their selling prices and sometimes adopt the features of Apple products in order to attract more customers. For example, Apple has only recently entered the Mobile Communications market, so many of its competitors have greater experience and more resources, so they could provide their products in a lower price with little or even no profit at all.for the company. Therefore if Apple stops investing a lot of money to research and development, it will lose its competitive position in the market. Furthermore, in these markets the product Life Cycle of all the products and services is extremely short e.g. for mobiles phone their lifecycle is around 6 months. Therefore, each company has to introduce new products and services. [1,3] In 2005 Apple won a legal case about a blog that pre-introduced new Apple products. With this trial, Apple force Bloggers to name the source of their information because the company suspected that the information had leaked from its employees. [1] Therefore, Apple is always vulnerable to leaks from various employees. This information may conclude to the competitors, so Apple will lose its competiveness.[1] As Apple is an IT company, it relies mostly in economic factors to make profit. Therefore, the economic crisis that exists worldwide is a major threat to all companies but mostly to technological companies. This happens as with the unemployment and the decrease of salaries; most customers consider the market of a technological product unnecessary e.g. an iPhone, so the sales of the company are going down. Customers will download music from another free online program without having to pay anything in iTunes. This will have an impact on iTunes and on the profit of Apple. Our registered business address is PO Box 475, Chichester, PO18 8WX, United Kingdom, http://marketingteacher.com/swot/apple-swot.html A strategic Analysis of Apple Corporation, Imothy Pivovamik, Jeff Shaver, Adam Silver, Richard Sterling, Dave Strubbe (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() Annual Report, United States Security and Exchange Commission, Washigton, D.C.20549 http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Njc1MzN8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=t=1 http://www.apple.com/investor/ Ansoff Matrix Ansoff Matrix is a well known marketing tool which was first published in Harvard Business Review. Many companies nowadays use it in order to help them decide for the development of their product and the market share. [3,4] The matrix has 2 dimensions. The first one consists of existing and new products while the second consist of existing and new markets. Inside the matrix there are four main categories with suggested grown strategies for each one in order to help the company set the correct direction of their business strategy. The four categories are: Market Penetration in which the company enter into an existing market with existing products or services. Product Development in which the company introduce new products/services into existing customers. Market Development which the company tries to attract new customers with existing products or services Diversification occurs when the company tries to capture new customers with completely new products/services.[3,4] An example of the Ansoff matrix is the following: Ansoff Matrix w500.gif Apple could use each of these four categories in order to manage its existing products and develop new products/ services Market Penetration: In this strategy, Apple could aim on selling the existing products, e.g. Mac Computers to the existing markets. More specifically, Apple: Should try to increase the market share of the existing product. This could be achieved by using the appropriate marketing tools( lower prices, sales promotion, advertising) in order to attract new customers to buy its products.[3,4] For example, more advertisement or reduced prices on Mac Computers could persuade new customers that prefer Windows operations system to change to Macintosh. This is more highly to be achieved in the grown markets because in there the product is at its rising stage. In order to increase its sales and its profit, could persuade existing customers to buy more products. This can be done during an economic grown where customers are willing to spent more money in technological items. [4] For example, Apple could use more advertisement or sales promotion to persuade customers to buy an iPhone for all the members of their family. Or Apple could persuade existing iPod customers to buy also a Mac computer. Should try to ÃŽÂ ±Ãƒ Ã¢â€š ¬ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ºÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ®Ãƒ Ã†â€™ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ µÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ the leadership role in the market by ÃŽÂ ´ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ Ã… ½Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¿ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ all the other competitors. This could be achieved by adopting an appropriate promotional campaign. For example, to drive out any competitors in order to have only its product in the whole market. It will succeed this by adopting a very aggressive promotional campaign. (1,3) Product Development In this strategic option, Apple could create new products for the existing customers. With them, Apple has already a strong relationship, so it knows their need and specifications for creating a new product. Therefore, the company is innovating its products in order to keep satisfied their customers, beat its competitors and keep its leadership role in the market. An example of this strategy is the iPod. The first iPod that Apple introduced was in October 2001. This was the first entertainment tool from Apple for people to use in order to hear all the time their favourite music. However it had a black-white screen and only 5 GB capacity for songs. Therefore, in 2003 Apple introduced an iPod with the maximum of 40 GB capacity. In 2004 it introduced an iPod with a colour screen and 60 GB capacity. Nowadays, Apple has created an iPod that has a 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display, Wifi and many other features. These changes belong to the product development as Apple innovate its products to attract the existing customers and replace their product with the new.[6] Another example is that Apple every year innovate the iPhone. The first iPhone was released in 2007. The next year Apple introduced iPhone 3G. In 2009 Apple announce the iPhone 3GS and in 2010 it announced the 4G. All these products are aiming to the same market share, the customers who have already bought the first iPhone and want to replace it with the new one.[6] Market Development In the Market Development, Apple could use different marketing strategies in order to sell existing products/services to new markets and increase its profit. It can achieve that, either by expanding to other geographical areas or by looking for users with that will use the product in a different way. A common example is by expanding to foreign markets or to expand from the private sector to the public.[4] Some examples of Apple are the following: Apple did not stayed on selling only to U.S but expanded on all over the world and in 2010 it is earning $24,298 from America sales and $30,929 from worldwide. [5] Another example is that when Apple introduces a new product to the market, it leaves the previous one for some time in the market in order for the customers with low income to buy it. With this technique Apple gain a new market and make a small profit. Another example is that Apple in the beginning was only selling only to customer market but a few years later, it expanded to the area of education. Diversification This strategic option is the risky of all as Apple has to think of new products and introduced them into totally new markets. This option has a very high failure rate as many products fail to come up with the expectations of the customers, so the company has a loss instead of a profit. [4] The most recent example of diversification to Apple is the introduction of iPad in 2010. With this product Apple was aiming in capturing the customers who use the Internet all the time and do not want to carry a notebook or a netbook with them. With iPad Apple did not enter to a completely different market because iPad is like an iPhone with a bigger screen. Therefore, Apple knew how to handle this type of product. Another example is the introduction of iPhone. In 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone, the first mobile phone from Apple. With the specific product, it entered immediately to the mobile market which was totally new to them and in which did not have any previous experience. Apple knew that it should have many competitors and it knew that the product will be either a failure or a success. Therefore, with appropriate marketing and management strategies, iPhone proved to be a success. A much older example is the introduction of iPod. Apple introduced the iPod in 2001. Like in the case of iPhone, Apple was entering here into a whole different area from the computer market. It was entering into the music market and was aiming for existing customers to buy an iPod and for new customers to try one and also try the services of Apple. Finally, Apple has already entered in the markets of Mobile Communications, Computers, TV and Music, therefore it could invest money on creating a gaming console, like Play Station 3, in order to enter to the market of gaming. If it enters this area, it will make a lot of profit because young people spent a lot of money on gaming Market Penetration Usage of appropriate Marketing Tools(advertising, lower prices, etc) Persuade existing customers to buy more products. Product Development Introduction of iPod, the first entertainment tool from Apple Innovation of iPhone each year Market Development Apple expended Worldwide Diversification Introduction of Ipad Introduction of iPhone Introduction of iPod Apple could create a gaming console Our registered business address is PO Box 475, Chichester, PO18 8WX, United Kingdom, http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-ansoff.html 3)Boston House | 214 High Street | Boston Spa | West Yorkshire | LS23 6AD | Tel +44 0844 800 0085 | Fax +44 01937 529236, http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm 4)Marketing in a nutshell, Mike Meldrum, Malcolm McDonald 5) Annual Report, United States Security and Exchange Commission, Washigton, D.C.20549 http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Njc1MzN8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=t=1 6) http://www.apple.com6] Product Lifecycle(PLC) Another diagnostic tool that is very useful for the companys marketing is Product Life Cycle. With this tool, the company is able to determine different strategies for a product or service. More specifically, the product lifecycle has to do with the life of the product in the market, so it is similar to the humans lifecycle. Humans during their lives pass trough different stages e.g. birth, grown, maturity, decline and death. The same thing happens with product lifecycle. It passes trough introduction, grown, maturity, saturation and the final stage of decline cause of some natural limiting factors.[1] An example of a product lifecycle curve is shown the figure 1. Figure 1 [1] Each product lifecycle has 5 different stages: Introduction: In this stage the company plan and develop the product. In this stage the company does not make any profit because the product is new to the market and the customers are cautious of buying it. Some companies eg Apple, announce their product before it is introduced in order for the early adopters to preorder it and make some money. Generally, this stage is very difficult for each company and has to play with the marketing mix (price, promotion, product, distribution) in order to make some profit.[1] Grown: In this stage the sales are increasing as customers become aware of the product and start to buy it. If the product proves to be a success then more customers will buy it and the company will make more profit.[1] However, not all products reach this stage. This is because in this stage it starts the competition. Therefore, also in this stage the company should develop a smart marketing mix so as to attract more customers. [1,3] Maturity: This stage is the most profitable of all. Sales continue to increase but the cost for the company is decreasing as the advertisements expenditures decline because customers know the product.[3] However, competition is increasing and when the markets are full; the grown of the product begins to decline. [1] Therefore, during this stage, the company should make some radical changes concerning the marketing mix in order not to lose customers. Saturation: This is the stage that the market is full of companies competing for the same product and the sales are decreasing. Producers attempt to differentiate products and brands are the key to this. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point the market reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins. Promotion becomes more widespread and uses a greater variety of media. The rate of sales grown eventually levels out. Generally, there are too many firms competing for too little business at this stage. As a result, price wars may break out and there are casualties or tactical withdrawals among the competitive companies. [2,1] Decline: In the final stage, the product has come to its decline as there is a downturn in the market. This means that the market is full of more innovative products in more attractive prices.[2] The limitations of PLC are that this tool is not the same for all products e.g mobile phones have shorter lifecycle than automobiles. Its product has a unique lifecycle e.g some go from introduction to decline. Therefore is very difficult for the marketing managers to predict in which stage is the product. The most common is that when sales peak and then decline, the managers conclude that the product is in the decline stage. Furthermore, some products do not experience any decline like Coca Cola or Pepsi. These products are in maturity for many years, so the company has only profits from these.[2,3] To sum up the PLC is ideal as a descriptive model as it focuses on the future sales and understanding the dynamics of the market.[1] 1)McDonald, Malcolm and Adrian Payne (1996), Marketing Planning for Services, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 77-117 2)Our registered business address is PO Box 475, Chichester, PO18 8WX, United Kingdom, http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-ansoff.html 3) http://www.netmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/ After the developing new products and products portfolio, Apple should use a tool in order to manage these products. The Boston Consulting Group Box (BCG Box) The Boston Matrix is another useful tool for the marketing managers in order to plan the product portfolio of their company. The product portfolio is divided into the products that generate cash and the products that do not. Then the managers will use this model in order to see which one produce cash and make profit to the company and which are not. [2] Therefore, the company can evaluate if its products are healthy The BCG Box uses a form of a two- dimensional matrix. The two axes are the market share, which indicates the strength or limitations of the market and the market growth rate. In order for someone to use the matrix, he should divide it into 4 quadrants, stars(high share/ high market grown), cash cows(high market share/ low market grown), dogs(low market share/ low market grown), question marks(low market share/high market grown), like the matrix in Figure2. Furthermore, he should use circles for each product or product portfolio of the company. The size of the circle indicates the size of the sales or profit for the particular product, product line or business unit.[1,5] In order for Apple to apply the Boston Matrix and manage its products, it should divide its product portfolio into 4 categories deciding which of them are dogs, stars, cash cows and question marks. Figure 2 Stars: Stars are products that are in high growth market with high market share. As Tony Proctor said stars are tomorrows cash earners. This means that stars make a lot of profit for the company but in order for the company to keep these products to this stage, it must spend a high amount of money on them. Therefore, stars are neutral from the point of view of cash generation. [1,2] iPhone is an example of the star products that Apple has in its portfolio. iPhone in its grown it generates a lot of gross profit to the company but it needs also a lot of money in order to change it to cash cow. When it reaches the maturity stage and change to cash cow it has only profit to the company without any expenses for investment. Cash cows: In this stage are the mature products with low growth and high market share, so this area is the most profitable of all as they generate a lot of cash that can be used in improving other areas or in supplying research and development of new products. The company have to invest only a small amount of money to keep them where they are. [1,3] An example of cash cow is the iPod. Despite the fact that Apple does not make considerable changes to the specific product, customers prefer it and buy it. In 2010 Apple sell 8,274 units without making considerable changes. Another example is iTunes. Customers from iTunes can purchase many songs, videos and nowadays even books. Apple all these years made minor changes to iTunes but customers continue to buy from there. Therefore, iTunes is a very profitable programme for Apple without any cost for investment. A case in point is Apple Computers flagship product called the iPod, which occupies a dominant 73% share the portable music player market (Cantrell 2006). Analysts believe it is the impetus for Apples financial rebirth 40% of Apples sales is attributed to the iPod product line (Cantrell 2006) Dogs: These are products with low market share and low market growth. These products are completely profitless for the company and have no future. The best thing each company should do is sold off these products.[1] However, many companies that have dog products have to think carefully before divest them because they might be a portfolio of other products which might be stars. So if the customers that buy with the stars also the dogs, they will stop buying both of them and the company will lose money. Many companies like Apple do not have many dogs products because they are IT companies and they innovate their products very often in order not to lose their position on the market. One example is the iPhone 3Gs when Apple released iPhone 4G.This happens to all of the products of Apple. When it releases a new product, it leaves the previous one for some time in the market with a very low price. This is a dog product. Another example is the iPods shuffle that does not have any screen. These are products with little or no demand on the market because most of the customers buy the iPod with a screen. Therefore, these products make little profit for the company, so they are dogs. Question marks: These are products with low market share but high market grown. These are also unprofitable for the company as they are low market share and the company have to invest a lot of money to grow their market share. Therefore, marketing managers have to think very carefully which ones they should invest in. If they invest in a profitable product then it will become star and afterwards cash cow or else they will become dogs.[1,3] An example of question marks is the Mac Computers. Most people worldwide prefer to buy a computer with a Windows operation system instead of Macintosh, so Apple has to invest a lot of money, as they are very complex products with high technology in order to change them into stars. In General each company have to possess at least one cash cow in order to make profit and invest it to other areas, like stars so as to become a cash cow. If a company has many dog products then the best solution is to either convert them to stars or dispatched them. There is the possibility for a company to have question marks. If that happens, then either it should money to change them to stars and then cash cow or let them become dogs and dispose them. [1] However, despite for all the positive results that Apple could have with BSG matrix, it has many limitations. Firstly, the matrix assumes that every product is independent from the product portfolio of the company. This is not all the times true as many products depend from others and if the company consider a product dog and divest it, then it will create a problem to the other product. Furthermore, The limitations of BCG matrix are that the higher rates of profit do not always related to high rates of market share. Furthermore, it is usually applies to product lines instead of simply a product. Finally, the main problem with these tools is that they are not always accurate.[2] 1) Strategic marketing [electronic resource] : an introduction / Tony Proctor, Proctor, Tony, London ; New York : Routledge, 2000. 2) Our registered business address is PO Box 475, Chichester, PO18 8WX, United Kingdom, http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-ansoff.html 3)Boston House | 214 High Street | Boston Spa | West Yorkshire | LS23 6AD | Tel +44 0844 800 0085 | Fax +44 01937 529236,http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm 4)Marketing in a nutshell, Mike Meldrum, Malcolm McDonald 5) Marketing, David Mercer Swot analysis: Use SWOT analysis for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation, marketing, business and product development and research reports. The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations. You can then attempt to exploit your strengths, overcome your weaknesses, grasp your opportunities and defend yourself against threats. This is one of the most impor

Medicine in Ancient Egypt as seen by the Archaeological Evidence of Pap

The Ancient Egyptian civilization’s development centered around the luxurious, green and fertile Nile river. Astonishingly, they accurately predicted Nile floods to produce surplus crops and allow the growth of society and culture. In the North of Africa, Egyptians flourished until 525 BC. The lands were ruled by powerful pharaohs who provided dominance and control to their people. The Egyptians every day lives centered around an elaborate system of religious and spiritual beliefs. In tribute to their religious beliefs, pharaohs and gods, the Egyptians built breath taking monuments that often included decoration and hieroglyphs that were symbolizations of their spirituality. The amazing architecture and the mystery to how they built these gigantic structures is one of the most intriguing issues of the ancient world. However, the aspect of society and culture also inspire individuals to ask questions about how the Ancient Egyptians went about their everyday lives, and how the y managed to develop such a civilized way of living. The illustrations that adorned tombs, and monuments all around Egypt added insight into the lives of the Ancients. Along with the development of writing, the depiction of effective use in medicine became evident. â€Å"Medicine was one of the oldest professions in the Nile valley.†(White 1970) Their medical practices were highly advanced for their time and included several doctors and medical practioners. Medical care was provided by workers who laid claim to specific title such as a specailist in animal bites. Or patients would resort to traditional cures handed down throughout generations.(Donadoni 1990) Doctoral specialization was apparently related to the fields of expertise and included surgeons, general pr... ...nderstanding of human anatomy. The Kahun Gynaecological papyrus was the first to acknowledge the female anatomy almost solely. Ancients were able to detect pregnancy, as well as how to prevent pregnancy. The Kahun papyrus also included a short section on veterinary medicine which shows their level of understanding of animals anatomy as well. The Hearst papyrus is composed of several general medical problems and how to treat them. Finally, the Berlin papyrus is made up of several sections including : general treatments and diagnoses, gynaecological prescriptions, and a large portion dedicated to spells and magic. Overall, as shown by the five papyri the Ancient Egyptians had an extremely civilized manner of diagnosing and treating common aliments of their time. Their incredible knowledge not only human but animal anatomy allowed them to successfully treat patients. Medicine in Ancient Egypt as seen by the Archaeological Evidence of Pap The Ancient Egyptian civilization’s development centered around the luxurious, green and fertile Nile river. Astonishingly, they accurately predicted Nile floods to produce surplus crops and allow the growth of society and culture. In the North of Africa, Egyptians flourished until 525 BC. The lands were ruled by powerful pharaohs who provided dominance and control to their people. The Egyptians every day lives centered around an elaborate system of religious and spiritual beliefs. In tribute to their religious beliefs, pharaohs and gods, the Egyptians built breath taking monuments that often included decoration and hieroglyphs that were symbolizations of their spirituality. The amazing architecture and the mystery to how they built these gigantic structures is one of the most intriguing issues of the ancient world. However, the aspect of society and culture also inspire individuals to ask questions about how the Ancient Egyptians went about their everyday lives, and how the y managed to develop such a civilized way of living. The illustrations that adorned tombs, and monuments all around Egypt added insight into the lives of the Ancients. Along with the development of writing, the depiction of effective use in medicine became evident. â€Å"Medicine was one of the oldest professions in the Nile valley.†(White 1970) Their medical practices were highly advanced for their time and included several doctors and medical practioners. Medical care was provided by workers who laid claim to specific title such as a specailist in animal bites. Or patients would resort to traditional cures handed down throughout generations.(Donadoni 1990) Doctoral specialization was apparently related to the fields of expertise and included surgeons, general pr... ...nderstanding of human anatomy. The Kahun Gynaecological papyrus was the first to acknowledge the female anatomy almost solely. Ancients were able to detect pregnancy, as well as how to prevent pregnancy. The Kahun papyrus also included a short section on veterinary medicine which shows their level of understanding of animals anatomy as well. The Hearst papyrus is composed of several general medical problems and how to treat them. Finally, the Berlin papyrus is made up of several sections including : general treatments and diagnoses, gynaecological prescriptions, and a large portion dedicated to spells and magic. Overall, as shown by the five papyri the Ancient Egyptians had an extremely civilized manner of diagnosing and treating common aliments of their time. Their incredible knowledge not only human but animal anatomy allowed them to successfully treat patients. Medicine in Ancient Egypt as seen by the Archaeological Evidence of Pap The Ancient Egyptian civilization’s development centered around the luxurious, green and fertile Nile river. Astonishingly, they accurately predicted Nile floods to produce surplus crops and allow the growth of society and culture. In the North of Africa, Egyptians flourished until 525 BC. The lands were ruled by powerful pharaohs who provided dominance and control to their people. The Egyptians every day lives centered around an elaborate system of religious and spiritual beliefs. In tribute to their religious beliefs, pharaohs and gods, the Egyptians built breath taking monuments that often included decoration and hieroglyphs that were symbolizations of their spirituality. The amazing architecture and the mystery to how they built these gigantic structures is one of the most intriguing issues of the ancient world. However, the aspect of society and culture also inspire individuals to ask questions about how the Ancient Egyptians went about their everyday lives, and how the y managed to develop such a civilized way of living. The illustrations that adorned tombs, and monuments all around Egypt added insight into the lives of the Ancients. Along with the development of writing, the depiction of effective use in medicine became evident. â€Å"Medicine was one of the oldest professions in the Nile valley.†(White 1970) Their medical practices were highly advanced for their time and included several doctors and medical practioners. Medical care was provided by workers who laid claim to specific title such as a specailist in animal bites. Or patients would resort to traditional cures handed down throughout generations.(Donadoni 1990) Doctoral specialization was apparently related to the fields of expertise and included surgeons, general pr... ...nderstanding of human anatomy. The Kahun Gynaecological papyrus was the first to acknowledge the female anatomy almost solely. Ancients were able to detect pregnancy, as well as how to prevent pregnancy. The Kahun papyrus also included a short section on veterinary medicine which shows their level of understanding of animals anatomy as well. The Hearst papyrus is composed of several general medical problems and how to treat them. Finally, the Berlin papyrus is made up of several sections including : general treatments and diagnoses, gynaecological prescriptions, and a large portion dedicated to spells and magic. Overall, as shown by the five papyri the Ancient Egyptians had an extremely civilized manner of diagnosing and treating common aliments of their time. Their incredible knowledge not only human but animal anatomy allowed them to successfully treat patients.

Comparing Kundera and Khaled

Comparing and Contrasting Works by Kundera and Khaled Hosseini The unbearable lightness of being was published in Paris in 1984 by Czech author Milan Kundera. The novel is a mix of genre-defying mix of historical fiction, love stories, philosophy, and experimentation with narrative technique. Set mostly in Prague in the late 1960s, the novel focuses on the love lives of four Czech intellectuals as they struggle with relationships, sex, politics, and the military occupation of their country.The narrator frequently interrupts the story to analyze his own characters and discuss the fictional plotline in the context of the novel’s central philosophy: the dichotomy between lightness and weight. On the contrary of The Kite Runner, the book was published in New York in 2003 by Afghanistan author Khaled Hosseini. The novel is a work of post- modern literature telling the story of how the author grew up and the relationship he had with one of his servant boys. However the similarity he re is the Kite Runner is also written about a time of war for its country while telling the story of the two boys.The author Kundera is unique narrative by presenting himself in the third person, suggesting that he is a character in the story. But he soon confesses to be the author, not the spectator of the fictional tales. He actually proceeds to comment on the characters his own fictional creations and analyze his own novel for us. What he trying to do which we cannot do in real life is disrupts the linearity of time by telling a non-chronological narrative. He achieves this by repeating the same scenes a second or third time. The novel explores the human struggle to give our lives weight despite its necessary and unbearable lightness.The novel itself is the narrator’s attempt at doing just that for himself. Contrary to Khaled is writing is Classical and he speaks as the author telling a story. He also allows the character themselves to define who they are. He does not disr upt the time of telling a chronological narrative. He allows the characters to feel the actually weight of their lives like real life. There is a quote in Kundera book â€Å"novelistic† to you, and I am willing to agree, but only on condition that you refrain from reading such notions as â€Å"fictive,† â€Å"fabricated,† and â€Å"untrue to life† into the word â€Å"novelistic. Because human lives are composed in precisely such a fashion. † (Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness Of Being) both authors are similar in that even though Kundera uses fictional characters and Khaled using real characters. Kundera is saying it is his way of using fictional novel and fictional characters to explore real ideas. Just because my characters are fake, he seems to be saying, doesn’t mean that they aren’t a completely accurate reflection of real life. His novel may be intricately structure and full of artistry but so is life. The novels are different w hen it comes to the plot.Khaled, follows a typical plotline. Khaled uses his characters to serves as the climax as a whole in the story. The events are placed in chronological order. Kundera, on the other hand no typical plotline, the novel features several different, interwoven, plotlines. If you identify a climactic situation for one character in one plotline, it doesn’t necessarily serve as a climax for the plot as a whole. The reason the same events are narrated more than once from different characters’ points of view. You can’t break this story into purely plot-driven stages.The bowler hat was a motif in the musical composition that was Sabina’s life. It return again and again, each time with a different meaning, and all the meanings flowed through the hat like water. â€Å"You can’t step twice into the same river† (Kundera, Milan) Sabina was touched by the sight of the bowler hat in a Zurich hotel and made love almost in tears was that its black presence was not merely a reminder of their love games but also a memento of Sabina’s father and of her grandfather, who lived in a century without airplanes and cars.The bowler hat carries weight primarily because it has recurred. This is exactly why motifs give meaning to an individual’s life because they recur over and over again. This is how we are able to give our lives meaning despite the fact that our life occurs only once. The kite was a motif in Amir’s life. It returns season after season and each time with different meaning. All the meanings flowed like the quote mention above. Amir’s longed for the kite runner contest because it was a chance for him to bond and make his father proud of him. The kite recurs over and over every year.This kite running gave him the chance to make his father finally proud of him when he won the contest that last year before war and things change between him and Hassan. Many years later the kite comes back to help him to reach his nephew. This like Sabina gave his life meaning despite the fact he lives only once. Both books show betrayal from one character to the other. In the Kite Runner Amir betrays Hassan on more than one occasion we see it when he was raped by Assef and the other boys. We see it when he places the money and some gifts under his pillow and tries to convince his father that he stole the items.Tomas betrays Tereza by making all his sexual life to so many women, he makes he and Tereza’s private life public. He violates her privacy. Tereza reads Tomas’s letters. Sabina betrays Tomas when she takes his sock and hides it so he will go home with one sock short. This made Tomas realize Sabina resents his love for Tereza as much as Tereza resents his lust for Sabina. In the book by Khaled there is a quote â€Å"For you a thousand times over† (Hosseini) Hassan used this quote to show his devotion to Amir and that there was nothing he would not do for hi s friend and master, yet unknowingly to him also his brother.His thousand times over was shown when he went after the kite for Amir and it cost him being raped and shamed. At the end of the story you have Amir using the same quote as he and Hassan’s son Sohrab are flying the kite and he noticed a slight nod and smile come across his face. He knew there was no great big change but like spring when it comes it melts the snow one flake at a time; he thought he might have just witnessed the first flake melting.Just like Hassan Tereza would show Tomas â€Å"For you a thousand times over† (Kundera) her devotion and love for him. Even though he cheated on her many times over she stayed with him. She believed he was her soul mate that was why she went to Prague to offer up her life to Tomas. Tomas himself was faithful to Tereza in that he would not let anyone possess a special area which he might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that m akes our lives beautiful.Since meeting Tereza he did not allow a woman to leave the slightest impression on that part of his brain. Hosseini, Khaled. â€Å"The Kite Runner. † Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin Group, 2003. 371. Novel. Kundera, Milan. â€Å"The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. † Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. New York: harperCollins, 1984. 88. Novel. Kundera, Milan. â€Å"The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. † Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. 59. Novel.

Feasibility Study Essay Example

Feasibility Study Essay Example Feasibility Study Essay Feasibility Study Essay Oxford business institute has been agued by some analysts that the challenge being faced does not require textbooks solutions. Other analysts argue that a more practical approach has to be adopted if all their survival has to guarantee. Use of off the shelf system in Colleges had become a norm in Colleges as directors in these Colleges were very much interested in improving the security of their systems and it is these application software programs obtained from foreign countries which had proved to be better in terms of security.This was because most College institutions had not done much in terms of system development. The problems bedeviling the current systems in our College institutions in relation to the current economic solutions have justified the development of bespoke systems that will be able to address the College issues across the industry regardless of the charges that may be faced. 2. 0 SCOPE OF THE STUDY It is hoped that this study will serve as an important in an attempt to improve the effectiveness and performance of the systems used in our College institutions.From this study the benefits and problems associated with the use of bespoke systems in the market are going to be determined. This study will provide alternative suggestions and or solutions to the problems associated with the failure to recognize the importance of using bespoke systems in a turbulent macroeconomic environment. : It is hoped that this study will initial debate that is based on practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge found in different information Technology textbooks.It will also help employees and management in the education sector that systems design and development is a process and not just an event. 3. 0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The purpose of the study aims to do the following: Improve the processing speed. It will improve the sharing of information between the College and other stakeholders. Promote understanding of why the information is needed and the purpose for which it is used. It will allow improved planning and decision making by providing individuals with secure access to appropriate, accurate, consistent and timely information whenever it will be needed. . 0 JUSTIFICATION Implementation of bespoke systems is widely being regarded as an answer to the prevailing macroeconomic challenges in the country the research was carried out to decide whether the project was justified and also to determine the objectives of the system. The main force driving the researcher to carry out the study is the increasing complexity in running the affairs of the College institutions due to the volatile macro-economic environment, which means the quality of decisions made determine the survival of such organization.As the administration department in Colleges deal with most of the assets of the firm in a volatile real time environment of fluctuating interest rates and market conditions, adequate internal and external controls are vital to the functioning of such an environment to reduce fraud. Thus the study aims to provide such controls. Losses are very detrimental to a College’s growth and survival, therefore the study aims to provide a solution that will reduce any losses that occur from the system used in the management funds and improve decision making in funds management operations. . 0 ASSUMPTIONS The system will be programmed using Visual Basic. All machines using this system must have at least Microsoft windows XP. That the use of bespoke system is a potential solution to challenges faced in the financial sector. The IT department will reserve enough HDD space on their Database server so that data can be processed via the terminal server. 6. 0 LIMITATIONS 1. The limitation is that the administrator is the main source of information for the user requirement of the system. 2.From questionnaires that are distributed some employees left some of the sections of the questionnaire blank and some supervisors who were interviewed were unable to answer some of the questions that were on the question guide. The researcher therefore draws his conclusion from those unanswered sections of the questionnaires and unanswered questions from structured question guide. 3. The student major challenges were monetary and time constraints. Time was of relevant importance, in that it was difficult to adhere to the project plan that was set out of the beginning of the project, owing to various constraints like project documentation. DETAILS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM Introduction This generally looks at the research methods used. The main focus is the data collection criteria used to collect data. Data was collected in at least one organization in each service category of the College services sector the purpose of the survey was basically to justify the need the development of a College management system. Extensive research was carried out on the development of a College management system. System development experts were consulted to give hints and guide lines and to solve problems which were faced by the researcher.Analysis of Current System The current system will make job much easier for the administrator, the will be no need for the administrator to take so much time in searching for a particular student, but she will simply type in the student course and student number. The student details will soon appear. The advantage of this system is that it eliminates time for the administrator. Having the new system will boost the administrator in terms of being updated to current technology. This will lift up the face of the college and the end user will show more enthusiasm because of its efficiency to the current system.The current system will increase performance on processes, end user flexibility on working with new system and mass storage space (database). The administrator does most of the work in the office . She records all the students that have registered and paid their installment. With that, she is able to calculate the student’s payments. Their records are also stored in folders by the administrator. The administrator also keeps records of the accounts of the college. Problems with the current System Expensive to maintain. May not fulfill the user requirements. Some of the resources may not be useful. Benefit of the new systemTangible benefits Reduced errors therefore minimizing the cost associated with the purchasing of stationery. Minimizes time wasting due to an organized system that will provide pre-printed list of customer’s details and contacts. No development time needed. Support is obtained from experts. The application has already been tested and approve. Elimination of job steps. Reduced expenses. Intangible benefits Improved employee morale. Improved customer goodwill. Improved employee morale. Services to be provided by the new system will be greatly improved since all necessary operations will be performed positively. Better decision making. Details of Study Undertaken Research Questions Have the College upgraded their system in the past one year? What are perceived benefits and costs of the proposed system? What objectives and business requirements must be supported by the new system? Is the new system going fit within the College’s framework? Does the firm’s budget and schedule accommodate for the development of the system posing any delay upon its operation? What security treats is associated with the proposed system? Is the system user friendly such that user and managers will accept its implementation? What should be the target population and sample size? What measuring instruments should be used? Which sampling method should be employed? What resources are required before the system is implemented? What is the proposed solution and how does it aid mana gement of funds and reduce fraud in the investment system? Research Design / Information Gathering A survey of the research was carried out which included interviews, questionnaires and observations. The main objective of the survey was to determine the effectiveness of the current system in the sector.This made up the feasibility study of the project. The researcher used the case study. The advantage of a case study is that it does not claim any particular method for data collection or analysis and it has certain characteristics of particularistic, descriptive, heuristic and inductive. Interviews carried were general in nature because they were meant to establish if the off-the –shelf system were performing to expectation. The other data collection was for the purpose of development of the system itself, for example database field required and the problems the system should solve.The questionnaire and interviews instruments were used to gather data. The design of the questio nnaire was guided by the desire to make it simple and easy to complete and easy to code and analyze. This was achieved by the use of closed ended questions and every effort was made to provide lists of response options except where opinions or ensure or personal explanations were needed. The wording of the questions was taken into consideration in making the questionnaire easy to understand and respond to.Provocative language was avoided to ensure cooperation of the respondents. The questionnaire covers the most important issue that concern performance appraisal. Care was taken not to make its brevity compromise the ultimate objective of gathering data from the respondents. Subjects The project was carried out at Oxford Business Institute of Swaziland, the College of interest and at the SMS . The SMS was chosen as a control because it uses the same College management system as Oxford’s College and that it is the second largest College institution in the country.In order for t he sample to be representative of the total population, the researcher had used the most notable sampling procedure of a stratified random sampling since the population under study contains same well defined groups or sub-population (which are called strata). In each stratum there would be homogeneity in terms of the variable under investigations such that variability in a stratum will be in the following categories that are as follows: Level of Computer Literacy Position Held Years of Experience Age Group Research InstrumentsThe researcher used the personal interviews for the managerial staff members and the questionnaires methods to collect data College Department staff members, as well as Record Inspection. The Appendixes section of this document contains some of the question asked to the relevant staff regarding the feasibility of the new project, limitations of the current system and the improvements expect to be implemented used to collect data. Interviews As an oral face- to- face communication, it provides to be one of the most reliable method of gathering information as it provides instant feedback.The other reason why this method was adopted is that it gives room for vague questions, as well as maintaining maximum attentions between the two parties involved. This helps the analyst by providing with deeper insight into the current system, in terms of understanding its strengths and weaknesses. Among the persons interviewed are; the Administrator who in fact is the user of the system, the Secretary and the Director. The reasons why Director was interviewed are quite variable. The analyst wanted to see how much value he gives to the system, as well as assessing the economic feasibility of the proposed system.The other reason why interview had been opted instead of the other fact gathering techniques is that, the analyst noticed that the Director is always busy, so for her to obtain instant feedback she had to carry out an interview. The reason behind in terviewing the Administrator range from the need to figure out the limitations of the current system, as well as to incorporate his suggests in the new system, as he is the direct user of the system. The other reason is for the analyst to know the system inputs, processing and nature of the output thereafter. Moreover as mentioned earlier on, among the persons interviewed is also the Director.The idea is that the analyst wanted to assess the social feasibility of the proposed system, as well as criteria that could be adopted to ensure maximum user co-operation with the new system. The other reason is for the analyst to know the scope of the system. The researcher had selected the personal interview as it is the most commonly used method of collecting data. The personal interview has the main advantages of the following: a)A high response rate, the researcher can persuade all members to respond including the most reluctant to answer the questions. )The researcher (interviewer) can ex plain any questions that the interviewee cannot understand. c)The researcher can check the answers to some questions by making a visual check of age, for example questions about their experience or life style if any exaggeration will be visibly obvious. d)More information can collected with other methods as generally more time will be devoted by interviewee to a personal interview. From the above points it can be noted that advantages outweigh the disadvantages hence the researcher has chosen this data gathering instrument.Observation on site Practical observation of the current system’s operating procedures was done. The purpose was for the analyst to gather as much information as necessary to aid him analyzing the current system. Observation on site also caters for some of the activities, which may be inexplicable to the user of the system. The analyst took four days and for each day he spent two and half-hours with the user of the system. Therefore the analyst found out th at the current system involves a lot of form handling.Realistically, it has also been found out that the system lacks structured design, in other words there was no any convention followed either, when capturing data into the system or when generating the reports. The researcher had also used questionnaire method to collect data from staff of College Departments its main advantages include. 1)The bias of an interviewer is removed. 2)The respondent is not asked to give instant replies and answers can be considered carefully and records consulted if necessary. 3)The sample can usually be collected from much wider area. )It is less costly method that the personal interview although the number of useful response received may make it expensive in the long run. However this data gathering instrument has its own disadvantages that are as follows: 1)There is usually a very poor respond rate. 2)Bias may be introduced because only a particular type of person may reply perhaps people such as p ensioners with plenty of time on their hands or people who simple enjoy filling in questionnaires. A greater danger is that only those who have particular interest in that subject being investigated will reply causing a biased response. )Nobody is on hand to explain questions so come may be incorrectly answered or not answered at all. Only very simple questions can be answered. 4)Questions may be filled in as team effort so that opinions several people embodied in one form. 5)There may be considerable however tried to counter most of the advantages of the questionnaire by constantly monitoring the movements of questionnaire and providing some assistance when required. Record Inspection / Reading Documentation Archival data as well as report generated by the current were inspected so as to figure out the input requirements and analyst how best to improve the output.The documents were obtained from the Director. Some of the reports used as samples are attached on Appendices section. D ata Collection Procedures The researcher distributed questionnaires to interested parties that include the representation of all students in the College from junior classes to senior classes. The researcher carried out the entire interview herself. Data presentation and Analysis procedure The finding of this research is presented using descriptive statistics that highlight the methods for organizing, displaying and describing data by making use of tables, diagrams and summary measures.Data presentation process To confirm that off the shelf system were falling to perform to expectations in the financial service sector at the moment such questions were asked 1)What shortcomings if any are you facing when using the current system? 2)Are you happy with the performance of the current system? 3)Does the current system solve the current problems arising in the industry? 4)In terms of efficiency does the current system improve or deteriorates and why? 5)Is the current system file based or c omputerized? 6)Are there any issues of data redundancy and duplication in the current system? )How flexible is the current system? 8)Does the current system allow data sharing and networking? 9)Are there any issues of paperwork involved in the current system? 10)General Which service type do you belong? Name of organization? Position held? Results of the questionnaires Of the 30 questionnaires all were completed and returned to the researcher giving 100% respond. However some employees felt that it was better to order for an upgrade of the current system than developing a bespoke system as these could compromise security in the operations system of the College services sector.One respondent was not sure whether developing a new system would make a different from upgrading the current system as she was mainly interested in reports only. The table graph below shows the results: Response Employees Develop a new system22 Upgrade the current system6 Not sure1 Questionnaires results Effic iency Respondents were asked whether the current system was efficient in performing expected tasks. Findings obtained are tabulated below: POSTGRADEEFFICIENTNOT EFFICIENTRESPONDENT (FREQUENY) Teachers11055 Secretary10044 Administrator9033 Front Office Clerk8223Portfolio 17022 Portfolio 26202 Finance Officer5325 Head of Department2022 Head of Department(College management system)1022 Total72228 Employees who are directly involved with the current system such as Administrator and Back Office clerks showed that they regarded the current system as inefficient and Heads of Departments including the College Principal also indicated their dissatisfaction. Portfolio executives and the Finance Officer who are mainly concerned with certain reports and not the functionality of the system indicated that they regarded the system as efficient.This means only 32% of the respondents regarded the system as efficient and 68% regarded it inefficient. Performance The question was if the employees were satisfied with the performance of the current off- the- shelf system that was currently being in the. The response was on a YES/NO basis. The summary of the response is tabulated below. Performance SatisfactionFrequency Yes4 No18 In Between7 Performance Satisfaction Pie Chart 62% of the respondents said they were not satisfied with the performance of the current system and 24% were not sure whether the system performance was satisfactory.Flexibility The respondents were asked whether the system was flexible enough to accommodate any system requirement that would arise in the industry. Findings on the research are shown below: Flexible2 Not flexible25 In between1 A very small percentage of 7% compared said the system was flexible compared to 89% who said the system was not flexible. The respondents who regarded the system as not flexible sighted the inability of the system to cater for latest request issued by Swaziland Revenue Authority. Demographic Characteristics of RespondentsThe demographic characteristics of the respondents are going to be looked in the section that follows. Distribution of Respondents by Age, Post and Sex The respondents were asked about tier grade and post in the questionnaires and during interviews. The following table shows the distribution of the respondents by Age, post and sex. POSTGRADESEXSEXRESPONDENTS (FREQUENY) MALEFEMALE Data capture clerks112 Supervisors101 Black office clerk93 Front office clerk81 Finance Executive 171 Finance Executive 262 Executive officer 153 Executive officer 241 Head of Department 132 Head of Department 222 Head of Department 12TOTAL91120 It is the evidence from the table above that the sample is representative of the population as all the grades that exist in the College management system Department are being represented. A substantial proportion of the sample comprises Clerks and Executive Officers 30% while more than 50% of the sample was in the grade of 2 to 10. There is also a gender balance as the proportion of male female respondents was almost similar with 45% male 55% female. The distribution of the sample by gender is also shown in the table below. Distribution of Respondents by their Level of EducationLevel of Education of respondents LEVEL OF EDUCATIONNO OF RESPONDENTS% AGE Ordinary Level14 Advanced Level27 Tertiary Education1`346 Degree1243 TOTAL28100 From the questionnaires and interviews that were distributed and conducted, it is evident that 46% of the respondents possess professional qualifications like Institute of Chartered Management and LCM and 43% are degree holders. This gives enough evidence that the respondents have a better understanding of the need of an efficient and effective system in organization. Histogram showing level of education of respondentsDistribution Of Respondents By Service Type SERVICE TYPEFREQUENCY% AGE Management414 Accounts519 Teaching725 621 All service type was fairly represented considering that the percentage different was just 10 % with the least represented with 14% and highly represented with 25%. Discussion and Interpretation From the analysis it can be clearly deduced that the off- the –shelf system are failing to perform to expectation. Questions were asked across important an area to prove that there was real needs to find other alternative and effective ways of solving the current problems facing the College service sector.The conclusion is that there’s an urgent need for the design development and implementation of a bespoke system that can be customized to meet the challenges arising in the financial services sector. Further development of these off-the –shelf systems has proved costly as evidenced by the high costs being incurred by Voctim Vocational Training in paying the software houses who develop and maintain their system. The idea of locally developing software will save the much needed foreign currency that could have been paid to external developers who most of the time overcharges their systems by quoting the exchange rate with a grey market rate.SMS is the tonic realization of the employees who have been affected in terms of efficiency by reverting back to paperwork after the current system could not handle further requests by the Swaziland Revenue. ALTERNATIVES TO THE SYSTEM Possible Solutions FEASIBILITY STUDY Six Test For Feasibility So far, we have defined feasibility analysis, and we have identified feasibility checkpoints during systems analysis. Feasibility can be viewed from multiple perspectives. Below we present six categories of feasibility tests. Operational feasibility is a measure of how well a solution meets he identified system requirements to solve the problems and take the advantage of the opportunities envisioned for the system. Cultural (or political) feasibility is a measure of how people feel about a solution and how well it will be accepted in a given organization climate. Technical feasibility is a measure of a practicall y of a specific technical solution and the availability of technical resources and expertise to implement and maintain it. Schedule feasibility is a measure of how reasonable the project time table is. Economic feasibility is the measure of the cost-effectiveness of a project or solution. Legal feasibility is a measure of how well a solution can be implemented within existing legal and contractual obligation. Actually, few systems are infeasible. Instead, different solution options tend to be more or less feasible than other. Let’s take a closer look at the four feasibility criteria. ?Operational feasibility Operational feasibility is the measure of how well a proposed system solves the problem and takes advantage of the opportunities identified during the scope definition and problem analysis phase and how well it satisfied the system requirements identified in the requirements analysis phase.Operational feasibility also asks if, given what is now known about the problem and the cost of the solution, the problem is still worth solving. ?Cultural (or political) feasibility This is related to operational feasibility. But where operational feasibility deals more with how well the solution will meet system requirement, cultural/political feasibility deals with how end users feel about the proposed system. You could say that operational feasibility evaluate whether a system can work, and cultural/ political feasibility ask whether a system will work in a given organizational climate.In an information age, knowledge is power. It is common for an information system to change the structure of how information is routed and controlled, changing to some power structure of the organization. Some users and managers may feel threatened and fight implementation of the system. Recognize that increasingly the culture of an organization is multicultural. Employees and divisions may have been merged in from different companies with widely varying perspective on how work should be structured and what information system should do and not do.With international organizations, and information system must also be accepted by multiple national cultures. The following questions address this concern. Does management support the system? How do the end users feel about their role in the new system? What end users or managers may resist or not use the system? Can this problem be overcome? If so, how? How will the working environment of the end user change? Can or will end users and management adapt to the change? ?Technical Feasibility Today, very little technically impossible. Consequently, technical feasibility looks at what is practical and reasonable.Technical feasibility addresses three major issues. 1. Is the proposed technology or solution practical? 2. Do we currently possess the necessary technology? 3. Do we possess the necessary technical expertise? Is the proposed Technology or Solution Practical? The technology for any defined solution is normal a vailable. The question is whether that technology is mature enough to be easily applied to our problems. Some firms like to use state-of-the art technology, but most firms prefer to use mature and proven technology. A mature technology has a larger customer base for obtaining advice concerning problems and improvements.Do we currently possess the necessary technology? Assuming the solution’s required technology is practical, we must next ask ourselves, is the technology available in our information system shop? If the technology is available, we must ask if we have the capacity. For instance, will our current printer be able to handle the new reports and forms required of a new system? If the answer to either of these questions is no, then we must ask ourselves, can we get this technology? The technology can be practical and available, and, yes, we need it. But we simply may not be able to afford it at this time.Although this argument borders on economic feasibility, it is tr uly technical feasibility. If we can’t afford the technology, then the alternative that requires the technology is not practical and is technically infeasible. Do we possess the necessary technical expertise? This consideration of technical feasibility is often forgotten during feasibility analysis. Even if organization has the technology, that doesn’t mean it has the skills required to properly apply that technology. For instance, organization has a database management system (DBMS).However, the analysts and programmers available for the project may not know that DBMS well enough to properly apply it. True, all information systems professionals can learn new technologies; however, that learners curve will impact the technical feasibility of the project – specifically, it will impact the schedule. ?Schedule Feasibility Given the available technical expertise, are the project deadlines reasonable – that is, what is the schedule feasibility of the project? Some projects are initiated with specific deadlines. It is necessary to determine whether the deadlines are mandatory or desirable.For instance, the project we want to develop a system to meet oxford’s reporting regulation may have a deadline that coincides with when the new reports must be initiated. Penalties associated with missing such a deadline may make meeting it mandatory. If the deadlines are desirable rather than mandatory, the analyst can propose alternative schedules. It is preferable (unless the deadline is absolutely mandatory) to deliver a properly functioning information system two months later than to deliver an error –prone, useless information system on time , While missing deadlines can be problematic, developing inadequate system can be disastrous.It’s a choice between the lesser of two evils. ?Economic Feasibility The button line in many projects is Economic Feasibility. During the early phases of the project, economic feasibility analysis amounts to little more than judging whether the possible benefits of solving the problem are worthwhile. Costs are practically impossible to estimate at that stage because the end users are requirements and alternative technical solutions have been identified, the analyst can weigh the costs and benefits of each alternative. This is called a costs benefit analysis. ?Legal Feasibility Information systems have a legal impact.First of all, there are copyright restrictions. For any system that includes purchased components, one has to make sure that the license arguments are not violated. For one thing this means installing only incensed copies. But licensed arguments and copy protection can also restrict how you integrate the data and processes with other parts of the system. If you are working with contract programmers, the ownership of the program source code and nondisclosure agreements have to be worked out in advanced. Union contracts can add constraints to the information system on how workers are paid and how their work is monitored.Legal requirements for financial reporting must be met. System requirements for sharing data with partners could even run up against antitrust laws. Finally, many information systems today are international in scope. Some countries mandate where data on local employees and local transactions must be stored and processed. ?The Button Line Operational and economic issues often conflict. For example, the solution that provides the best operational impact for end users may also be the most expensive and, therefore, the least economically feasible.The final decision can be made only by sitting down with end users, reviewing the data, and choosing the best overall alternative. Cost Benefit Analysis Techniques Economic feasibility has been defined as a cost benefit analysis. How can cost and benefit be estimated? How can cost and benefits be compared to determine economic feasibility? Most Colleges offer complete courses on these subj ects – courses on financial management, financial decision analysis, and engineering economics and analysis. The section presents an overview of the techniques. How much will the system cost? Cost fall into two categories.There are costs associated with developing system, and there are costs associated with operating a system. The former can be estimated from the outset of the project and should be refined at the end of each phase of the project. The latter can be estimated only after specific computer based solutions have been defined. The cost of developing an information system can be classified according to the phase in which they occur. System development costs are usually onetime costs that will not recur after the project has been completed. Many organizations have standard cost categories that must be evaluated.In the absence of such categories, the following lists should help: Personal costs- The salaries of system analysts, programmers, consultants, data entry perso nnel, computer operators, secretaries, and the like, who work on the project made up the personnel cost. Because