Product Selection Paper

Some of the pros of adding additional departments to the NACA organization would be exposing the company on a national level and empowering lower income clients in the mortgage and business processes. The pros of having an advertising department will enable us to bring in customers that may not be aware of the extensive services our company provides. By making our website more appealing it will draw people in to want to know more about what we have to offer the consumer. We can also concentrate on commercials and billboards that will further echo our message of hope and prosperity to those who have been overlooked by mainstream mortgage companies. By implementing a department that will focus on helping minorities start their own businesses will also help rehabilitate impoverished neighborhoods. Building up low income neighborhoods not only helps the owner’s of the businesses, but it changes the perception of the area and the people in that area. The cons that come along with adding these two departments will be the cost involved. Anytime a company wants to expand its client base there is a good chance that it means spending more money. Advertising can be very expensive, but the money is worth it if your clientele increases. An increase in clientele means an increase in revenue for the company. As far as the loans for businesses are concerned that too will eventually be a profit for the company. The more loans that are acquired for future business ventures will be a positive for the company. A company that is involved in acquiring real estate is in a good position financially. As with any new venture it takes time to reap the rewards of new ideas and departments. If we continue to provide the services we have to our customers and make dreams of homeownership and entrepreneurship come true we will be innovative leaders in the mortgage industry.

Business Proposal for Mcdonalds Essay

McDonalds has always been a company that shares in the happiness of a child. Recently after taking my own children to McDonalds, I have found that there is not a breakfast option for children. McDonalds should add a happy meal option to the breakfast menu. Current demands by consumers are to add a happy meal option allowing parents to purchase child sized portions of breakfast items. This option could help McDonalds to increase profits by attracting more consumers. Shareholder reports show a quarterly cash dividend per share increase of 15% and annual dividend of $2.80 per share. Comparable sales grew 5.6%. Cash by operations increased $808 million to $7.2 billion. Return to shareholders $6.0 billion (McDonald’s.com, 2012). Elasticity of demand and the market structure for the company’s good or service. * Profit-maximizing quantity is figured by determining the elasticity of the product. * By dividing the change in quantity sold by the corresponding change in price, you get a coefficient that tells you how elastic or inelastic your product is – with coefficients between zero and one being inelastic and coefficients greater than one being elastic. * The elasticity of this particular product is determined by the individual instead of the population. Considering this fact, fast food is considered an elastic good. An elastic good is more of a luxury, and fast-food is not a requirement to survive. * An elastic good, the price must be set at a reasonably low level to increase the revenue. * McDonalds can use the formula of marginal cost = marginal revenue to determine its pricing. Demand is elastic when it is easily affected by the raising or lowering in the price of a product or service. * When McDonalds raises its prices, sales will decrease. Decreasing prices, McDonalds will see an increase in sales. * McDonalds has such a competitive market. To stay ahead of competitors, they have a lower price alternative from competitors. Therefore, pricing must be given a great deal of weight in your marketing strategy because other conditions exist. * The degree of elasticity will tell McDonalds how much they can raise prices before sales start to decline. Not everyone can afford to eat out all the time and people who do go out for breakfast are usually going to work or dropping children off at school. * Calculation Elasticity of Adding Happy Meal (Q2-Q1/Q1) Q1 – 20 Q2 – 23 total quantity demand increase total 15%. (P2-P1/P1) P1 – $6 P2 – $3 total price decreased by 5%. Divide percent change in quantity by price 15% divided by 5% = 3% elasticity. Company’s Strategies to Increase Revenue * Exploring the competition to see what the others are doing in terms of fast-food breakfasts and children. * Customer focusing strategies to see what other customers want in the children’s breakfast meals. This can be done through questionnaires and feedback surveys both in and out of the store. * Using proper training methods to ensure quality service to customers. * Proper introduction in promoting the new breakfast will ensure customers know about the new product. Define the Economic Theory and Show How You Can Determine the Profit-Maximizing Quantity. * Economic theory is a theory of commercial activities (such as the production and consumption of goods), (McConnell, Brue, & Flynn, 2009). * Determining the profit-maximizing quantity requires and understanding the economic concept of marginal analysis. Marginal analysis is the study of incremental changes in profit. The quantity that maximizes profit is where marginal profit shifts from positive to negative (eHow.com, 2013). How Could You Use the Concepts of Marginal Costs and Marginal Revenue to Maximize Profits? What Information Do You Need to Determine This? Without This Information, How Would You Make a Decision? * Determine the profit at each level of sales. As sales increase, account for labor costs, quantity discounts, increased shortage (loss, theft and breakage) and other variable costs. * Determine the marginal profit at each incremental increase in sales. Marginal profit is defined as the change in profit for each additional unit sold. * Determine the profit maximizing quantity. This is the point before marginal profit becomes negative. Why? It is likely that the more items sold, the higher variable costs are. Variable costs include labor, commissions, raw materials and shortage. In addition, when large quantities are sold to one party, a quantity discount is often given, resulting in lower per-unit revenue. * Determine where expenses could be lessened and revenue could be increased to optimize sales. Marginal analysis is not static (eHow.com, 2013). * $3@50 = $150, $3@70 = 250, $3@90 = $550, $3@110 = $500 -50 negative marginal profit. * Without this information, you are taking a guess on the decision causing potential risk. Pricing and Non-Pricing Strategies * Price is one of the essential elements of the four P’s of marketing, which include price, promotion, place and product. * Research should be conducted in a number of areas including the customer market, competition and the life cycle of the product. * By examining each of these areas, McDonalds can develop a pricing strategy for its products and services. * McDonalds must find a way to attract their customers. The children’s portions will be smaller than regular portion so the price will be less. * The non-pricing strategy will be the new menu marketing options. Using children’s television and radio stations will help in this strategy. What Are the Barriers to Entry For Your Chosen Product? Can You Create or Increase Barriers to Entry? If so, how? * Entry barriers are the result of competitive behavior by existing businesses within the marketplace. There is no limit to the barriers a particular business may face (eHow.com, 2013). * Barriers are McDonald’s competitors of the same market and right now the competition of a fast-food breakfast kid’s meal option is non-existent among the competition. * According to the current economic state of our country, credit borrowing from lenders will not be needed. * Costs of supplies will not be a barrier because the items are already a part of McDonald’s menu. Demand by customers will increase or decrease cost supplies during the implementation stages. * McDonald’s internal countries will also help to increase profits. * Choosing long-term goals for competitors following McDonalds will eventually cause competition barriers. Consistent analysis of current market conditions will help McDonalds to continue a profit growth. Are There Other Ways to Minimize Costs for the Company or Product? * Analyze labor costs. Offering flexible work schedules, recognition, additional benefits and ongoing training can help retain employees. * Reduce supply costs. Supplies have two major categories–product materials and office supplies. Check multiple sources to ensure lowest cost. Research the use of the supplies. * Reduce operating expenses. Review electricity expense. Ideas such as this can have multiple benefits, including boosting employee retention, saving on utilities. (eHow.com, 2013). Conclusion The above business proposal outline will help in defining what McDonalds would do when implementing the idea of adding a child’s happy meal to its menu. This proposal would help in achieving McDonald’s goals of quality food and customer service.

“Naked Economics” by Charles Wheelan Essay

Economics is on fundamental level of the study of scarcity. Human desires are unlimited, but resources aren’t and every society tries to figure out how to allocate its resources for maximum benefit. The field of economics attempts in large part, to help understand these resource allocations and decisions. Resources allocated largely according to the forces of supply and demand, and prices serve as incentives to determine how much of a product a company wants to produce and how much people want to buy. Economics can also be looked at as the study of incentives or the study of household business making. Due to such a large variety of information, economist begin to attempt solving a problem by stating â€Å"it depends†. These two words are widely used in the field of economics and foremost the most important two words we see in the book â€Å"Naked Economics† by Charles Wheelan. These two simple, yet widely used words are portrayed and used greatly through out each chapter by the author giving a simple explanation of how certain scenarios differ and are different from one another based on certain situations. The first four chapter of the book are and understanding of introducing you to what economics and giving you a brief understanding of how it works, such as the importance of incentives, and the ways economist tackle certain scenarios. The first few chapters introduce many questions, but most importantly ask â€Å"Is the Government making our economy better†? This is highly debated throughout and it all boils down to the two words â€Å"it depends†. When the government owns a certain part of a part of business, the government has no motive to â€Å"do a good job†. For example companies owned and run by the government such as places including the DMV, public health facilities, and hospitals used by people who have insurance given to them by the government, have no incentive to â€Å"do a good job† and make the visit  quick, painless, and easy. This proves that government regulation is a bad thing, but there are many ways to avoid this if looked deeper into†¦ Companies could buy out these small time businesses and provide better assistance and quality help. But the government is mainly focused upon two things which are taxation and regulation with trade offs. Chapter four introduces examples of the New Delhi situation, which was when factories and large plants were shut down by the government solely because the pollution got so bad. Many people were extremely angered by this because it left many unemployed and with nothing to do. This caused many problems throughout the society and grew into a large dispute between the people and the government. A skeletal summary of chapter five is that it introduces the economics of insurance. One question introduced is â€Å"how much information is too much information† which insurance agencies and courts take into consideration. If your applying for health insurance and you’re a middle aged man with a history of family health conditions or a history of early death solely due to health issues then filing a claim for life insurance is extremely difficult and sometimes extremely expensive. On the other hand if you’re a person with no history of bad medical records and have a steady and safe job insurance isn’t something to hard to obtain from a company. This question is greatly used with insurance companies. They will ask basic question and have some questions referring to the things listing above asking for a brief explanation or answer to the following question, not looking out for the person, but looking out for there company so the insurance company can have the highest profit margin possible. The question of â€Å"how much information is too much† depends on the person and who you are in the situation. In last bunch of chapter the question of wealth is brought up and talked about with how economist look at the situation, the question of â€Å"how rich am I†. A commonly asked question by many people is â€Å"how rich are you† or â€Å"how much money do you have†, but this isn’t something that economist look into. They solely look into the GDP per capita which often shows a nations wealth, but is often criticized by many people, even economists. People often don’t realize that a nations GDP per capita can increase while unemployment, and the infant mortality rate increases as well. This is very plausible for an  economy. Inflation plays a huge role in wealth for every person and â€Å"it depends†. If home developer earned a gross income of $450,000 per year, you cannot say you are richer than someone in the early 70’s early a gross income of $300,000 per year due to inflation and the economy. The question of your wealth all depends on how you look at the situation and how you define what wealth is to you. If wealth means how much money you have and you don’t consider inflation and certain scenarios then your most wrong. Our economy is every changing and someone earning $300,000 a year in the year of 2009 compared to that of a person in 2001 situations were completely different and may have been easier for that person due to â€Å"good† economy. Throughout the chapters, Wheelan talks about many different scenarios and addresses different questions. In Chapter four Wheelan addresses how the government is helping to promote the growth of the economy. In Chapter ten, he addresses the federal reserve and certain scenarios

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Human Resources Management - Essay Example When businesses can call on the most advanced technology available to man to get benefits for their organization, any company can have access to the same development and production tools as their competition and in such cases the worth of human resources becomes extremely important. In the real world, two companies can have the same computers and software, the same quality of raw materials, even the same machinery this is used for production but if one of them has better employees, then that company will have an advantage over the other. With training, labor and human resources have the advantage that they can grow with the company and while other equipment might have to be replaced with time, human resources only improve in quality with experience and training. Moreover, with effective training they can improve their skill set to play larger roles for the company and take on more responsibility. Training might also be nothing less than a necessity for the company when the business model changes to a certain level or when the company is looking to enter new markets where the existing skill set of the employees is insufficient. Undoubtedly, the advantages connected with training have been recounted by many HR related professionals but there is also a significant investment involved in training and developing human resources which may not turn out to be as loyal to the company as expected. With regard to training, GE comes across as a very good company and it has been used as a shining example of a good company by several business gurus. For example, Colvin (2006) and Demos (2006) both admire the company as well as its human resource management and give it the title of being one of the most admired companies in the world. Jack Welch, the long time CEO of the company stated clearly in his book titled Winning that the training provided by GE becomes a large part of the reason why the company is so well respected because training employees, â€Å"Motivates

Bioengineering of the Human Race Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bioengineering of the Human Race - Case Study Example There are two viewpoints regarding the subject of bioengineering, one of then is that bioengineering is bad and will have negative consequences, the viewpoint shared by Francis Fukuyama. The second viewpoint is that bioengineering will bring good results to all humans and will have positive consequences, the viewpoint shared by Gregory Stock.  Francis Fukuyama does not support the bioengineering of humans because he thinks that we should respect natural selection. Natural selection is so perfect that have created connections between our genes that we can't even start to realize. This connection reflects also in our functioning within the ecosystems. How can we start bioengineering humans if we still not fully understand the functioning of mother nature?  Though we are cultural individuals, bioengineering would alter one way or another who we are. This would create strong social, and governmental changes. The risks are unpredictable. For Fukuyama bioengineering can even be co-rela ted to the Germans Nazi activity.  For Gregory Stock, bioengineering cant is stopped because people will demand to have the advantages of such technology. For Stocks, it can not be banned because someone somewhere will develop it, so it should be done in the U.S. because it is a country with good ethics.  For Stocks, the development of this technology will reduce the incidence of diseases, retard the aging effect, bring the possibility for the parents to â€Å"design† their child's physical and mental characteristics like the color of the eyes or the degree of intelligence of the child for example. The works of nature by trial and error can be very cruel, so, of course, everyone will see bioengineering of humans as a beneficial technology that everyone will what to have access to.

An analysis of the risk-free rate in the South African capital market Dissertation

An analysis of the risk-free rate in the South African capital market - Dissertation Example This implies that the risk free rate is the most essential concept that determines the market demand of different instruments. Next, the research conducted a comparison between the BESA published bond yield curve and a market price based yield curve developed by the researcher. The findings establish that the market price derived risk free rate is higher than the theoretical risk free rate. It was also found that the shape of the yield curve is different from the BESA projected yield curve, and that it is indicative of future problems in the South African Capital market. The implications of the perception of the higher risk free rate are discussed and it is revealed that the foriegn investors consider the country risk and the default risk associated with the South African government as relatively higher than what the BESA may perceive. The higher perception of the risk as well as the expectations of a fall in the interest rates in the future (which is indicated by the inverse shape o f the yield curve) hint towrads an approaching slowdown or even a recession in the South African Economy. ... 5.3 Omega Ratio 3.5.4 Internal Rate of Return ( IRR) 3.5.5 Weighted Average Cost of capital Chapter 4: Analysis of Theretical Risk Free Rate and the Perceived Risk Free Rate 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Yield Curve 4.3 Theoretical Risk Free Rate - BESA-Actuaries Yield Curve 4.4 Market Based Yield Curve 4.4.1 Calculating the Market Based Yield Curve 4.5 Reasons for Differences in the Theoretical Risk Free Rate and the Market Risk Free Rate 4.5.1 Expectations of the Investors 4.5.2 Liquidity premium theory 4.5.3 Market segmentation theory 4.5.4 Preferred habitat theory 4.5.5 Differences Expectations of Future Interest Rates 4.5.6 Implications for the Economic Development Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusion & Recommendations 5.1 Summary 5.2 Conclusions 5.3 Recommendations for Future Research List of Tables and Figures Table 1: Sample Table of Hypothetical Cash flow Matrix Table 2: Market Data Using Present Values on 8 April 2011 Table 3: Yield to Maturities and Expected Rates of Returns Table 4: Yie ld To Maturities Using Besa Method and JSE Market Prices Figure 1: Risk and Return Figure 2: BESA Zero Coupon Bonds Yield Curve Figure 3: Yield Curve Using Market Data References Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction and Background South Africa is an emerging country that has devloped a deep Capital Market in the short span of time since its independence (Wajid et al, 2008). Capital Markets play a crucial role in the overal development of the economy as these provide the basic resources for large infrastructure and nation building projects, and hence, these are essential for any countries’ long-term growth and progress. In the last decade, South Africa has made several structural as well as institutional changes to consolidate the capital market in the country. These changes involved

Analysing and evaluating arguments Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysing and evaluating arguments - Coursework Example rt of faith for the so called health gurus who would merely want to draw some attention to them, while trying to come up with medical solutions to the public. The argument however is a basis for an awakening of sleeping minds since it leads to the development of the idea through scientific research which ends up refuting the idea that all diseases can be cured just by observing diet in terms of the fat content and fibre.1 If this argument is left to remain just the way it is, then it would imply that all diseases that are discovered would be cured through eating diets with less fat and more fibre. However, to the greatest extent, this is not true and many experiments can be performed to prove that this argument is inductive and a lot more can be done in science which can correct the argument. A more correct version of the argument would have suggested that most of the diseases can be cured or at least controlled through reduction in consumption of fatty foods and increased consumption of diets rich in

Global Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Global Strategic Management - Assignment Example The latter entails using similar and confusing trademarks or service marks on a similar, not fake, product or service. Counterfeit goods are sold around the world. However, the vice is more prevalent in developing countries where it is relatively cheaper to produce a product (Sullivan & Chermak, 2013). For instance, Taiwan and China in Asia are exceptionally prone to counterfeiting. The practice is also found in developed economies, albeit to a lesser degree. Counterfeiting is not only illegal, but also unethical. It is unethical because it involves profiting from another person’s sweat, so to speak. The producers of counterfeit goods are not prepared to introduce their brands and grow them. Instead, they cut corners and try to profit from established brands behind the backs of their owners. The world over, business organizations adopt a variety of measures to address counterfeiting. These can be business, legal or technological. An example of a legal measure is an organization registering their trademarks. Today, it is common for large multinational corporations to have the various components of their manufactured in different jurisdictions then ship them to the assembly plant. Usually, this mode of operation is designed to take advantage of the advantages that various jurisdictions have to offer. For example, a manufacturer of smartphones located in Singapore may have their battery manufacturing plant situated in Finland. Under these circumstances, the smartphone manufacturer will do well to have all their trademarks registered in all the jurisdictions where parts of the smartphone are made. This is in addition to registering those trademarks in all the countries where the finished phones are sold. Some of the business measures that organizations take to combat counterfeiting include creating and maintaining an anti-counterfeiting department (Spink & Fejes, 2012). The key role of the department to initiate and implement measures to prevent the

Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Below - Essay Example Therefore, a reflective analysis of the language, imagery, and tone of â€Å"Father and Son† and â€Å"The Portrait† suggests that Kunitz expresses his feelings for his father and he confront his personal traumas more deeply in these poems than in his earlier verse. In the poem â€Å"Father and Son†, there are several instances and evidences which suggest the poet’s feelings for his father and the language, imagery, and tone of the poem substantiate this view. The language of the poem is so powerful that it reveals the poet’s great feelings for his father. The poet calls his father ‘the secret master of my blood’ and expresses his desire to follow the paths of his father. The language and the tone of the poem also suggest the poet’s great bond to his father who kept him in chains through his indomitable love. â€Å"Mile after mile I followed, with skimming feet, / After the secret master of my blood, / Him, steeped in the odor of ponds, whose indomitable love / Kept me in chains.† (Father and Son, lines 6-9) The stunning imagery used in the poem also helps the poet convey his great bond to his father and images such as ‘load of ripeness’, ‘secret master of my blood’, â₠¬Ëœodor of ponds’, ‘indomitable love’ etc are some examples. Similarly, Kunitz also draws an essential portrait of his father in his poem â€Å"The Portrait† with the sheer merit of his words, language, imagery and tone. The poet specifies how his mother was contemptible about the way and time his father killed himself. Through the convincing portrayal of the mother’s feelings for his father, the poet hints how poignant his personal story has been. The poet is at his best when he expresses how â€Å"She locked his name / in her deepest cabinet / and would not let him out, / though I could hear him thumping.† (The Portrait, lines 7-10) The tone of the poem also points to the poet’s deep sense of loss at the death of his

PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY NURSING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY NURSING - Essay Example Of concern specially is smoking among adolescents which can contribute to several health problems and birth defects in babies born to pregnant women who smoke. Thus, the community selected for critical analysis of health needs in this essay is adolescent smokers. The extent of problem and the impact and effectiveness of public health in the primary care setting with reference to this community will be discussed through review of suitable literature. The Community According to the 2009 statistics, 29 percent of pupils have tried smoking atleast once and the prevalence of smoking in young people was 6 percent. Though this proportion is the lowest since the time the survey began in 1982, it continues to be a significant problem for both health authorities and public. The prevalence of smoking between 11-15 years old has been estimated to be 6 percent. The prevalence is more among girls (7 percent) when compared to boys (5 percent). Another important finding of the survey is that the pre valence of smoking increases with age. At 11 years of age, the prevalence is 0.5 percent and at 15 years of age it is 15 percent. Ethnicity has an influence on the prevalence. It is more common in White pupils when compared to Black of Mixed ethnicity pupils. It is also more prevalent in pupils coming from lower socioeconomic strata (Smith et al, 2009). According to the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use survey of 2006 (NHS, 2007), nine percent of pupils in England are regular smokers and a further 5 percent are occasional smokers. The survey defined regular smokers as those smoking atleast one cigarette per week and occasional smokers as those smoking less than one cigarette a week. Pupils who smoked regularly smoked an average of 6 cigarettes a day, approximately 43.5 cigarettes a week. 74 percent of the regular smokers smoked cigarettes from a packet and 6 percent smoked from rolled tobaccos. Girls were more likely to smoke from a packet (NHS, 2007). Regular smoking in this age group has been associated with drug abuse, alcohol intake and truancy and school exclusion. The dependence of smoking by children is mainly related to the time they spend as regular smoker. Those who have smoked for more than a year as regular smokers have reported that they find it difficult to not smoke each day. However, more than 50 percent opined that they knew the ill effects of smoking and thus would like to give up. Most pupils knew that smoking caused lung cancer. But two-thirds of them reported that they felt relaxed because of smoking. Thus, the immediate benefits of smoking outweighed the future potential hazards of smoking. According to the survey, majority of pupils were aware of the fact that their families had negative attitude towards smoking. One third of the pupils who smoked did so secretly and occasional smokers were more likely to be secret smokers. Also, households of pupils who smoked were more lenient that those who did not smoke (NHS, 2007). Since most adult smo kers begin smoking at young age, it is every important to ascertain and understand the causes of smoking in young children so that predictors of smoking can be evaluated and targeted for prevention. Several risk factors have been studied in this regard. According to the Liverpool Longitudinal Smoking Study (Smith et al, 2009), deprivation at both school and home was strongly associated with smoking among adolescents. The trial of smoking is influenced by several school-related environmental factors

Role Model Considerations Essay Example for Free

Role Model Considerations Essay Through the discussions and readings, I gained extensive insight on the many aspects related to teaching. A teacher holds a respectable position in society and he should always try to maintain this through his conduct. A teacher’s primary duty is to teach. But in order to successfully do his duty, it is not just sufficient to be excellent in one’s subject. His class performance is judged not only on the basis of how he is teaching but also on the basis of how he is interacting in class. He should also try to be honest in other activities of school apart from teaching. I can confidently say that the readings and discussions have helped me in successfully achieving the three learning objectives of this week. It is extremely important to identify the potential impact of controversial personal conduct on employment and licensure. To be an honest teacher does not just imply an honest dissemination of knowledge but also points towards the rules and regulations set by the school authorities that a teacher should follow at any cost. Even if one is a good teacher, if he is dishonest in other activities of the school he should be considered unfit to continue with his job. This implies in the areas relating to boundary violations between teacher and students and issues relating to appropriate and inappropriate forms of communication with students as well. If a teacher’s character is not good, the students do not respect him. Ultimately if things go out of hand he may not only have to face a lot of shame for his misconducts but he might even get fired from his job. In my future endeavors I would make use of the facts that as a teacher one should be well versed with the rules and regulations of the institution he is teaching in. He should know the areas in which a student should be reprimanded and the issues in which the students have full rights. He should keep a check on his conducts and should never intentionally or unintentionally cross the line that is supposed to be between a teacher and a student. If a teacher is able to achieve all this he always remains in the hearts of the students long after they have passed out. A teacher should try to be an inspiration and not someone who is criticized and made fun of.

Master Student Strategies Multiple Choice Questions Essay Example for Free

Master Student Strategies Multiple Choice Questions Essay Which of the following is not a strategy of a master student? C a. Setting short term goals b. Setting long term goals c. Assessing your positive traits d. Avoiding an open? minded approach to problem solving 2. Completing self? discovery exercises assists students in C a. Assessing employment locations b. Assessing computer programs c. Assessing themselves as students/employees d. Assessing travel itineraries 3. Characteristics of a master student include B a. an unwillingness to change b. a willingness to take responsibility for actions in one’s life c. extreme focus on one’s grades d. positive attitude 4. The three sensory modes of learning discussed in class include: B a. Vivid, action, knowing b. Visual, auditory, kinesthetic c. Vital, anxious, kinesthetic d. Verbal, auditory, kinesthetic 5. When exhibiting master student strategies, one might demonstrate all of the following except: C a. Avoiding â€Å"thinking outside of the box† b. Self direction c. Optimism d. Goal setting 6. The term â€Å"metacognition† is defined as: C a. Learning about objects b. Learning about science c. Learning about learning d. Acting without thinking 7. There are four questions connected to the modes of learning. They include all of the following except: D a. Why? b. What c. How? d. When? 8. Strong self motivation encourages all of the following except: B a. Changing one’s mind b. Ignoring goals c. Comparing benefits d. Requesting help 9. When attempting to bring about change in one’s behavior one should not consider: D a. Affirmations b. Requesting help from friends c. Starting with minor changes d. Setting unrealistic goals 10. Strategies for time management include all of the following except: D a. Monitoring work related tasks b. Setting a stopping time c. Maintaining a clear desk or work area d. Procrastination True/False Questions 11. Mnemonic Devices may not assist one in recalling information Flase 12. There is only one approach to becoming a critical thinker False 13. Successful students should try to connect their learning style to their education and their future career choices. True 14. Spending time with someone who demonstrates the types of success strategies that you are trying to implement is probably not a good idea. False 15. Feeling uncomfortable in a learning situation is not a normal part of the learning cycle. False 16. Motivation may result from clarifying one’s goals and acting upon them. True 17. Learning styles may be connected to study strategies that can be used to help a student succeed in a course. True 18. Visual learning means one is focusing on the kinesthetic section of the learning styles 19. A benefit of keeping a journal during the semester is that it may allow one to write about the connections between courses being studied. True 20. In an effort to become a master student, one should try to make predictions based on the strategies one has learned and check to see if his/her life experiences coincide with those predictions. True 21. Time is considered to be a renewable resource. False 22. Becoming aware of one’s particular style of procrastination may not assist in changing one’s behavior. True 23. Graphic signals are used to enhance a student’s class notes Flase Short Answers: 24. Please describe four characteristics of a master student. Provide specific examples of how these characteristics may be demonstrated. Set goals, achieving the goals in the time frame. Be able to manage time effectively. 25. Decision making skills are important for master students. Please explain how one may improve his/her skill at making decisions in life. By setting goals for their self.

Destination Life Cycle Theory Tourism Essay

Destination Life Cycle Theory Tourism Essay Butler was the first to characterize the evolution of the tourist industry by the concept of the lifecycle product and it is the most-widely cited conceptual framework for comprehending the dynamics of tourist destinations (Butler, 1980). The destination life cycle theories bring on many important functions, such as adopt the homologous measure to prolong its life cycle possibly, predict the destination future development trend, and provide farsighted basic to managers to establish marking strategies etc. Although, the destination life cycle Butlers model is a very simple one, being based on a concept that the product life cycle curve that has long been used by economists and marketers to describe the behavior of the market in purchasing consumer goods such as televisions and cars. Moreover, his model has intuitive appeal in that anyone who has traveled extensively or who has participated in the field of tourism studies will probably agree that some kind of life cycle dynamic is inde ed evident across a broad array of destination (Weaver, 2000). In other word, the model is to elaborate on the previous point, the Butler sequence is a comprehensive, integrated model that allow for the simultaneous incorporation of all facets of the tourism experience (Butler, 1980). Contrast, several authors are disagreeing with the Butlers model. According to Leiper defined as the destination life cycle theory does not explain fluctuations in visitor number and is useless for predicting themLeiper (2004, pp.133) The Butlers destination life cycle theory (Butler, 1980) for instance as Wat Sai floating market, the canal which is the Thailands major tourist attractions in the early stages of tourism promotion.  This floating market is the tourist attractions all must to visit, in addition to the Emerald Buddha and Grand Palace.  Wat Sai floating market and has grown to saturation due to the lack of good management with growth of the region with Thai tourists travel to the densely.  No control and organize the activities.  Pollution problems are different as the many attractions of this and begin to decline until a new management plan in the latter.   The road system is replaced.  Wat Sai is the floating market in the degradation.   On the other hand, the theory of destination life cycle cannot be a perfect tool. The reasons are include that difficult confirmation of the conversation order, and the different life cycle relies on difference geography. From the aspect of the marketin g, the theory does not take into account the niche market and ignores the segmentation of the markets. The Butlers model, the theory is based on a feral metaphor. But the tourist destination is not living things, and interpreting them via a life cycle metaphor is potentially misleading, possibly leading to confusion and error Leiper (2004, pp.133). As mention the case example before that the dismissed in Butlers model that the numbers of visitor arrivals are fluctuation, unpredictable in the number. Also the trigger factors that originate from beyond the destination, and in an unintentional way, can be described as external-unintentional actions. They are cyclones, global warming, political chaos, global recession, Asian economic crisis etc. In such situations there may be relatively little that the destination can do to influence these events. However, they may be aware of them in advance in some case, perhaps taking some adaptive strategies. REFERENCES Butler, R.W., 1980. The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resource Canadian Geographer. 24 (1), pp. 5-12. Leiper, N., 2004. Tourism Management. 3rd ed. French Forest NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Weaver,B,D., 2000. The Exploratory War-distorted Destination Life Cycle. International journal of tourism research. 2, pp.151-161. B) A tourist attraction system is a systematic arrangement of three elements. What are the functions of these and how do they influence each other? Discuss with reference to a tourist attraction of your own choice. Leipers (1990a) definition of an attraction, adapted from MacCannell (1976) and Gunn (1988a) stands apart from those of other authors by implicitly identifying an attraction as a system consisting of three elements: a tourist or human element; a nucleus or central element; and a marker or informative element. A tourist attraction system comes into existence when the three elements are connected. Moreover, Leiper (2004, pp.308) defined as a principle of system theory is the hierarchy: every system has its subsystems and superiors. Because tourism without attractions is inconceivable, a key principle emerges. Every whole tourism systems must have at least one attraction subsystem. Every tourist trip requires at least one attraction comprising a tourist, a nucleus, and information received by the about the nucleus The first component of Leipers (1990) attraction system is the human element. The tourists are the people who travel away from the home to another place for a short-term period of at least one night, to the extent that their behavior involves a search for leisure experiences from interactions with features or characteristics of places they choose to visit (Inskeep, 1993; Leiper, 2004; Ritchie Goeldner, 1994). For example, the domestic Thai tourist from the southern of Thailand, they are spent their leisure which came to Bangkok for visit the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace, that can defined as they are the tourist attraction. They are group of 15 people and they are taken the shutter bus to visit Bangkok with 8 hours. Then they stayed one night at the hotel in Bangkok to visit the Bangkok Nightlife. Leiper (1990) defines the nucleus or central element of a tourist attraction as any feature of a place that a traveler contemplates visiting. This is where the tourist experience is manufactured and consumed. It is where the tourism resource, both of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace can be a central element of a tourist attraction in this instance Markers are items of information, about any phenomenon that is a potential nuclear element in a tourist attraction (Leiper, 1990). They may be divided into markers that are detached from the nucleus or those that are contiguous. In each case the markers may either consciously or unconsciously function as part of the attraction system. Examples of conscious generating markers for tourist attraction are the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace. Leipers (1990) tourist attraction system has provided insight into the nature of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace as a tourist attraction in Thailand. While space limitations have not allowed an in depth examination of the characteristics of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace that make it a strong tourist attraction, the theory based attraction system has enabled a more methodical examination of this topic than has occurred to date. The insights gained by using this type of framework have considerable potential in the management tourism. By understanding how a particular travel, in this case destination, functions within an attraction framework it is possible to consciously manage this system to meet specified tourism goals and objectives.

Music of India :: essays research papers

The Music of India Indian music is a very varied type of music which ranges from classical to film, more commonly known as pop. Both types are extremely popular throughout the Indian society in all classes. Music is apparent in Indian culture as a way of expression. The history of Indian music extends back many centuries. Traditionally in that period, there were various kingdoms, in which the power was held equally by the king and the temples. This was the division of music. The temples presented religious music to all that wanted it while the kings patronized the separate artists. Music also formed a major part of the theatre. It was very famous as nearly all of India's people had access to it. There were full scale musicals in the ancient Indian theatres. This tradition has been carried into till the recent days, where Bollywood (the Indian Hollywood) films are very music-friendly. Music is an integral part of the movies that are being made. But many movies are now being targeted at the Western society, movies with less music. This is killing India's musical background. Indian music is a mix of many different types of music. Five hundred years ago, India was ruled Muslims, when it had been influenced by local territories such as the recent Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Classical music is a very prominent feature in most Indian people's lives. It is heard for pleasure. The term "Indian Classical Music" refers to two different, but related, age old, traditions. Both of them are very popular and come from two very different areas in India. The North Indian style is called "Hindustani", which translates to India, and South Indian tradition, also known as "Carnatic". Indian music is different from Western music in two major ways: 1. All of Indian classical music is melody, and 2. Indian music is never written down, and cannot be played off a written score. If it was played off the score, it would lose its authenticity. Over centuries, the artists learn to play or sing by listening to the song. As the artist learns the song and plays it, he adds his own authenticity to the song. In this way, the work of numerous generations has been put together to make a singular song that has been made seamless over the years. This is how Indian music has survived over the years. Hindustani classical music is based upon the 12 note scale.

Man For All Seasons :: essays research papers

Sir Thomas More: Is he the morally and legally person that we think he is?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Thomas More has been in the news a great deal recently. I’m sure that most of you know that he had been convicted and put to death for treason. Many people probably don’t know his conviction was based on the tainted testimony of Richard Rich, who wanted to be as successful as Thomas. I’m certain Thomas would never have done anything of this nature. All of the problems just kept on escalating, resulting in the death of Thomas. Thomas had to struggle with these problems. His main struggle was remaining loyal to his king and his Holy Church. King Henry VIII was seeking approval from Thomas in obtaining a divorce from his wife Catherine because she was not able to produce any heirs to the throne. The King was looking for his approval because Thomas was respected by society. The King already had other peoples’ approval . The two men were in conflict because they had a fundamental difference in outlook on what constituted the right balance between the spiritual and the practical. The two were Catholics. Thomas was a representative of the older spirituality, wherein the Church was as a sacred institution and an instrument of God’s will, and which ought to be outside politics. The King saw the church as a political institution, one that was to bend for him in certain political matters. That is basically the story. The question now facing us is …. were his actions morally right or wrong.? This is an easy question to answer because Thomas overall was a morally good man. He stayed true to his beliefs. He saw the laws coming from natural laws, created by God. He thought that all laws needed to originate from the natural laws, and if he was to give in to the King he would be going against his morals. When Thomas took this position he had to decide between political expedience and his moral convictions. We all can see what he decided. The King would have preferred Thomas be agreeable with the positive laws because then it would have been easier for him to get his way. Therefore, looking at the question he was legally right, and also he was right in his actions, or morally right. In the principles of law we see that no one is above the law, so what would give the King the right to get his way, only to keep himself happy and not the people.

Strong Chinese Women in Film Essay -- Character Analysis

1. Introduction In Confucian thought, women had their purpose beside their men or within their households as mothers. However, the legend of Hua Mulan precedes Confucius. Mulan’s story had inspired early Chinese Feminists such as Qiu Ji to go against the society built to keep her space as a woman separate from the rest of the world. In modern times, Fa Mulan (from Disney) added more diversity to the usual Disney Princesses and gave westerners an image of Chinese culture. The Disney film about Fa Mulan and the live action film about Hua Mulan by Jingle Ma ultimately chronicle the journey of Mulan and her service in the military but the films will have significant differences because of the different perspectives telling the stories. The changes of the female roles in China in the 21st century have their starting point with the story of Mulan because of her positive role in female identity later on. How Mulan changed the stigma about women over time may not have helped. Although Mulan is a legend, legends tend to shape some fields of thought in society. Changes in female structures in China took many centuries but I believe Mulan’s presence had an irreplaceable impact on the women in Chinese society. I define Confucianism in the female role as follows: A woman’s duties pertain to her husband, the parents of her husband and the children birthed between she and her husband. A woman’s duties to her husband include but are not limited to, keeping him happy and full with good meals. Her duties to her husband’s family includes, but are not limited to, keeping his parents happy and adjusting to the rules of her governing mother-in-law and providing grandparents with grandchildren. A woman’s duties to birth children include, but are not... ... to the Imperial City to warm her old friends of the imminent attack on the emperor, everyone ignored her. Hua Mulan did not face this same problem in the live action movie. When her comrades discovered her, they decided to keep their discovery to themselves instead of sending Mulan to her death. The only reason Fa Mulan remained alive in the movie was her heroic actions before her superior discovered her. Works Cited 5. Confucianism Since the core of Confucianism is the belief 6. Conclusion References: 1. http://ww.chinapage.com/mulan.html 2. â€Å"Ode To Mulan† http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/mulan.php 3. â€Å"Mulan in Legends† http://www.ourorient.com/mulan-in-legends.htm 4. DVD Disney’s Mulan 5. DVD Jingle Ma’s Mulan 6. Lan, Fen. "The Female Individual and the Empire." Duke University. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/4125407.pdf.

Ethics Paper Essay

Ethics is essentially what a person believes is good or bad. By definition ethics is â€Å"rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good or bad† (Merriam-Webster, 2013). There are different theories of ethics which include virtue ethics, utilitarianism ethics, and the deontology theory. Virtue ethics is the theory that basically says that a person throughout their life should strive for moral excellence through life experiences. This theory looks at a person over a period of time to determine if they have good morals and considered an ethical person versus basing it off of one incident or â€Å"slip-up†. These â€Å"slip-ups† can be forgiven taking in account past deeds of moral turpitude and ethical acts. The utilitarianism theory is acting morally for the good of a group or society. This theory is very popular in the United States and other Western capitalistic democracies. Utilitarianism works when the people in that particular group or society a gree on what is considered moral and what would be deemed good for them as a whole. The utilitarianism theory can also be seen as social responsibility with the actual definition being the â€Å"obligation of an organization’s management towards the welfare and interests of the society in which it operates† (BusinessDictionary.com, 2013). The deontology theory states that someone’s actions are based on that is inherently right with no other calculations being taken into consideration such as consequences of the action. Deontology is based simply on principle and is justified through the structure of action, nature of reason, and the operation of the will (Boylan, 2009). Ethics and social responsibility play a significant role in the development of a strategic plan especially when considering stakeholders needs and agendas. Company’s primary mission is to make money and turn a profit for their stakeholders. This is done in many different ways and are outlined in the strategic plan. The company however needs to ensure that their operations  are ethical and not harmful to society or the community surrounding. Many companies walk a fine line between ethical and unethical when making efforts to perform for their stakeholders. Stakeholders primary objective is to make as much profit as possible and in most cases in the shortest amount of time possible. This is where companies are sometimes found crossing the line of ethics and social responsibility. This may include cutting corners to have a better competitive edge within the industry thus veering away from the company’s original strategic plan. In years past some companies have been caught conducting unethical operations in the name of profit (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010). The government has enacted legislation to make these activities less appealing to companies. Companies are now tasked with developing strategic agendas to accommodate their stakeholders needs and agendas while still considering ethics and soc ial responsibility. Essentially a company has to make it clear to stakeholders that their best interests are foremost but ethics and social responsibility will take precedence when developing a strategic plan to lead the company to success. The most popular and remembered company for overstepping ethical boundaries for stakeholders agendas would be Enron. Enron who began as a struggling energy provider climbed its way to the top of the food chain in the industry to essentially become a broker of energy. The company appeared to have a great deal of ethics and social responsibility from the outside looking in but things were not as they appeared after the company unraveled. It was found that top executives of the company were falsifying documents about earnings and essentially bleeding the company of all of its assets over the years until its inevitable fall. This included making not so ethical business partnerships and making attempts to hide its debt through clever accounting tricks to avoid recording the information on balance sheets (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003). This all in an attempt to keep stock prices climbing to pad the pockets of the executives and stakeholders alike. Many steps could have been taken within Enron to avoid this situation while still staying successful. The first step would have been to develop a strategic plan that not only provided direction for the company but set milestones for the company to succeed. Other steps to avoid this type of activity is to develop checks and balances within the company and not allowing a select few top executives to control everything without any accountability. The  executives of the company set the tone for the company and when employees see them acting unethically then it is believed this acceptable within the company. Executives should be setting a positive example and encouraging their employees to take the same approach. Conclusion Ethics and social responsibility come hand in hand when dealing with the world of business. When developing a strategic plan a company needs to ensure these areas are addressed and balanced when considering the needs and agendas of its stakeholders. This can as simple as keeping stakeholders informed that it is essential to act ethically for the long term health of the company. Enron is a prime example of the hardships a company as well as its employees and stakeholders can face when a company puts ethics and social responsibility to the side. This also reinforces the fact that companies should develop their strategic plan with these in mind and then sticking to the plan then taking appropriate steps to keep the plan updated to continue on the road to success. References Boylan, M. (2009). Basic ethics: Basic ethics in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. BusinessDictionary.com. (2013). Social responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/social-responsibility.html Merriam-Webster. (2013). Ethic. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethic Sims, R. R., & Brinkmann, J. (2003, July). Enron ethics: Culture matters more than codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(3), 243. Retrieved from http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/rprnts.enronethics.html Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2010). Concepts in strategic management and business policy (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Enabling a Remote Workforce. Essay

Productivity – Are employees who telecommute more productive than their traditional office colleagues? 1 Savings – What types of savings from a telecommuting program should employers expect? 2 Planning – What kind of planning does an organization need to do to properly implement a successful telecommuting program? 2 Eligibility – How do managers determine the eligibility of employees for telecommuting? 3 Social Interaction – What types of social limitations do remote workers experience? 3 Communication Limitations – Are organizations disadvantaged due to communication limitations with remote workers? 4 Management – How do managers successfully manage and support remote workers? 5 Technical Issues 5 Network – What are the security, bandwidth, and infrastructure implications for the company network to support remote access? 5 Hardware/Software Needs – What are the hardware, home infrastructure, and software licensing needs for the remote user? 6 Telecommuting Variations – What are alternative solutions or variations for telecommuting programs? 7 Connectivity – What are the tools and considerations to accommodate remote network access? 8 Communication – How do you allow your employees to communicate electronically and verbally from home? 9 Collaboration – What are the tools that foster communication? 9 IT Support – What are the options and challenges to providing remote employees with technical support? 10 Cost – How much does deploying a remote workforce cost? 10 Conclusion 11 Introduction There are a number of good reasons why companies should consider supporting a remote worker program including an expanded labor pool, reduced traffic congestion costs (late arriving/stressed out employees), improved recruitment and retention of staff, facility cost savings, reduced parking costs, reduced sick leave and improved worker productivity. Conversely, there are some disadvantages that companies should also be aware of including an isolated work force, family turf problems, lack of social interaction with other employees and the fear by remote workers that they will be overlooked for promotions. Companies obviously have a lot to factor in deciding whether or not to implement a telecommuting program. Thus, the goal of this paper is to provide consideration points to many of the common questions facing such companies. The questions and discussion herein are divided into two primary categories: technical and organizational. They are intended to provide more generalized information that decision makers can use to enhance their understanding of telecommuting issues. Organizational Issues Productivity – Are employees who telecommute more productive than their traditional office colleagues? In general, remote workers appear to be more productive than traditional office workers. In an October 1995 survey of Fortune 1000 managers, 58% reported increased productivity by employees who telecommuted. Also, according to the State of California’s Telecommuting Pilot Program, companies that implemented a remote work force experienced productivity increases ranging from 10 – 30%. Further, telecommuters working for American Express produced 43% more business than their office-based counterparts1. Clearly the case can be made that remote workers are indeed more productive. The primary explanation for improved productivity is a quieter work environment, which offers fewer interruptions. Certainly the remote worker also faces interruptions in their daily work, such as family business, neighbors, chores, television, etc. However these interruptions are generally much fewer than those experienced by the traditional office worker. Savings – What types of savings from a telecommuting program should employers expect? The biggest savings for companies result from reduced absenteeism costs and reduced real estate costs. Oftentimes when employees need to take care of personal business such as doctor visits, car repair, tending to children, etc. they call in sick for the entire day. However, remote workers can take care of personal business and still accomplish some or most of their work tasks from home. The International Telework Association & Council estimates that employees who telecommute can save their employers $10,000 each in reduced absenteeism costs2. According to PC World, telework can cut corporate real estate costs from 25 to 90%, which can result in substantial savings for employers. In fact, AT&T saves $25 million per year from employees who are full-time telecommuters3. Many companies who have implemented a successful telecommuting program have instituted hoteling systems in their offices. A â€Å"hotel† is essentially an empty cubicle that is set up with a phone, network connections and basic office supplies that any employee can use, often by making a reservation with an office administrator. Hoteling offers telecommuting employees a place to work in the office when necessary without employers having to provide them with a full-time workspace. Planning – What kind of planning does an organization need to do to properly implement a successful telecommuting program? Without doubt one of the most important keys to implementing a successful telecommuting program is proper planning. And since every organization has their unique differences (i.e. size, industry, complexity, culture, locale), there is no single formula for such planning. However, successful telecommuting programs should address the following at a minimum: * Perform an initial assessment * Consider organizational strategy and culture * Consider the role of management * Consider the need for staff input * Determine which staff tasks are most amenable to telecommuting * Consider regulatory compliance and legal issues * Determine technology needs * Prepare a cost-benefit analysis and/or ROI analysis4 Eligibility – How do managers determine the eligibility of employees for telecommuting? According to Langhoff, â€Å"tasks that are most appropriate for telecommuting are jobs where a person works alone, handling information such as reports, proposals, data or research. Writers, salespersons, accountants, programmers, graphic artists, researchers, engineers, architects, public relations professionals – all are prime candidates for telecommuting†5. In determining eligibility for telecommuting, managers should first consider whether the employee’s tasks can be performed remotely. Second, an examination of the individual’s level of performance should be made (i.e. are they hard working and self-motivated or do they need constant supervision and coaching?). Of course it can be tricky selecting who can and cannot telecommute; therefore companies should be aware of the potential legal implications stemming from employees who wished to work remotely but were turned down. Social Interaction – What types of social limitations do remote workers experience? Too often companies only view telecommuting as providing benefits to them and to their employees; however, there remains potential downsides. One potential downside is the lack of social interaction between employees. Employees who work at an office setting spend a considerable amount of their day interacting with other employees. These â€Å"water-cooler† discussions foster a camaraderie that translates into value for companies when the same employees work on projects together or are in need of support from each other. Also, the camaraderie indirectly benefits the company when management is trying to achieve buy-in on various initiatives. Lastly, having close relationships allow employees to maintain a healthy mental balance at work – resulting in an overall higher level of morale. Once telecommuting is introduced into the mixed, some or all of those relationships are lost. Analysis of past telecommuting research shows that the most cited problem associated with negative impacts of telecommuting is the feeling of isolation and loss of morale6. Although isolation feelings and loss of morale (and the resulting decrease in a company’s value) are difficult metrics to measure, some workable solutions have been devised to combat these negative issues. Other solutions have included limiting telecommuting days and making sure to include telecommuting employees in company events7. Communication Limitations – Are organizations disadvantaged due to communication limitations with remote workers? The office environment offers some benefits that telecommuting cannot provide. Most important amongst these benefits is the company’s ability to communicate to its employees. Most offices display signs of the company’s direct communication whether it is embodied in mission statements, annual goal and targets, or newsletters. Indirectly, the company communicates with corporate color schemes, promotion company clothing, and other branding material such as coffee mugs. All of these communications are omnipresent throughout the corporate office setting and help to build company pride, employee loyalty, and a sense of corporate culture. Employees who tend to work remotely are only exposed slightly to this communication through email, conference calls, and other mailed material. This lack of corporate communication may lead to low motivation, lack of identification with the company, and reduced company loyalty8. The solution to the communication challenge is to ensure that corporate communication includes channels to the remote worker. In fact, companies should recognize that off-site employees need more direct and indirect communication such that employees do not develop those negative feelings. Also, companies should make a concerted effort to limit telecommuting days and to include all telecommuting employees in company events9. Management – How do managers successfully manage and support remote workers? Another challenge with telecommuting employees revolves around their direct management. Not only do managers find it much more difficult to monitor the productivity and effectiveness of their telecommuting employee, but they are also challenged by having to change their management style to incorporate the limitations brought about by telecommuting10. Managers who have telecommuting employees are also faced with more potential issues such as family conflicts arising from their employee working from home. These conflicts cross the boundary of work and personal life, and almost always negatively impact productivity. Lastly, it is the role of managers to provide organizational support to the telecommuting employee. With the employee being off-site, the manager is usually limited to email and telephone to support his employee. This limitation further restricts a manager’s effectiveness and typically utilizes more of a manager’s time in sorting out support logistic11. Solutions to the manager’s challenge involve setting up a detailed action plan between manager and telecommuting employee. This action plan should be supplemented with an active communication plan12. Once expectations for both parties are clearly outlined in the action plan, both parties can then communicate progress or support needs more efficiently. Moreover, managers can adapt their management styles to telecommuting employees by setting results-based milestones and orienting tasks into projects such that managers still retain control of certain processes13. Technical Issues Network – What are the security, bandwidth, and infrastructure implications for the company network to support remote access? Before considering the strategy to deploying remote access for a company, a survey should be done of the existing network and current remote access configurations. Once a complete analysis of the current configuration and future needs are assessed, then the following issues need to be included in your strategy of preparing and deploying the company network for a remote force: security, bandwidth, and infrastructure.14 Table N1 – 3 Areas of Security15 Internal Network Usually the most secure of the three, but still should be reviewed for any fallacies. External Network Must secure the PC in the remote location (i.e. firewalls, RSA encryption, etc†¦) to prevent unauthorized access and snooping from the remote location. Remote Worker Least secure, must require security policies to be followed about passwords, where to connect, and who to trust. With more remote workers, there will be an increased demand of bandwidth on the network. Will the remote employees be productive with the current infrastructure that your network can provide? Perhaps considerations for upgrading from16: From To Dial-up (56K) ISDN (128K-256K) ISDN (128K-256K) T1 (up to 1.5M) T1 (up to1.5M) T3 (44.736 Mbps) With the increase demand more infrastructure will be required for allowing an increasing number of remote workers to connect to the corporate network (more servers, security hardware, and routing hardware). Hardware/Software Needs – What are the hardware, home infrastructure, and software licensing needs for the remote user? For the employees who travel often, they are usually provided some mobile computing solutions and they have found ways to work from remote locations. However the new generation of employees, the remote worker will work from the comfort of their home. Working from home brings a new set of issues in to play. HARDWARE * Can the employee keep work and personal items separated? * If not, should the company provide additional hardware? * If the company does NOT provide additional hardware, then how much of the employees hardware can be expensed if upgrades are necessary? * The employee may need/require a fax machine, an additional phone line, or other office equipment. SOFTWARE * Software licensing has be clear-cut as far as how many computers can use the same license, however what about home workers? * The company’s site licensing may not cover home computers and will require the company to pay extra for these licenses. INFRASTRUCTURE * For someone at home who has a DSL, Cable, or Dial-Up connecting, how much of that should the company pay for? * Support, Support, Support. Who will provide the maintenance and support? * Is the home PC secure? If not, who will provide the hardware/software in order to secure it? Also consider how much of the company’s data should be on the personal machine. What happens if the home PC is hacked? Telecommuting Variations – What are alternative solutions or variations for telecommuting programs? Outlined in this paper is the most common setup for a company to develop telecommuting options for their employees. However most of these configurations allow the employee to use limited resources over the Internet (access to shared folders, documents and e-mail). Depending on the size, the costs of setting up an infrastructure for telecommuting workforce could be unaffordable. The following are other options available to companies who wish to have a telecommuting workforce. Citrix Remember or heard about the mainframe days? Well, history tends to repeat itself. As more PC’s were becoming powerful, we moved away from the mainframe days. However with the Internet, the paradigm of sharing resources has returned and now software applications and operating systems have the enhanced ability to handle more than one user concurrently. Citrix17 allows concurrent remote users access to a single server that will give a separate session for each user. Each user will have access to the same set applications on one machine. This solves the software licensing issues of working from a remote location as well as reduces amount of maintenance of hardware/software for the IT department. Satellite Offices Companies are opening satellite offices to reduce commute times for employees and help alleviate city traffic and parking congestion problems. This will result in reduced land costs since these centers are away from the city where the cost of living is lower.18 Telework centers are similar to a satellite office, but operate by independent parties. Unlike satellite offices, numerous employees use them. Think of these options as outsourcing building/infrastructure issues. Connectivity – What are the tools and considerations to accommodate remote network access? In today’s information environment, connectivity has become essential for a significant portion of the workplace. Access to email, network resources, server applications, and the Internet is a continual activity for the white-collar professional. At a minimum, companies would be well served to support webmail. In much the same vein as portal email (Hotmail, Yahoo), mail is maintained on the company server. This server is then linked to a website, and employees can gain secure access to the company server via any browser. Once logged in, an individual has the full functionality of their account – to compose, receive, store, and delete email without explicitly needing to connect to the company network. However, there will be a resulting lack of security – employees need to be encouraged to create and regularly modify complex passwords, and to close public web sessions. That said, the security risk is only to an individual email account; not the company network as a whole. A second logical step for an IT department is to enable Virtual Private Networking (VPN). This will allow employees to connect their remote machines to the company network after establishing an Internet connection through an ISP. This machine then behaves just as a networked office-located computer. For users maintaining both an office and remote computer, this solution requires any desktop applications be maintained on both systems. To avoid this duality, many users will first establish a VPN connection and then emulate their office computer with built-in Windows 2000 and Windows XP remote desktop tools or 3rd party tools such as VNC19. In essence, the remote machine then acts as a terminal or monitor to the office computer, and the user can run the applications found on that machine without any needs for secondary software. The downside to this solution is that emulation is only as good as the connection speed. Communication – How do you allow your employees to communicate electronically and verbally from home? Today’s telephone solutions for the telecommuter generally consist of providing an office phone with call-forwarding features to an employee’s business cell phone – an often times reimbursed expense. This avoids some of the problems associated with using a home line for a combination of business, personal, and dial-up use. The office system simplifies contacting an individual (Simply dial an extension and press 7 to connect to the forwarded line rather than maintaining a constantly changing set of employee contact information). A home line alternative is a distinctive ring system – multiple phone numbers (home, office, fax) use a single line with each producing a unique ring that can be directed to an appropriate voice mail box or machine (PC, fax). A second alternative consists of an off-premise-extension (OPX) or foreign exchange (FX) system. While more expensive, these systems truly mimic the office with a separate home line that is identical to an office extension20. Electronic mail is a requirement for most remote users. IT departments can help support employees using multiple computers to access their email by allowing mail to be retained on the company server rather than downloaded to the individual PC. (As an unrelated benefit, this provides much greater redundancy in the event of a computer hard drive crash). Please see the discussion on web mail for more on remote e-mail use. A less intrusive substitute to phone conversations is instant messaging. While this has potential for both misuse and unproductive use (where conversation is more efficient), this is often times an ideal mechanism for sharing small tidbits of information and is especially valuable for troubleshooting. A more extensive tool would be the newsgroup in combination with a company intranet. Here, employees can develop an extensive knowledge base of processes, questions and answers. Collaboration – What are the tools that foster communication? At the lowest end of the technology spectrum, there is the traditional conference call – a virtual audio meeting with many parties. In an effort to fight the inherent isolationism of remote workers, the videoconference personalizes the conference call as participants better identify with the visual image than the audio. To implement, however, you’ll need additional webcam hardware, videoconferencing software and a fast Internet connection. Chat rooms (a variation on the aforementioned instant messaging) are suitable for short discussions or as supplements to a meeting (agenda, minutes, links, data, follow-ups) Web conferencing often includes both videoconferencing and chat room features, but distinguishes itself in that it allows a moderator to emulate his/her desktop to the attendees. Among the forefront of the software leaders in this area is WebEx21. IT Support – What are the options and challenges to providing remote employees with technical support? One of the drawbacks to working remotely is the absence of immediate technical support for both trivial and complex hardware and software issues. Given that troubleshooting is often a hands-on activity, solving problems for telecommuters is likely to be frustrating and time-consuming. However IT managers can take a number of steps to reduce downtime. * Standardize the equipment and installation. The more alike your users systems are, the better positioned you will be to reproduce and diagnose problems. * Maintain an inventory of back-up equipment in the same way that a car repair shop offers loaner cars. * Set up remote users so their desktops can be emulated by technical support – in this way an IT department can provide step by step demonstrations to fix problems * Maintain an easily accessible FAQ and update it with each new problem and solution Managers may also want to consider outsourcing their technical support requirements. Companies like Voyus22 provide 24 hour help desk support and web-based support applications. Cost – How much does deploying a remote workforce cost? The decision that the companies face is how much ownership the company will take for each of the types of telecommuters. For an occasional telecommuter, the employee will more than likely take on the costs. For a heavy telecommuter, the company will probably need to cover the costs to the employee. Telecommuter Type Frequency Implementation Costs Involved Occasional Infrequently Dial-up, Web-based applications Regular Scheduled intervals Remote Connection, 3rd Party Software, Laptop, Firewall, Router. Heavy Frequently to Full Time Provide second computer, VPN connection, ISP costs, other office equipment, maintenance. It is not the technology costs that make or break the telecommuting decision, but it’s the organizational issues that should benefit the company if deployed properly. Conclusion Telecommuting seems to be the answer to the â€Å"increased workload versus work/personal life balance† issue that many companies are seeking. While there exist many challenges towards implementing a successful telecommuting plan, there also seem to be many practical solutions. The real issue seems to stem from whether a company will change its processes and standards to allow for telecommuting to co-exist with office employees. Such a decision, as this paper has outlined, is not as simple as providing remote employees with an internet connection. Rather, the decision has significant technical and organizational ramifications that need to be well thought out before implementation; otherwise, the company is doomed to make the mistakes of many companies that have haphazardly gone down this path. 1 http://www.langhoff.com/faqs.html 2 http://www.youcanworkfromanywhere.com/infocenter/facts.htm 3 http://www.youcanworkfromanywhere.com/infocenter/facts.htm 4 http://www.tfw.org.uk/teleworking/contents.htm 5 http://www.langhoff.com/faqs.html 6 Pinsonneault, A. (1999). The Impacts of Telecommuting on Organizations and Individuals: A Review of the Literature, Cahier du GreSI, 99(9). 7 Guimaraes, T., and Dallow, P. (1999). Empiracally Testing the Benefits, Problems, and Success Factors for Telecommuting Programs, European Journal of Information Systems, 8, 40-54. 8 Davenport, T.H. and Pearlson, K. (1998). Two Cheers for the Virtual Office, Sloan Management Review, 39(4), 51-65. 9 Guimaraes, T., and Dallow, P. (1999). Empiracally Testing the Benefits, Problems, and Success Factors for Telecommuting Programs, European Journal of Information Systems, 8, 40-54. 10 Kirvan, P. (1995). How to Manage Systems for Remote Workers, Communications News, 33, 67. 11 Kirvan, P. (1995). How to Manage Systems for Remote Workers, Communications News, 33, 67. 12 Guimaraes, T., and Dallow, P. (1999). Empiracally Testing the Benefits, Problems, and Success Factors for Telecommuting Programs, European Journal of Information Systems, 8, 40-54. 13 Davenport, T.H. and Pearlson, K. (1998). Two Cheers for the Virtual Office, Sloan Management Review, 39(4), 51-65. 14 Ascend Communications, 2002, â€Å"Telecommuting Network Guide: A Resource for Planners, Excutives, and Information Managers†, http://users.skynet.be/teletravail/PDF/solut_technique.pdf 15 Jessica L. Hirsch, 2000, â€Å"Telecommuting: Security Policies and Procedures for the â€Å"Work-From-Home† Workforce†, http://www.teleworker.org/articles/telework_security.html 16 Bandwidth Savings, 2003, â€Å"Services In Detailed†, http://www.bandwidthsavings.net/servicesdetail.cfm 17 Citrix.com, 2003, Home Page, http://www.citrix.com 18 Hall, Aric, Bilski, Alicia, Wadman, Scott, 2003, â€Å"Ways People Telecommute†, http://members.tripod.com/~trom/page3.html 19 http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc 20 Wrobel, Leo A., February 1997, â€Å"Helpful Hints for MIS Managers Supporting Telecommuters and Nomadic Users -Part I: Voice Communications†, http://www.rewireit.com/articles/w0297.pdf 21 http://www.webx.com 22 http://www.pcsupport.com/

Rene Desacartes and David Hume Essay

Rene Descartes and David Hume were two great philosophers during the modern period. Many of their issues focused on the existence of God. Hume’s writings on the existence of God are different to Descartes’. Descartes tries to prove Gods existence while Hume tries to show the foolishness of believing in God. However, both philosophers fail to solve the issue because they both hold many arguments. The major issue between Descartes and Hume is their conflicting methods on how the issue should be approached. Rene Descartes was an Enlightenment philosopher. He was also a rationalist. This is the opposite of empiricism as this theory claims that some knowledge can be known a priori, independently of experience. This means that if God were to be proved then experience would not necessarily be needed as some truth. The explanation of oneself is essential to Descartes’ thesis. That all â€Å"object relations except God are delusions promoted by the coherence of experience† (Weissman); that is, our everlasting subjective experience of the world could be false, although God is known to be true. Having decided that the empirical world and matter could be simply the creation of a devil, Descartes decides to follow his own consciousness, which is the only thing he could rely on. He is the type of person who only depends on himself and always thinks â€Å"I am† in situations. Descartes makes the unnecessary assumption that he is the carrier of his combined states. He states, â€Å"It is so self-evident that it is I who doubt, who understand and who wish, that there is no need to add anything to explain it†. This, as well as the truths of mathematics, is perceived â€Å"clearly and distinctly†. Clear and distinct ideas are very much relied on in the Cartesian philosophy of mind; for Descartes they are the necessary truths, grabbed by the intelligence. This central consciousness he claims equates to a â€Å"person†; the divisible body as an extended thing in space and time is finite, opposed to the infinite, non-physical, monadic soul. This distinction is the foundation of Cartesian ontological dualism. The mind and body are separate materials, existing on their own. Descartes believed that he developed a method by breaking a problem down into parts, accepting ideas that couldn’t be doubted and getting rid of one conclusion from another. Descartes came to the conclusion that the universe has a mathematically logical structure providing a unified body of knowledge. He believed that in order to obtain knowledge, there must be a normal method for achieving the truth, or any experience can not be a dependable source. David Hume was an empiricist which means that he believes all knowledge must come from experience, as there is no innate knowledge within the mind. If the existence of God were to be proved, it would require someone to experience or suppose his existence from experience in some way, because reason alone is inadequate to prove his existence. Hume’s position about knowledge is skepticism, which means he doesn’t believe we have knowledge for certain things. He is heavily influenced by the two philosophers, Locke and Berkley. Hume is similar to Berkley but without the part of believing in God. He believes in the analysis of causation. For example you know your friend is in France when you receive a post card from them in France. Hume’s explanations are more concerned with a passive physical brain and a graphic order of mind; the mind alone can tell us anything about the world. It contains an idea that simple and complex ideas are formed by direct perception of objects or self-reflection. Hume’s change incorporates an explanation on Locke’s ambiguous use of ‘idea’. He refers separately to perceptions of sensations and those of reflection. Simple ideas of Locke such as space and time became complex ideas for Hume. All perceptions are substances, capable of existence independent of the observer. Therefore we are perceptions, with a non-observable ‘self’. Furthermore since there can be no ‘impression’ of self, the idea of identity is weak. It is important to know that in Hume’s plan in order for people to obtain knowledge of something they must experience it first. Descartes believed that everything known, depends on perception, but if perception doesn’t have evidence not only from itself but also from the outside world than it will not be able to verify anything. According to Hume, â€Å"perceptions,† can be cut down to impressions and ideas. Axioms, were self evident principals which were â€Å"so clear and distinct† that they could not be doubted, and therefore accepted as certain contents of knowledge. Contrary to Descartes belief that effects must come from a cause, Hume believed that causes are senseless and uncertain. This contrasts sharply with Descartes’ proposal of ‘primary and secondary’ qualities. The primary qualities of objects are their geometric, indubitable measurements such as their extension, mass and location in space. These are only indirectly perceived through the secondary qualities of appearance, such as colour and tangibility. Descartes seeks to avoid a merely representationalist stance and attempts to further justify a belief in an external reality beyond our mental field of perception, and show that it is dependent on God. This is closely linked with Descartes’ equivocation of â€Å"clear and distinct† ideas; they refer both to the mathematical axioms of geometry – in a â€Å"triangle there is a certain determinate nature or essence or form of it, immutable and eternal, which has not been feigned by me, nor does it depend on [me]† – and to empirical statements about extension in space; in the Fifth Meditation he seeks to discover â€Å"something certain concerning material things†¦

Complex Relationships in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights Essay Rewrite: Within the novel Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, readers are confronted with many complex relationships. At times it is hard to understand these due to the range of relationships that occur, from interactions of hatred to relationships that show true passion. One such complex relationship is between Hareton Earnshaw and Catherine.As the novel progresses, we see love develop between these two characters that is best explained by how they are brought together, the problems that their relationship poses and how this relationship affects the other characters in the novel and the plot of the novel itself. The first way to understand this relationship is to examine how these two characters are brought together. In the novel, there is a real sense that fate has a lot to do with the union between the lovers, as Catherine and Hareton are reunited at the symbolic Penistone Crags.Catherine has a burning desire to go to the crags, the symbol of maturi ty, natural erotic desire and wild temptation. She asks Nelly and her father â€Å"Now, am I old enough to go to Penistone Crags? †(Bronte 147) As Catherine reaches teenage years, she desires to travel outside of Thrushcross Grange and ascend the large Penistone Crags, which are close to Wuthering Heights and Hareton. Catherine and Hareton spend the whole day near the Crags until Nelly fetches them.Bronte then describes the interaction between Hareton and Catherine as joyful, describing that â€Å"Her hat was hung against the wall, and she seemed perfectly at home laughing and chattering, in best spirits imaginable, to Hareton, now a great, strong lad of eighteen, who stared at her with considerable curiosity and astonishment† ( Bronte 149). This quote shows how there is an underlying connection between them; Hareton and Catherine begin to show similar characteristics in their relationship that Heathcliff and Cathy had in theirs, and this foreshadows how the relationsh ip will end up.The next interaction between the two is one day when Catherine meets Hareton and Heathcliff while on a stroll; Heathcliff makes it clear that Hareton is not his son. It is then insisted that she must come to Wuthering Heights to meet his son who she has met before, Linton. As Hareton and Catherine run off to play, Linton stays in seclusion as he is feeble and weak. The notion of Catherine running away with Hareton shows her natural tendencies and attraction for Hareton, because he allows her to be free and expressive. Ultimately, the two characters seem to be brought together by fate.In order for Hareton and Catherine to come together, they have to overcome many obstacles. The first problem that they run into is after Catherine is enlightened to the fact that Hareton is her cousin, she is disgusted by him. â€Å"†¦ she stopped and wept outright; upset at the bare notion of relationship with such a clown† (Bronte 152). This quote describes how Catherine thi nks of Hareton as a peasant or a servant and this devastates Hareton. The next problem that their relationship has is that Catherine is being forcibly courted by Linton, at the hand of his father.Heathcliff will do anything in order to fulfill his revenge, and thus will do anything to push the marriage between Catherine and Linton. An example of this is when Heathcliff literally kidnaps Catherine and refuses to let her leave Wuthering Heights until she agrees to marry Linton. It is obvious that Heathcliff is a major problem, preventing the love between Catherine and Hareton from materializing. Catherine realizes that Linton is vastly more educated than Hareton and that she can live a more refined lifestyle with Linton.Linton causes Hareton to feel great shame about his social and educational standing. A prime example of this is when Hareton and Catherine have run off, and Linton finds them standing below the inscription carved above the door. As â€Å"Hareton scared up, and scratch ed his head like a true clown. ‘It’s some damnable writing,’ he answered. ‘I cannot read it’† (Bronte 169). And almost immediately Linton takes the opportunity to degrade him in front of Catherine, laughing at him and calling him a â€Å"colossal dunce† (Bronte 170).This is the moment where Catherine seems to push away from Hareton, and lean towards Linton. Also not helping the situation is the declining health of Linton, as this draws Catherine more emotionally towards Linton and it completely devastates her. Bronte expresses through Nelly that â€Å"I couldn’t bear to witness her sorrow, to see her pale, dejected countenance, and heavy eyes† (Bronte 181). All the while, Hareton is barely mentioned, and later revealed that he has been teaching himself to read and write his own name, in an attempt to impress Catherine.As Hareton correctly identifies his name, he still cannot read the numbers, which causes Catherine to †Å"laugh heartily at his failure† and triggers the hot headed Hareton to â€Å"skull off† (Bronte 191). They are falling for each other, but there is a constant bickering between them due to Hareton’s lack of education—as he is not as accomplished as Linton. The deep burning desire to be together seems to be blocked by any and every character and event in the novel, yet the connection between Hareton and Catherine is easy to see.The final way to understand this relationship is to understand how it affects the characters in the play and how it drives the plot forward. Throughout the novel there had always been a sense that the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff never died. And this relationship is kept alive by Hareton and Catherine. Whenever Heathcliff looks are Hareton, he sees Cathy, and it drives him insane, and this is a problem because Heathcliff’s motivation in life was to get revenge on the Linton family.This revenge is what propelled t he novel forward, and when Heathcliff sees that Hareton and Catherine are happy, things within him click and he no longer desires to fulfill his plans. â€Å"†¦his society is no benefit, rather an aggravation of the constant torment that I suffer and it partly contributes to render me regardless how he and his cousin go together. I can give them no attention, anymore† (Bronte 248). This quote shows how Heathcliff no longer wants to give attention to his plans of revenge, because Hareton and Catherine are happy.This helps understand their relationship because even though Heathcliff was the mastermind behind everything, they were still able to find love and be happy, something that Heathcliff was never able to do with Cathy. It is as though the relationship was destined to happen, to fulfill not only the lives of Hareton and Catherine, but the souls of Heathcliff and Cathy. Even though the relationship between Hareton and Cathy was hard to understand, an explanation for th eir love can be made by examining the interactions them and characters in the novel and the overall plot of the story.This relationship served as an the final chapter to a cycle of revenge that Heathcliff started by showing him that even under pressure love can prevail. The complex relationship between Hareton and Catherine ultimately expelled the tension between the two estates and rid Heathcliff of his vengeful plots. Overall, this relationship was exemplified by how fate dictated their love, their interactions and their representation for a love of a previous generation.

Volvo

The objectives of this paper are to investigate and identify the factors and rationales that move Toyota onto hybrid vehicle production. PESTLE analysis is used to analyze the collected secondary data. According to PESTLE analysis, there are several reasons that affect Toyota to produce hybrid car. Based on the PESTLE analysis, all the factors are reasonable to support Toyota move to hybrid vehicle production. Researchers have invented some alternative energy technology like the electric car.Despite to its disadvantages where the electric car was found that it was unable to carry out long distance driving and the problem regarding the frequent recharges issue. Thus, the hybrid electric car technology is actually combine he benefits of both conventional fuel powered car and electric car. But, there will involve large amount of money in order to invent and develop a new technology. So, what are the rationales that move automakers, such as Toyota to into hybrid vehicle production?Key wo rd-Toyota, hybrid car, PESTLE analysis 1. Introduction In the last couple of years, automotive industry was coming up with great innovations nowadays in order to fulfill the demand of the market [1]. The most recent innovation was mainly focus on the aspect of environmental and energy utilization issues. Therefore, hybrid car has been introduced. Hybrid car technology is type of technologies that made the vehicle utilize at least two different power sources in order to move the car.In general, the hybrid car type which available in the market is hybrid electric vehicles (Have) such as Toyota Pries Hybrid and Honda Civic Hybrid. A HAVE is using the combination of the internal combustion engine with electrical motors to make the vehicle move. Its dual engine characteristic will improve the fuel efficiency and even help in increasing the performance of the vehicle. However, the conventional cars run on a single fuel resource namely gasoline, petrol and diesel.Due to the rising issues r egarding the shortage of the natural resource in world-wide recently, the conventional cars are not longer to meet for the future demand. In fact, The research objective of this paper is to investigate the rationales that move Toyota into hybrid vehicle production and to identify its related factors by using PESTLE analysts. 2. Literature Review PESTLE analysis is a structure for planning, presenting, and report writing, it is also an analytical tool to consider external factors and help in the analysis of the impacts.Basically, PESTLE is mainly used to identify and summarize environmental influences on an organization to help it assess actual and future strategic contexts [2]. Besides that, it is also a useful tool for understanding the external macro environment in which involved. PESTLE helps organization adapt proactively to ever changing environment and allows forward thinking so that issues are anticipated in advance [3]. Moreover, PESTLE analysis can help to take advantages o f the opportunities and minimize the threats. PESTLE can help to avoid strategies that may be doomed to failure for reasons beyond control.A recent study which conducted by Serializations 1) regarding the use of strategic management lolls which included PESTLE among the group of tools that were most widely used by practitioners in the world of business. Although the authors comment that given its relatively high current use (47% of respondents usage or have used this tool) it is, at the same time, considered a statistical outlier in that 30% of respondents claiming unawareness [4]. 2. 1 political Factors may be altered by the government's influence on a country infrastructure.Factors include the current and potential influences from political pressures and hence, the stability of the industry environment and the cost of operating will be affected. Political factors often impose costs upon organization such as taxes. The governments are often trying to protect firms in their countrie s from foreign competition through tariffs and import restrictions, and to encourage their development through cheap loans and large government contracts. On global warming has resulted in global agreement on emissions of greenhouse gases.Another environmental effect of a project is on the community that surrounds it 3. Methodology 2. 2 Economic Factors include local, national and world economic impact. Rates of economic growth, unemployment and interest rates will affect the spending power of nonusers and businesses which bring the impact on the nature of competition in an industry. Other important economic factors relate to the supply of and demand for key inputs, such as oil, metals, minerals, and skilled labor. 2. 3 social Factors include the ways in which changes in society affect the project.The growing consumer assertiveness and intolerance of poor quality are the social factors. The increasing of average household income with corresponding reduction in the time available to spent it. The other social factor is cultural aspects, health and safety consciousness, population growth rate, age strutting. 2. 4 Technological Factors include how new and emerging technology affects our project / organization. The technological factors are including maturity of technology, competing technological developments, research funding, technology legislation, and new discoveries.The information technology, internet, global and local communications can be easily access by user nowadays. 2. 5 Legal Factors include how local, national and global legislation affects the project. All the organizations have adjusted their products and ways of operation to the different regulatory and legislative frameworks that an govern their product areas and countries in which they are active. 2. 6 Environmental Factors include local, national and global environmental issues. The general environment problem such as global warming and pollution are the environmental factor in PESTLE analysis .The concern Figure 1: Proposed Research Process in Flow Chart First of all, we need to define the research problem. This will help us to determine the objective of the research. Once the project was defined, the research will proceed to review the concept and theories of the study. In this stage, the research will undertake extensive literature review from published Journal, article, books, conference proceeding, and government reports because the validity of data collected are strong enough to make this research strong and firm.Besides that, in the secondary data collection, the data was collected from published work on website, newspaper, corporate profiles or official statistics. These data collected must ensure the validity before refer and take information from the website because some of the websites are invalid such as flogger and Wisped. Thus, it is wise to begin any research activity with a review of the secondary data [10]. After data was collected, the analysis was begun . In this study, the method of analysis used was PESTLE analysis. The results were then interpreted and written in report form. . Discussion and Analysis In this section, we will discuss each of the factors, PESTLE accordingly. 4. 1 Political Factor In the last few years, the process of searching for the alternative energy source is not only restricting to the economic and environment concern. However, it also 2 consider as a national security concern. At 2007, the ex-president of United State, Bush, stated that â€Å"Union was largely focused on the energy issue, and the session the U. S. Government faces is how to lessen our dependence on foreign petroleum from unstable region of the world. With gas prices at an all-time high at the price of $3. 07 a gallon, which will be surpassed in upcoming years, we see the need for change, yet it is hard to plan out how to be free from our dependence when 97% of all energy consumed by vehicles is petroleum based [11]. Vehicles. Specifically, the Air Resources Board mandated that at least 2 percent, 5 percent and 10 percent of new car sales be zero-emitting by 1998, 2001 and 2003 respectively [37]. Besides, current CAVE aerogram will reward automakers who have significant contribution in production of the vehicles that incorporate better performance.The credit system of the CAVE was formed to reward automaker and to provide automakers more flexibility to produce difference type of vehicle that fulfill the requirement of CAVE [38]. However, the present president of U. S. , President Obama stated that he wants to end the America's addiction to foreign oil and reduce the government's focus on how to obtain oil from foreign countries [12]. By driving hybrid vehicle, everyone can contribute on reducing the burden of government and reliance on foreign country. Another Act affect the political factor is Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFEГ?) standard that also executed in U.S.. Since 1975, the U. S. Government has execute d CAFEГ? policy in order to reduce the greenhouse gases emission and oil consumption, following the 1973. -1974 oil crisis. CAFEГ? did influence the decision of automotive firm by setting a minimum standard for the average fuel economy of a manufacturer's fleet of vehicles sold in U. S. [39]. Thus, in order to fulfill the standard of CAFEГ?, the automaker has change a particular vehicle model's characteristic to increase its fuel economy, such as reduce the power, design the engine or transmission and reduces the weigh [40].Thus, hybrid car is one of the technologies developed in order to fulfill the standard of CAFEГ?. On 26th January 2009, President Obama has started to reverse the climate policies of Bush administration and has set new rules to force all of the automakers in U. S. To produce more efficient and pollution free vehicle. This new rule will force manufacturers of car to make the switch over to hybrid vehicle production In addition, the U. S. Congress o n 3rd October 2008 enacted a law which offers up to $7,500 in tax incentives for passenger plug-in car. This will help most of the buyer to reduce the initial cost when purchase a hybrid vehicle.Moreover, there are large possibilities that those incentives will included conversion of gas vehicles to plug-in/hybrid vehicles, meaning that people able to convert his or her current vehicle into hybrid. There are some policy has been executed by government has grad interest of Toyota to move into hybrid production. Energy policy act of 1992 is an act that focuses on encouragement of divestment in conservation and energy efficiency by electric utilities [35]. The fuel uses as a means for the Energy policy program to helping U. S. O reduce its dependence on important petroleum.In addition, it also provide more flexible way for fleet operator who already are burdened with the responsibility of complying with the requirement of this act by rearrange the existing incentives and requirement pr ogram to directly award the use of alternative fuel [36]. Besides that, the Californians Zero Emission Vehicle (CAVE) program also is one of the policies that do help to move Toyota into hybrid vehicle production. CAVE embarked in a plan to reduce vehicle emissions to zero through the gradual introduction of zero emission The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was signed into law byPresident Bush on August, 2005[14]. In this act, there is a section for individual that purchase or lease hybrid vehicles or other alternative motor vehicle state that the tax credit for hybrid vehicles, which was enacted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, may be as much as $3,400 for those who purchase the most fuel-efficient passenger vehicles and light trucks[1 5]. In order to improve and encourage the production of hybrid vehicle, there were some policies executed by the U. S. Government as the extension of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, such as Energy Independence and Security Act 2007, Energy and Improvement andExtension Act of 2008 and Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 4. 2 Economic Factor In our opinion, economic might be the main issue drive Toyota into hybrid vehicle production. In fact, a nation imports more products from foreign countries; it will lead to the more trade debt of nation. Therefore, the more Toyota Campy Hybrid was sold in the U. S. , the more trade debt was make by U. S. And directly affect the economics of U. S. Based on the price of the oil is keeps increasing in the global market situation, it takes money away from the disposable 3 income. This will lead to less retail spending and small business investment.This situation will bring greatly negative effect on the nation's gross domestic product. We conclude that because of the characteristic of high fuel efficiency of hybrid vehicle, the dependence of the country or even a family will be reduced, and thus more money is available in circulation of the economy. Besides that, automobile emissions contribute significa nt amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which will lead to global warming. Hybrids could help in the effort of increasing fuel efficiency and thus lowering emissions. The economic effect of a warming planet has two phases: mitigation costs and adaptation costs.Based on the Cambridge dictionary, adaptation means the process of changing to suit the different condition. The adaptation costs include those cost that let human survive during the arrival of disaster, such the relocation of coastal population, decreased agricultural production, water shortages and increased defense spending as global changes cause unrest and conflict. In addition, based on Oxford dictionary, mitigation means the action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something: the identification and mitigation of pollution.The mitigation cost includes those issues that related activities that tend to reverse or halt the problem and lead to the needed to invest in new clean energy technologi es development, the overall energy prices could be raised by a tax of carbon emission and lead to slower gross domestic product growth due to the increase of difficulties to obtain a clean energy resources where it requires a huge sum of money [19]. In our opinion, due to the benefit of hybrid vehicles, both mitigation cost and adaptation cost can be reduced and result in positive effect on economic of a nation.Hybrid vehicle believe to bring benefit to the nation trade. According to RCA, a Chicago-based economic insulting company, the oil rose to $120 per barrel, making oil responsible for 75% of the U. S. Trade deficit in 2008 [19]. This situation might lead to trade imbalance. Trade imbalance might occur if the dependence of a country have import excessive amount of oil, it was caused by domestic supplies have peaked. Thus, any products and any technologies (hybrid vehicle) that will help in reduce in oil import of a country will resolve the problem of trade imbalance.Based on th e subsidies for environmental purposes, Honda developed a fuel-cell prototype and will start centralization around 2002. However, Toyota also darted to build hydro-car that need only water and Toyota Pries which is a hybrid-based car with an electrical and conventional engine that both reduce energy needs to less than 5 liters per 100 kilometers is already a big success in Japan. According to the Budget of the United States of 2000, there is a section named â€Å"Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles†. This budget proposes $264 million, which is $24 more than in 1999, which is for investment in new generation vehicles.This cost is used for three research goal, which are to develop advanced manufacturing technique; to use new technologies for near-term emission improvements; and o develop production prototype vehicles three times more fuel-efficient than conventional cars [20]. According to the facts that mentioned above, hybrid vehicle is one of the solutions to solve all of these economic problems. So, this economic factor has attract Toyota to move into hybrid car production since it have great potential to solve economic problem that might facing by most of the country in future. . 3 Social factor In modern world, people who are attracted and interested in hybrid car progressively increase because it able to bring benefit in various aspects compare to non-hybrid car. The social factor has includes some issues like health and custom of nation. In our opinion, the main factor is air pollution. Formerly, the cars were run only by combustion engine and certain amount of unwanted gas (like nitrous oxides) was emitted from those cars and those emitted gases will cause serious air pollution.After a long period, the pollution will cause some health's problem, such as respiratory tract infection, skin disease, heart disease with high risk of complication, and others; at which the percentage of the problem will be increased progressively and may lead to fatal. This harass condition was settled by substituting hybrid car to the invitational car, because the combustion engine of hybrid car is less exposed to acceleration and burns fuel under more stable conditions, thus it emit less carbon dioxide (CO) than an engine of conventional flowered vehicle [21].Besides that, the noise emission from electric motor (noise pollution) also is a main disadvantage of conventional fuel-powered vehicle. Hybrid car is a vehicle that can bring the comfortable and relax feeling for the consumer during driving because the engine of the car able to operate with less noise emission, reduce the noise no matter at high speed or low speed. On the