Their Eyes Were Watching God: Personal Relationships Essay -- essays r

Zora Neale Hurston, with regards to subjects managing individual connections and the female quest for mindfulness in Their Eyes Were Watching God , has made a champion in Janie Crawford. Truth be told, the female point of view is presented right away. "Now, ladies overlook each one of those things they would prefer not to recall, and recollect all that they would prefer not to overlook. The fantasy is reality. At that point they act and do things accordingly" (Their Eyes 1). On the absolute first page of Their Eyes Were Watching God, the differentiation is made among people, in this way starting Janie's quest for her own fantasies and hinting the "female quest" subject of the remainder of the novel. "Detailing her journey for self-revelation and self-definition, it [Their Eyes] praises her [Janie] as a craftsman who advances Eatonville by conveying her understanding" (Kubitschek 22). Janie is a Black lady who stands up for herself past desire, with an ingenuity that portrays her quest for the love that she longed for as a young lady. She comprehends the cultural status that her life has given her, yet she is resolved to conquer this, and she is angry toward any person or thing that meddles with her journey for satisfaction. "So de white man toss down de burden and tell de nigger man tuh get it. He get it since he need to, however he don't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger lady is de donkey uh de world so hide as Ah can see," opines Janie's gr...

Ebay Turnaround Strategy Essay

The organization known as eBay, which began in 1995, developed altogether inside 10 years to turn into the main online business website on the planet by deals income. In 2008, Donahoe took over as the new CEO of eBay. This was the point at which the organization was confronting issues with development and customer conduct was evolving. What used to be an exciting encounter for purchasers was currently a badly designed exercise in futility and cash. Purchasers who were anxious to offer against one another for items online were presently happy with purchasing new items at fixed costs. In this manner, ebay’s turnaround system was to bring the purchasers the best understanding to discover what they need precisely how and when they need it. Albeit conventional eBay dealers grumbled about the trouble for them to work together beneficially with the new procedure, Donahoe accepted purchasers needed fixed costs, speedy help, and free delivery. I concur with Donahoe’s turnaround system in light of the fact that eBay needed to concentrate available requests to see development. Something must be done in a market where shoppers needed fixed costs and free delivery that they were getting from organizations like Amazon. om. Advertising division is isolating a market into littler sections of purchasers with particular needs, attributes, or practices that may require separate showcasing and creates profiles of the subsequent market fragments. Making applications for advanced cells and tablets was a decent method to isolate a particular division to its clients. For instance, the eBay Fashion application permitted clients to peruse through items from the style office. Purchasers had the option to remove time from their day and make more buys with blend and match highlights. Utilizing the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) strategy, organizations like eBay arrange all its SBUs as indicated by the development share framework. Market development rate gives a proportion of market engaging quality and relative piece of the pie quantifies a company’s quality in the market. The four sorts of SBUs are stars, money dairy animals, question marks, and pooches. Stars are high-development, high-share organizations like eBay. At the point when their development hinders it transforms into money cows, which need less speculation to hold their piece of the pie. Pepsi is a money cow as in its not developing however it is making enormous benefit meanwhile. Question marks are low-share specialty units in high-development markets. A question mark could be a little carport that does vehicle fixes on the grounds that it has a little piece of the overall industry yet a huge interest for vehicle fixes. Canines are low-development, low-share organizations and items that may create enough money to look after themselves. A case of this would be an unassuming community theater business.

Understanding ADHD Children and Anger

Understanding ADHD Children and Anger ADHD Living With ADD/ADHD Print Understanding ADHD Children and Anger By Keath Low Keath Low, MA, is a therapist and clinical scientist with the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina. She specializes in treatment of ADD/ADHD. Learn about our editorial policy Keath Low Reviewed by Reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW on August 28, 2019 facebook twitter instagram Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author of the bestselling book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Dont Do, and a highly sought-after speaker. Learn about our Wellness Board Amy Morin, LCSW Updated on September 18, 2019 ADHD Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Living With In Children Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / DigitalVision / Getty Images In This Article Table of Contents Expand ADHD and Anger Problems Oppositional Defiant Disorder Ways to Manage Anger View All Some kids with ADHD experience frequent anger outbursts which can get them into trouble at school, make it hard to maintain friendships and also put a strain on family life. Their anger might pass quickly, but the damage it causes can be long-lasting. 7 Reasons Why ADHD Can Result in Anger Problems Here are some of the most common reasons why kids with ADHD may exhibit angry outbursts The impulsive nature of ADHD means that if your child feels angry, he communicates it right away. He doesnt have a few seconds of lead time that a child without ADHD has, and they haven’t yet developed strategies that adults with ADHD develop.Kids and adults with ADHD tend to be emotional, sensitive, and feel things very deeply. They also have a hard time regulating those feelings. This can cause them to cry easily (which can be very embarrassing for them) or feel intensely angry.Moods change very quickly throughout the day when you have ADHD. There can be many episodes of happiness, sadness, and frustration in one afternoon.Low tolerance to frustration can mean that your child feels frustrated quickly, and this can cause anger outbursts.Low self-esteem and feeling anxious about a situation they can’t control can also lead to your child feeling anger.Sometimes children experience a difficult period when their stimulant medications are wearing off, resulting in increased meltdowns and tantrums.The energy and restlessness that comes along with ADHD may be too much to handle at times until it finally bubbles over into angry words or physical reactions. Oppositional Defiant Disorder Approximately one-third of all children with ADHD also have a condition called oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Children with ODD display defiant, hostile behaviors towards authority figures. They often lose their temper, frequently argue with adults, actively defy rules, blame others, deliberately annoy others, are touchy, easily annoyed and behave in angry, resentful ways overall. Obviously, some oppositional behaviors are expected in children, and ODD is only diagnosed if the pattern of behavior is significantly more intense and frequent when compared to other children of the same age. If you think your child might have ODD, book an appointment with your pediatrician.   Oppositional Defiant Behaviors in Children Ways to Manage Anger Here are some suggestions to help your child manage their frustration and anger.   Daily Exercise If anger is an issue for your child, be sure to provide appropriate outlets. Strenuous outdoor play and exercise can be very powerful releases for children with ADHD. Running, jumping, skipping, climbingâ€"these basic physical activities will help release some of the tension, restlessness, and extra energy that often accompanies ADHD.  Make sure your child is engaging in this type of play daily.   A Martial Art Consider enrolling your child in a martial arts class. Martial art is an excellent exercise choice for an ADHD child.  It helps develop self-discipline and self-control, which in turn helps with impulsivity. It also improves self-esteem and is an excellent way to release energy.   Use Words Encourage your child to ‘use their words’ rather than act aggressively.  To begin with, it might be hard for them because it is a new skill. However, with practice and a little help from you, it will become easier. Being able to articulate how they are feeling lessens their need to express themselves through anger. For example, ‘Jimmy took my red car and I feel mad.’ Limit Television and Video Games Supervise the programs your child watches on television or on the computer. Much of the media on TV, movies, video games, etc. is violent, aggressive and inappropriate. Children with impulse control problems may be more easily influenced by the aggressive reactions they see. Set rules around these programs, and explain to your child why it is not appropriate to watch these shows (or play these video games). Set Clear Rules and Enforce Them Consistently Make sure you have clear house rules around behavior. When your child is settled and able to talk, sit down and come up with the rules together. Discuss expectations and consequences for behaviors, including a reward system. Then once they are in place, stick to them. Don’t change the rules or make up consequences in the middle of an outburst. Be matter of fact. If this happens then this is the consequence. Strong boundaries are helpful for you both. The 8 Most Effective Ways to Discipline a Child With ADHD

The Colosseum Of The Roman Empire - 2608 Words

The Colosseum The Amphitheatrum Flavium or Flavian Amphitheater are two of the more cultural Roman names for what we know as The Colosseum. This historical monument dates us all the way back to the birth of Jesus. Roman Emperor Nero who once held power lead for over a course of many years. Not too many favorited him because of all the misrule throughout his term. This lead to Nero taking his life in A.D* 68 leaving his land in a fueled civil war period. Vespasian, eventually would take the throne after him for ten years. Vespasian was looking for change within the Roman Empire. Along with his two sons, Titus and Domitian, they made attempts on restoring the Roman authority and gaining public welfare. Roughly three years later Vespasian decided he wanted to do even more by replenishing the land near the center of the city. After years of war and a terrorizing fire in A.D 64, Vespasian, decided to use that center city space for The Colosseum. After its completion in 80 A.D, this world wonder was onl y a personal amphitheater for Vespasian himself. It wasn t until later he opened it to the public for entertainment. The Colosseum, is an enormous structure done in Roman architectural times. It was completed relatively quickly for it how big it was, and also its time period. Holding more than 50,000 spectators standing three stories tall, six hundred twenty feet by five hundred thirteen feet making this the largest structure the Roman’s have ever built. Each story was beingShow MoreRelatedThe Roman Colosseum Of Rome1153 Words   |  5 Pagesarchitecture, what do picture? I am going to assume you would picture colosseums. The piece of art I chose to research was the granddaddy of them all, the Roman Colosseum. This is potentially the most famous monument to survive the classical period. Today, the Colosseum is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions, attracting millions of visitors every year. This massive amphitheater is located in the center of Rome, Italy. During ancient roman times these massive amphitheaters were commonly placed aroundRead MorePolitical and Cultural Significance of the Flavian Amphitheatre1748 Words   |  7 PagesAssess the political and cultural significance of the construction and initial use of the Colosseum. Throughout the history of Ancient Rome, the construction of public buildings was used as a political tool, to manipulate the views of the people and to demonstrate the power of the State. The very first emperor of Rome, Augustus, initiated social reform through the construction of buildings from 27 BC onwards. Emperor Vespasian in 69 AD used a similar initiative, and throughout Rome’s history it canRead MoreImportance Of The Colosseum1054 Words   |  5 PagesThe functions religious or otherwise, of the colosseum were irrelevant to the ultimate design of the architecture. â€Å"Once the colosseum had been built it seems to have become the model for many, if not most, of those that followed† (Hopkins and Beard 2005, 24). The Colosseum stands proudly upon the villainous Emperor Nero’s once grand Valley of the Golden House, projecting the munificence of Imperial Roman Architecture of the Flavian period. Its ultimate design could be said to be formed throughRead MoreAncient Roman And The Roman Empire1236 Words   |  5 Pageswicked idea of entertainment. The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it is the largest amphitheater ever built and is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering. The Roman Colosseum, constructed in 79 AD, is a visual representation of the importance of physical strength and military proficiency in Ancient Roman civilization, this is because itRead MoreSocial Structu re in the Colosseum1229 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ The Ancient Roman Social Structure in the Colosseum Ancient Rome is one of the greatest and most influential societies in the history of the world. From the basic rules of how the Roman Empire is set up to the infrastructures in the city, the strict hierarchy of Roman social structure can be reflected clearly all over the whole ancient Rome. In fact that â€Å"public architecture presents people with the official view of a society and provides the background against which its individual markersRead MoreA Brief Note On The Punic Wars And Rome1713 Words   |  7 PagesPeninsula (History.com Staff). In the First Punic War, Rome defeated the Carthaginians at sea and Sicily became Rome’s first overseas province (History.com Staff). This First War ended with Rome in control of Sicily and Corsica resulting in the Roman Empire’s rise to a naval power in addition to land power (History.com Staff). While the Carthaginian general Hannibal scored several victories in the Second Punic War, he was defeated by Rome’s Scipio Africanus in 202 B.C. Rome gained control of theRead MoreRoman Empire : The Greatest Social And Political Center Of Western Civilization1478 Words   |  6 PagesAt its height, the Roman Empire was the greatest social and political center in western civilization. The empire survived for about 500 years, from 31 BCE to 476 CE. The land under Roman rule surrounded the Mediterranean Sea; its territory reached from Europe to the western part of the Middle East to the northern part of Africa. As Kathryn Hinds said in The Ancient Romans, â€Å"Ancient Rome has always been famous for its great achievements in architecture and engineering.† Roman architecture eventuallyRead MoreThe Colosseum : Cultural And Cultural Values1305 Words   |  6 Pages‘The Colosseum’ describes the societal and cultural values of Rome. In addition to this, the essay also demonstrates the technical and spatial features of the buildings and illustrates the way through the building is able to develop a language of classical architecture in Rome. The thesis statement of the present essay can be stated as ‘The extent to which the architectural building of ‘The Colosseum’ in Rome depicts the cultural and societal values and principles practiced in Ancient Roman Society’Read MoreThe Greatest Accomplishments of the Pax Romana?1214 Words   |  5 PagesThe Pax Romana A golden age is a period of cultural accomplishments brought on by economic prosperity and relative peace. The Roman empire experienced a golden age after the fall of the Roman Republic, arguably one of the greatest golden ages in history. The Pax Romana began in 27 B.C. and it reigned for 200 years before falling. The Pax Romana was a time of great prosperity with many accomplishments. The Pax Romana was not only significant because of the amount of wealth and power it wieldedRead MoreRoman Architecture1056 Words   |  5 PagesMemorial, all these things have been affected by ancient Roman architecture. This ancient Roman architecture came to be around the time period of the Pax Romana in the Roman Empire. It was a time of great wealth and prosperity for the empire which brought it into a time of a sort of golden age for architecture. This type of architecture was influenced by the ancient Greeks, but it took their ideas and transformed them to better advantage their own empire. These ideas and works are still being used today

Benefits and Disadvantages of Strategic Management

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 GREATEST ADVANTAGES OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 4 GREATEST SHORTCOMING OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 5 RESPONSE TO MILTON FRIEDMAN’S ARGUMENT ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITES OF BUSINESS 6 CONCLUSION 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 9 REFLECTION TEMPLATE 10 INTRODUCTION Strategic management is essential for organisations. There are a few areas that I will be analysing to highlight their effects to an organisation. Firstly I wish to discuss decision making, which I believe to be, the greatest advantage of strategic management. The decision making element provides an organisation a clearly defined framework to work within, however still allowing for flexibility to achieve its strategic direction. This strategic element allows†¦show more content†¦Greatest Shortcoming of Strategic Management The greatest shortcoming of strategic management in my opinion is the implementation of strategy. This is the single most common failure of great strategies. It is documented that most managers believe that the difficulty in implementing strategy surpasses that of formulating it. The study found that 73 percent of managers believed that implementation is more difficult than formulation. â€Å"Though remarkable progress has been made in the field of strategic management, the problem of strategy implementation failure still persists. A report by Deloitte and Touche (1992,) shows that eight out of ten companies fail to deploy their strategies effectively.† (Martin Dandira) Examples of barriers that impede on the success of implementation are: Strategy formulation: â€Å"Most cases where strategies fail, implementers did not have an input at the formulation stage.† (Martin Dandira) An example of this would be a production manager was not involved in the introduction of a new brand of Whiskey. Environmental uncertainty, â€Å"The speed of change and events in the industry makes some strategy that was probably sound during its conception, a pointless activity when a major change happens.† (Yii Teang Tan, 2004) Organisational culture, A good example is the case study of Air New Zealand. One of the employeesShow MoreRelatedCompetitive Advantage1196 Words   |  5 Pagesbuyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, and the rivalry among existing competitors (Pfeffer, J., 2005). Three methods for maintaining competitive advantage that will address these forces are effective strategic management, the effective management of people, and the effective management of research and development. Dr. Johannes Snyman conducted a study of the trucking industry within the United States. Dr. Snyman concluded in order to compete successfully in today s deregulated environmentRead MorePlanning Is The First Function Of Fayol’S Pillars Of Management1044 Words   |  5 PagesPlanning is the first function of Fayol’s pillars of management (Humber EDU, 2015). If the planning foundation does not take place in an organization, then the other pillars of management known as organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling will not take place(Cliffs Notes, 2016). Managers need to plan for achieving goals and objectives with as little errors, waste, and delays. If many errors occur, a lot of waste, and delays happen, the organization will lose time, money, and possible sightRead MoreStrengths And Strengths Of Nucor970 Words   |  4 PagesStrengths of Nucor: - Strong management team and strong leadership - Efficient lean organization structure - Has highly productive, motivated, innovative and non-union workforce - Has risk taking culture - Has highly productive technology for the mills - The large size of the company provides Nucor with more bargaining power Weaknesses of Nucor: - Lack of diversification in international presence - Rely too much on U.S. market, and all of Nucor’s facilities and equipment are in U.S., so Nucor facesRead MoreWhat Is Formal Planning Can Be Done On A As Need Basis But It s Not The Right Way1656 Words   |  7 PagesPART B: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT Roger believes that planning can be done on a â€Å"as needs† basis. Explain to roger what the benefits of formal planning might be in the context of his organization Roger believes that planning can be done based on need basis but it’s not the right way. Implementing formal planning by Roger in the Scullys Scallops will help a lot in improving their growth and also improves its standard in the global market. .With the help of this planning Roger can easily indentifyingRead MoreBenefits Of Formal Planning For A Business Organization Essay1422 Words   |  6 Pages Assume Scully’s Scallops has decided to proceed with the new market opportunities in China. 1. Roger believes that planning can be done on a â€Å"as needs† basis. Explain to Roger what are the benefits of formal planning might be in the context of his organization. Ans) In the world of management, planning is as fundamental as it gets. Many believe planning is the most fundamental of the managerial functions because all other functions, including organizing, leading, controlling and staffing, stemRead MorePerformance Management : China, Australia, And India1387 Words   |  6 PagesPerformance Management: China, Australia, and India It is much easier to describe an ideal performance management system (PMS) than to implement one. Societal, cultural, practical, and organizational constraints may restrict an organization’s ability to implement all of the ideal PMS characteristics. This truth becomes especially apparent when comparing different countries such as China, Australia, and India. While each country has its challenges, PMS successes are possible by having a thoroughRead MoreSiemens Clicks with Click2Procure1203 Words   |  5 PagesDo you feel the advantages of using this system outweigh the disadvantages? Strategic planning, management and operational control can be successful with the implementation of the appropriate ERP solution for a company. The ERP solution to be implemented by Siemens in this case is Click2procure, a procurement platform which involves connecting buyers and suppliers using web-based technology. Siemens stands to benefit from the use of this system through reduced operational and administrativeRead MoreSwot Analysis of Coca Cola1668 Words   |  7 Pagesfronts. Businesses should weigh up the risks and costs of opting for growth carefully against the benefits. business diversification isn’t just selling more types of products. Developing a business plan that includes well-researched, strategic efforts will not only expand the reach of the business, but also help increase the value of existing services. 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Managers have to perform many roles in an organization and knowing how they would handle difficult situations will depend on their style of management. The purpose of the paper is to understand a little about all the management styles and then which one best fits my personality and how it should be handled. Being

Night World Secret Vampire Chapter 7 Free Essays

Then you must have had a reason,† Poppy saidflatly. When he looked at her, she shrugged. â€Å"I know you. We will write a custom essay sample on Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 7 or any similar topic only for you Order Now † She knew him in a way she’d never known anyone. James looked away. â€Å"I didn’t have a reason, but there were some †¦extenuating circumstances. You could say I was set up. But I still have nightmares.† He sounded so tired-so sad.It’s a lonely world, fullof secrets, poppythought. And he’d had to keep the biggest secret of all from everyone, including her. â€Å"It must have been awful for you,† she said, hardlyaware that she was speaking out loud. â€Å"I mean, all your life-holding this in. Not telling anybody. Pretending†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Poppy.† He gave a shiver of repressed emotion.†Don’t.† â€Å"Don’t sympathize with you?† He shook his head. â€Å"Nobody’s’s ever understood before.† After a pause he said, â€Å"How can you worry about me? With what you’re facing?† â€Å"I guess because -I care about you.† â€Å"And I guess that’s why I didn’t treat you like Michaela or Jacklyn,† he said. Poppy looked at the sculpted planes of his face, atthe wave of brown hair falling over his forehead like silk †¦and held her breath. Say â€Å"I love you,† she ordered mentally.Say it, you thickheaded male. But they weren’t connected, and James didn’t givethe slightest sign of having heard. Instead he turned brisk and businesslike. â€Å"We’d better get started.† Hegot up and drew the window curtains shut. â€Å"Sunlight inhibits all vampire powers,† he said in a guest lecturer voice. . Poppy took advantage of the pause to go to the CDplayer. The music had changed to a Dutch club song,which was fine for doing the Netherlands skippydance to, but not very romantic. She punched a but ton and a velvety Portuguese lament began. Then she twitched the sheer hangings around the bed dosed. When she sat down again, she and James were in their own little world, dim and secluded, enclosed in misty eggshell white. â€Å"I’m ready,† she said softly, and James leaned inclose to her. Even in the semidarkness Poppy felt mesmerized by his eyes. They were like windows tosome other place, someplace distant and magical. The Night World, she thought, and tilted her chinback as James took her in his arms. This time the double sting at her neck hurt good. But best was when James’s mind touched hers.The feeling of oneness, of suddenly being whole-it spread through her like starshine. Once again she had the sense that they were melting together, dissolving and merging everywhere they touched. She could feel her own pulse echoingthrough him. Closer, loser†¦ and then she felt a pulling-back. James? What’s wrong? Nothing,he told her, but Poppy could sense that itwasn’t quite true. He was trying to weaken the growing bond between them †¦ but why? Poppy, I just don’t want to force you into anything.What we’re feeling is-artificial†¦. Artificial? It was the realest thing that she’d everexperienced. Realer than real. In the midst of joy, Poppy felt a surge of hurt anger at James. I don’t mean it like that,he said, and there was desperation in the thought.It’s just that you can’t resist the blood-bond. You couldn’t resist it if you hated me. Itisn’t fair†¦. Poppy didn’t care about fair.Ifyou can’t resist it,why are you trying?she asked him triumphantly. She heard something like mental laughter, andthen they were both clinging together as a wave of pure emotion swept them. The blood-bond, Poppy thought when James raisedhis head at last. It doesn’t matter if he won’t say he loves me-we’re bonded now. Nothing can changethat. And in a moment or so she would seal that bondby taking his blood. Try and resistthat,she thought, and was startled when James laughed softly. â€Å"Reading my mind again?† â€Å"Not exactly. You’re projecting-and you’re verygood at it. You’re going to be a strong telepath.† Interesting. . . but right now Poppy didn’t feelstrong. She suddenly felt kitten-weak. Limp as a wilting flower. She needed †¦ â€Å"I know,† James whispered. Still supporting her, he started to lift one wrist to his mouth. Poppy stopped him with a restraining hand. â€Å"James? How many times do we have to do thisbefore I-change?† â€Å"Once more, I think,† James said quietly. â€Å"I tooka lot this time, and I want you to do the same. And the next time we do it †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I’ll die, Poppy thought. Well, at least I know howlong I have left as a human. James’s lips slid back to reveal long, delicate fangs,and he struck at his own wrist. There was something snake like in the motion. Blood welled up, the colorof syrup in a can of cherry preserves. Just as Poppy was leaning forward, lips parted,there was a knock at the door. Poppy and James froze guiltily. The knock came again. In her muddled and weakened state, Poppy couldn’t seem to make herself move. The only thought that resounded in her brainwasOh,please. Please don’t let it be†¦ The door opened. Phil. Phillip was already speaking as he poked his headin. â€Å"Poppy, are you awake? Mom says-â€Å" He broke off abruptly, then lunged forthelightswitch on the wall. Suddenly the room was illuminated. Oh,terrific,Poppy thought in frustration. Phil waspeering through the filmy draperies around the bed. Poppy peered back at him. â€Å"Whatis going-on?† he said in a voice that would have gotten him the lead role in The Ten Com mandments.And then, before Poppy could gather enough wits to answer, he leaned in and grabbed James by the arm. â€Å"Phil,don’t,† Poppysaid. â€Å"Phil, you idiot†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We had a deal,† Phil snarled at James. â€Å"And you broke it.† James was gripping Phil’s arms now, as ungentlyas Phil was grasping him. Poppy had the dismayed feeling that they were going to start head-buttingeach other. Oh, Lord, if she could onlythinkstraight. She feltso brainless. â€Å"You’ve got the wrong idea,† James said to Philthrough clenched teeth. â€Å"The wrongidea? Icome in here and find the two of you in bed, with all the curtains drawn, and you’re telling me I’ve got the wrongidea?† â€Å"Onthe bed, Poppy interjected. Phil ignored her. James shook Phil. He did it quite easily and withan economy of movement, but Phil’s head snapped back and forth. Poppy realized that James was not athis most rational right now. She remembered the metal chair leg and decided it was time to intervene. Letgo,†she said, reaching in between the two boys to grab for hands. Anybody’s hands. â€Å"Come on,you guys!† And then, desperately, â€Å"Phil, I know youdon’t understand, but James is trying tohelp me-â€Å" â€Å"Help you? I don’t think so.† And then to James:†Look at her. Can’t you see that this stupid pretending is making hersicker? Every time I find her with you, she’s white as a sheet. You’re just making things worse.† â€Å"You don’t know anything about it,† Jamessnarled in Phil’s face. But Poppy was still processing something several sentences back. â€Å"Stupid? Pretending?† she said. Her voice wasn’t very loud but everything stopped. Both boys looked at her. Everyone made mistakes then. Later, Poppy wouldrealize that if any of them had kept their heads, what happened next could have been avoided. But noneof them did. â€Å"I’m sorry,†Philsaid to Poppy. â€Å"I didn’t want totell you-â€Å" â€Å"Shut up,†James said savagely. â€Å"But I have to.This-jerk-isjust playing with you.He admitted it to me. He said he felt sorry for you,and he thinks that pretending he likes you makesyou feel better. He’s got an ego that would fill Dodger Stadium.† â€Å"Pretending?† Poppy said again, sitting back. Therewas a buzzing in her head and an eruption gathering in her chest. â€Å"Poppy, he’s crazy,† James said. â€Å"Listen-â€Å" But Poppy wasn’t listening. The problem was thatshe couldfeelhow sorry Phil was. It was much more convincing than anger. And Phillip, honest, straightforward, trustworthy Phillip, almost never lied. He wasn’t lying now. Which meant†¦ that James must be. Eruption time. â€Å"You. . .†she whispered to James.,†You . . .†She couldn’t think of a swear word bad enough. Some how she felt more hurt, more betrayed than she hadever felt before. She had thought sheknewJames;she had trusted him absolutely. Which made the betrayal all the worse. â€Å"So it was all pretending? Isthat it?† Some inner voice was telling her to hold on andthink. That she was in no state to make crucial decisions. But she was also in no state to listen to innervoices. Her own anger kept her from deciding if shehad any good reason to be angry. â€Å"You just feltsorryfor me?† she whispered, and suddenly all the fury and grief that she’d been suppressing for the last day and a half flooded out. Shewas blind with pain, and nothing mattered exceptmaking James hurt as much as she hurt. Jameswas breathing hard,speaking rapidly.†Poppy-this is why I didn’t want Phil to know-â€Å" â€Å"And nowonder,† Poppyraged. â€Å"And no wonderyou wouldn’t say you loved me,† she went on, not even caring that Phillip was listening. â€Å"And no wonder you would do all that other stuff, but you never even kissed me. Well, I don’t want yourpity-â€Å" â€Å"Whatotherstuff?.Allwhatotherstuff?†Philshouted.†I’mgonna kill you, Rasmussen!† He tore free of James and swung at him. Jamesducked so that the fist just grazed his hair. Philswung again and James twisted sideways andgrabbed him from behind in a headlock. Poppy heard running footsteps in the hall. â€Å"What’s happening?† her mother gasped in dismay, regarding the scene in Poppy’s bedroom. At almost the same instant Cliff appeared behindPoppy’s mother. â€Å"What’s all the shouting?† he asked, his jaw particularly square. â€Å"You’rethe one who’s putting her in danger,†James was snarling in Phillip’s ear. â€Å"Right now.† Helooked feral. Savage. Inhuman. â€Å"Let go of my brother!† Poppyyelled. All at onceher eyes were swimming with tears. â€Å"Oh, my God-darling,† her mother said. In two steps she was beside the bed and holding Poppy.† You boys getoutof here.† The savagery drained out of James’s expression,and he loosened his hold on Phillip. â€Å"Look, I’m sorry. I have to stay. Poppy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Phillip slammed an elbow into his stomach. It might not have hurt James as much as it woulda human, but Poppy saw the fury sweep over his face as he straightened from doubling up. He lifted Phil off his feet and threw him headfirst in the general direction of Poppy’s dresser. Poppy’s mother let out a cry. Cliff jumped in between Phil and James. â€Å"That’s enough!† he roared. Then, to Phil: â€Å"Are you all right?† And to James: â€Å"What’s this allabout?† Phil was rubbing his head dazedly. James saidnothing. Poppy couldn’t speak. â€Å"All right, it doesn’t matter,† Cliff said. â€Å"I guesseverybody’s a little jumpy right now. But you’d better go on home, James.† James looked at Poppy. Poppy, throbbing all over like an aching tooth,turned her back on him. She burrowed into her mother’s embrace. â€Å"I’ll be back,† James said quietly. It might have been meant as a promise, but it sounded like a threat. â€Å"Not for a while, you won’t,† Cliff said in a military command voice. Gazing over her mother’s arm, Poppy could see that there was blood on Phillip’sblond hair. â€Å"I think everybody needs a cooling-off period. Now, come on, move.† He led James out. Poppy sniffled and shivered, trying to ignore both the waves of giddiness that swept over her and the agitated murmuring of all the voices in her head. The stereo went on blasting out madcorestomping music from England. In the next two days James called eight times. Poppy actually picked up the phone the first time.It was after midnight when her private line rang, and she responded automatically, still half-asleep. â€Å"Poppy, don’t hang up,† James said. Poppy hung up. A moment later the phone rangagain. â€Å"Poppy, if you don’t want to die, you’ve got tolisten to me.† â€Å"That’s blackmail. You’resick,†Poppy said, clutching the handset. Her tongue felt thick and her head ached. â€Å"It’s just the truth. Poppy, listen. You didn’t takeany blood today. I weakened you, and you didn’t get anything in exchange. And that could kill you.† Poppy heard the words, but they didn’t seem real.She found herself ignoring them, retreating into afoggy state where thought was impossible. â€Å"I don’tcare.† â€Å"You do-care, and if you could think, you’d knowthat. It’s the change that’s doing this. You’re completely messed up mentally. You’re too paranoid andillogical and crazy toknowyou’re paranoid and illogical and crazy.† It was suspiciously like what Poppy hadrea!izedearlier. She was aware, dimly, that she was acting the way Marissa Schaffer had after drinking a sixpack of beer at Jan Nedjar’s New Year’s party. Making a ranting fool of herself. But she couldn’t seemto stop. â€Å"I just want to know one thing,† she said. â€Å"Is ittrue that you said that stuff to Phillip?† She heard James let his breath out. â€Å"It’s true thatI said it. But whatI said wasn’t true. It was just toget him off my back.† By now Poppy was too upset to even want tocalm down. â€Å"Why should I believe somebody whose whole lifeis a lie?† she said, and hung up again as the first tears spilled. All the next day she stayed in her state of foggy denial. Nothing seemed real, not the fight withJames, not James’s warning, and not her illness. Especially not her illness. Her mind found a way toaccept the special treatment she was getting from everyone without dwelling on the reason forthetreatment. She even managed to disregard her mother’s whispered comments to Phil about how she was going downhill so fast. How poor Poppy was getting pale, getting weak, getting worse. And only Poppy knew that she could now hear conversations held in the hallway as clearly as if they were in her own room. All her senses were sharpened, even as her mindwas dulled. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was startled by how white she was, her skintranslucent as candle wax. Her eyesso green and fierce that they burned. The other six times James called, Poppy’s mothertold him Poppy was resting. Cliff fixed the broken trim on Poppy’s dresser.†Who would have thought the kid was that strong?† he said. James flipped his cellular phone shut and banged a fist on the Integra’s dashboard. It was Thursday afternoon. I low you.That’s what he should have said toPoppy. And now it was too late-,she wouldn’t even talk to him. Whyhadn’the said it? His reasons seemed stupid now. So he hadn’t taken advantage of Poppy’s innocence and gratitude †¦well, bravo. All he’d donewas tap her veins and break her heart. All he’d done was hasten her death. But there wasn’t time to think about it now. Rightnow he had a masquerade to attend. He got out of the car and gave his windbreaker a twitch as he walked toward the sprawling ranch style house. He unlocked and opened the door without callingto announce his presence. He didn’t need to announce it; his mother would sense him. Inside, it was all cathedral ceilings and fashionablybare walls. The one oddity was that every one of the many skylights was covered with elegant custom made drapes. This made the interior seem spacious but dim. Almost cavernous. â€Å"James,† his mother said, coming from the back wing. She had jet-black hair with a sheen like lacquerand a perfect figure that was emphasized rather thandisguised by her silver-and-gold embroidered wrap.Her eyes were cool gray and heavily lashed, like James’s. She kissed the air beside his cheek. â€Å"I got your message,† James said. â€Å"What do youwant?† â€Å"I’d really rather wait until your father gets home†¦.† â€Å"Mom, I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry. I’ve got thingsto do-I haven’t even fed today.† â€Å"It shows,† his mother said. She regarded him fora moment without blinking. Then she sighed, turning toward the living room. â€Å"At least, let’s sit down†¦.You’ve been a little agitated, haven’t you, these last few days?† James sat on the crimson-dyed suede couch. Nowwas the test of his acting ability. If he could get through the next minute without his mother sensingthe truth, he’d be home free. â€Å"I’m sure Dad told you why,† he said evenly. â€Å"Yes. Little Poppy. It’s very sad, isn’t it?† The shadeof the single treelike floor lamp was deep red, and ruby light fell across half his mother’s face. â€Å"I was upset at first, but I’m pretty much over itnow,† James said. He kept his voice dull and concen trated on sending nothing-nothing-through hisaura. He could feel his mother lightly probing theedges of his mind. Like an insect gently caressing with an antenna, or a snake tasting the air with its black forked tongue. :†I’m surprised† his mother said. â€Å"1 thought youliked her.† â€Å"I did. But, after all, they’re not reallypeople,are they?† He considered a moment, then said, â€Å"It’s sort of like losing a pet. I guess I’ll just have to find another one.† It was a bold move, quoting the party line. Jameswilled every muscle to stay relaxed as he felt the thought-tendrils tighten suddenly, coiling aroundhim, looking for a chink in his armor. He thought very hard-about Michaela Vasquez. Trying to project just the right amount of negligent fondness. It worked. The probing tendrils slipped away fromhis mind, and his mother settled back gracefully and smiled. â€Å"I’m glad you’re taking it so well. But if you everfeel that you’d like to talk to someone †¦ your father knows some very good therapists.† Vampire therapists, she meant. To screw his headon straight about how humans were just for feeding on. â€Å"I know you want to avoid trouble as much as Ido,† she added. â€Å"It reflects on the family, you see.† â€Å"Sure,† James said, and shrugged. â€Å"I’ve got to gonow. Tell Dad I said hi, okay?† He kissed the air beside her cheek. â€Å"Oh, by the way,† she said as he turned towardthe door. â€Å"Your cousin Ashwillbe coming next week. I think he’d like to stay with you at the apartment-and I’m sure you’d like some companythere.† Over my unbreathing body, James thought. He’dforgotten all about Ash’s threat to visit. But now wasn’t the time to argue. He walked out feeling likea juggler with too many balls in the air. Back in his car he picked up the cellular phone,hesitated, then snapped it shut without turning it on. Calling wasn’t any good. It was time to change hisstrategy. All right, then. No more half measures. A seriousoffensive-aimed where it would do the most good. He thought for a few minutes, then drove toMcDonnell Drive, parking just a few houses awayfrom where Poppy lived. And then he waited. He was prepared to sit there all night if necessary,but he didn’t have to. Just around sunset the garage door opened and a white Volkswagen Jetta backedout. James saw a blond head in the driver’s seat Hi, Phil. Nice to see you.When the Jetta pulled away, he followed it. How to cite Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 7, Essay examples

Tale Of Two Cities Essay Paper Example For Students

Tale Of Two Cities Essay Paper Tale of Two Cities In the fictitious novel Tale of Two Cities, the author, Charles Dickens, lays out a brilliant plot. Charles Dickens was born in England on February 7, 1812 near the south coast. His family moved to London when he was ten years old and quickly went into debt. To help support himself, Charles went to work at a blacking warehouse when he was twelve. His father was soon imprisoned for debt and shortly thereafter the rest of the family split apart. Charles continued to work at the blacking warehouse even after his father inherited some money and got out of prison. When he was thirteen, Dickens went back to school for two years. He later learned shorthand and became a freelance court reporter. He started out as a journalist at the age of twenty and later wrote his first novel, The Pickwick Papers. He went on to write many other novels, including Tale of Two Cities in 1859. We will write a custom essay on Tale Of Two Cities Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Tale of Two Cities takes place in France and England during the troubled times of the French Revolution. There are travels by the characters between the countries, but most of the action takes place in Paris, France. The wineshop in Paris is the hot spot for the French revolutionists, mostly because the wineshop owner, Ernest Defarge, and his wife, Madame Defarge, are key leaders and officials of the revolution. Action in the book is scattered out in many places; such as the Bastille, Tellsons Bank, the home of the Manettes, and largely, the streets of Paris. These places help to introduce many characters into the plot. One of the main characters, Madame Therese Defarge, is a major antagonist who seeks revenge, being a key revolutionist. She is very stubborn and unforgiving in her cunning scheme of revenge on the Evermonde family. Throughout the story, she knits shrouds for the intended victims of the revolution. Charles Darnay, one of whom Mrs. Defarge is seeking revenge, is constantly being put on the stand and wants no part of his own lineage. He is a languid protagonist and has a tendency to get arrested and must be bailed out several times during the story. Dr. Alexander Manette, a veteran prisoner of the Bastille and moderate protagonist, cannot escape the memory of being held and sometimes relapses to cobbling shoes. Dr. Manette is somewhat redundant as a character in the novel, but plays a very significant part in the plot. Dr. Manettes daughter, Lucie Manette, a positive protagonist, is loved by many and marries Charles Darnay . She is a quiet, emotional person and a subtle protagonist in the novel. One who never forgot his love for Lucie, the protagonist Sydney Carton changed predominately during the course of the novel. Sydney , a look-alike of Charles Darnay, was introduced as a frustrated, immature alcoholic, but in the end, made the ultimate sacrifice for a good friend. These and other characters help to weave an interesting and dramatic plot. Dr. Manette has just been released from the Bastille, and Lucie, eager to meet her father whom she thought was dead, goes with Mr. Jarvis Lorry to bring him back to England. Dr. Manette is in an insane state from his long prison stay and does nothing but cobble shoes, although he is finally persuaded to go to England. Several years later, Lucie, Dr. Manette, and Mr. Lorry are witnesses at the trial of Charles Darnay. Darnay, earning his living as a tutor, frequently travels between England and France and is accused of treason in his home country of France. He is saved from being prosecuted by Sydney Carton, who a witness confuses for Darnay, thus not making the case positive. Darnay ended up being acquitted for his presumed crime. .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b , .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .postImageUrl , .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b , .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:hover , .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:visited , .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:active { border:0!important; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:active , .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u60e9d78f253d028323765996c4071b9b:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: LEGALIZE IT Essay Summary Darnay and Carton both fall in love with Lucie and want to marry her. Carton, an alcoholic at the time, realizes that a relationship with Lucie is impossible, but he still tells her that he loves her and would do anything for her. Darnay and Lucie marry each other on the premises of the two promises between Dr. Manette and Darnay. Right after the marriage, while the newlyweds are on their honeymoon, Dr. Manette has a relapse and cobbles shoes for nine days straight. Frances citizens arm themselves for a revolution and, led by the Defarges, start the revolution by raiding the Bastille. Shortly before the start of the revolution, the Marquis runs over a child in the streets of Paris. He is assassinated soon after by Gaspard, the childs father, who is also a part of the revolution. Three years later, right in the middle of the revolution, Darnay is called to France to help Gabelle, an old friend. As soon as he goes down what seems to be a one-way street to France, he is arrested (in France) for being an enemy of the state. Dr. Manette, Lucie, and the Darnays daughter go shortly after to Paris to see if they can be of any help to Charles. When the delayed trial finally takes place, Dr. Manette, who is in the peoples favor, uses his influence to free Charles. The same day, Charles is re-arrested on charges set forth by the Defarges and one other mystery person. The next day, at a trial that had absolutely no delay, Charles is convicted and sentenced to death. Because of the despondent situation, Dr. Manette has a relapse and cobbles shoes. Sydney Carton overhears plot to kill Lucie, her daughter, and Dr. Manette and has them immediately get ready to leave the country. Carton, having spy contacts, gets into the prison in which Darnay is being held, drugs him and switches places with him. Lucie, Charles, and their daughter successfully leave the country. Sydney Carton, making the ultimate sacrifice, partly for Lucie, goes to the guillotine in place of Charles. Just before he dies, Carton has a vision in which society is greatly improved and the Darnays have a son named after him. This dramatic plot revolves around several central themes. One theme involves revenge. Ones bad side is brought out by the evil effects of revenge. Madame Defarge is the main subject of this implicit theme. She turns into a killing machine because she must get revenge. An example of this is when she finds out Charles Darnay is an Evermonde and is going to marry Lucie Manette. She knits Darnays name into the death register. Another key theme in the novel has to do with courage and sacrifice. There were many sacrifices in this novel by many different characters. The ultimate sacrifice was made by Sydney Carton. Because of his love for Lucie and his friendship with Darnay, Carton is the example of one of the most important themes implied in this book. Carton helps others, and does not think so much of himself. Right before going to the guillotine, Carton sees a better world, a world where he gave to others, not thinking of himself. These themes help outline an interesting story. Tale of Two Cities is a very long and detailed historical novel. It is my opinion that the major strength of this book was the suspense and drama involved to keep the reader hooked. There are always incidents to keep the reader thinking, whats going to happen now? For example, I as a reader wondered, Will Dr. Manette ever get back to his old self?; What will happen to Charles Darnay?; and so on. A major weakness of this book, in my opinion, was the fact that it was so very long and had a somewhat advanced vocabulary. .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 , .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .postImageUrl , .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 , .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:hover , .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:visited , .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:active { border:0!important; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:active , .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914 .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u98e68f45e5b75bf03d59361d6020d914:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Barbie Essay Tale of Two Cities was almost 400 pages long and took quite a bit of thinking on the readers part to understand. The novel used such words as capricious; coquette; tergiversation; and acquiesced, among others, which I included on my vocabulary list. I will admit, this writing does enhance ones terminology greatly, but these words are not used in everyday speech. It is good to read literary classics, however, Dickens Tale of Two Cities would not be one of my favorites.

Solutions for Homelessness essays

Solutions for Homelessness essays This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an I will work for food sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nations indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education. Many believe that a common thread among the homeless is a lack of permanent and stable housing. But beyond that, the factors leading to homelessness and the services that are needed are unique according to the individual. To put them into one general category the homeless- suggests that people are homeless for similar reasons and therefore a single solution is the answer. Every homeless person shares the basic needs of affordable housing, adequate incomes and attainable healthcare. But a wide range of other unmet needs cause some people to become or remain homeless which include drug treatment, employment training, transportation, childcare and mental health services (Center 8.) Presently, one of the main causes of homelessness in American is the lack of affordable housing. New York researchers claim that affordable housing is the answer to homelessness. Researcher, Mary Beth Shinn, states, homelessness is first and foremost a housing problem not a psychological one (qtd. in Franklin 15.) Nearly all the families in their study became stably housed regardless of substance abuse, mental illness, physical illness or incarceration. This study indicates that homelessness ...

Daffynition Definition and Examples

Daffynition Definition and Examples Daffynition is an informal term for a playful reinterpretation of an existing wordusually a pun. The term daffynition (a blend of the words daffy and definition) was popularized by the panelists on the comedy program Im Sorry I Havent a Clue,  which has been  broadcast on  BBC Radio 4  and the  World Service since 1972. For the past 60 years, daffynitions have also appeared in the magazine Boys Life. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: DefinitionLogologyPunSnigletVerbal PlayWords at Play: An Introduction to Recreational Linguistics Examples and Observations Making up daffynitions (which are then collected in the Uxbridge English Dictionary) is a game played on the BBC Radio 4 comedy quiz show Im Sorry I Havent a Clue. Here are some examples from the program: antelope, to run off with your mother’s sisterboomerang, what you say to frighten a meringuebrouhaha, a jolly tea partyCarmelite, a half-hearted Buddhistcoffee, someone who is coughed uponcrackerjack, a device for lifting biscuitsdiphthong, to wash an undergarmentextent, formerly a canvas homefecund, the one before firdgladiator, an  unrepentant cannibalho-hum, the  sound made by a vibrating garden toolignorant, to  totally disregard an insectJihad, the cry of a Fundamentalist cowboykindred, fear of ones own familylocus, to curse quietlymaximum, a very large mothermelancholy, a strangely shaped dognegligent, a man who wears lingerieoasis, a poker players cry of delightpasteurize, too far to seeposthumous, the art of delivering Greek food by mailreincarnation, to be born again as a tin of condensed milkrelief, what trees do in springscandal, footwear you should be ashamed ofsentiment, the perfume he intended to buyshingle, Sean Connerys definition of a bachelortesticle, an amusing exam questiontrampoline, a cleansing fluid for trampsvigilante, a  very observant aunt.whisky, a  bit like a whiskzebra, the largest size of support garment Wileys DictionaryJohnny Hart, the creator of the comic strip B.C., has long been a master of the daffynition. Part of the prehistorically contemporary humor of B.C. are the installments that feature Wileys Dictionary: abomination, what a well-allocated nuclear arsenal should conist ofasset, a small donkeydetour, what you take to de museumhackneyed, why Joe Namath had to get out of football (Richard Lederer, Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language. Gibbs Smith, 2006)The Daffynition GamePlayers choose (or are given) words for which they have to make humorous definitions. Often the definitions will use a pun (as in boomerang: what you say to frighten a meringue or carrion: British comedy films) but sometimes they will be witty (as in alone: in bad company, or cannibal: someone who goes to a restaurant and orders the waiter.(Tony Augarde,  The Oxford A to Z of Word Games. Oxford University Press,1994)

Statistics Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Statistics Project - Assignment Example 1. If a person bought 1 share of Google stock within the last year, what is the probability that the stock on that day closed at less than the mean for that year? Hint: You do not want to calculate the mean to answer this one. The probability would be the same for any normal distribution. (5 points) If a person bought 1 share of Google stock within the last year, the probability that the stock on that day closed at less than the mean for that year is 0.50 (or 50%). This is because the normal distribution is symmetric about the mean and the area below (or above) the mean is equal to 0.50 that is the mean divide the area exactly half on both ends (left or right). 4. Suppose a person within the last year claimed to have bought Google stock at closing at $589.50 per share. Would such a price be considered unusual? Be sure to use the definition of unusual from our textbook. (5 points) No, such a price would not be considered unusual. This is because the probability of buying a Google stock at closing at $589.50 (or higher) is about 0.0507 (or 5.07%) and typically, we say that an event with a probability less than 5% is unusual. However, we can say that it is very close to be considered an unusual price. 5. At what prices would Google have to close at in order for it to be considered statistically unusual? You should have a low and high value. ? Be sure to use the definition of unusual from our textbook. (5 points) 6. What are Quartile 1, Quartile 2, and Quartile 3 in this data set? Use Excel to find these values. This is the only question that you should answer without using anything about the Normal distribution. (5 points) 7. Is the normality assumption that was made at the beginning valid? Why or why not? Hint: Does this distribution have the properties of a normal distribution as described in our textbook? It does

Disaster Recovery Information Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Disaster Recovery Information - Case Study Example As long as the management’s input is required, their perceptions and expectations must be elicited and their commitment to the process of CSRIT must be acquired to sustain and prolong the operations of CSRIT. Resolve the CSRIT progress strategic plan: The project management and administrative issues such as specific timeframes, project group and presentation of the project group stakeholders, and communication to the management and project team should be addressed when giving thought on how to manage the progress of the CSRIT. Acquire relevant information: The necessary information required to carry out such task can be sought from the stakeholders or business manager and representatives from IT, human resource, public relations, legal department, risk management specialists and security. The information can also be obtained from conferences which offer CSRIT education. Modify the CSRIT vision: This entails clearly defining the goals, expectations, funding, organizational model, mission, objectives and constituency. The visions might also be the bargaining power when acquiring the management’s support and buy-in. After the modification of the vision of the CSRIT, the communication of the same should follow. CSRIT vision should be communicated to the constituency, management, and other person who understands the CSRIT operations after which adjustment deemed necessary are made. Implement the CSRIT: Implementation is done once the constituency and management have agreed to buy in depending on the vision. This entails recruiting and training CSRIT staff, buying equipment and building the essential network system, developing the procedures and policies to guide the CSRIT services, building incident tracking systems, and making the guidelines for reporting incidents.

Fedex Vietnam Strategic Annalysis Marketing Essay

Fedex Vietnam Strategic Annalysis Marketing Essay Established in 1973 under the name Federal Express by founder Frederick Smith, the company quickly became leading transportation service provider. In 1994, the company changed its mane to FedEx Corp. Nowadays, FedEx Corp includes seven subordinate companies that are FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Kinkos, FedEx Customs Critical, FedEx Trade Network and FedEx Service. These companies focus on its core services but also support each other in providing customer with full range of transportation services and logistics. FedEx is handling more than 3.6 mil packages a day and is very famous for its excellent services and for the innovation that it brings to the world of transportation.Eng-logo-4C.jpg FedEx Express operates with 2 sub-companies, which are FedEx Express International and FedEx Express US Domestic, FedEx Express is providing its services to more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. Under FedEx Express International are 3 Regional Divisions which are FedEx LAC (for US, Canada and Latin American), FedEx EMEA (for Euro, Middle East and Africa) and FedEx APAC (Asia Pacific region). FedEx Vietnam belongs to FedEx APAC Division (Federal Pacific Inc) with head office in Hong Kong. Mission and Strategy: Mission FedEx Corporation will produce superior financial returns for its shareowners by providing high value-added logistics, transportation and related business services through focused operating companies. Customer requirements will be met in the highest quality manner appropriate to each market segment served. FedEx will strive to develop mutually rewarding relationships with its employees, partners and suppliers. Safety will be the first consideration in all operations. Corporate activities will be conducted to the highest ethical and professional standards.  [1]   With this mission statement, FedEx defines the industry it develop the business, the financial returns for shareowners, relationships with shareholders. FedEx also commit for high quality and professional standard as well as safety to compete and develop the business. This mission is also going with P-S-P philosophy which stand for People Service Profit meaning FedEx focus and invest in People and believe that only best people can create valuable service. And certainly, valued service will bring money to the company. Strategy FedEx also defines the objectives which must work seamlessly and simultaneously on three levels: Competition: collectively  compete by standing as one brand worldwide. Just one FedEx brand and speak one voice. Operating must be independent  by focusing on independent worldwide networks to meet customer needs. Managing collaboratively  by working together to gain loyal relationships from workforce, customers and investors. FedEx Express in Vietnam Business history FedEx has established its operation in Vietnam since 1994, right after US government lifted the trade embargo to Vietnam. Its business model in Vietnam is agency in which FedEx services are provided to customers through FedExs partners. And FedEx global service partner (GSP) in Vietnam was Post and Telecommunication Express JSC; a company belong to Vietnam Post Corporation which has nationwide network for pickup and delivery until 2009. Since then, the contract with this GSP was terminated and Seabornes and Danatrans were appointed to be new GSPs in Vietnam. At the same time of launching its services in Vietnam, FedEx representative office was opened. The office role is to carry out market research, coordinate the communication among FedEx in VN and other countries, facilitating the implementation of contracts/agreements between FedEx Pacific Inc and other Vietnamese organizations Under the agency contract, the GSPs provide manpower, facilities, and vehicles to bring FedEx service to customers. It is also responsible for customs clearance site for import and export activities. FedEx take responsibilities of all sales and marketing activities. It also supervises and supports GSPs in making the service meet with FedEx global standard and customers requirement. These supports include but not limit to customer service, informatics technology, pricing, billing. Currently FedEx Vietnam provides country wide services with 2 main stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city but direct service is only provided to major provinces/cities. The station in Ho Chi Minh City handles all inbound and outbound shipment to and from the south of Vietnam (southern of Hue). It has its own gateway for customs clearance and 4 world service centres. The station in Hanoi handles shipments to and from north of Vietnam. Beside its own gateway in Hanoi, it also has 3 world service centres for walk in customers. FedEx is providing direct pick up and delivery service to all major cities/provinces in Vietnam. For the other areas, the pick up and delivery is made by using domestic express service of Vietnam Post Corp. Mission and Objectives: Mission: FedEx Vietnam together with its partners will implement FedEx philosophy People-Service-Profit. We will be market leader with the best international express service at global standard. We will gain profit base on our core business competitiveness and the efficiency of the investment in Vietnam. We will bring customer with satisfaction for each and every transaction. (FedEx Vietnam Mission statement) Main objectives: Standardize service in Vietnam at global standard by having its own employee to generate service to customer. Become customers top in mind express service Annual growing rate at 15% In the context of current recession in developed countries, these are challenging objectives. The downturn in industrial countries will lead to a decline in export of developing countries and Vietnam is not an exception. Demand for transportation of export commodities is predicted to be declined until 2014 along with a weak economy. To maintain the annual growing at 15%, FedEx needs to both extend the operation to new markets and expand its market share at current service area by promoting its competitive advantages. This is a hard time for all companies in air express industry, but it can be a good opportunity for FedEx to consolidate its position over the competitor. Competitive advantage is the key and more than ever a right strategy to promote competitiveness is very critical to FedEx. Organization: FedEx Representative Office With the roles to support and supervise GSP in providing FedEx services to customers, FedEx representative office is organized as functional model. Figure 9: FedEx VN representative office organization chart Country manager HAN Operation manager HAN Sales Manager HAN ramp manager SGN Operation manager HAN CS manager SGN CS manager Country coordinator SGN ramp manager SGN Sales Manager Inside sales Manager Revenue ops Manager Accounting Manager Marketing Manager Technology service Manager Direct report Indirect report Source: FedEx country Review, 2011 At top of the representative office is Chief Representative, Senior Manager for FedEx Indochina and Myanmar who has very good knowledge about market, culture and working style of Vietnamese people. He directly manages operation function and also gets indirect reports from other functional groups. Operations: This group includes station operation (for pick up and delivery), gateway operation (for customs clearance), ramp operation and customer service operation. The group is responsible for managing all operation activities in accordance to FedEx service standard Airport ramp: This group is under operation and responsible for aircraft operation include loading and unloading of shipment on/from aircraft, landing/take off paperworkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Country Coordinator: Admin the communication to all GSPs in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar on policy, regulation issues Sales: This group report to regional sales. They are responsible for selling FedEx services to customer. Marketing: Perform market research, design and implement marketing plan under direction of regional marketing management. Billing and collection: Control all GSPs invoicing and collecting activities. All customer debts are managed by this group. Accounting: Control all payment transactions of FedEx in Vietnam and perform all other accounting activities. Technical service: Responsible for FedEx communication network, customer technology solutions. GSP organization GSP has two independent teams to work at FedEx agency in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. They both report to Seabornes head office. But in daily operation, they are under supervision of FedEx functional groups from representative office. The team in Hanoi includes 69 GSP employees with 1 General Manager and 4 functional managers. In Ho Chi Minh number of employees is 125 with 1 General manager and 7 functional managers Business result overview Figure10: FedEx Vietnam revenue from 2006 to 2011 (Unit: 1000 USD) Source: FedEx country review 2011 As indicated in Figure 10, FedEx had very good growth in revenue. Total revenue grew by 3 times from 2006 to 2011. The revenue increased at 100% in 2008 after FedEx up gauged it feeder capacity from 3 tons to 6 tons to Ho Chi Minh city. FedExs core products International Priority (IP) and International Priority Freight (IPF) are the main contribution. After the sharp increase in 2008, revenue of these core services grew steadily at 10-12% a year. Revenue of IXF (air port to airport) service took a relatively small part of total revenue. However growing rate of this product has been extremely high since 2009 when the company sell this service to some forwarders to explore their existing customers. Figure 11: FedEx business performance from 2006 to 2011 (Unit: 1000USD) Source: FedEx country review 2011 Figure 11 shows both revenue and profit of FedEx on good growth. However with increased ratio of IXF shipment (which are low yield per kg for big shipments), expense was getting bigger and made profit growing rate in 2009, 2010 and 2011 lower than revenue growing rate. Strategic Annalysis Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Human resource The philosophy P-S-P (People-Service-Profit) is cornerstone of FedEx. This can be considered a success cycles of FedEx in which the company take care of its employees and assist them in generate excellent service to customer. That excellent service in return brings Profit to FedEx and enables the company to take a better care to its work force. Thank to this, FedEx is many times voted as most admired company by Fortune Magazine. In many major markets in LAC and APAC, FedEx is voted as one of the best companies to work for. Bring that philosophy in business, FedEx attracts a very excellent team for its representative office in Vietnam. Figure12: FedEx rep office personnel (Experienced and Education) Source: FedEx VN HR profile. Figure 12 shows number of FedEx employee divided by work group and education/experience categories. All FedEx managers (1 senior manager and 6 managers in Ho Chi Minh city, 4 managers in Hanoi) are very experienced in express industry. Sales team is young but very aggressive in selling with 10 for Ho Chi Minh city and 5 for Hanoi. Ramp team includes two groups with equal number of employee, one at Noi Bai airport and the other one at Tan Son Nhat airport. Functional group include employee at marketing, accounting and billing/collection As reflected, 100% FedEx representative office employees are graduated with 29.31% of the employees are holding master degree. With this strong back ground and excellent human development programs through training, couching all FedEx employees are skilful and knowledge in the field that they are responsible. Most of FedEx employees have long term commitment with the company. Many of them stay with the office since it was established. The package benefit and the reward program at FedEx not only keep its employees commit to stay a long time with the office, but also encourage them to perform their best in daily job. But in contrast, the FedEx GSP is a Vietnamese and young company so the recruitment, human resource policy is very different. This leads to poor quality of the work force and impacts to the image of the company in Vietnam. Employees in many cases are not care about productivities. Their attitude in making service is not very much acknowledged and appreciated by customers. This hit the level of FedEx service in Vietnam. However in recent years, with the changes of GSP management and higher demand from customers, some positive changes have been made. The GSP frontline managers and employees attitude to customers and to the service quality issue has been improved. Those employees that could not adapt to this change have been replaced. This in long run will have positive contribution to FedEx operation. But in short term, high turnover of employee impacts to the operation, especially when the new one lack of experience. Over all, the working skills of GSP employees are met with job requirement. However their English is not so good. Especially the couriers who are directly handling shipment for customers. This is room for improvement that FedEx can do to further standardize its service in Vietnam. Finance FedEx Vietnam is a dependent branch of FedEx Pacific Inc. All finance planning and management is performed at division level. The two major finance activities that done at local level are customer debt management and operation cost management. Customer debt management At FedEx, 90% of the shipment transportation charges are billed to customer accounts and the billing options can be to shipper, to consignee or to third party. That makes it very convenient for customer to ship with the company. But on the other hand it brings risk to the company if the payers refuse to pay and the re-bill is done in late (Shipper must takes the final responsibility to pay transportation charge when using FedEx service. In case the charge billed to recipient or 3rd party but payer refuse to pay, then it will be billed back to the shipper). Under agency contract GSP takes responsible for collection of the debt from customer. However their limitation in managing this area makes the on time collection of the payment is not high. Bad debt at 2% and over due debt at about 15% lower the working capital. However as reflected in Figure 11, FedEx revenue is increased year on year and the company has a good profit ratio. In addition, with FedEx Pacific Inc as a mother company, FedEx finance is on strong base. Operation cost management Though most of the ground operation costs are covered by GSP under agency contract, there are areas for FedEx to control and save cost. They include: Cost for using commercial flights (where FedEx flight is not in operation) Cost for revenue supplies (Supplies that provided to customer for them to use FedEx service like airway bill, packing materialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Cost for claim settlement (for damage, late or missing shipment) At FedEx there is an index call cost per package in which all costs raise from handling a package is taken into account and bi-weekly management has a meeting to review it. This is a good tool for continuous improvement of cost saving. In 2010 the company had saved in average 2.3% of its cost per package in compare to the previous year. Facilities All the ground facilities are under GSP charge. But with booming business in past few years, the investment of the GSP on to this did not meet with requirement. Size of business in 2011 was almost 3 times larger than the one in 2006, but there was no major investment to expand ground facilities. That makes the station buildings and warehouses become too congested for FedEx operation and impacts to productivity and the service quality. Figure 13: FedEx ground facility Current Required  [2]   Gateway 800 sqm 1500 sqm Station 2000 sqm 2500 sqm Number of van 24 26 Number of truck 5 5 Number of motor-bike 20 20 Source: FedEx IE report 2011 Beside ground facility, communication network is very critical for FedEx. The network is not only for communication among FedEx locations, but also for posting and updating of shipment status. The network is considered as back bone of FedEx service. In Vietnam the company has its own lease lines to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. The lease lines are upgraded to meet with demand of growing business. The latest upgrade in earlier 2010 increased the lease lines capacity to 256 KBps. A broad band line was also established to be backup network for the lease line. This helps to avoid service impact due to communication problem. Marketing Marketing function in Vietnam is more on the implementation. Marketing planning is done at regional level by marketing management. With this arrangement, there is only 1 marketing specialist in FedEx Vietnam to cover the whole country. She has very limited decision making power on marketing plan. Most of the marketing campaigns in Vietnam are small with very limited budget. There is lack of big campaign in media that attracted mass audience. In Vietnam the new emerging market, FedEx does not have commercial TV advertisement while its major competitor DHL spends heavily on this. In past few years, FedEx involved in numerous of activities for community benefit like building 3 schools in Nam Dinh and Quang Nam, sponsoring transportation of medicine and equipment for Heart to Heart organization, major sponsor for OBIS flying hospital to Vietnam in 2007 and 2010, APEC summit in 2006. These activities were very efficient in bringing benefit to the community, but were not very well promoted by marketing and the number of earned media was not large. In terms of product that FedEx introduced to Vietnam market, the service is more diversify to provide customs more option for their shipment. Currently FedEx provide following services: International Priority (IP): This is fast, customs-cleared, door-to-door pickup and delivery of shipments to all international destinations for package weighted lower than 68 kgs. For those destinations in AsiaOne (all major cities in Asia) net work, document or packages sending under this service will be delivered on the day after ship date. This is FedEx Express core service in Vietnam International Economy (IE): This service is similar to IP service, but the transit time is longer than IP service and shipping rate is lower than IP. International Priority Freight (IPF): This is priority service using for package heavier than 68 kgs. This service is only available in designated cities/countries International Economy Freight (IEF): This is a new service launched in 2010 using for packages over 68kg. Customer use this service does not need a fast transit time. The price rate is lower than IPF and transit time is longer certainly. International priority Distribution (IPD): This is customized service using for customer who send shipment at different consignees at same country. The shipper can send all of them under 1 shipment and FedEx will separate the shpt to delivery to each consignee. This service is only available to some country and normally for global customer Beside the range of services provided, FedEx rate to each customer is different base on the customer volume. However this is not the main competition tools of FedEx. The company is more focus on its differentiation by excellent service. Despite of some weaknesses in marketing in Vietnam, FedEx brand is quite well known in business society thanks to its global image. However, to reach the level on brand awareness that FedEx has in other markets, marketing function in Vietnam should play a more active role. Sales In 2008, FedEx took over all sales activities from GSP. All sales personnel belong to FedEx. This enables the company to recruit and keep talent employee for this important function. The performance of sales team has been improved since then Currently sales team is organized under 3 sub-teams to take care of different groups of customers: Global sales: Take care of global accounts. These global customers are big accounts and very demanding for service quality. As many big international companies are setting up their business in Vietnam, revenue from this group of customer is growing very fast. In 2006, it took only 8% of total revenue, but in 2011 it took up to 27% Telesales: Take care of small accounts. There are low revenue customers but most profitable ones. Revenue from small customer takes 18% of the total FedEx Vietnam revenue. Field sales: Most of customer that taken care of by field sales are local importers/exporters. This area of sales have steady annual growth at 20% in recent year thank to strong growth in international trade in Vietnam With this arrangement, sales team can be more focus on targeted customer, hence the performance is improved. Figure 14: FedEx sales volume from 2006 to 2011 (Unit: 1 package) Source: FedEx country Review 2011 Before 2008, sales only focus on selling outbound, but with global sales network, both outbound and inbound volumes are taken care by sales. This supports strong growth of inbound volume (Figure 14). The exception in 2010 the inbound volume was down turn due to the fisrt year sales under direct management. Operation Air craft operation: With the launch of A310 to Vietnam in September 2009, FedEx increased its aircraft capacity to 5 times bigger than before  [3]  . The aircraft upgrade enables FedEx to introduce more services in and out of Vietnam. The company now can better secure space for its shipment and reduce the risk of dependence on commercial flights. The A310 serves both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. This first time ever FedEx aircraft arrives in Hanoi making big service improvement for the capital city. Transit time reduce by 1 day for both inbound and outbound. This was an excellent preparation for FedEx Asia hub relocation to China in first half of 2009  [4]  . Station operation: Operating under agency contract, FedEx is facing with number of issues for its station operation because of differences in business strategy. Investments in work forces, vehicles, equipments are not adequate. Coverage area of FedEx service in Vietnam is large while number of couriers is limited with 30 in Hanoi and 60 in Ho Chi Minh city making it a big challenge for pick up and delivery, particularly on the surge volume dates. With booming of EPZ and Industrial Park country wide, many provinces become potential markets for air express service. However FedEx direct pick up and delivery service is only available in big cities/provinces. In other provinces, pick up/delivery is provided through a domestic express service. It means any customs in non-direct service want to use FedEx service they have to send the shipment to FedEx by domestic service first. And the same arrangement for delivery, FedEx will have domestic service to deliver package to customer in these areas. This not only makes transit time for the package longer but also impacts to service quality that customer suppose to receive when they use FedEx service. FedEx in Vietnam operates with standard procedure of FedEx global. However the ability of courier team, especially English speaking and reading skill is not good making barrier for them to learn and consult customers on shipping requirement. There is lack of rewarding program to encourage courier team, so productivity and the over all performance is not very good. Gateway operation: FedEx has 2 gateways in Vietnam, one for Hanoi and the other for Ho Chi Minh city. Both gateways are in the same buildings with stations. That makes it convenient for customers in case they have to come to do customs clearance. But it is a disadvantage for the company to maximize the use of air craft arrival time. The main job of gateway is to ensure shipments are clear customs at shortest time, reduce number of shipment pending in customs warehouse. In Vietnam, FedEx is the first company that was selected by Vietnam customs to implement electronic clearance. By applying technology in to clearance process, this area of service has been improved remarkable. The percentage of shipment released for same day delivery in 2010 is 50% higher than the one in 2007. However the constraints of ware houses and clearance facilities and the lack of customs regulations on express clearance make this clearance still not yet reaches its height of potential. Customer service operation: Customer oriented system and excellent internal communication network are very supportive tools to customer service agents to successfully handle transaction with customer. However, the weakness of call centre which under GSP control with lack of necessary equipments makes it difficult for FedEx to measure and control call quality. There is considered number of complaints regarding to customer service in Vietnam. This is contrast with FedEx customer service in other countries where most of customer praise FedEx for professional, helpful and customer oriented service. In addition, shortage of manpower for this group in Hanoi (with only 3 persons) reduces the ability to handle customer calls to FedEx at this city. Service quality management: Service quality is non-compromised issue at FedEx. It makes FedEx different from competitor. The quality driven management concept has been put in FedEx today business. With that strategy, service quality is also one of the top priorities for FedEx in Vietnam. The company is very good in making all KPI (key performance index) in service to be measurable and has strong systems to control it. Service quality is measured by both network system (base on system scan) and data collection from practice. A group of operation excellence is formed up. This group is supported by advisors at regional level. The group is doing root cause analysis for all service issues and coordinates with respective operation teams for corrective action plan. The quality report is made on daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly depend on KPI. Bi-weekly there is meeting among all managers to review service quality issue for necessary actions. With this mechanism, quality improvement is continuous process at FedEx. Information Technology (IT) Information plays very important role with express company like FedEx. Provide customer with accurate and updated information is as important as on time delivery of the package. Within FedEx operation teams, information exchange and communication among the teams is also very critical for its success. FedEx in Vietnam has its own lease line to ensure the connection of network. This system is operated and managed by very experience and skilful IT team. Numbers of IT projects have been implemented in past few years to bring benefit to FedEx and its customers: Automation shipping tool: With software installed at customer site, customer does not need to wait for FedEx to bring in shipping forms for manual completion but they can create the form on their own at any time. With this customer can complete shipping document for many shipment just in few minutes. This helps FedEx to save cost while provide more convenience to customers. Transmission of shipping documents images: FedEx Vietnam now can transmit all shipping documents of its export shipments to countries of destination before shipment departs. With this ability, FedEx in destination does not need to wait for shipments arrival to retrieve the documents but having these documents much earlier than the physical shipment arrives. So they can do pre-arrival customs clearance and ensure that the shipment is immediate released for delivery once it arrives. This tremendously improves the service and saves FedEx hundred thousands of UDS a year for fax fee, storage fee. In conclusion, FedEx Vietnams major advantages are: Operating FedExs own flight to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city Best express service from Vietnam to US, North America and Japan the key export markets of Vietnam Management awareness of service quality and use it as differentiator. A good service quality control system is put on place. Innovative service base on information technology Meanwhile, FedEx major weak points are operating under agency and poor quality call centre for customer operation. With above analysis, an IFE matrix is formed up by strategist team. The IFE matrix for FedEx Vietnam includes 12 factors with seven strengths and five weaknesses. Values of weight and rate for each factor are calculated base on average scores of the team members with some minor adjustment after review with the whole team (Appendix H). The final IFE matrix for FedEx is reflected in Figure 15. Figure 15: IFE Matrix of FedEx Vietnam No. Factors Weight Rate Weighted score 1 FedEx has 5 flights a week to both Hanoi and HCMC 0.14 4 0.56 2 Well known brand 0.12 3 0.36 3 Hub Operation Model Global Network 0.09 4 0.36 4 The best express service to US, North America and Japan 0.12 4 0.48 5 Wide range of services 0.04 3 0.12 6 Management awareness of service quality issue and use the quality of service as differentiator. 0.05 4 0.2 7 Innovative service on the base of information technology 0.04 4 0.16 8 FedEx operates under agency contract 0.15 1 0.15 9 Low quality call centre 0.13 1 0.13 10 High over due debt ratio 0.03 1 0.03 11 Poor marketing activities

Dumex Web Site

The Danone Dumex Web site located at is the online presence of Dumex (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.. , a Malaysian health food company operating since 1958. The Web site serves as a company brochure and features company news, the company's products, tips on various health-related topics like nutrition, advice, and child development, as well as health news and recipes. Strengths The site is presented in a clutter free way. It's easy to see what the whole site has to offer, so the user does not get lost.The content also allows for returning visitors, or visitors who go back to the site for updates and new information. The New This Month, and Featured This Month section, not only encourages returning visitors, it also highlights the things that they haven't seen since their last visit, so that they won't have to go through material they've seen before. Also, the site can be navigated easily. The menu bar at the left side of the page points the user to various areas of the Web site, from news, to recipes, to the company's products, to medical advice, etc.It's all there, near each other. The site encourages more user participation and interactivity with its contests. It provides the user with a meaningful experience by featuring user photographs, writings, experiences and advise. On the company side, it allows them to build a reputation and image of being an expert on health issues. By featuring health experts' advice and opinion, along with health-related news, they are positioning themselves in a way that they can be trusted with one's health. The site also offers a display case for all their products.Content-wise, the site features news and information that is valued highly by its target market. Since the product is for babies and pregnant mothers, their content is geared towards issues related to pregnancy and children. This makes it a one-stop resource for their customers, further consolidating their brand and company image. Weakness As a healthcare-related Web site, th e site should include language warning users that the site might have insufficient advice and implores users to seek further medical attention or to see their doctor.The disclaimer would put the user's best interest in mind specially if he's really sick, or have a condition that might need individual care. An example is the site's pregnancy teaser on the home page which says â€Å"Pregnant? Don't forget to exercise†. Colette Bouchez at WebMD writes that although exercise during pregnancy is not only recommended, it also have certain benefits for both mother and baby, the mother should be aware of some warning signs like vaginal discharges and bleeding, and stop exercising. This caution is not on the Dumex home page.As such, it is highly probable that while material on the site might have been checked and is reliable, it might adversely affect some people who follows medical, nutritional advise without consulting their doctors. Also, while the site has its products online, the re is no way to order their products on the site. * * * As a consumer, I need to be sure of what I'm purchasing. It has to give me value for my money. It has to deliver its promises. For me, I want to be an informed consumer, price is only secondary.Web sites like Dumex provides me with the necessary information that I would not normally see in other forms of advertisements. A good Web site should let me know about the product, for me to know its benefits, potential threats and how it fares against the competition. And I don't have to leave home to do it, it's all, literally, at the tips of my fingers. Aside from information, good product Web sites offer their customers other related information. That would keep me informed of the things I need to be aware of.In the case of Dumex, it also tells me how their products would fit my needs. Lastly, Web sites offer the convenience of purchasing at home, which would give me more time to do other more important things, and other perks like avoiding the long lines at the supermarket or horrendous traffic. Effects of IT Employment. Information technology makes it easier to do the tasks that would have been more difficult and time consuming without it, a prime example of which is the use of the word processor instead of the manual typewriter.According to Michael Handel at the SRI Institute, however, automation using I. T. may lead to unemployment. If you have computers that run certain processes or monitor certain activities running, then you don't need to hire somebody to do that for you (Handel, 2003). Privacy and Individuality. Information technology is also changing the way we live. With the advent of social networking sites like Friendster, Myspace and countless of others, it has been easier to find new friends and maintain relationships and contact (Dwyer, 2007) .IT, while making it easier to buy products and services and have them delivered to your doorstep without leaving your home, like a book from Amazon. Com, also raised privacy issues like hackers gaining access to your credit card information, or personal data. Even one's behavior patterns on the World Wide Web, like the sites being accessed, and the amount of time being spent on a particular site can be monitored. Co-workers, hackers, and family members may have their own personal motivation now have access to illicit computer programs to get such information from one's computer.(Rittenhouse, 2004). Computer Crimes. Computer crimes are on the rise and it may involved the unauthorized use of a computer (stealing passwords, or accessing another's computer via a backdoor program); spreading malicious computer programs like trojan, virii and worms; or an online version of stalking and harassment. The underlying premise is that computer crimes are done by people who lack respect for property and privacy of other people (Standler, 2002). Ironically, computer crimes are also being battled via I. T.Various Web sites have come up with online p rivacy tools, virus detection and deletion programs, tips on how to detect illicit computer activities, among others. Societal Solutions. One of the most widespread and easily-seen effect of I. T. on society is the way people get their news nowadays. Before, people have to rely on rumors and the next morning's papers, and eventually, the evening broadcast and breaking news on T. V. The thing is, people have to wait before they get the news. Now, all they have to do is to log on to various news Web sites to get the latest happenings, on a wider variety of topics.They can get news from Somalia, or news on the latest Britney happening. The problem with this is that there tends to be a lot of wrong news coming from unverified sources. An example of which comes from the the Virginia Polytech Institute and State University shooting a year ago. At that time, many students, checked out sites on the Internet, like Fark. Com, Facebook. Com and other social networking sites to get information on the shooting. But then, it happened that one unnamed student became suspected as the gunman when his own Facebook. Com profile showed pictures of him and his gun collection.The student became the subject of death threats, and hate campaign, until news came out that the real gunman was shot dead and the unnamed student's identity was verified (IDG News Service, 2007). Health Issues. Speaking of misinformation, the World Wide Web is full of it. While the Web has made it easier to obtain information on various topics like what to do when you're pregnant, how to make bombs, how to cook the best lambchops, it would be wise to check the reliability of the information presented first. Make sure that the site, or the writer of the article is authoritative on the subject matter.Take special care when it comes to one's health. As in the case of Dumex's Web site, take all information presented there with a grain of salt and a word of caution. While healthcare advice is plentiful on the Web, it might be best to consult one's physician if you're sick. Leslie Teach at Emory University puts it succinctly when she says that previously health-related videos, books, brochures were tediously edited and reviewed before released to the public, and that's not happening with Web sites. Health improvement, disease prevention, and information about diseases are the primary health-related information that are being accessed.Teach gives a number of criterion for evaluating health-related Web sites, including: ? a clearly stated purpose of the site; ? no evident bias; ? the site is not a disguised advertisement; ? all aspects of the subject are adequately taken up; ? the site provides accurate information, with documented sources. * * * Information technology is here to stay. In fact, the widespread and pervasiveness of this technology has made so many profound effects on our daily lives that it has become a part of our culture, and our psyche. As with other advances, it has its drawb acks.But the simple truth is, the benefits outweighs the dangers. And the disadvantages can be easily fought, with a little awareness, knowledge and a critical mind, one can be safe. References Bouchez, Colette. (2007). Exercise During Pregnancy: Myth Vs. Fact. WebMD. Com. Retrieved on 18 April 2008. Danone Dumex Web page. (2008). Retrieved on 18 April 2008. Dwyer, Cathy. (2007). Digital Relationships in the MySpace Generation: Results From aQualitative Study. Proceedings of the 40th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences – 2007. Retrieved on 16 April 2008. Handel, Michael J. (2003). Complex Picture of Information Technology and Employment Emerges. SRI International. Retrieved on 18 April 2008. Rittenhouse, David. (2004). Information Technology Abuse — Privacy Issues. Retrieved on18 April 2008. Standler, Ronald. (2002). Computer Crime. Retrieved on 18 April 2008. Teach, Leslie. Evaluating Health-related Web Sites. Emory University. Retrieved on 18 Apr il 2008. Virginia Tech shooting shows benefits, pitfalls of social networking sites. (2007). IDG News Service. Retrieved on 19 April 2008.