Psycho, the greatest film of all time?

This essay will attempt to show you the brilliance that is Psycho and how Alfred Hitchcock managed to create a film which even today grabs and retains the interest of any audience. The music in the film Psycho was a brand new idea at its time in the 1960s and acted like magic on audiences, making them sit in horror at the edge of their seats. The music in Psycho is ‘non-diagetic' and is performed by an all-strings orchestra. At the time when Psycho was released, using music that was played by an all-strings orchestra in horror movies was a brand new idea and startled film critics and the audience alike. This method of using high-pitched, sharp music was such an effective idea that many other horror films and television series adopted the thought and this style of music is still used to this day (for example, in Nightmare on Elm Street. Using an all-strings orchestra in Psycho was a fantastic way of building tension and it worked very effectively. The reason it worked so well was because the sound was so recognisable. This is because, as the music was played on and on-and-off basis, the audience gradually noticed that when the music played, something bad was probably about to happen. No other music could have been used in Psycho which would have created the same amount of tension in the movie and sounded so shrill and discordant. To a pre-1970s audience, the all-strings music was remarkably effective and the music by itself built tension. Nowadays, when a modern audience watches Psycho, they react in the same way as audiences over thirty years ago, even though they are used to music like this. The eerie sound of string instruments playing sharp scratchy notes, e. g. in the shower scene, still makes modern audiences sit on the edge of their seats and watch in suspense as the plot unfolds. The music in Alfred Hitchcock's horror films was so important and effective that without it the films would not have succeeded. It is possible to see that when his films are watched on mute, the suspense disappears and the film becomes boring and not at all exciting. Even the brilliant use of lighting and shadows is not enough to keep the interest of any audience watching Psycho without the music. The plot of Psycho is ingenious and has to be one of the greatest stories of all time. Alfred Hitchcock used a brilliant technique in all his films for retaining the audience's interest which he called â€Å"the McGuffin†i. Alfred Hitchcock used this technique in all his films to catch the viewer's attention and drive the plot. In Psycho, the McGuffin was the $40,000 in cash stolen by Marion. In the first half of the film, the audience is led to believe that the movie is essentially about the stolen money, and this alone envelops the viewer's attention because the plot is so tightly and perfectly constructed. By the end of the film though, few people remember that the money even existed, as the McGuffin is only really needed to move the audience into the Bates Hotel. The plot was designed very cleverly by Alfred Hitchcock. To grab his audience's attention, he made the audience ask questions. He does this right from the very beginning of Psycho until the end of it. For example, in the first scene alone, when Sam and Marion are meeting secretly during their lunch break, the audience is made to think: can Sam pay off his father's debts and his wife's alimony? Will they get married? Will they get caught together? etc. , etc. Forcing the audience to ask questions mentally, traps their attention, as they want to know the answers. Another way that the plot does well to catch and retain an audience's focus is the suspense which is built up so frequently. When suspense is built up, the audience always wants to know what will happen next. As the storyline twists and turns and the viewers get surprises, the audience becomes drawn into the film and becomes more involved. For instance, when the main character is suddenly killed halfway through the film in an unforgettable scene, the audience is left wondering: what will happen next? Who will be the new main character? All of these sudden changes in plot shock the viewer more and more and make the film more exciting and interesting. Another change in plot is when Sam, Lila, the sheriff and his wife meet after church in broad daylight. This break in the tension allows the viewer to relax and watch a different scene; one in daylight, which is not eerie and in shadow. This may appear to be an odd change in plot, but it helps keep all audiences focused. A very clever ingredient in Psycho, was Alfred Hitchcock's excellent positioning of objects on the film set. Using his complicated knowledge of filming and positioning, he created scenes which convinced the eye of an alteration to the truth. He set objects up, for instance, in the eerie house, which looked so normal and blended in with the film perfectly. He placed typical old-woman-objects in Norman's mother's bedroom to make the audience convinced that there really was an old woman living in the house and that she was still there. He also placed objects such as a toy fire engine and a male dole in Norman Bate's old room to make it suit its part. These little things are actually precisely positioned so that they suit the atmosphere and the audience sub-consciously notices them. All audiences, modern and old alike, notice these little differences and it is things like this which manage to retain the interest of an audience watching Psycho. Set pieces were not all small though. The large old Victorian style house atop a hill was specifically chosen for its image and its evil and dark appearance. The camera, throughout the whole film, always filmed this house from below, making it appear to tower over all else and cast a dark shadow over everything. The actors chosen for Psycho, despite in the case of most, being famous before its creation, were all picked after long deliberation by Alfred Hitchcock for their particular skillsi. Janet Leigh, for example, who played the part of Marion in Psycho, was chosen out of a list of seven possibilities. Most of the actors in Psycho were all very professional, popular and they all fitted perfectly; without them and their talent, the film could have easily turned out to be a failure (as Psycho's remake was). As all of the actors were so capable and Alfred Hitchcock directed them all so well, their talents shone through in this movie and they all appeared so realistic and their body language in Psycho was flawless. This goes for their dialogue too. They may have all been able to say their scripts, but the timing and their expressions and tones were all planned out by Hitchcock perfectly. The camera angles and lighting in Psycho are arguably the cleverest and most effective ever used in a film. Alfred Hitchcock personally worked out every camera angle and every scene in Psycho. He used the camera to guide the story, build the tension and throw twists into the ending. The camera angles used are legendary. Using Alfred Hitchcock's directing genius, one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history was created. In this one scene (the ‘Shower Scene' as it is now commonly known), seventy camera angles were used, intermixed with quick cuts to emphasise the brutality of the act; yet the knife is never actually seen penetrating Marion's body. Marion is filmed in the shower from so many different angles so that suspense is built up as the audience knows something bad must be about to happen. She looks vulnerable in the shower without any clothes and she is unsuspecting – her expression is one of concentration, on showering. All this put together, combined with Alfred Hitchcock's directing, creates an extremely scary, exciting and memorable scene. Alfred Hitchcock was obviously very talented, and when it came to the camera's positioning and lighting, he always managed to create brilliant pictures. Without using sound, Hitchcock could make people look nervous, vulnerable, strange, powerful, dangerous etc. by just using camera angles. For instance, to make the private investigator look vulnerable as he walked upstairs and reached the landing, the camera filmed him from above, looking down on him so that he looked alone and vulnerable. There was only one poorly created scene in the whole film. This was the stair scene, when Arbogast, the private investigator, falls down the stairs with a knife wound. To a 1960s audience, this scene seemed to be extremely realistic and well filmed. Unfortunately it is spoilt on a modern audience as nowadays everyone is so used to graphics and special effects that the stair scene appeared comical to us, as it wasn't realistic. It was quite obvious that there was a film of stairs coming towards the audience being played behind the falling private investigator. The lighting in Psycho was used to great effect and was directed fantastically. Alfred Hitchcock managed to create different atmospheres in different scenes by his use of lighting and shadows. For instance, in the climax scene, when Norman Bates runs into the fruit cellar with a knife, the lighting is fantastic. When the camera turns to look at Norman's mother's wrinkled, mummified face, as the bulb swings creating strobe flashing, in the hollows of her eyes, shadows dance against the inside of her skull which creates an illusion of a mad, mirthful response to the scene before her. Today, Psycho is still looked upon as a brilliant and unique film, which even now manages to grab and retain the interest of any audience. No other film has ever managed to outclass Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece in complexity or in cleverness. The black and white photography used is perfect for the film's tone and mood – colour would merely have blurred the nightmarish quality. Psycho is an exceptional film, which altered the course of cinematic history, and its brilliance will always be recognised.

Cultural Artifact Essay †Blue Jeans Essay

Blue jeans in the last thirty years have attained such world wide popularity that they have come to be considered an American icon. However jeans have not always been held in high stead, but rather have had a troubled history including its beginnings within the working class movement, being considered unsavory by religious leaders and also seen as a rebellious statement about ‘western decadence’. According to the University of Toronto, no other garment has served as an example of status ambivalence and ambiguity than blue jeans in the history of fashion. Throughout this essay I will discuss how jeans have become such a common treasured and even expensive item crossing over class, gender, age, regional, and national lines as reflected by the many changing political views and acceptance from various social classes over the past 50 years. History of Blue Jeans According to the University of Toronto, blue jeans were originally created for the California coal miners in the mid-nineteenth century by the Morris Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who relocated to New York in 1847. Mr Strauss’ fate and the history of clothing changed forever when in 1872 he received an offer from Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno Nevada. Mr. Davis, in order to improve the durability of the pants that he made for his clients, had been adding metal rivets to the highly stressed seams. The idea was successful and he wished to patent it, but due to financial constraints required a partner and hence Levi became the financial backer and partner. In 1873, the new partners received a patent for â€Å"an improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings†, and thus the history of blue jeans as we know them began. Blue jeans were originally called â€Å"waist overalls† by Levi Strauss and Co and in the 1920’s these were the most widely used worker’s pants in America. The name of these trousers changed to â€Å"jeans† in the 1960’s when Levi Strauss and Co. recognized that this was what the product was being called by the young, hip teenage boys. The history of â€Å"waist overalls† continues as the history of blue jeans. â€Å"Jeans† is now generally understood to refer to pants made out of a specific type of fabric called â€Å"denim† (Fashion Encyclopedia). Blue Jeans through the decades The popularity of blue jeans spread among working people, such as farmers and the ranchers of the American West. According to the Encyclopedia of Fashion, in the 1930’s jeans became so popular among cowboys that Wrangler formed just to make denim work clothing for those who rode the range. Jeans have tended to follow along in popularity with popular culture as evident with the popular Western films which found adventure and romance in the adventures of the cowboys who rode horses, shot bad guys, and wore blue jeans. Those who wished to imitate the casual, rugged look of the cowboys they saw in films began to wear jeans as casual wear (Fashion Encyclopedia). This effect is not hard to understand, as even today fashion trends are greatly influenced by what highly publicized celebrities choose to wear. During World War II blue jeans became part of the official uniform of the Navy and Coast Guard, and became even more popular when worn as off-duty leisure clothing by many other soldiers. In his book, â€Å"Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon†, James Sullivan states that the rise of the popularity of jeans after the WWII can greatly be attributed to the influence of the film and music industry, during the 1950s many young people began to wear jeans when they saw them on rebellious young American film stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean. By 1950, Levi’s began selling nationally and other brands started emerging, such as Lee Coopers and each with its own particular fit (Sullivan 287). According to the University of Toronto, in the 1960’s and 1970’s jeans were embraced by the nonconformist hippie youth movement, and the history of blue jeans even gets linked to the downfall of communism. Behind the iron curtain, jeans became a symbol of â€Å"western decadence† and individuality and as such were highly sought. Jeans had become extremely popular, but were still mainly worn by working people or the young. In the 1980’s through to the 1990’s jeans were no longer seen as rebellious or a source of individuality, but they were transformed as the term ‘designer jeans’ was discovered. Many designers such as Jordache and Calvin Klein came on board to create expensive jeans and some jeans even reached haute couture status (Fashion Encyclopedia). In the new millennium denim is seen on designer catwalks and there are now hundreds of styles, types and labels available and of various price ranges. Changing Popularity According to Peter Beagle in his book â€Å"American Denim: A New Folk Art†, the popularity of jeans can be attributed to the fact that jeans can be seen to embrace the American democratic values of independence, freedom and equality. Some Americans even consider jeans to be the national uniform. Blue jeans have evolved from a garment associated exclusively with hard work to one associated with leisure. What began as work clothes has transformed into one of the â€Å"hottest† items available on the consumer market today. What was once apparel associated with low culture has undergone a reversal in status. Blue jeans were the first to accomplish a rather revolutionary cultural achievement bringing upper class status to a lower class garment. Conclusion At one point or another throughout history, blue jeans have been the uniform of many groups and are considered the one garment of clothing that has remained hip for over a century and has survived everything from World War II to the eighties. For half a century blue jeans have helped define every youth movement, and every effort of older generations to deny the passing of youth. Fifty years ago America invented the concept of teenager, and it is probably no coincidence that the enduring character of blue jeans, claiming independence and the right to self-expression, can be traced to the same time. Jeans were once seen as clothing for minority groups such as workers, hippies or rebellious youth, but are now embraced by the dominant American culture as a whole. Works Cited â€Å"Material Culture†. Utoronto. ca. University of Toronto Department of History, University of Toronto, n. d. Web â€Å"European Culture 19th Century – Blue Jeans†. Fashionencyclopedia. com. Fashion Encyclopedia, Advameg, June 2010. Web. â€Å"Modern World 1980 – 2003, Designer Jeans†. Fashionencyclopedia. com. Fashion Encyclopedia, Advameg, June 2010. Web. Sullivan, James. Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon. New York: Penguin, 2007. Print. George, Diana and Trimbur, John. Reading Culture: Contexts for critical reading and writing. New York: Longman, 2007. Print. Beagle, Peter. American Denim: A New Folk Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1975. Print.

Questions - part II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Questions - part II - Essay Example In this paper, we will focus on two philosophers; Boethius and Machiavelli. Through examining the two philosophers, we will be able to understand the main tenets of the ancient modern debate. Part A The main tenets of the ancient modern debate revolve around several differences on the subject of human nature. It is clear that different philosophers have presented diverse thoughts and opinions regarding the so called human nature. Building on this point of view, there has been a developing code of ethics emerging from such theorists and what people accept as true in the present day. It is worth examining Boethius view points on the subject and compare them with Machiavelli’s accordingly. Part B From a literal point of view, Boethius’s most excellent known work is referred as the consolation of philosophy. He wrote this work whilst in prison while awaiting his execution. Boethius finds himself in jail. At first, he is profoundly upset. The cause of his suffering emerges f rom his enduring project, effort to conserve ancient classical knowledge, specifically philosophy. His work represents an imaginary conversation between himself and philosophy. In that case, philosophy is personified as a woman. The arguments in this scenario are that, in spite of the apparent disparity of the humankind, there is, within platonic fashion, a high power and everything besides is secondary to such divine providence. Despite Boethius suffering while in exile, it is recorded that philosophy appears and attempts to â€Å"cure† his suffering. Philosophy, which is personified as a woman, does this in various ways. First of all, she does this by reminding him of what he once knew about the true nature of human beings; the nature of fortune, the nature of happiness, and the limits of politics to provide happiness (Boethius 49). In Boethius’ argument of the nature of fortune, happiness, and the limits of politics to provide happiness, he agonizes over the profess ed inappropriateness between the subsistence of God and the wickedness that exists in the earth. What is more, he agonizes between the existence of God and the superficial ethical inversion of the creation. In responding to such issues, Boethius declares that God’s kindness and God’s obligation to honesty does not necessitate that God get rid of every instance of evil. Then again, Boethius presents argument that there are at least different examples of goodness that appear to have need of the likelihood of some wickedness, ethical education with regards to the free will of humans and the true nature of happiness. Moreover, Boethius presents an argument that the nature of evil as self-destructive to wrongdoers and the nature of the ultimate good as the one which, every person naturally look for, an indication that the earth is not decently inverted. As a result, Boethius would dispute the reality of premise in the modern formulation of the issue of evil (Boethius 54). I n his argument for the compatibility of the subsistence of God with the continuation of evil, he provides explanations as to why God would allow occurrences of evil and not do away with them. As a character in the Consolation, he seems to take consolation in such discoveries. Reflecting on the above discussion, it is worth contemplating that the lady philosophy brings to a n end the dialogue with both caution and encouragement, â€Å"

International Business Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Business Management - Essay Example As every thing is changing in the present situation, the strategies regarding marketing in business also are changing rapidly. Continuity can be observed in that change. The unpredictable shift of the power due to the expansions in the economies raised need of the new management practices that can use the advances in the communications technology. This transformed the speed with which information spreads and this spreading of the information gives rise to new ideas and ways of marketing. This can increase the scope for the marketing also as the spread of the information can tell about the quality of the product in a far away place with increased speed. The part of the transformation resulted due to the number of products are derived from complex geography of production. This involves complexity in distribution and consumption. This is due to the vastness and extensive nature of the distribution and consumption as the needs and views of customers vary from place to place. These can be known by managements by communications technology and can make use them in the marketing strategies.1 The people who use the products manufactured far away from their place of living take into consideration the changes that affect directly their living, necessities and provisions for their children. This makes marketing easy but needs an extensive approach in case of photo album industry as the methods are new and innovative to this industry. The new and innovative business management prospects are due to the explosion and proliferation of global protest movements. 2. Main Bodies 2.1 Literature Assessment Evaluation of part one: In part one the Chinese photo album industry's state in the present environment is discussed. The assessment was based on the needs of the customers and the role of the industry in meeting them. It was opined that the products delivered by industry should be according to the necessities of the customers using them. 2.1.1 The management practices according to market forces: The views shared by

Open Kitchen Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Open Kitchen - Article Example The former is where all the kitchen activities and the myriad of objects usually in the kitchen is open for viewing of the general public - the consumer/s which comprised of families, couples, friends and just plain hungry people. Intuitively, we may think of the closed kitchen as a kitchen where the customers do not see the food and utensil preparation process. They have no idea of what is happening in the room separated from all other parts of the dining area of the restaurant because of the boundaries such as cement, wood or opaque glass. The question now that concerns us is whether to choose an open kitchen or not. As we will see later in this paper, both scenarios have their advantages and disadvantages for the labor side (chef and assistant cooks) and even for the consumer side (customers). However, we argue that one is more appropriate than the other. Such a claim needs backing and this is what the paper is precisely what this paper aims for - to offer points that can help the kitchen designer in deciding which is more effective, appealing, efficient and attractive for those waiting at the dining table. In the early days, cooking was mainly a public affair especially for the Greek and Roman soldiers who had their rations cooked in a large containers place over burning wood. (Harrison, 1972). However, with the amount of smoke generated and having slaves as their cooks, ensuing generations of food establishments, mostly bars and inns, progressively placed cooking in a separate room. Thus, the open kitchen now transformed to the close type. Describing Closed Kitchens Closed kitchens are spaces not open to the view of the customer. In this setting, cooks and their assistants conduct food preparations such as chopping, slicing and dicing. Stoves and ovens (which nowadays are combined in a single equipment) can be located at the sides or placed at the middle aisle which makes it more accessible to both sides thereby facilitating the cooking process and maximizing space. However, the latter configuration presents some danger especially during rush hours where accidents can occur. Refrigerators are placed at the sides as well as sinks and preparation tables. Some closed kitchens have the dishwashing area incorporated in the room while others have another connected extra room. Exhaust systems are usually placed above stoves to take out heat and smoke as fast as possible. Remember that several stoves and oven besides from blending and other equipments are emitting heat and this should be taken out as fast as possible so as not to further irritate the a lready stressed cook. (Kitchens.It, 2007) The settings in closed kitchen can get very busy and very chaotic. Nevertheless, the trained cook is expected to be able to deal with such situations. What is important to note, however, is that closed kitchens tend to get messy, noisy and smelly and the environment can sometimes get very tense. Figure 1 (a) and (b) presents two usual closed kitchen layouts. (a) (b) Figure 1: Closed kitchens where (a) food preparation is at the middle and (b) stoves occupy the middle setting Source: Google Open Kitchen Images (2007) Open Kitchen Layouts Since the kitchen is open to the public, designers make sure that there is not much dangling cooking utensils. Instead, these are arranged in the preparation table or are sometimes placed in drawers incorporated in t

Control of microbial growth Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Control of microbial growth - Research Paper Example Controlling microbial growth is very critical in preventing food spoilage.There are different techniques used in controlling microbial growth. These will be addressed in this essay. Different technologies used to control microbial growth employ varying mechanisms to cause the death of mechanism. Of critical importance to note is that the rate at which microbes die is usually constant such that logarithmic plots from depicting microbial death are usually straight and descending. Some of the microbial growth control techniques usually cause the cell membrane of microbes to exhibit a new level of permeability, leading to an uncontrolled leakage of cell content. This leakage ultimately leads to cell death. Other techniques usually damage cell proteins and nucleic acids, a mechanism that affects both RNA and DNA. This damage also leads to cell death. There are other mechanisms that serve to limit cell growth as scientists have described over time (Kratz, 2005). Physical Methods There are physical ways that have proved efficient in controlling cell growth. One of these is heat. There are certain terms related to the use of heat in controlling microbial growth that scientists have coined over time. ... A more effective strategy is often the use of steam under pressure as it becomes easier to obtain temperatures higher than the boiling point. For example, typical sterilization temperatures in an autoclave are usually 121 degree Celsius and a pressure of 15 psi with sterilization lasting 15 minutes. An additional technique used is pasteurization as described from the concept developed by Louis Pasteur. This technique employs a certain range of temperatures that ensure that microbes die but the flavor and taste of the product as well as the nutrients remain. It is important to note that this technique does not kill all the microbes, but targets those that lead to food spoilage (Srivastava, &Srivastava, 2003). Pasteurization often uses the principle of high temperatures for a short period. Dry heat may also prove useful in sterilization as in the case in incineration and sterilization in an oven. In addition to heat, scientists have also described the use of filtration membranes that h ave the capacity of separating certain microbes. This technique is applicable for liquids that prove to have high heat sensitivity. A typical example is the use of special membranes to filter air used in theatres. The use of low temperatures in the refrigerator usually at 0-7 degree Celsius ensures that microbes do not grow. However, some microbes need freezing temperatures to become inactive. In other cases, high pressure becomes useful in treating juices to prevent spoilage although endospores prove resistant to that pressure. Of importance in such cases is ensuring that flavor and nutrients do not fade in the process.Desiccation is also a way of limiting microbial growth as it deprives

Human Resource Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management - Literature review Example An organization manages its talent through the HR and this is how both HR and talent management are linked. HR has a responsibility of ensuring that the employees work for the achievement of the organizational goals. In order to manage the organizations talent, HR needs to come up with effective employee policies, etc (BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. 2000; CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. 2008) There are different scholarly studies that discuss about the role of HR in the talent management and the organizational performance. One of the studies discusses about the different phases that occurred during the development of the theory of HR and performance. There are basically five phases that took place during the development of the theory of HR. The beginning phase was when the HR was actually associated with the performance of the company. There was a link made between the HR practices and the strategies of the businesses. The second phase was empiricism, when statistical surveys were us ed to support the development of the theory of HR. The phase was successful in establishing a positive relation between the HR and the organizations performance. ... The study links this theory to the current role of the HR. It also discusses about the challenges faced by the HR theory. The scope of the theory is too narrow. It argues that the workforce motivation and commitment are an important aspect of the increasing sophistication. It states that keeping in mind the respective workforce HR managers need to come up with the best practices to have the most positive outcomes and to have the greatest impact on performance. The study has some loopholes. It does not suggest how the HR managers can come up with good practices. It does not suggest exactly what models and research methods should be used to understand the impact of HR theory on the performance. It also does not suggest ways of talent management to bring out the best out of employees (GUEST.D 2010) Another study was conducted which focused on the Human Resource Management and the Corporate Performance in the UK. The study basically focused on that how human resource management can help the corporations to achieve competitive advantage through its workforce. It shows a clear relationship between the human resource management and performance but the study fails to establish the level of extent to which the HRM results in a higher performance of the corporations. During the course of this study it was found out that greater use of HR practices results in lower labor turnover higher profit contribution per employee but it does not ensure a greater productivity of the employees. There were 366 UK based companies that were studied by the researchers to establish the above results (GUEST.D, MICHIE.J, CONWAY.N & SHEEHAN.M 2003) Talent management is the most important aspect of the HR

Lesson Plan Reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lesson Plan Reflections - Essay Example The activities I planned supported the learning objective since they were related to the lesson work and aimed at enabling the student understand the concepts for every lesson. For example, reading the story on time and pointing to the clock to depict the different time mentioned engaged the students since it entailed use of both audio and visual learning aides. This fostered the students to meet the learning objectives. The other activity for the math lesson on time around the world required the students to draw picture to indicate digital times as well as analog time. This meets the objective, which was to enable students to tell time using analog and digital clocks. I could tell whether the students were successful in achieving the objectives depending on how they performed in the after lesson assessments. For example, the objective of the Social Studies lesson on Girl on the Go was to enable students remember the different countries they had learnt in the history lesson. The story used different monuments in association with different countries. To assess if the students met the objectives, I asked post-reading questions that covered what happened in the beginning middle and end of the story. Moreover, I asked the students to mention the countries that Isabella visited, what the different countries were famous for, and they answered correctly. Additionally, the students were supposed to tell each other countries they had visited, to see if they remembered the previous lessons. I realized that student learn better through activities. For example, after reading the story about the Girl on the Go, I realized that students could easily remember the courtiers mentioned in the story as compared to other countries covered in previous lessons. They would also associate different monuments with the countries where they are located. Moreover, use of pictures and a clock in the math class made the lesson interesting and the students were excited when they realized

Risk Management Within General Motors Company Essay Example for Free

Risk Management Within General Motors Company Essay This research looks at the General Motors Company and what led to company failure and filing of bankruptcy in 2009. The American automotive industry was poorly managed for years and was almost eliminated when the economy crashed in 2008. Without the help of the U. S. government, General Motors and Chrysler would not have been able to survive. How did GM, as the number one auto manufacturer and seller, go from being at the top to almost ceasing to exist? This kind of financial mess usually takes years of poor decisions and does not happen to a large company overnight. To come to my conclusion I analyzed four books written by people with inside knowledge of the company, as well as magazine articles and a couple of online websites. As a result of my research, I believe that the problems that GM faced stemmed from poor risk management. Rick Wagonner, former CEO, made several poor business decisions that did not take into account any future risks or market changes. A new management team and a fresh perspective were able to turn the company around and put them back at the top of the automotive industry. Risk Management within the General Motors Company General Motors has been in business since 1908 and currently employs 202,000 people in 157 countries world-wide. It is a well-known fact that GM took government bailout money and filed bankruptcy in 2009. How did one of the largest companies in the world fall to needing financial assistance and declaring bankruptcy? One of the largest issues within the company was the lack of risk management practiced by leadership. How did the company then bounce back from declaring bankruptcy to being the auto manufacturer who sold the most cars world-wide in 2011 (Rosevear, 2012)? It is quite a project to overhaul a company, and the end result was more than likely helped by good project management. There were several smaller projects involved in the large project of overhauling the company, including marketing projects, new car model development, forming risk management plans and paying back the government loans to name a few. Problems within the Company The issues that caused GM to lose their money did not happen overnight; years of poor business decisions led them to where the company stood in 2008. Several executives were very short-sighted in their decision making; they failed to set long-range goals and objectives which are important for successful strategic project management. In 1970, GM and the United Auto Workers (UAW) entered a new contract after a sixty seven day strike over wages. The most notable change with the new contract is that it allowed employees to retire after thirty years with the company with a full pension after the age of 57. At the time their full pension was $500 a month, but with inflation and wage increases, this number was much higher more than three decades later. They believed that early retirements would create new jobs for young people entering the workforce. Another strike occurred in 1973. This one resulted in a contract change that employees had the right to retire at any age with full benefits after thirty years working with the company ( Ingrassia, 2010). Men and women were now able to take full retirement at as early as the age of 48. Union members who decided to retire early would also receive extra pension pay until they were able to draw from Social Security. By 2003, GM had over 460,000 retirees and spouses, which outnumbered current employees almost three to one. All of these were collecting pension and healthcare, and the UAW members were still just as well off. The 1970s was the decade that undid GM; it set the stage for the financial hardships that the company would face with the downturn of the economy in future decades (Lutz, 2011). Another large money eater for the Detroit automotive companies was the union job banks, which were created as part of the 1984 labor contract. The goal for the program was to be a temporary option for laid off workers so that they could be retained for new positions when they opened; it was a sense of job security. Naturally, employees first went on unemployment when being laid-off. The UAW contract then required GM to give additional payments that would guarantee an employee 95% of their prior wages for forty eight weeks. Once this time period was over, an employee would enter a job bank. Here they would stay, while being paid, until their old plant reopened or a job became available at a factory within a fifty mile radius. Because nearby positions rarely opened, people would remain in the job banks for years. The requirements for staying in the job bank included volunteer work for company approved rganizations and programs. Or, employees could punch in at their empty building and pass the time by watching television, reading the newspaper, sitting on a computer, or playing Scrabble. The only stipulations were that they had to punch out to use the bathroom or go on their lunch break, and they could not sleep or play cards. Eventually, this program was costing GM an estimated $1 billion a year to compensate their employees who were not even working (Vlasic, 2011). In 2000, Rick Wagoner was promoted to the position of CEO of GM. He immediately instituted several changes throughout the company. He flew to Italy in March of that year to negotiate with Fiat because GM needed their diesel engine technology for their GM Europe divisions. GM obtained 20% of Fiat Automobile by paying Fiat $2. 5 Billion in GM stock (Ingrassia, 2010). In December of the same year, Wagoner announced that GM would be closing their 103 year old Oldsmobile division. This was a wise move since Oldsmobile sales had fallen almost 75% in the fifteen years leading up to this point. Wagoner hired John Devine, the former financial officer of Ford, to be GM’s new CFO, and in August of 2001 he hired Bob Lutz, who had redesigned Chrysler’s product line in the 1990s. To help the economy and sales after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Wagoner offered interest-free financing on every GM vehicle. Naturally, people flocked to the dealership showrooms to take advantage of this deal. Because of this, GM’s factories remained open, and money flowed to parts suppliers, dealerships, and ad agencies. Wagoner received praise from media throughout the country. However, an internal audit in mid-2001 showed that the company was not in as good of shape as the general public was led to believe. The analysis decided that GM had too many brands, too many dealers, too many factories, and too many workers. The report recommended that GM make cutbacks while times were good, but when this was presented to Wagoner he made a poor business decision and ignored the findings. In 2004, National Geographic magazine wrote an article titled â€Å"The End of Cheap Oil. † When Wagoner saw this, he once again ignored the facts. He was under the assumption that profits from SUVs and pickup trucks would continue to be strong- they probably would have if gas had stayed under $2 a gallon like it was in 2003 and 2004. Wagoner made several poor business decisions during his tenure as CEO of GM which led to the company needing help from the outside. In 2005, Jerry York was hired to analyze what was going wrong with the General Motors Company. He gave several ideas to get GM out of the financial crisis that they were in. At the time, GM still had enough cash to turn around the company. York suggested that the company well off Saab and Hummer. He also recommended cutting GM’s annual dividend in half to one dollar a share instead of two (Lutz, 2011). GM also could have cut the pay of their board members, senior executives, and mangers, and could have worked with the UAW to cut the healthcare costs that GM was paying to workers. On January 26, 2006, the board of directors heeded Yorks warnings and cut the dividends in half, cut executive pay, and eliminated several upper level bonuses. They also elected York onto the board. Another gentleman, Steve Girsky, did a six month analysis of the company in 2006. He estimated that out of the 107 vehicles in GM’s lineup that were produced in North America, 71 of them were unprofitable (Vlasic, 2011). Girsky suggested that GM spend their money on fewer but better products, cut production capacity and employees, be accountable for their goals, and acknowledge that GM was in serious trouble. This last suggestion would not be heeded for a couple more years. GM executives were not ready to admit that they were in over their heads. Heading into 2008, GM as a company was optimistic about the upcoming year. Many new vehicles were being produced or were being considered, and the new Chevy Malibu was named North American Car of the Year, GM’s second in a row since the Saturn Aura won in 2007 (Lutz, 2011). The company had quite a bit of debt, but this did not worry the executives. The first quarter of 2008 brought the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, followed by the financial crisis, failures from banks, and many home foreclosures. These episodes took hundreds of billions of dollars out of the U. S. economy instantly. By July, GM was making layoffs, suspending its dividends, and eliminating health benefits for retired managers and executives over the age of sixty five. In the second quarter of 2008, GM reported $15. 5 billion in losses ($181,000 a minute). With the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers Holding Firm came a standstill in automotive sales. Lehman Brothers was the fourth largest investment bank in the U. S. at the time, and when the financial giant declared bankruptcy, the public began to fear for their own finances and worry about the financial situation of the whole country. This is also when banks began to implement more strict policies about who they loaned money to and on what terms. The public was afraid to buy cars, and bankers were afraid to give loans. GM approached Ford asking for a merger, but Ford was not interested; they were the only automaker in Detroit that was still treading water. GM then approached Chrysler about a merger, but the deal never took place. By November, just after the presidential election, General Motors and Chrysler both admitted that they would run out of money by the end of the year (Ingrassia, 2010). A business tradition that hurt the company for years was that GM had cars in the U. S and Europe that looked alike on the outside, but shared nothing on the inside- causing high production costs. Several foreign companies such as Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and Audis all have only one headquarters, as well as one engineering and design staff; their vehicles are the same across the world no matter where they are purchased. GM expanded overseas before WWII and through the years acquired the auto companies of Vauxhall in the UK, Opel, and Holden in Australia. Having these manufacturing facilities made it possible for GM to product cars in several different countries. For a long time, this factor was an advantage to GM; brands stayed close to their target markets and the cards that Europe demanded were very different from the cars that American desired (Lutz, 2011). Beginning in the 1980’s, several other car brands were quickly being recognized throughout the world. Federal fuel economy regulations came into the picture, which caused the size of U. S. cars to decrease and they began to look like cars throughout the rest of the world. By this point in time, it easily cost $700 million to engineer a new car design; GM found it hard to create a lineup of competitive vehicles within a reasonable amount of money. The company also lacked innovation in their products. The company was moving quickly, but the competition was far ahead of GM in terms of innovation, especially in the area of fuel economy. The General Motors Company had several poor project management habits in place. When Jerry York joined the board of directors, he was firm with Wagoner. He believed that the CEO worked for the board, and the board represented the shareholders, who owned the company. He too believed that GM was a poorly managed company (Vlasic, 2011). The top management was only concerned about making money, and the board of directors was too afraid of failure. There seemed to be very little (or no) risk management; all of the predictions that Rick Wagoner and the company made about future customer demand were based on the assumption that gas prices would stay at one dollar a gallon indefinitely (Vlasic, 2011). The executives and board of directors were also afraid of aggravating the UAW, which led to billions of dollars of wasted money, overpaying workers and paying for employees who were not even working. GM at one time was the largest company in America; they did not know how to effectively minimize their costs when the economy took a nosedive, nor did they conserve resources for the chance that anything bad would happen to the American economy. Responses to Company Problems The first task on the agenda was finding money to keep the company running. The auto industry needed to ask Congress for money, but it was a tricky time because the country was just about to shift presidents. Neither president (Bush or Obama) wanted to deal with the car companies on their tenure. The Big Three combined were asking for $25 billion of government loans. The CEOs flew into D. C. on their private company jets and then proceeded to be humiliated by the politicians. Eventually, GM and Chrysler were given $14 billion in emergency loans. In order for the companies to receive this money, they have to cut their debt by two-thirds by convincing bondholders to take a stock-for-debt swap. The UAW would have to take stock in GM and Chrysler instead of cash for half that the auto companies owed the VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association) trusts, and the union would also have to immediately level their wages with those of the Japanese automotive plants that were in America- including their benefits. This last requirement was the breaking point for the UAW; they refused and argued that the UAW had already given enough to the auto companies in the last few years. Instead, within days President Bush gave $17. 4 billion from the $700 bank rescue package to keep the companies running for three months (Ingrassia, 2010). Bush’s requirement was that the companies needed to submit â€Å"viability plans† on February 17th, which would describe what the companies planned to do to return to being profitable. When President Obama took the office, he created the Automotive Task Force to investigate the American automotive industry and to suggest changes to be made. The task force decided that GM was a company that knew how to build great cars but did not have the necessary ability to market them. In early 2009, plans were drawn up to eliminate Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saab from GM’s lineup, for a future emphasis on Chevrolet and Cadillac). In April of 2009, GM made the announcement that they would exchange $27 billion of unsecured debt for GM stock. This was how they chose to try to drop the 90% of their debt that the Automotive Task Force was requiring, in hopes to avoid bankruptcy. This did not go as planned, as GM stock was at a low price and did not appeal to their investors. Because of this, the last option was for the government to buy the remaining stock. The government gave $30 million and now owned 60% of GM’s stock (Ingrassia, 2010).

War & Peace (International Security) Essay Example for Free

War Peace (International Security) Essay For almost half a century humans have sought principles for the maintenance of their security and the peaceful settlement of their disputes. Each historic period has witnessed the emergence of new concepts or an instance of re-emergence of old with trust that the mistakes of the past would not be done again. After the Cold War mankind has entered again such a period of doubt and research. The framework of international relations has changed so meaningly over the last decade that it is fair to declare that a new era has begun. This era offers hope, but no condition of being certain. Some unanimity has become obvious: that this new era needs a many-sided approach to the resolution of its conflicts, some that came from the past, some generated in the chaos of adaptation to new conditions of growing freedom, of enmity reborn, and of increasing challenges to the peace required for security of people. After the Cold War, globalization increased the motives for states to pursue more cooperative security policies, in particular at the regional level. In what follows, this paper looks at the main transformations in the structure of international security over the last decade. How is one to understand the structure of security at the global level? The paper considers how globalization in general and particular aspects of it became securitized by the actors in the international arena. Main Body Any coherent regionalist approach to international security must begin by establishing clear distinctions between what constitutes the regional and global level. Distinguishing the regional from the global is not easy task. The easy part is that a region must surely be less than the whole, and of course much less. There would not be much opposition to the claim that the United States is a global level actor. But the problem emerges when one tries to determine particular actors. Should Russia be regarded as a global power or a regional one? What about China? Traditional realism does not help in this task because it usually positions states as great, middle, or small powers. Traditional realism does not regard the powers that are structurally significant at the regional level. How the structures are defined shapes the nature of international security. For this reason it is better to approach the global–regional boundary by starting from the top down. Both the neorealist and globalist theories focus on an idea of global structure. Neorealism is considers two levels, system and unit. Neorealists either underestimate or disregard all levels except the system one. Neorealism is to some extent strong on territoriality. Potential harmony between it and the regionalist perspective is possible, specifically when states are the main actors. There is room for controversy between neorealism and regionalism when the security agenda moves to issue areas other than military-political, to actors other than the state, and to theories of international security other than materialist (Wohlforth 42). In addition, the most abstract and theoretically ambitious variants of neorealism (for example, Waltzs) tend to understand system in such abstract terms that territoriality disappears. From the regionalist perspective of international security discussed in this paper, a key weakness of both the neorealist and globalist approaches to international security is that they exaggerate the role of the global level, and disregard the role of the regional one. Neorealism in a simple manner chooses not to consider much the levels below the systemic. To the degree that globalism disregards territoriality particularly and levels in general, it is not an appropriate approach for considering things still defined in territorial terms. However, the more reasonable versions of globalism do give room for a regionalist perspective. The regionalist perspective is chosen approach to analyze international security. Friedberg (2000) indicated â€Å"the regional level stands more clearly on its own as the locus of conflict and cooperation for states and as the level of analysis for scholars seeking to explore contemporary security affairs† (7). This approach can be described as a post-Cold War focus concentrating on two assumptions: 1. That the decline of superpower competition decreases the penetrative quality of global power interest in the rest of the world (Friedberg 160); and 2. That most of the great powers in the post-Cold War international system are now pulled away. The argument of this paper is that the global level of international security over the last decade can best be understood as one superpower plus four great powers. It is essential to distinguish between superpowers and great powers even though both are at the global level. Then it is necessary to differentiate that level from the one defined by regional powers and regional security complexes. Almost nobody debates that the end of the Cold War had a considerable impact on the whole organization of international security. But, more than a decade after the transformation, the character of the post-Cold War security order still remains eagerly disputed. Over the last decade the regional level of international security has become both more self-governing and more leading in international politics. Katzenstein (2000) concludes that the ending of the Cold War accelerated this process. This thought comes naturally after the ending of bipolarity. Without superpower competition intruding all-absorbing into all regions, local powers have more room for tactic. For a decade after the ending of the Cold War, both the remaining extremely powerful states and the other great powers (China, EU, Japan, Russia) had less stimulus, and displayed less desire, to take a decisive role in security affairs outside their own regions. The terrorist attack on the United States on the September 11, 2001 may well give rise to some affirmation of great power interventionism. However, this is likely to be for quite narrow and particular purposes, and seems improbable to recreate the general will to step abroad that was a characteristic of Cold War superpower competition. The definite autonomy of regional security over the last decade forms a pattern of international security relations fundamentally different from the steadfast structure of superpower bipolarity that was common during the Cold War. The regional structure of international security is the relative balance of power of, and relative relationship within it between, regionalizing and globalizing trends. The central idea in the regional structure distinguishes between the system level cooperation of the global powers. Since most security threats travel undoubtedly over short distances than over long ones, international security interdependence is normally arranged into regionally based divisions: security complexes. As Friedberg (2000, 5) discuses: â€Å"most states historically have been concerned primarily with the capabilities and intentions of their neighbors†. Security complexes may well be largely penetrated by the global powers. However, their regional dynamics have a considerable degree of autonomy from the plans set by the global powers. Usually, two main levels dominate security studies: national and global. National security– for example, the security of France–is not in itself a significant level of study. Because security branches are intrinsically relational, no nations security is self-contained. At the same time, global security refers at best to a strong desire, not a reality. The globe is not tightly characterized by integration in security terms. Except for the special case of superpowers and great powers discussed above, only little can be said at this level of generalization that will reflect the real conflicts and problems in most countries. The region, in contrast, is connected with the level where states or other units cooperate together very closely and their securities cannot be analyzed separate from each other. The regional level is the space of national and global security mutual action, and where most of the operations occur. Both the security of the divided units and the process of international power intervention can be understood only through comprehension of the regional security dynamics. The best understanding of the dynamics of international security could be achieved by treating global and regional levels as distinct, and considering how they played into each other. On the basis of a distinction between superpowers and great powers international security has outlines as follows: Over the last decade the global power structure shifted to 1 + 4. The USA remained as a superpower, and China, the EU, Japan, and Russia as great powers. There was some mobility in the pattern of regional prospective. North and South America continued to be much as before. The breakdown of the Soviet Union meant that two (and for a while almost three) regional security complexes emerged in Europe. In Asia, the integration of the Northeast and Southeast Asian complexes brought the total to two. In Africa, the Southern Africa complex spread into Central Africa, and a Central African RSC came into view increasing the number to four. If to consider the Middle East as one, then the global total in 2001 was eleven. Thinking about the future, 1 + 4 remains the most probable structure for at least a couple of decades. A shift to 2 + x is connected with the possibility that either China or the EU will be elevated to superpower status. Kapstein (1999) and Hansen (2000) share the widely held view that the emergence of a second superpower within the next two decades is unlikely (79). More likely is a transformation to 0 + x. This could happen little by little if the USA experiences a long-term relative decline in its material assets in regard to other powers, or quite quickly if the USA decides to give up its superpower role and become a normal great power. Some writers, particularly Wohlforth (1999) and Krauthammer (1999), are strong supporters of an unipolarist strategy for the USA. This general course seems to have been made stronger both by the Bush administration and by the US acts in regard to 11 September. Waltz (2000) sees a multipolar world with the USA as one pole. South Asias strong regional securitization was strengthened over the last decade. Post-Cold War, South Asia was chiefly affected by the 4 element of 1 + 4. While Post-Cold War developments increased the possibility of the Asian super complex unification into a full Asian regional security complex, it was not absolutely matched by securitization of China in India. In South Asia, the strongest concern is a possible change of essential structure made up of the organization of an internal and an external change. East Asia witnessed the merger of two previously independent regional security complexes, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. In East Asia, like in South Asia, the breakdown of the Soviet Union contributed considerably to the relative empowerment of China and its movement towards the centre of the US debate about possible peer competitors (Buzan and Little 13). It also generated to the emergence of a security regime in Southeast Asia and the union of the Southeast and Northeast Asian regional security complexes. The US activities in the region contributed to the incensement of securitization between it and China. They also dampened down securitizations of China elsewhere in the region. China is chief but possibly not in the near future powerful enough to create a centered Asian regional security complex. The Middle East is to some extent very much like Asia, a region where strong local controversy dynamics intersect with a mighty US presence and worries about the future of the US role. In this regional security complexes, the shift to a 1 + 4 structure generated a period of unipolar intervention by the USA intended at a kind of coercive desecuritisation (Friedberg 68). This made a considerable impact on the local division of power, supporting Israel and hammering Iraq. This also put all of the former clients of the Soviet Union into a weaker position. The Middle Eastern regional security complex has experienced some medium-scale transformations. Over the last decade, Africa underwent the reduction of external support for the postcolonial state structures. Since sub-Saharan Africa, similar to South America, has no neighboring great powers, it was not much influenced by the 4 element of 1 + 4 (Wohlforth 40). Dynamics of securitization were driven downward to the domestic level and upward to the international one. Africa is possibly to become the home of four regional security complexes. In Africa, the concern is about the formation and evolution of regional security complexes in a subcontinent dominated by state failure. There is the lack of much interest or intervention on behalf of the global powers, and the not absolutely strong roles of transnational organizations. In Europe, the end of overlay disclosed both the centrality of the European Union as the main international security institution, and the growing of the stakes in the global great power status, or not, of the European Union (Buzan and Little 37). It also demonstrated the difference between the international security community dynamics of Western Europe in comparison with opposition formation dynamics in the former Soviet Union and its former empire. For the Central and South-eastern European countries caught in the middle, this contrast determined their whole foreign policy problematic. The collapse of the Soviet Union not only replaced one of the superpowers, but also created a new regional security complex. In both Europe and the post-Soviet region, the regional and international levels play considerably into each other because the regional activities are responsible for the emergence and distribution of a great power. What is striking about the US power in Europe, East Asia, and South America (however, not the Middle East) is the level to which its position has become institutionalized through the creation of super regional projects including Atlanticism, Asia-Pacific, and pan-Americanism (Buzan 2000). These projects commonly involve a strong mixture of super regional economic organization, and mutual defence and security processes, the special mix varying depending on the local conditions and history. These projects enable the USA to appear to be a powerful member of these regions. Where super regional projects are present, it is quite usual for the United States to be considered, and probably to consider itself, as a member of those security regions. By putting the USA inside these regions, super regional projects make less distinct the crucial distinguishing feature between regional and international level security processes. They also make them difficult to see from within the United States. This blurring becomes a significant tool for the supporting of the USAs sole superpower position, not least in keeping from the emergence of more autonomous regional coalitions that might be a threat to its influence or its primacy. This is not to refuse to recognize that these projects have considerable and sometimes positive political effects. But they can also contribute to the problems in terms of distinguishing between being a superpower and being a great or regional power. The US security role in East Asia, South America, and Europe can be compared with its role in the Middle East. The US’ role is an outside global power penetrating into the affairs of the regions. The main point to support this theory is that there can be disputes concerning an outside power withdrawing, or being expelled, from the region concerned (Buzan and Little 69). For example, Germany cannot detach itself from Europe, nor Japan from East Asia, nor Brazil from South America. But the US can withdraw itself (or be withdrawn) from Europe, East Asia, and South America. There are numerable debates both in the USA and in those regions (and also the Middle East) regarding the desirability or not of such transformations. Conclusion The attacks of 11 September showed how much international security is produced by the specific interactions of regional and global security dynamics. It is clear that the structure of international security is defined by the interplay of regions and powers. Regional security complexes analysis offers a significant tool for analyzing and understanding not only the past and present structures and processes of international security, but also the future transformations. This paper argued that the regional level of security is significant and is a considerable part of the overall area of security in the international system. Bibliography Buzan, Barry, and Richard Little 2000. International Systems in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Friedberg, Aaron L. 2000. In the Shadow of the Garrison State: Americas Anti-Statism and Its Cold War Grand Strategy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Hansen, B. 2000. Unipolarity and the Middle East. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. Kapstein, Ethan B. 1999. Does Unipolarity Have a Future? , in Kapstein and Mastanduno 1999.

Proposal for an Automated System

Proposal for an Automated System III. PROPOSED SYSTEM All traditional frameworks do not discuss functional requirements or, explicitly automatable parts of ITSM processes. Automation is identified as one of the approach to tackle the challenges of current service management processes. The architecture of the system is shown below in Figure 1: Figure 1. Block Diagram for the Architecture As shown in the figure above, the architecture consists of three main blocks i.e., ITSM Server, Secondly the Knowledge server and finally the configuration Management logic for triggering the actions. Firstly an incident does gets created or submit in the iTop Server with respect to the client request. Then there is a constant polling for the current status of the incident. As the status for the given incident does have three stages i.e. New, Assigned, Closed. Subsequently, for the given new Incident the status gets changed to Assigned when the based on which an Issue also gets created in the Knowledge server. For the given Incident Id an AP Issue Id also gets created in the Knowledge server for which the status is also polled back to the ITSM server in the Public logs with respect to the given incident. Once an issue and issue id gets created within the knowledge Server based on the issue type specific knowledge Item gets triggered. KIs are the considered to be a simple rule with context written in xml format which does have an Issue condition tag which gets cross checked with respect to the given incident. Based on the issue conditions corrective actions are taken to resolve the issue which is mentioned in the command tag for the respective KI. Subsequently, the triggering actions given by the KI are been executed by the configuration management tool. After the successful execution of the actions the issue gets closed for which the status is again polled back to the ITSM server and the related incident status also gets changed to close. The MARS model basically defines the environment in which the KS (Autopilot) runs. With the help of this model the environment gone under excessive changes can be automated easily and quickly. It illustrates the interdependencies of application, resource, software and Machine. With this model, the IT landscape of a given company can be mapped to both a technical and business perspective. Here application and resource maps to the business relevant and organizational parts of IT operations whereas the software and the machine refers to the technical side of the IT operations. Hence, it allows us to optimize the IT environment based on a lightweight and reusable model which could the basis for automated IT operations i.e., services. It can also be used to create the CI’s (Configuration Items). IV. MATHEMATICAL MODEL The system can be modeled mathematically given below. Let, â€Å"S† be a proposed system such that, S = {s, E, X, Y, FS, DD, NDD †¦| ÃŽ ¦} s = Starting point = R->ITSs Where CR = Set of client requests ITSMs = IT Service Management Server E = Ending Point = The given incident in terms of issue is solved X = Input to the system Set of Incidents (I) = {I1, I2, I3 , †¦.} Y = For the Given incident an issue in created in KS; I->KS Where KS =Knowledge Server Deterministic Data (DD): Given Incident is already resolved. Non-Deterministic Data (NDD): for the given incident there is no solution. Success = Issue created in the KS in successfully solved. = In-> rn Where, In is Incident created r1 is desired result for rn. Failure = Failure in execution of user request Conditions: -Insufficient input request and not valid user. V. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP The experimental setup for proposed system will be building an ITSM infrastructure and a Knowledge Server using built on Linux based machine using ITSM tool iTop. The ITSM Infrastructure would be having a Linux Machine Node on which ITSM tool iTop is been installed. Then we need to setup other Machine node i.e., for the implementation of the DS (Delivery Integration) where the deployment for the implemented code will be done. Third is the knowledge server i.e., another Linux Machine Node for the automation tool is required and the for configuration management. The particulars about platform and technology used are mentioned as follows: Base Operating System: Linux Based Machine server (Centos 6.5+ 64bit Preferred) Technology: iTop For ITSM server ,Version 2.1.0 Arago AutoPilot, Version 5.1 Ansible 1.7.2 / Chef. (Open Source). Databases: iTop Backend MySQL. Language: Java JDK 1.7. Java Tool: Eclipse JEE Other Dependencies: Maven3,Apache2,Tomcat7, REST APIs, Shell Scripting, and XML for Knowledge Items, MARS model. According to above specifications and structure, the proposed system is built up. VII. CONCLUSION Unlike other automation solutions, Knowledge based automation can deal with high levels of incorrectness and inaccuracy and only uses the given input as an entry point, or considers as a general universe description. Using this automation technology we try to enhance the power of IT configuration management process which is quite critical for our business processes. Our approach could also serve as input for discussing a reference model for the design of management services that could help tool vendors to create interoperable Management tools by enabling service-oriented access to specific tools functionality. REFERENCES [1] ISO/IEC, ISO/IEC 20000-1:2005: Information Technology Service Management, www.iso.org, 2005. [2] Office of Government Commerce (OCG): IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Support (ISBN 0113300158), 2000; Service Delivery (ISBN 0113300174), 2001. 3] The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication 800-145, September 2001, P. Mell and T. Grance. [4] Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA): Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (CobiT), isaca.org/cobit. [5]Microsoft TechNet: Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0, http://technet.microsoft.com/de/library/cc506049 (enus).aspx [6] Tele Management Forum (tmf): enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM), 2009. [7] Schaaf, T., Brenner M.: On Tool Support for Service Level Management: From Requirements to System Specifications.3rdInternational Workshop on Business-Driven IT Management, 2008. [8] ITSM reference. http://www.itsm.org [9] SYMIAN: Analysis and Performance Improvement of the IT Incident Management Process Claudio Bartolini, Member, IEEE, Cesare Stefanelli, Member, IEEE, and Mauro Tortonesi IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NETWORK AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT, VOL. 7, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2010. [10] Model-based Integration of Tools Supporting Automatable IT Service Management Processes, Klaus Scheibenberger IT Infrastructure and Services Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) 76131 Karlsruhe 2010. [11] IT service management driven by business objectives: An application to incident management Claudio Bartolini, Mathias Sallà © HP Laboratories Palo Alto, USA. David Trastour HP Laboratories Bristol, UK 2006 IEEE. [12] Synthetic Incident Generation in the Reenactment of IT Support Organization Behavior. Bartolini, C.,HP Labs., Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Stefanelli, C.,Tortonesi, M. ,Integrated Network Management (IM 2013), 2013 IFIP/IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYPOSIUM. [13] K Christiance, J. Lenchner et al, â€Å"A Service Delivery Platform for Server Management Services†, to appear in IBM Journal for Research and Development, special issue on Service Delivery, 2008. [14] Arago: The Automation Experts-Autopilot-version-33-englisch-47-728. [15] BMC Patrol, www.bmc.com/

Witchcraft Essay -- European History, Middle Ages, Witches

Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the seventeenth centuries, an infiltration of witchcraft persevered throughout Europe. The witch craze resulted in the torture and persecution of witches. More than 100,000 of witches who were tried were centered in the area of southwestern Europe. The mass hysteria of witches was denounced because of their rejection of God and their pact with the devil, which resulted in harsh punishments and accusations. One reason for the persecution of witches was they were thought to be the cause of bad harvests, epidemics, natural disasters, and personal tragedies. Witches also had a part in the religious aspect of Europe. The witches were persecuted because of the lack of a main religion, which was significant to life during the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. At this time of the witch phenomena, Europe was in a state of instability and people in Europe looked to benefit from the persecution of witches in the form of goods and money. The persecuti on of individuals as witches in Europe was mainly a repercussion of economic circumstances, strong religious beliefs, and prejudices of the people. The economic scene at the time of the witch craze was very apparent during the period between 1480-1700. During this period Europe was in a state of instability, therefore money, and exploration was important to many. An eyewitness to persecutions, canon Linden of Trier, Germany states that people used the trials for economic enhancement. Linden wrote that the executioner made the most money and describes it â€Å"like a noble of the court†(Document A2). This is evidence that high ranked people or people in office were into the witch trials for their economic greed and desire for goods. Mayor of Bamberg, Germ... ...is high position in society drove the pandemonium around the witch craze. The Protestant and Catholic religions were major influences on the everyday life of people in Europe during the 16th century, and all believed in persecuted witches. During the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, people began to realize that their superstition surrounding witches was ridiculous and when they used their reason over belief it didn’t make sense for witches to be a threat. In the late fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries it is evident that superstition and reason was pertained to the beliefs of influential people, resulting in the initial phase and final phase of the witch-hunt. The religious aspects, economic greed, and social stereotypes of the time influenced these beliefs. These three components led to the deaths of many so-called witches across Europe.

Comparing Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Our Time Essay

Soul Writing in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Our Time      Ã‚  Ã‚  Real writing, soul writing is dangerous; there is an intrinsic, gut-churning element of risk within the process of telling the truth, a risk that yields an adrenaline rush that parallels skydiving and skinny-dipping. The thrill of one's own truth displayed nakedly in little black letters on a white page is scary and beautiful, both chaining and freeing. The issue for authors, like skydivers, is that after they jump out of the plane (start writing) the fears don't disappear. The diver-author asks herself, "Should I really be doing this... What if my parachute doesn't work... What if I'm misunderstood?" Harriet Jacobs and John Edgar Wideman undergo this free-fall, these fears. In the telling of their stories, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Jacobs) and Our Time (Wideman), each author is self-conscious. Both authors tell about a minority in their stories; Jacobs speaks of the female slave and Wideman speaks of the African-American gangster. Because they tell the story of a minority to a majority, they can't afford to be misunderstood. They also can't afford to write solely in metaphors because they not only must prove their competence through reserved analysis but also must appeal to the hearts and minds of their audience.    The authors must bring middle class white readers as close to the slave plantation or the Ghetto or the prison cell as possible. For this reason, both authors refer to the reader with questions. This rhetorical device forces the reader to place herself in the situation of the main character. For example, when discussing the abuse she took from her master, Dr. flint, Jacobs asks, "But where could I turn for protection?"(47... ...nd unresolved, not because the authors are incompetent, but because the issues that they write about don't have resolutions. The readers are left with the same frustration as the authors. Past can't be erased, roles can't be traded, and sympathy can't be transformed into empathy. But the sheer act of writing and publishing their stories is a resolution. While to jump off the plane is terrifying, and wind stings the face as one falls, once on the ground the writer can find resolution purely in the explanation itself, even if it ends unresolved.    Works Cited Jacobs, Harriet.   "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl."   The Classic Slave Narratives.   Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.   New York: Mentor, 1987. Wideman, John Edgar. "Our Time" excerpted in Ways of Reading (4th edition), David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky, eds. (Boston: Bedford Books, 1996).

Wal-Mart: Ethical or Unethical

Wal-Mart: Ethical or Unethical? Almost everyone living in North America undoubtedly knows what Wal-Mart is and has already conceived some sort of opinion, whether it is good or bad. On one hand people complain that they are ruining competition, they are treating their employees’ terribly or that they are given extreme unfair advantages that no other company receives. However, on the other spectrum there are those that believe in the free market, as well as those that say Wal-Mart is cutting down the cost for low to average income families’ cost of living or even those who claim that although wages are not perfect they are in fact employing a large amount of people whom would otherwise not have a job. Whichever end of the spectrum your beliefs may lay, there is no doubt that Wal-Mart does create very affordable prices for those families in need; however are these incredibly low prices taking an even greater toll on Wal-Mart employees and community members? Throughout this paper we will explore the two main ideas of whether Wal-Mart’s way of conducting business is ethical or unethical, and let you decide which end of the spectrum you are on. The American Economy is built upon Capitalistic Principles. American’s have pride in their free market economy with the largest GDP in the world. Income in a capitalist system takes at least two forms, profit and wages. Profits are used to expand a company, creating more jobs and wealth. Every company’s primary goal is to produce profit. The means by which each company produces profit contrasts in accordance with the market said company is in. Companies can attempt to differentiate themselves in their business model but generally certain sectors of the market produce similar profit strategies. Wal-Mart’s strategy relies upon low-wage labor by discouraging the unionization of its employees. Wal-Mart’s strategy of low-wage labor to reduce their costs is hardly unique. Wal-Mart’s competitors: Target, Kmart Corp. and Home Depot all pay similar wages and give comparable benefits. Competition arises when more than one producer is trying to sell the same or similar products to the same buyers. Competition leads to innovation and more affordable prices. Economic freedom is afforded to the private sector (such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, etc. ), allowing the private sector to make the majority of economic decisions in determining the direction and scale of what the U. S. economy produces. Relatively low levels of regulation and government involvement enhance this. Although Wal-Mart's revenues are greater than the combined sales of its top competitors Target, Sears Roebuck, Costco Wholesale, Home Depot and The Kroger Co, Wal-Mart needs to continue its business strategy (including low-wages) in order to keep the edge it has built. Wal-Mart is one of the biggest employers in the United States, with 1. 4 million associates. Wal-Mart is not only one of the largest employers in the United States but the largest in Mexico and one of the largest in Canada. Wal-Mart is also a diverse employer with more than 257,000 African American associates, more than 41,000 Asian, 5,900 Pacific Islander, 171,000 Hispanic, 16,000 American Indian, and 869,000 women associates. Along with the diverse employment the majority of the employees work full time. Wal-Mart full time average hourly wage is $11. 5 and is even higher in urban areas. Employees can receive performance-based bonuses and receive opportunities for advancement. Wal-Mart grants â€Å"full time† benefits to those working as little as 34 hours per week, but does not limit workers to just 34 hours per week. Wal-Mart has a health care benefit for all of its employees and recently announced that over 1. 2 million associates are covered under its healthcare program a nd the number of uninsured associates dropped by nearly 25 percent in the past year and more than 40 percent between 2007 and 2009. Both full time and part time can be eligible for health benefits. The benefits are for all levels of the company from the part times workers to the full time managers. Along with all the health care benefits, Wal-Mart also added a new program called â€Å"Life with Baby,† in which the program helps mothers and their babies get a healthy start for the child’s life. Wal-Mart saves money for families. Wal-Mart has health care benefits for 94. 5 percent of their employees worldwide. One of Wal-Mart's biggest goals is to save families money. In 2006 Wal-Mart saved American families on average $2,500. Saving money means more money in consumer pockets, which also in turn mean more business for other businesses. Wal-Mart is helping the economy by saving money for families with their lower prices. First of all, according to the document Wal-Mart provides unequal salary payment to men and women. The company uses gender discrimination to scale the wage difference to pay for it employees, which is unethical for employees’ job opportunity. Moreover, it is unfair when both men and women do the same job in the store, but women get less money than men do. In 2001, six women sued Wal-Mart in California claiming the company discriminated against them by systematically denying them promotions and paying them less than men. The lawsuit has expanded to potentially the largest class action in U. S. history – on behalf of more than 1 million current and former female employees. While two-thirds of the company's hourly workers are female, women hold only one-third of managerial positions and constitute less than 15 percent of store managers. The suit also claims that women are pushed into â€Å"female† departments and are demoted if they complain about unequal treatment. One plaintiff, a single mother of four, started at Wal-Mart in 1990 at a mere $3. 85 an hour. Even with her persistent requests for training and promotions, it took her eight years to reach $7. 32 an hour and seven years to reach management, while her male counterparts were given raises and promotions much more quickly. Secondly, the Chinese employees working for 24 hours a day and seven days a week all year round, and their wage is about $3. 0 per day. The company has factory in China and it offers a low quality of life and poor work environment. Wal-Mart also charges apartment and utilities fees from the factory workers before paying their salaries. Moreover, if the workers want to move out from the dorm, they still have to pay for the apartment rent to the company. Wal-Mart is paying eleven million dollars to settle Federal allegations it used illegal immigrants to clean its stores and also Wal-Mart is facing a class-action lawsuit for discrimination against $1. 6 million former and current female employees. Wal-Mart keeps its wages low even by general industry standards. The average supermarket employee makes $10. 35 per hour. Sales clerks at Wal-Mart, on the other hand, made only $8. 23 per hour on average, or $13,861 per year, in 2001. About one-third of Wal-Mart's employees are part-time, restricting their access to benefits. These low wages complicate employees' ability to obtain essential benefits, such as health care coverage. All in all, Wal-Mart's success has meant downward pressures on wages and benefits, rampant violations of basic workers' ights, and threats to the standard of living in communities across the country. The success of a business need not come at the expense of workers and their families. Such short-sighted profit-making strategies ultimately undermine our economy. In conclusion, Wal-Mart is undoubtedly making the lives of millions of consumer’s much easier, but is it coming at too big of a cost to those that are employed by them? This is really the basis of the whole ethical versus unethical argument, and in the end both sides will probably never be able to come to an agreement. The fact of the matter is this, in order for a corporation to grow to the magnitude of Wal-Mart there has to be millions, if not billions of people who continue to shop there and keep putting their money into it. So the next time you are at Wal-Mart you need to ask yourself, is this low price coming at too high of a cost to employees and community members? If the answer is no, then purchase that item, but if the answer is yes go ahead and walk out of the store to shop somewhere else. Just remember with whatever decision you make, the decision is always yours to choose where you will consume.

Journey to the Dwarf Planet Essay

Pluto is a space object that has been mistaken for a planet and a comet in the past. New evidence has revealed that the previously thought ninth planet of our solar system is actually just an ice-dwarf, and comparable to all other objects in the Kuiper Belt. This paper explores Pluto through the vision of New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft ever launched. This spacecraft would travel to Pluto in approximately nine years and reveal much about the surface of this unusual space object that humanity feels especially attached to, given that it was â€Å"a part of our solar system† for a long time. Using S. Alan Stern’s explanation of the importance of Pluto’s surface – that, in fact, this space object carries essential information about the origins of the solar system – this paper provides a reason for humanity’s interest in the mission to Pluto. It is suggested that Pluto’s environment would provide important clues about the Earth’s environment. And even if it does not, all news is good news in the world of science. It may very well be that the mission to Pluto would teach humanity nothing new, and only renew its appreciation for the living environment of Earth. Perhaps this new awareness and appreciation would somehow help to save the Earth’s environment. JOURNEY TO THE DWARF PLANET Page # 3 Journey to the Dwarf Planet Pluto is only 1413 miles in diameter, with a surface that is believed to be made up of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and water ices. Many of the moons in the solar system are bigger in size than Pluto. Moreover, Pluto is said to have its own satellite, Charon, which may or may not be considered a regular kind of satellite, given that it is almost as big as Pluto (Connor, 2006). According S. Alan Stern (2002), writing for Scientific American, the material on Pluto’s surface may sublimate â€Å"into a rarefied atmosphere when the planet is in the part of its orbit that is closest to the sun. † In addition, scientists believe that Pluto’s surface may be experiencing the eruption of geysers on occasion. Gas and ice may be shooting above the surface of the planet in plumes. Today, we understand that Pluto is a dwarf planet, not a real one. It has been called the ice-dwarf, too, seeing that this space object is far different from the planets in our solar system. The rotation of Pluto, for instance, is in the opposite direction to the rotation of the eight planets we know – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is most unlike the Earth, which is a rocky planet. It is also unlike the gaseous Jupiter (Connor). Hence, scientists have been wondering about the real nature of Pluto for quite some time. Pluto has been referred to as a comet to boot (Wilker, 2006). It all started only ten years after Pluto was first discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 (Connor). During the 1940s and 1950s, researchers suggested that perhaps Pluto was the brightest of a vast group of icy space objects in the area that it occupies. This JOURNEY TO THE DWARF PLANET Page # 4 concept came to be known as the Kuiper Belt, named after the Dutch-American astronomer, Gerard Kuiper, who was foremost in casting doubts about Pluto’s status in our solar system (Stern). Based on new evidence, scientists have come to the conclusion that the Kuiper Belt contains at least one hundred thousand objects that are larger than 100 kilometers across. In fact, the Kuiper Belt may very well be â€Å"the big brother to the asteroid belt,† writes Stern. This big brother of the asteroid belt has more mass, more objects, including those of larger sizes, and â€Å"a greater supply of ancient, icy and organic material left over from the birth of the solar system. † Stern adds: It is now clear that Pluto is not an anomaly. Instead it lies within a vast swarm of smaller bodies orbiting between about five billion and at least eight billion kilometers from the sun. Because this far-off region may hold important clues to the early development of the solar system, astronomers are keenly interested in learning more about Pluto, its moon, Charon, and the bodies making up the Kuiper Belt. It is not only the astronomers that are interested in learning more about Pluto. Rather, it seems that the entire humanity is longing to find out about its own origins, and how it came to occupy the environment that it lives in today. Given that greater awareness about Pluto and its environment would provide humanity with clues regarding the origin of the Earth’s environment – scientists have worked very hard to reach JOURNEY TO THE DWARF PLANET Page # 5 Pluto somehow. Explaining their efforts in his article, â€Å"Journey to the Farthest Planet,† Stern introduces to the reader the $488 million project called New Horizons. This is a mission established by the Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, Texas, and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University. New Horizons is further supported by a team of scientists from various universities, research institutes, and NASA centers. The mission is, of course, for humanity to explore Pluto and its so-called â€Å"double,† Charon (Connor). According to Stern, this mission is â€Å"equivalent of conducting an archaeological dig into the history of the outer solar system – a place where researchers can get a valuable glimpse of the long-gone era of planetary formation. †

Guillermo Furniture Store

Guillermo Furniture Store For many years, Guillermo Navallez has owned and operated a small and profitable wood furniture making company in beautiful Sonora, Mexico. He has enjoyed an abundance of raw materials, low labor costs, and limited competition. This has recently changed due to a few significant events (1) new competitors from overseas, using high-tech automation manufacturing processes, resulting in exact furniture specifications at rock bottom prices and (2) Sonora, Mexico labor cost have dramatically increased due to emerging new industries and companies. Guillermo Furniture has been forced to reconsider his current business model and implement a change in strategy to remain in business and competitive (ACC561, Guillermo, 2009). Guillermo Furniture SWOT Analysis Prior to addressing the outlined questions we must understand Guillermo Furniture Store’s current; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). Managers use accounting information for many different types of decisions. Information uncovered in accounting provides; scorekeeping, attention directing and/or problem solving, but we first need to understand our current environment (Horngren, 2008). The first course of action for Guillermo Furniture is to have an objective SWOT analysis performed in order to have a clear picture of the company’s current position in the market and among the competition. Of course, a more detailed SWOT analysis would be needed for a more specific focus and direction. Strengths: Strengths identified during the SWOT analysis is an abundant supply of raw materials, inexpensive labor, and a market that allowed a price premium for quality. Weaknesses: The Guillermo Furniture Company was shown to be weak in manufacturing process and technology when a larger competitor started operations in direct competition. This made the company’s market position uncompetitive due to lack of manufacturing automation and labor costs. Guillermo also would like to remain independent, thus he would not benefit from the strengths of merging or having his small company acquired to facilitate growth. Opportunities: Guillermo has multiple opportunities to improve his company’s future. First, the company could expand the selection of furniture produced through new manufacturing processes. Second, the patented furniture coating product, could easily become the driving force behind Guillermo growth and competitive advantage. And finally, Guillermo could develop a new business unit division, and combine it with an investment in technology for the coating manufacturing to further improve his unique selling proposition. Threats: The Guillermo Furniture Company faces a myriad of threats. A new and large competitor that uses advanced technology and automation. Rising labor costs, declining sales due to competition, eroding margins, and declining revenues with sales losses. The current climate of mergers and acquisitions in the furniture industry is producing stronger competition with more economies of scale and leveraging of power in the marketplace. Budgets and Performance Reports The basic purpose of accounting information is to help make strategic decisions. Regardless of who is making the decisions, understanding accounting information allows for a more informed, and better decision (Horngren, 2008). Accounting reports are classified into two types; Accounting and Financial reports. Budgets and performance reports are vital information for a company that is looking to survive, compete and expand in their marketplace. Guillermo would benefit immensely by using these reports to see data trends in different business segments. For example, a performance report showing real versus budgeted sales would identify the most viable and profitable business segments in both short and long-term. Guillermo could then use these data trends to build a 5-10 year forecast for individual business segment manufacturing viability. Guillermo must evaluate each business unit taking into account fixed and variable costs associated with the fixed assets required for operation. Once this evaluation is completed, business models for revenue, costs, profit margin, and resource investment could be compared for each of the proposed business units. †¢ Manufacturing as currently in place †¢ Manufacturing with investment in new technology †¢ Broker Business Segment Product Coatings Business Segment Lastly, Guillermo could use performance reports to identify growth segments for immediate and future resource investment. He could identify declining segments and begin to diversify or limit future investment in these segments. For example, demand for moderate furniture is growing while the demand for high-end furniture is on the decline. While limiting further investments in declining segments, use them as sources of income for the higher profit margins they do produce. The proceeds from this could be re-invested in the growing market segments. Ethics and Accounting Decisions Regulation of accounting systems seeks to ensure the reliability of the information that accounts provide. â€Å"However, no regulation can be as effective in ensuring liability as holding accountants to high ethical standards† (Horngren, 2008). Organizational and individual ethics influence critical decision-making processes, with potentially negative results affecting the bottom line. Ethics are based in part on core values imparted on individuals throughout a lifetime. Each person perceives right and wrong based upon ethics and consequently his or her actions will follow these parameters. Technology also promotes organizational ethics; however, ethical and moral conflicts will increase work-related stress amongst employees. This behavior negatively influences organizational behavior. Guillermo must decide whether to transition from manufacturing to distribution, and if he does remain in manufacturing, are there potential ethical violations if he continues to broker as well. This author believes Guillermo would have the personal ethical dilemma of continuing to employ human labor from his city, or transition to a more automated production thus saving him money from his bottom line, and making the company more efficient and effective. The current economy has been shaped with bad ethical decisions in accounting practices. One only needs to look as far as Tyco, Enron and WorldCom to understand how pressure to perform and expand can corrupt a company. The bottom line for Guillermo Furniture Company will be how Guillermo responds to the competition and how his desire to remain ndependent affects his decision making process. Relevant Accounting Information and Decision Making The most relevant accounting information for Guillermo to consider would be the following examples. †¢ Short and Long-Term Demand Forecasts, Revenue Generation, Pricing, Cost, and Profit Margin for each Business Segment. †¢ ROI in months / break even when determining the ROI on New Technology Investment †¢ Compare Expected Revenue, Margins and Net Income from all three business opportunities. Forecasting demand for each segment, pricing and production costs for each opportunity †¢ Assets Management†¦. Develop a plan to support assets that are profitable, and a plan to divest the underperforming. Conclusion The Guillermo Furniture Company has enjoyed years of profitability without constructing a business dynamic plan. With the larger direct competition moving in, this has shown the weaknesses in the Guillermo Furniture Company. Guillermo must immediately change the course of direction in order to remain solvent in the current marketplace. The statistics available through accounting practices will give him the necessary tools to make both short and long-term decisions to remain a viable company in today’s global economy. References ACC 561 Course handout: Scenario: The Guillermo Furniture Store. Retrieved July 19, 2009 from the material section of the course description page. Brealey, R. ., Myers, S. . & Marcus, A. J. (2007). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (5th ed. ). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Horngren; Sundem; Stratton. (2008). Introduction to Management Accounting (14th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson / Prentice Hall.