Monday, September 30, 2019

Electrophoresis Machine Essay

Gel electrophoresis is a laboratory procedure used to separate biological molecules with an electrical current. In this lesson, we’ll review how agarose gel electrophoresis works and introduce the equipment necessary to perform an electrophoresis experiment. Separation of DNA molecules of different sizes can be achieved by using an agarose gel. Recall that agarose is a polysaccharide that can be used to form a gel to separate molecules based on size. Because of the gelatin-like nature of agarose, a solution of agarose can be heated and cooled to form a gel in a casting tray. Think of casting the agarose gel like pouring hot gelatin into a mold. The hot agarose liquid is poured into a casting tray. Once the mixture cools, a thin agarose brick will form. To ensure there’s a place to put the DNA in the gel, a comb is placed in the agarose liquid before it cools. Each tooth in the comb will become a hole, or ‘well,’ in the solidified agarose gel. Once cast, this gel is placed inside a piece of equipment called a gel box. An electrode – one positive and one negative – resides at each end of the gel box. The wells are always oriented, so they’re farther from the positive electrode. This ensures that the DNA molecules in the well must travel through the majority of the agarose gel, thus providing sufficient time for separation. Air isn’t a great conductor of electricity, so we cover the gel with electrophoresis buffer. Electrophoresis buffer is a salt solution. It isn’t table salt, but the salt ions can carry an electrical charge just like salt water can. The salt in the electrophoresis buffer completes the circuit between the positive and negative electrodes. When the electrodes of the gel box are connected to a power supply, electricity flows through the electrical circuit, causing the negatively charged DNA molecules to move into the agarose gel. The DNA molecules continue to travel through the agarose toward the positive electrode as long as an electrical current is present. Recall that shorter DNA molecules travel through agarose faster than longer DNA molecules. In this way, agarose gel electrophoresis separates different DNA fragments based on size. Once the samples are loaded, the electrical current supplied by the power supply not only moves the DNA samples through the gel but the dye molecules as well. Note the colored lines that appear. These lines do not represent the DNA fragments. These lines represent the dye in the loading buffer that was used to visualize the samples during the loading step. Once the gel run is complete, the agarose gel can be removed from the gel box and soaked in an ethidium bromide solution. Recall that ethidium bromide is used to visualize DNA. Ethidium bromide molecules intercalate, or insert, between the nitrogenous bases in a DNA molecule. In summary, gel electrophoresis is a laboratory procedure used to separate biological molecules with an electrical current. Together with a gel box and a power supply, an agarose gel can be used to separate DNA molecules based on size. Loading buffer enables scientists to insert DNA samples into the wells of the agarose gel. Once the electrophoresis procedure is initiated, the dye in the loading buffer forms a dye front that is used to determine when the procedure is complete. When the electrophoresis procedure is complete, the agarose gel can be soaked in an ethidium bromide solution to visualize the DNA bands on a UV box.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Accounting for leases Essay

Abstract This paper will provide an overview of lease accounting. It will present the history, current status, and future implications of the latest proposed standard, as jointly issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Furthermore, the paper will take into account relevant observations made by various proponents who are concerned about the standard, and conclude with a personal opinion on the standard and why it’s better than the current standard. Existing accounting standards between the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have allowed corporations to avoid reporting assets and liabilities via â€Å"operating leases.† Thus, it has become common practice for corporations to utilize these operating leases as a source of deceptive financing—by being able to materially mislead creditors and investors due to off balance sheet accounting. Lease accounting is a classic example (or phenomenon) that shows how people tend to exploit accounting standards in order to violate the â€Å"substance over form† accounting principle (where the economic reality can be distorted from the legal reality). The history of lease accounting is an interesting one. In 1976, FASB released Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 13 – Accounting for leases. Since then, the accounting standard allowed companies to report some leases as an asset and a liability (i.e. capital/finance leases), and other leases as a non-asset and non-liability (i.e. operating leases). However, since the FASB-IASB convergence project began (from the 2002 Norwalk Agreement), they have reached a general consensus with investors that in many instances, operating leases can be misleading and could cover up material amounts of credit risk of a given company. It is interesting to note that such an issue had already been acknowledged by the late 70s, shortly after FASB released SFAS 13 (Kieso, Warfield, & Weygandt, 2004, p.1119). The issue was momentarily brought up again during the early 90’s for resolution, but was sharply protested by corporate interests and subsequently dismissed (Norris, 2013). Only now, has there been serious reconsideration of the standard; and can demonstrate how long it can take for accounting standards to respond back to the needs of financial statement users. On June 16, 2005, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002, publically released â€Å"On Arrangements with Off-Balance Sheet Implications, Special Purpose Entities, and Transparency of Filings by Issuers.† This public statement proposed several important goals and recommendations, among them a proposal to improve accounting for leases. By July 2006, the FASB and IASB established a Work Plan, in order to improve the standard for lease accounting (â€Å"Work Plan for IFRS – Leases,† 2013). The project has yet to be completed. Details about its current status will be described next. On May 16, 2013, FASB-IASB has released their latest exposure draft on accounting for leases. Based on user feedback, this draft arose from earlier draft iterations that were released in March 2009 and August 2010 (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 1). If approved, the draft would supersede IFRS IAS 17 and FASB Topic 840 (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). As a result of this draft, FASB-IASB will also attempt to concurrently update revenue recognition standards accordingly, as the latest proposal intends to make sure the  accounting for revenues and expenses for both the lessor and lessee will be consistent with each other (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 1). Furthermore, there are still some minor differences that exist between the FASB and IASB drafts, among them being: revaluations, cash flow, disclosure, non-public entities, and measurement issues (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, pp. 4-5). The feedback deadline for this draft is September 13, 2013 (â₠¬Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013). As it turns out, this draft decided to take a much more prudent approach (compared to earlier proposals) towards lease accounting, allowing standards similar to SFAS 13 to remain applicable in practice for any leases that have terms of 12 months or less†¦ or if it is a â€Å"Type B† lease (which will all be further explained below) (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). In effect, this would allow lessors to continue to structure their lease terms accordingly, which allows lessees the ability to renew these short-term leases in order to continue to practice off balance sheet financing. So what’s the current proposal to account for lease terms that are more than 12 months? First, the exposure draft would require entities that enter such a leasing contract to recognize the â€Å"right of use† asset and its associated liability (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). Second, the draft requires the entities to recognize the underlying â€Å"nature† of the asset as being either: Type A (non-property) or Type B (property) (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). Third, the draft requires the lessee to assess how much economic benefit it reasonably expects to derive from the â€Å"right of use† asset (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). Furthermore, the draft has guidelines for both the lessee and the lessor. These accounting guidelines will be described next—first for the lessee, then for the lessor. For the lessee, if the lease is Type A, the lessee is required to recognize the associated Leased Asset and Lease Obligation on the Balance Sheet (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). The asset could be depreciated, and the respective portions of the Lease Obligation are to be listed under the Liability and Debt sections of the balance sheet, respectively. The asset and associated liability is to be initially measured by using the â€Å"present  value† method (where the initial account balances reflects the present value of the future amount) in order to account properly for Interest Expense payments made during the whole course of the Lease Obligation (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). The lessor is required to de-recognize the Leased Asset from the Balance Sheet. In its place, the lessor must recognize the Lease Receivable and Residual Asset (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). The assets are also initially measured using the same present value method , in order to account properly for the interest earned apart from the Lease Revenue throughout the whole term of the lease (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). If the lease is Type B, the exposure draft proposes that both the lessee and the lessor should account for the lease as an operating lease if the lessee is NOT â€Å"expected to consume more than an insignificant portion of the economic benefits embedded in the underlying asset† (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). Thus, the lessor would continue to recognize the underlying asset, while the lessee simply account for the annual lease expense (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). Again, this accounting treatment is the same for any leases that have terms of 12 months or less. Keep in mind however, that if the lessee were to consume a significant portion of the economic benefits under a Type B lease, the accounting treatment for both the lessee and lessor would be similar to a Type A lease (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). In this case, the lessee would be required to recognize an asset and liability from the property lease. I believe such proposal was intended, as it allows companies to gradually adjust to the new treatment standards, whereby future amendments could someday require all short-term leases (and Type B leases) to be capitalized to better reflect the economic reality of â€Å"short-term† lessees. So, what do the proponents of the exposure draft think of the new standard and its impact on the future? As expected, there are some who agree with the draft and others who think otherwise. Dhaliwal, Lee, and Neamtiu (2011) did a quantitative and qualitative empirical study—of which evidence suggests â€Å"that lessees bear insufficient risk to treat the leasehold as an asset† (p. 193). This implies that the new proposal would not significantly increase the cost of capital for any firms that would have to start capitalizing  their operational leases. Cotton, McCarthy, and Schneider (2012) found that most firms under current lease accounting are able to combine associated obligations from their capitalized leases with other obligations (p. 118). This would not be allowed under the new proposal, thus improving transparency and quality of information to investors. Middelberg and Villiers (2013) did a similar study, of 40 JSE-listed (South Africa) companies. Interestingly, their findings within this study suggest that the cost of financing would increase for firms that would have to capitalize operating leases. Their findings suggest that companies should expect to experience the following changes to their financial ratios: Debt-to-equity to increase by 9%, Debt ratio to increase by 8%, and the Interest cover ratio to decrease by 8% (Middelberg & Villiers, 2013, p. 663). This implies that the new proposal would cause investors to see such companies as higher investment risks, thus increasing borrowing costs. Burton (2013) doesn’t believe in the new proposal, instead suggesting that the current standards be amended to address the areas that are vulnerable to exploitation. He thinks the FASB should consider revising the four criteria provided in SFAS 13 that determines if a lease should be capitalized. In particular, he encourages the FASB to change the 90% present value rule—which currently impose no such requirements for lessors to reveal the actual discount rate to the lessee. As a result, lessors are able to keep the leased asset on their books as a capital lease by using a low discount rate, while the lessee can use a higher, in-house discount rate in order to avoid the need for capitalizing the lease. Quah (2013) reasoned that the proposed changes could have a more significant effect on retailers, as they are known to have major property leases. In particular, she notes that as the liabilities increase from capitalizing such leases, it would have negative effects on debt, employee compensation, and tax balances. This could cause major implications, as retailers (department stores, discount chains, convenience stores) are key economic players in the economy. Similarly, it would effect other major industries—such as real-estate, major airlines, and shipping firms. Norris (2013) made a point that the new proposal could cause some revenue (income statement) challenges, as the present valuation methods would cause lessees to incur higher interest payments during the earlier years of the leased assets. This could especially be disappointing for early  business startups (that typically need to take out more loans) and for any firms needing to maintain a lower cost of capital (that they would have otherwise been able to receive under operational lease accounting). Taken all together, the aforementioned observations basically imply that the future impact of the new proposal on lease accounting would effect all the major players within the economy, especially the retail, real-estate, and tran sportation industries. Furthermore, there is likelihood that higher borrowing costs would result for some of these businesses, forcing them to possibly reduce employee benefits and/or compensation in order to better align their financials to changing budget forecasts. On the other hand, investors will have access to higher quality, transparent information—reducing uncertainty and risk to maintain lower interest rates. And as I mentioned earlier, the proposal still gives lessors and lessees the opportunity to restructure their lease terms for annual renewal, avoiding the need to capitalize such leases and to keep them â€Å"off the books.† But by doing so, it would imply higher legal costs for some of these lessors and lessees, and thus, act as a deterrent in support of the new standard for capitalizing leases. I feel the FASB-IASB is wise to have taken a more balanced approach for changing the requirements of lease accounting. By doing so, it allows the majority of companies to readjust their accounting policies to better reflect economic reality (instead of legal reality). Also, the more transparent and specific requirements stated in the proposal for reporting liabilities and debt in the financial statements will have a long-run, positive impact—as it ultimately helps reduce uncertainty between investors and management. I feel these benefits will outweigh the costs (including the transitional-related costs that entities would have to pay in order to update their accounting policies and methods). Besides, these new accounting costs will be reduced over time anyway, as firms become accustomed to the new standard. In summary, by forcing companies to report more honestly to investors, it induces management to better utilize their resources in order to maintain healthy margins, instead of resorting to fraudulent activities. Thus, I believe that the standard is a win-win for both internal and external parties, as it better forces them to manage their resources more responsibly, and prevents management from supporting an exploitative culture that had been taking place during the past 25+ years  with the old standard. References Burton, D. (2013, May 22). Lease-Accounting Rules: Tinker, Don’t Trash [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database. Cotton, B., McCarthy, M.G., & Schneider, D.K. (2012). A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR EXAMINING INFORMATION CONTENT OF PROPOSED LEASE ACCOUNTING RULE. Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research, Fall 2012, Vol. 8 Issue 1, 113-127. Dhaliwal, D., Lee, H.S., & Neamtiu, M. (2011, April). The Impact of Operating Leases on Firm Financial and Operating Risk. Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Vol. 26 Issue 2, 151-197. Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2013, May 16). Exposure Draft Leases (Topic 842) [PDF Document]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from http://www.fasb.org/cs/BlobServer?blobkey=id&blobnocache=true&blobwhere=1175826935767&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs Kieso, D.E., Warfield, T.D., & Weygandt, J.J. (2004). Intermediate Accounting 11e. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Middelberg, S.L., & Villiers, R.R. (2013, June). Determining The Impact Of Capitalising Long-Term Operating Leases On The Financial Ratios Of The Top 40 JSE-Listed Companies. International Business & Economics Research Journal. Jun2013, Vol. 12 Issue 6, 655-670. Norris, F. (2013, May 17). Accounting boards try again on leases; Revamped proposal for valuing assets would still be a radical change [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database. Norris, F. (2013, May 17). New Accounting Proposal on Leasing Portends Big Change [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database. Quah, M. (2013, May 18). New proposals on lease accounting under fire; Some say they are a compromise, while others feel they will raise costs for firms [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Fast Food And Health Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fast Food And Health Problem - Essay Example This paper tells that lengthy cooking procedures are not necessary for fast foods and it can be prepared in no time. Fast foods are comparatively cheaper than conventional foods or organic foods. At the same time, there are many people who argue against fast food culture. In their opinion, fast foods contain a harmful ingredient to health. Many of the ingredients used to improve the taste of fast food have a detrimental effect on human health. Often, I function on very little sleep and to gain enough energy to power through my day, I eat fast foods that are high in carbohydrates. Even though we all need carbohydrates to survive, too many can cause impediments to a healthy diet and lifestyle. â€Å"The problem with fast foods in America is that Americans tend to be people who get extreme--they either like something and want it all the time or they don't like something at all and never want any of it† (Fast Food And Health Problem, n. d). The above attitude or lifestyle is not s o positive when we consider the long term problems associated with fast food. A healthy lifestyle includes a routine sleep pattern and an adequate amount of sleep so that energy and resilience are accessible throughout one's workday. Fast foods can make a person happier for a temporary period and in the long run, it can cause severe health problems. According to Sara Clark (2010), â€Å"The obvious advantages of fast food are its speed and its cost† (Clark, 2010). As mentioned earlier, the major advantage of fast foods is less time for cooking and a cheaper price. The lifestyles are changing rapidly at present and life at present is moving much faster than life in the past. In order to keep in pace with the rapidly moving life, people forced to change some of their traditional lifestyles including food habits. The kitchen was one area in which people spent a substantial portion of their lives in the past. The current generation has not much time for spending in kitchens. Unde r such circumstances, fast foods serve as a blessing to them. At the same time, many studies have pointed out that many of the ingredients in fast foods are causing damages to health. In other words, fast food culture is a big problem for human health even though it appears as a solution which avoids time wastages in the kitchen. Now the question is how to find an answer to this problem. One way of dealing with this problem is reducing the use of harmful ingredients in fast food so that the consumers may not develop any health problems. Oil, sugar and other food additives are used extensively in fast foods. Plenty of studies proved beyond doubt that these additives are causing health problems such as cholesterol, blood pressure, coronary problems, diabetes, obesity or overweight etc. At the same time, reduction of these ingredients may reduce the taste of fast foods. When the taste and life of fast foods become suspicious, people will naturally try to find more time for spending in kitchens for cooking conventional foods which is more nutritious than fast foods. A healthy lifestyle includes a balanced variety of carbohydrates and proteins so that muscle and fat are within reason based on height and weight recommendations. Only the conventional foods or organic foods can provide balanced variety of carbohydrates and proteins.  

Friday, September 27, 2019

Leadership style; Tillman Fertitta (Landry's) Essay

Leadership style; Tillman Fertitta (Landry's) - Essay Example Tillman later married his beautiful wife with whom they have four beautiful children (Bane). Tillman is a man who has achieved fame for his massive wealth that to me I can say he is self made since he did not inherit anything from his parents that propelled him into his current financial state. Tillman had shown that he had entrepreneurial skills at his early stages of life even before graduating from the university when he stated his own firm that majorly dealt with marketing and sales. This to me seemed to be his first step to what would soon enable him venture into business field. Later after graduating he also ventured into other field like construction and developments thus making him build homes. He later in the year 1986 joined the Landry’s as a specialist who oversaw their real estate and at this point is when he ventured foodservices (Bane). After his own personal assessment of the Landry’s he saw potential that lay unexploited and later decided to acquire it by the year 1988 when he bought shares from the Landry’s brother and other investors making him the owner of the Landry’s. This later made him the chairman and CEO of Landry’s Inc which under his management grew to be one America’s leading Hospitality Company. He also later ventured in other fields like entertainment when he bought the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino thus making his success go beyond the restaurants. Later The Landry’s Inc would be associated with other companies which were also owned by Tillman. This made his properties over more than 33 states be to the tune of 400. Some of his many restaurant chains of companies include McCormick &Schmick’s, Landry’s seafood House, Chart House, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and Rainforest cafà ©. Also part of his vast family of companies include , Inn at the Ball Pa rk, Grotto, La Griglia, Mortons Steakhouse, Brenners Steakhouse, Kemah Boardwalk, Downtown Aquarium Denver and Houston not forgetting the Towers of Americans in San

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Research the case of Corona Extra Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Research the of Corona Extra - Case Study Example From the distribution strategy Corona Extra was able to penetrate into the US market through taking the advantage of locals’ knowledge on market (Doole & Lowe, 2008). Consequently, Corona Extra obtained market autonomy thus the current market position within US market. Mexico and USA differ significantly in terms of culture, demographic, and market conditions. While family is the first priority in Mexico, the Americans considered family second after work. In terms of religion, Mexicans are traditionally Roman Catholics while America has mixed religions. What’s more, Mexicans are very nationalistic unlike Americans who are very patriotic. Market conditions in US are flexible as compared to the rigid market conditions experienced in Mexico (Walker et al., 2003). After all, Walker et al. (2003) confirm that Mexicans make buying decision based on family backgrounds while Americans make buying decisions on individuals’ needs, wants, and preferences. The distribution strategy used by Group Modelo to penetrate Corona Extra into US market was an effective and efficient strategy. Continue domestic production ensured that the firm did not incur additional expenses in putting up production unit in America hence efficiency in the strategy. On the other hand, use of locals was effective since they had information about the market (Doole & Lowe, 2008). Beer Institute, Beer Tax Facts (2008). The economic and societal impacts of state and federal taxed on beer. Retried on April 7, 2012 from http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/144372/ Brewers fear end to beer import

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Principles of logisties management Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Principles of logisties management - Article Example Besides the support of market information, business planning, financing, marketing, and many more, one of the most important services that DKSH provides is the logistics and warehousing (1DKSH, n.d.). However, the article intends to reveal the current order processing, the mode of controlling inventories and the use of ICT. Moreover, some of the recommendations are also being sighted, so that DKSH would be more effective and efficient in its logistics service. Finally, a conclusion is also being drawn. The current order processing of any logistics organisation in the present world scenario faces multiple challenges. DKSH one of the leading outsourcing organisation in the world, which provides logistics services to various entities still could not avoid such challenges. DKSH has over 180 centres that distribute goods in a wide variety of over 3, 00,000 products and serving more than 5, 00,000 consumers through representing more than 5,500 suppliers. Moreover, they have their own warehousing and the facility of third part logistics. It is also been constantly searching for the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that would improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Further, it has GMP-compliant healthcare centre, which is of the state of the art and is of a whooping number of 18 (2DKSH, n.d.; 5DKSH, n.d.). However, there are numbers of issues that are required to be considered by DKSH with regards to logistics. One of them is regarding the numerous categories of products, which gives a good challenge for the proper order processing of those goods. Moreover, high protection requirement to some of the vulnerable goods that might get damaged due to environmental risk during the order processing flow. Further, with the onset of globalisation, the logistics market has become very competitive and challenging. Furthermore, the demand for some of the products are also seasonal based. Thus, the uniformity of the service requirement may not be present throughout the year. In

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

U.S. Imperialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U.S. Imperialism - Essay Example The US possessed imperial power and had used it in controlling varied countries such as Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico as well as Philippines. The war between America and Spain had marked the access of the US for gaining control of many colonies. US supremacy over other main powerful countries which are Britain, Russia, China, France as well as Germany and the enmity among the nations resulted in two World Wars. The World Wars resulted in division of the world among these nations. The American expansionism is considered to be one of the major reasons for the growth of the US as the most commanding country in the world. The people moving westwards and acquiring land of varied territories helped in developing the economy of the country (Foner, â€Å"Give Me Liberty†). Thesis Statement The discussion emphasizes on the aspect of US imperialism and the relationship among American democracy and ideals of liberty. It also intends to discuss the expansion of the US and the effects of US poli cies on Native American tribes, Cuba, the Philippines as well as Puerto Rico. Discussion US imperialism was the outcome of American expansionism as it led to expanding its territories as well as exploiting natural resources for the economic development of the country. The US merchants as well as colonists started acquiring and investing in land around westwards for the purpose of developing the economy of the country. ... The west had favored for the development of the people of America for its developed colonies (Texas Digital Library, â€Å"Expansionism in the 1890s†). The foremost principle of the government of the US was liberty but later on the government realized the importance of defending the rights of the citizens. The power of the government for defending the rights of the people was admired for developing the economic conditions of the country. The two World Wars had immensely involved government for the development of the economic conditions of the citizens. The principle of the government was changed to democracy and had enhanced its power by a considerable extent. The government made most of the decisions with regard to the democracy principles whereas decisions on principle of liberty were diminishing. All these had led to the transformation of the American government to democracy from liberty (Holcombe and Arbor, â€Å"From Liberty to Democracy: The Transformation of American G overnment†). In the nineteenth century with Manifest Destiny people of the US moved westward for better development of the economy as well as culture. The expansion of the US in different territories had piloted to its imperial power. Manifest Destiny had developed major issues for the Native Americans as most of their lands were purchased which limited their land requirements. The main motive was to remove the Native Americans for the expansion and the development of the US. There was a war in between Spain and America in 1898 for the reason of intervention of America on the rebel’s side of Cuba against the Spanish Empire. After the war with Spain, Americans acquired Cuba as well as the Philippines along with Puerto Rico. These territories were conquered with the notion of developing colonies

Monday, September 23, 2019

Carman Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Carman Evaluation - Essay Example duced Carmen Jones in the year 1954 and various other directors such as Dorothy Dandridge who won an Oscar award as the best actor later adopted the opera (Dolen). Harry Belafonte also played a significant role in the acting and directing various scenes of the Carmen. Carmen grew in popularity and majority of the directors adopted the theme and produced various scripts favoured by majority of the people who were fans of the original Carmen. Since 1975, no director has managed to come up with a new version of the Carmen. However, in the present day, director and playwright Moses Kaufman has decided to come up with a team to bring out the new version of Carmen. The task existed and took the name Laramie Project. It comprises of Auturo O’Farrill, who is a composer and won the Grammy awards. He is working together with Ronald K Brown who is a choreographer together with Henry Fonte, a producer (Dolen). They have assimilated their cast to comprise of many professional and student actors to feature in the new version of the play. The opera made its first appearance at the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, which is located at UM, Coral Gables campus set at 8p.m. on Wednesday. It ran until November 23rd. The plot has however been altered in the new script and production. The role of Carmen has changed and she is not a Spanish beauty who works at a cigarette factory located in 1820 Seville as in the original production of the opera. The setting, through the directors of the script, takes place in Cuba, 1958. The music of the play comprises of Afro-Cuban ascent. In the current opera, which also has a slightly twisted theme setting has changed the roles which are played by the characters of the play (Currie & Horbart 15). Carmen in the plot practises Santeria. She works in a cigar factory, an element that makes the original Carmen and the latest have a marked similarity (Dolen). However, she assists the rebels hiding in the mountains by smuggling guns for them. She also has a

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Intervention Strategies Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Intervention Strategies - Article Example ne membrane lung disease (now called as a respiratory distress syndrome or RDS) and as a result, was placed on a ventilator for several weeks during the period he was still in the hospital nursery. Paul spoke his first words at 11 months and had his first walk attempts at approximately 14 months. He mostly avoids any of the physical activities as a toddler and as a young kid, preferring more sedentary activities like looking at books or watching cartoon shows on television for some hours on end. He was enrolled in a nursery school at age 5 and had shown great promise during his kindergarten years, as observed by his teacher and reported to his parents. He then showed the first signs of depression and withdrawal from his peers. The intervention strategy selected for Paul is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as it is shown to be effective in a good number of similar cases. CBT combines behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy; it focuses on the etiology of depressive disorders such as low self-esteem and feelings of being overwhelmed due to over-sensitivity on trivial matters, in turn usually caused by emotional maladjustments and dysfunction behaviors (Lehmann & Coady, 2001, p. 176). Paul is entering adolescence which is a period of great changes, both physiologically and emotionally. CBT is focused on his dysfunctional thinking patterns which caused his low self-esteem, brought about by over-simplification (generalization) and magnification (stress on the negatives and ignoring the positives) where everything seems to be extremely very important, urgent or necessary. The intervention therapy tries to cure him by modifying his behavior pattern and at the same time develop mental flexibility by doing away with his unrealistic thoughts due to arbitrary inferences and selective abstractions (Verduyn, Rogers & Wood, 2009, p. 49). Paul showed excellent response to CBT even in just a few weeks after starting therapy. It was emphasized to him that his anxieties and

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Qualitative Research Proposal Essay Example for Free

Qualitative Research Proposal Essay For my field research observation site I chose the flea market (la pulga) located in Alamo, Texas. I chose this specific site because in our Mexican American culture families tend to go there to buy cheap merchandise. Although many people go there many of the things they buy there can or is related to crime. I chose this flea market because it is close to home and there are usually a high number of people there during the weekends. There were a number of issues with this place, but there were two who stood out above the rest. The main points were: do people realize that by buying certain objects they are committing a crime, and also is law enforcement doing anything to prevent these types of crimes from happening. There are mainly two types of individuals who go to these places. The first types of people who go to these places are mainly Mexican American. There is not one age group that stands out above the rest since Mexican American groups. Mexican American individuals tend to visit these places as a family. The second types of people are mainly Winter Texans. A rough estimate from my observation would be that Winter Texas are 30% middle aged (45-60), and 70% elderly. Winter Texans mainly go as couples and are usually there just pass time; Mexican Americans on the other hand are there because they want to buy cheap objects. Research Question or Topic My research questions are: 1. Are people well informed that purchasing pirated DVDs is a crime? 2. What is law enforcement doing to prevent these crimes from happening? Literature Review Bibliography One of the academic journals I found out to be possibly the most interesting out of my whole research was the one dealing with the piracy of CDs/DVDs. This journal does not only talk about the piracy of media, but also about the replicator, the user, and the technology used. It explains how the replicator uses computer software to copy the media and how it gets to the market from there. It talks about the types of users who buy the product and it also talks about the technology being enforced to make it harder and in some cases impossible for the replicator to create a copy of the media. Even though this journal is out there it still seems that some people are unaware of the consequences with the replication of this media, and also the problem it can cause in our society. One of the main points the article describes is whether copy-protection work or not. The answer to this question is that there is copy protection on DVDs which makes it harder for anyone to copy media, but since pirates (replicators) don’t play by the rules there are still some ways to bypass the copy-protection. Research done in this journal- 1. Copyright 2. Product Counterfeiting 3. Manufacturing Processes 4. Anti-counterfeiting Measures 5. Replicators 6. Users of the Pirated DVDs The second article I found is called Factor that Influence the Piracy of DVD/VCD Motion Pictures. Basically the title says what the article is about. It explain some of the major factors that cause people to burn these DVDs, and factors that cause people to buy them. The article says that people tend to buy these DVDs because of the cost benefit. This means that people are getting DVDs way cheaper than if you were to go and buy the real one at an actual store. The author’s findings are also used to support the social norms used to make an effort to stop the piracy of this media. Research done in this article- 1. Copyright Infringement 2. Pirated Video Recordings 3. Piracy 4. Empirical Research 5. Motion Picture Industry 6. Bootlegging and Methodology aspects. The last article I read was talking about the structure about an American flea market. There are differences between flea markets up North and flea markets here in the valley. One of the most obvious differences would be the people that go to the flea markets. The article talks about the types of people that go to the flea market. It talks about the economic effect a flea market has on society. It talks about the behaviors of the buyers and sellers in a flea market. The research in this article was done by surveys across different flea markets and on the consumers in those flea markets. Not only were these studies done on U. S. flea markets they were also done on different countries for example Mexico. Research done in this article – 1. Flea Markets 2. Marketing 3. Case Studies 4. Economic Activity 5. Consumer Behavior 6. Business Cycle 7. Sociocultural Factors My Three Sources Block, D. (1997), CD? DVD/piracy:the replicator, the user, and the technology. Emedia Professional, 10, 92. Chih-Chein, W. (2005). Factors that Influence the Piracy of DVD/VCD Motion Pictures. Journal Of American Academy Of Business, Cambridge, 6(1), 231-237. Sherry Jr. , J. F. (1990). A Sociocultural Analysis of a Midwestern American Flea Market. Journal Of Consumer Research, 17(1), 13-30 Research Design Step 1 Prepare myself by doing some background research on the site I am preparing to observe. Be prepared for anything that may come my way, and be prepared for opportunities that may arise while doing my research. I need to go organized and possibly focus on one point of interest. Need to prepare my looking and listing skills since they are essential for any field researcher. Go prepare to do constant writing since it is one of the most useful way of recording data. Step 2. Gain access to enter the observation site, in my case I don’t think it is a problem since it is open to the public. Other sites have different important sections but in a flea market everything is together so I just have to worry about getting inside. I need to get involved in normal activities to make myself unnoticeable and look like an everyday customer. Perhaps buy merchandise or other things regular customers do. Step 3 By looking as a customer I can build trust with the people working in this area, and this way they can go on doing their job like they normally do, and this can help me observe them in their normal working routine. Step 4 While walking around the site I can record anything I find to be deviant or criminal, in my case I found the distribution of illegal DVD copies. I’ll observe from afar, learn and record anything else. I have to make my findings very detailed this way I don’t miss anything of importance that can later help me answer my question, and this way I won’t have to return for small doubts I may have. Record any conversations I may have had with any of the people there. Step 5. Finally after I am done gathering data I just exit the observation site I just exit the site and start compiling my data. Step 6 After putting my data and getting a better understanding of my observation site. With a better understanding of what happens in the site I will be able to put together a detailed survey or interview questions. Of course the survey or interview will be anonymous and have to make sure the customer knows this. You need to make the customer know that the research is anonymous because if not the person might put false data and the data will be inaccurate. Step 7 After conducting all my research I can put together a conclusion and determine what it means. I’ll ask myself questions for example did I find the answer my questions, was my hypothesis correct, and is there more research to be done. The conclusion has to be precise this way if a person is interested in the same topic they will have all the information they need. Step 8 This is how will conduct my research and hopefully get a good grade on this assignment, if not I will need some research on how I can do better.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Travel And Tourism Sector Tourism Essay

The Travel And Tourism Sector Tourism Essay As with everything else, the travel and tourism business is changing constantly with more people booking trips on the Internet, increasing numbers of adventure travellers and fewer people having disposable income since the financial crash of 2009. To get people to bring their tourist dollars to your destination, your plan must accurately identify whose vacation needs you can best serve and get the word out specifically to them. PREMIER INN RESORTS: TASK 1 Know Your Customers Know who is visiting your tourist destination. Texas, for example, did a marketing survey that showed the state brought in nearly $470 million in 2008 with European visitors, most from the United Kingdom. Washington State noted that it made about two-thirds the amount of income from people staying with friends and families as it did from those staying in hotels, so that was a significant market. Make sure local institutions keeping as close track as possible on where people travel from and their demographics so you know where your marketing is working and can more aggressively target areas where the response could be stronger. Set Specific Goals Decide what your specific goals are, such as wanting to double your tourism revenues in the next two years; draw more families to visit your tourism site; increase traffic from a neighboring state to a specified amount; or triple the number of visitors to a specific sightseeing attraction. Identify Travel Trends Stay abreast of travel trends, such as increasing interest in adventure travel, growing numbers of girlfriend getaways, changing demographics that mean more seniors traveling and increased use of Internet for bookings. Use this information to shape how your tourist destination will brand itself, what attractions it will invest in and emphasize and what marketing vehicles it will use. Get Your Message Out Figure out what vehicles will be most effective for promoting your message to the markets you have chosen, including travel review forums, social marketing avenues, Internet broadcasts, and magazine and news articles in general interest and special-interest publications or television ads. Enlist local businesses in advertising and offering specials and discounts for slow periods. Keep in mind, travellers sharing their positive experience at your destination is going to be your strongest marketing tool. TASK 2 . Do a Situational Analysis Target Markets Even if you are experienced at managing holiday rentals, it pays to do an on paper assessment of your target renters. If youre brand new to renting, you may have to do a little bit of research into your area to determine which groups you should target. Demographic Try to determine which demographic groups the majority of your guests belong to, such as: gender, familial status, household income, and education level? Its likely that other belonging who call into the same category as your past guests will also enjoy your home. Geographic What geographic area are your guests from? Do they travel from overseas? Do they fly or drive to your destination? If they drive, how far is a typical journey? Psychographic What do your guests do in their leisure time? What do they want out of their holiday? Market Needs Trends Look at your local holiday rental market as a whole. Are there any traveller groups that dont seem to be well catered for? Has your local area undergone any major changes in the past year? 5 years? 10 years? Look for trends in the number of visitors, demographics of visitors, new construction in the area, sharp increases or decreases in the value of property, significant increases in property taxes, or new or proposed regulations regarding short-term rentals. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis Completing a SWOT analysis will help you determine where the strengths of your holiday rentals business, where you can improve, and what opportunities exist in the market, and what threats loom on the horizon. Strengths: What does your holiday home offer that other homes in your area do not? What makes your home special? Are your rates competitive? What do you do as an owner that is better than other owners in your market? Examine your online adverts.   What does your ad do well? Weaknesses: What do other holiday homes in your area offer that you do not? Are there any areas where your home could be improved (facilities, dà ©cor, furnishings, etc.)? Examine your portal website listings.   What could be improved about your ads (better photos, better written descriptions, etc.)? Opportunities: Are there any improvements being made or attractions being added in your market (have the beaches been given a special award, or is there a new activity centre opening)? Does your property cater to any of the following growing market segments: retirees, business travellers, families with grown children? Is the area opening up to travellers from a new geographic region? Threats: Are there any new property developments coming to your area (i.e. increased competition)? Has there been a significant increase in property taxes for second homes? Are there any new regulations being imposed on holiday rentals in your area? Competition In positioning your holiday home, you should consider who you are competing with for business, what they offer, and how their pricing compares to yours. After youve compiled a list of your biggest competition, take note of where they currently advertise, which marketing tactics theyve chosen to implement. Then launch your counter attack, by applying strategies that will more effectively or persuasively reach the target customers you have in common. Other Holiday Accommodations in Your Holiday Market This could include other holiday rentals in your area, as well as hotels, bed and breakfasts, all-inclusive resorts, hostels, caravan parks or camp sites. Other Holiday Destinations Often youre not just competing against other accommodations in your area. You may also be competing against holiday homes and hotels in surrounding areas, or even other markets altogether. Holiday Rental Benefits What does your home have to offer travellers? Amenities An amenity is anything included in your home that may be of interest to potential guests. The next time youre at your vacation home, go room-to-room and make a list of the items in each room. Download the Equipment and Facilities Checklist to see if youre missing anything. Suitability Who is your home perfectly situated for? Families with small children? People with disabilities? The elderly? Travellers with pets? 2. Determine Your Marketing Strategy Marketing Objectives What are your most important goals for marketing your holiday home? To receive enquiries? To book a certain number of weeks? To generate a specific amount of revenue? Positioning When setting your marketing strategy, its important to determine how you plan to market your retnal. That is, who your home is suitable for, and how you plan to ? Many holiday home owners make the mistake of trying to target uncomplimentary groups of travellers. For example, if you have a large property in the Algarve, Portugal, creating a home that is too family friendly (for example turning ample sized bedrooms into childrens bedrooms) could alienate groups of adult friends on golfing breaks or girls getaways. However, become too broad in your appeal, and you could seem bland or irrelevant to travellers. Marketing Mix Most marketing activities conducted by holiday rental homeowners fall into the categories of online advertising, offline advertising, and word-of-mouth marketing. Online Advertising Portal websites like HomeAway.co.uk or OwnersDirect.co.uk Specialised websites like your local tourist board Personal websites (your holiday rentals business website) Offline Advertising Print media like newspapers and magazines Radio or TV Collateral material like business cards, fliers or vouchers Word-of-Mouth Customer relationship marketing efforts to past guests, or friends and family discounts Referrals Charitable donations Marketing Research Get to Know Your Target Customer Take the time to do some research about your target renter. The best way to do this is by talking to past guests, friends, and family members about what they enjoy about your home, what could be improved, and whether or not it fulfils the requirements they are looking for in a holiday home. You can also download our Guest Feedback Survey to send to your previous guests Become an Expert on Your Local Area Travellers will often look to you for advice about your area. Put on your travel agent hat and learn about the area attractions and restaurants that may interest your target renters. Stay Current with Events in Your Market Its important to stay abreast of events in your area. Consider subscribing to the local newspaper in your vacation home market or set up Google News Alerts to come to your email. Follow Industry Trends Staying educated on the holiday rental industry will give you a leg up in marketing your home. Keep an eye on our Industry News section, for the latest reports. 3. Get Your Financials in Order (Budgets and Forecasts) Break-Even Analysiskeys to success Even if you do not rely heavily on rentals to cover the expenses for your home, its important to determine how much money you have coming in and how much you have going out each month. Revenue How much rental income do you hope to generate from your holiday home this year? Formula for projected revenue for primarily weekly rental markets: (Number of Peak Weeks x Peak Rate) + (Number of Off-Peak Weeks x Off-Peak Rate) + (Number of Weekends x Weekend Rate) Formula for projected revenue for primarily nightly rental markets: (Number of Peak Nights x Peak Nightly Rate) + (Number of Off-Peak Nights x Off-Peak Nightly Rate) Expenses What do you expect to spend this year to keep your holiday rental running? Note: This formula does not include capital improvements. Cash Flow Calculating your projected cash flow should help keep you aware of where you stand in relation to your rental goals. In addition, consider setting milestones or benchmarks for where you should be when. If you hit a milestone and determine that youre not on course, then its time to implement a contingency plan. Sales Forecast During which months do you get the majority of your income? Be sure to factor in payment schedules, but to simplify the cash flow process, do not include any refundable deposits (otherwise youll have to also include the refund in your expenses). Expense Forecast Determine when you will have money coming out of pocket. Which expenses occur monthly (e.g. mortgage, utilities, etc.)? Quarterly?   Annually? Dont forget about seasonal fixed expenses like such as home or grounds maintenance. Contingency Planning What potential difficulties do you foresee in renting your holiday home? Brainstorm all of the potential problems you could face in your rentals process, and create a plan and a backup plan to deal with each one if it occurs. By preparing contingency plans, you wont be caught off-guard when a less-than-ideal situation arises. 4. Determine Your Personal Keys to Success in Renting Your Home After creating a marketing plan for your holiday rental home, you should be able to answer the following questions: Who is your target market and how is your home best suited for them? What is your homes theme or position in the market? Which marketing vehicles should you use to reach your target renters? How many peak weeks, off-peak weeks, and weekends do you need to rent to break-even on your fixed expenses? What are the potential risks in renting your holiday home and what can you proactively do to prepare for them? What you define as success may be different to what other owners in your area would. The key to personal success in renting is to set goals for yourself and your holiday rental. By setting goals before you begin, you always have a number of booked weeks (or nights) to work toward and will more likely stay motivated and fulfilled (INSKIPP, Carol, 2008) COMMUNICATION SKILLS: As a tour guide, communication will be your main tool in informing and guiding guests around sights and keeping their interest. Below, we have some suggested reasons why communication is so important in a tour guiding context. After reading through them, why dont you tackle the activities which follow, which are based on some of the main reasons for communicating in tour guiding. To inform, remind and advise You will use communication to present your country to tourists. As a tour guide you will have to answer many questions, handle queries and present information to tourists. Among these types of information will be: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ giving directions and commentaries; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ explaining procedures and itineraries; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ providing advice on safety and security; and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ describing tourist attractions. This information to guests can be: helpful suggestions to prepare themselves for a tour, advice about personal belongings to take, medical advice on preventative medicines, and information about available services at tourist destinations. To clarify, and to avoid confusion and misunderstandings Communication helps to clarify facts so that there is no confusion or misunderstandings. Also, sometimes there are unexpected events during a tour which can force the tour guide to change plans, and these changed plans have to be communicated to the tour group as soon as possible, to get consensus on alternative itineraries. To promote and persuade Communication is also the tool youll use to promote the tourism products and services of your country, such as the destinations and events they will visit and enquire about. Remember, tourists visit your country in order to see what attractions the country has to offer and to perceive and experience the country from your perspective. As a tour guide, therefore, it will be your responsibility to motivate and reinforce the tourists interest in your country. Your commentaries are the  « eye  » through which tourists will see the country and you are the representative of the people of your country. To build relationships How well you communicate with your tour group will determine the success of the tour and how successful you are in your career as a tour guide. Conversations help to develop rapport which will build interpersonal relationships. This is important for sustaining the tourism activities. To evaluate your services Communication will enable you to collect relevant feedback from the tourists with a view to gauging the interests and expectations of the tourists. This feedback obtained can be communicated to all concerned. From this you will be able to explore ways of improving subsequent tour activities. TASK 1 Email To: XXXX From Anamika Sinha CC Subject Cox kings share Holdings Dear XXXXXX I have recently visited Cox kings share Holdings and attach my report. The prospects for devolving HR activities to the line are examined in this article. Evidence drawn from a wider study of HRM in practice suggests that, while line manager involvement is possible, their practices tend to be inconsistent in implementation and uneven in quality. A number of constraints on line management practice were identified. First, there is limited reinforcement of practice through institutional forces. Secondly, the short-term nature of managerial activity means that a greater priority is placed on the achievement of the numbers rather than the achievement of numbers through people. Finally, downsizing and delivering place tremendous pressures on the time which line managers could allow for people matters generally. These findings challenge much of the rhetoric associated with the idea of giving HRM back to the line by arguing that the quality of line management practice may distort the overall impact of HR policies. TASK 2 Phone Communication Phone communication remains an important means of business communication because it can link partners, employees and business professionals nationally and globally. Costs of phone communication can be significant, particularly if a business requires a lot of international calls. Verbal Communication Verbal communication in groups and between individuals is still a critical and popular method of business communication. Mastering the art of verbal communication can help you articulate ideas and solve problems in ways that everyone will understand. The Internet and social media Web-based portals, such as Face book and Twitter, have taken the business world by storm. Email and social media represent ways for businesses to communicate important information in a matter of seconds. Fax Faxing is a fast way to communicate information and data as well. Faxing can be especially beneficial when information needs to be communicated in hard copy. Written Communication Believe it or not, companies still write memos and other reports that communicate information internally throughout a company. Written communication is an important method of communication because it helps establish a paper trail. TASK 4  · Speed and Costs of Communication The most significant impact of technology on communication is the spread of the internet and the possibility of sending emails and chatting. In the pre-information technology days, a document often required re-typing on the typewriter before the final version. Sending the letter across to someone else required a visit to the post office and a postage stamp. Faster methods such as telegrams had severe limitations in text, and remained costly. Computers and the internet have made easy the process of creating and editing documents and applying features such as spell check and grammar check automatically. Email allows sending the document to any part of the globe within seconds, making telegrams, and even ordinary letters mostly obsolete. The internet has thus increased the speed of communications manifold, and reduced the costs drastically.  · Quality of Communication The huge amount of knowledge accessible by a click of the mouse has helped improve the quality of communication. Translating a text from an unfamiliar language to a familiar language, seeking out the meaning of an unknown word, and getting follow up information on an unfamiliar concept are all possible thanks to the internet. Technology allows easy storage and retrieval of communication when needed, especially verbal communication, the storage of which was very difficult before. It now becomes easier to rewind and clear misconceptions rather than make assumptions, or contacting the person again to clear doubt.  · Change in Communication Style The invention of new gadgets such as mobile phones makes communication easier by allowing people to communicate from anywhere. An underestimated impact of mobile gadgets is their impact on the nature of communications. The nature of such impact includes the following: The possibility of high quality communication from anywhere in the world to anywhere else at low costs has led to a marked decline in face-to-face communications and to an increased reliance on verbal and written communication over electronic mediums. The small keyboards in mobile phone and other hand held devices that make typing difficult has resulted in a radical shortening of words and increasing use of symbol and shortcuts, with little or no adherence to traditional grammatical rules. Such change now finds increasing acceptance in the business community. Communication has become concise and short, and the adage brevity is the soul of wit finds widespread implementation, though unintentionally.  · Accessibility to Communication The answer to the question how has technology changed communication is incomplete without a mention of the role of technology in the democratization of communication systems. Technology has brought down the costs of communication significantly and improved peoples access to communication. The proliferation of online forums, live coverage of news, and other such media related initiatives have resulted in world wide access and participation in news and information for almost everyone. In the realm of business, access to communication or privileged information was hitherto a major source of competitive advantage. Technology helps remove such barriers and ensure a level playing field in this aspect for the most part.  · Nature of Communication The ease of communication and the spread of interactive communication methods such as instant messengers and video conferencing has increased the volume of communications, but reduced the average length of communications. People now communicate whatever comes up instantly, and tend to break up different topics into different communications. Finally, technologies such as the internet help spread the net of communication by tracking down old friends, shedding light on new business opportunities, and the like (JOHN SWARBROOKE, Susan Horner, 2001) PEOPLE IN THE ORGANISATION: TASK 1 All these organisations are connected to either the National Government, which is departments or ministries, or to local Government. This chart shows the range of commercial and non commercial organisations involved in Travel and Tourism. The government organisation, the DCMS (The Department for Culture Media and Sport. This is one of the many civil service departments which serve the elected government of the day, whatever their political views. These departments do not have any political bias. Examples: Treasury doles out all the money the taxpayers money to other departments, e.g. education, defence, DEFRA (Department for the Farming and Rural Affairs), which is the department for the environment.  · The DCMS is responsible for and to oversee: Government policy on the arts, Sport The National Lottery, Tourism, Libraries, Museums and galleries, Broadcasting, Film, The music Industry, Press freedom and regulation licensing, Gambling Historic environment.  · The present secretary of the DCMS is Tessa Jowell. Funding of the DCMS ===================  · Funding comes from the taxpayer (income tax)  · In addition, the Treasury decides what share each government department will get. Stakeholders Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest in an organisation. The people who are hold an interest in the DCMS range from: Government of the day. This is because DCMS carries out the policies. This relates to Tomorrows Tourism Today, which outlines plans for action and responsibilities for delivery for the DCMS and its key partners in five areas. These are the four joint priorities agreed by the DCMS and the tourism industry; marketing and e-tourism, quality, skills and data, plus a fifth priority for the DCMS advocacy for tourism across Whitehall and the EU. Tomorrows Tourism Today, which had the working title of the Tourism Prospectus, is the result of consultation by the DCMS with its key partnership organisations; Visit Britain, the England Marketing Advisory Board (EMAB), the Tourism Alliance, the Local Government Association and the Regional Development Agencies. It also reflects comments from over 30 organisations and individuals who responded to a final round of general consultation. The idea for Tomorrows Tourism Today came from the series of Hartwell Conferences between the DCMS and the tourism industry. They were part of the process of tackling the downturn in tourism that followed the Foot and Mouth outbreak and the September 11th attacks in 2001. The public as the taxpayers, as the DCMS is spending our money. Customers of tourism in the UK. Businesses, which benefit from the work of the DCMS. Employees of the DCMS civil servants. NGO`s (Non Governmental Organisations), which are not elected and have no political bias. Organization Chart Non-Governmental Organisations  · These are non-elected organisations, which advise the main government departments or ministries and through them advise the elected Minister of the day.  · NGO`s: Advise the department on policy. Co-ordinate activities. Produce strategic plans such as Tomorrows Tourism Today. Allocate government funds to all organisational and activities connected with tourism.  · Examples of NGO`s are: Visit Britain English Heritage Countryside Agency Sport England TASK 2 REPORT SECTION A: Communicating effectively can be the difference between the success and failure of any business endeavour. Effective business communication involves time-honoured practices and customs you can easily learn. These business communications best practices remain as relevant now as they were in the past. These best practices also apply to any form of business communication you choose to employ; whether it is a print brochure or an online website. Be Clear and Concise The most important business communication practice is to be clear with your message. Too often, business communicators load their messages with jargon and technical terms the intended audience cannot understand. Dont be vague. Use concrete terms and be specific. You should use clear, easily understood words. Avoid industry-specific terms and acronyms unless they are common knowledge to your audience. Err on the side of caution, however; dont assume you know what your audience will understand. Focus on Audience Effective business communication practices target a specific audience. Communicators should always ask Who is my audience? What is their level of knowledge about what you are presenting? What are their needs and values? Knowing the answers to these questions can help focus your message. Business communication author Ken OQuinn, writing for the International Association of Business Communicators, says you should frame your appeal in a way that makes it relevant to your audience. Your ideas need to be in their realm of experience, he writes. Dont Sell Features. Sell Benefits. Whether you are writing an internal memo or a sales brochure, your business communications should focus on value. A best practice is to sell benefitshow your idea or product will improve the lives of your internal and external customers. Selling benefits will grab attention and sustain interest far more than simply selling the features or physical attributes of a product or service. In an International Association of Business Communicators article, writing coach Daphne Gray-Grant says selling features is dull. Selling benefits generates excitement, she says, and leads to business communication with high impact. Use Multiple Channels Peter Lowy of the Business Communications Strategies group, Brookline, Mass., writes that you cannot afford to deliver your message using only one medium. The proliferation of media offers people numerous choices for consuming information. People have their preferences, and they process information at different times, Lowy says. In addition, for your communications practices to be effective, you should optimize your message for each medium. For example, a message delivered through a website will typically be shorter and more to-the-point than the same message in a print newsletter article. REPORT SECTION B: There are numerous advantages of teamwork in business. Some of the genuine advantages of teamwork have been discussed below. The following advantages of teamwork are not only applicable for businesses but they can also be noticed in departments that function with the help of united efforts. United Effort Teamwork in any business ensures that the task at hand is executed with the help of a united effort. The significance of the united effort is that the business organization that is concerned, functions like a single person, thereby enhancing the quality of the operations. There are, also, some other related factors, such as ensuring equality in profit-sharing and division of work. It also helps the members/owners of the organization to maintain a very good system, that designates appropriate authority and responsibility. A united effort, also, reflects good team building and team spirit. Division of Work Teamwork ensures that there is an equal and fair distribution of work within the organization. A fair work distribution ensures that every person or every working unit, executes any task at hand, with the best possible efficiency. The division of work, also, ensure that the work is done on time and deadlines are not extended. Reduction of Risk When the task at hand is executed with the maximum possible efficiency, there is a reduction in risk. The best advantage of teamwork in business is that the burden of failure is borne by all the members of the team and it does not fall on the shoulders of just one person. Specialization in Work Another very good advantage of teamwork in business is that a person is able to specialize in one specific field. That is, he can optimize the quality of the work that he does, and can also work with the maximum possible efficiency. This ensures a high quality output from all individuals and the whole team. Subordination of Personal Interest to Organizational Interest One of the biggest advantages of teamwork is that personal interest is subordinate to organizational interest. This ensures that all the team members put in the maximum possible efforts into their work, thereby ensuring a high quality and timely output. You must have noticed that the list of advantages points out to two basic facts that work when distributed reduces one persons workload and a reduced amount of

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Analysis of the Boat Scene in Gustave Flauberts Madame Bovary Essay

An Analysis of the Boat Scene in Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary As Gustave Flaubert wrote the novel Madame Bovary, he took special care to examine the relationship between literature and the effect on its readers. His heroine Emma absorbs poetry and novels as though they were instructions for her emotional behavior. When her mother dies, she looks to poetry to decide what degree of mourning is adequate; when she becomes adulterous she thinks immediately how she is like the women in literature that she has read about. In one scene, Emma is with her second lover, Leon, rowing in a boat, and she begins to sing several lines from the poem "Le Lac" by the romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine. The poem is about two lovers rowing on a lake as well, which is undoubtedly why Emma chooses this particular verse to sing. However, Lamartine's piece expresses much more than the serenity of love, a depth that Emma fails to see. By having Emma naively invoke the words of Lamartine, Flaubert brings the heaviness of the poem to a scene of otherwise lightheart ed beauty. This poetic reference not only suggests a greater depth to the scene, but also serves, through the hand of Flaubert, to allude to the death of Emma. Flaubert refers to Lamartine at the beginning of the novel when Emma's mother dies. Emma "Ãâ€"let herself meander along with Lamartine, listened to harps on lakes, to all the songs of dying swans, to the falling of leaves, the pure virgins ascending into heavenÃâ€"" (28). Emma uses this poetry as a way of inducing herself into sadness; she reads his poetry as a way of finding the right mood for her mourning. However, imitation of grief is the only thing that she achieves; her readings afford her no great insights other ... ...he irony of her words. Ultimately, the scene between Emma and Leon is just as fleeting as with Lemartine and M. Charles; their happy moments fade into something darker. Just as Emma cannot understand the importance of the words she sings, she does not understand the gravity of the moment she is in. Only the reader is aware of this depth, a depth achieved through the careful maneuvering of Flaubert. Works Cited and Consulted Berg, William J. and Laurey K. Martin. Gustave Flaubert. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997. Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. Trans. Geoffrey Wall. London: Penguin Books 1992. Maraini, Dacia. Searching for Emma: Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary. Translated by Vincent J. Bertolini. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Steegmuller, Francis. Flaubert and Madame Bovary. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

What Is Enterprise Acrhitecture Essay -- Information Technology Essays

What is Enterprise architecture? Enterprise Architecture is the link between strategy and implementation. It is a top down view of the structure of systems; it includes the fundamental organization of a system, embodied by its components, their relationships to each other and the environment, and the principles guiding its design. It can be defined as: A means for describing business structures and processes that connect business structures. www.sei.cmu.edu/architecture/glossary.html There are four areas that are commonly accepted as the components of the overall frame work. These are: †¢ Business Process. This includes strategy, governance, organisation, and key business processes. †¢ The Data. This describes the structure of an organisation's data assets. †¢ Applications. This provides an overview for the individual application systems to be deployed, their interactions, and their relationships to the business processes of the organization. †¢ Technology. This describes the logical software and hardware that are required to support the deployment of business, data, and application services. This includes IT infrastructure, networks, communications, processing, etc. It is can be used to get the current view of the business process and also where the business wants to go and how to get there. It can be viewed as city planning for IT covering the overall business processes and IT assets, how they're used, and how they should be built. What Impact could it have on the business? A strong Enterprise Architecture process helps to answer basic questions like: What are the organization's business processes, and how is IT supporting those processes? In general, the essential reasons for developing an Enterprise... ...requirements of an organization. †¢ The required IS and business capabilities to achieve these requirements. It is important to include all relationships with external entities to help ensure proper integration with their systems. †¢ Required changes within the organization this. This includes identifying the gaps between where you are and where you want to be. Once agreement has been reached that this is right for the company and backing received for the key stakeholders the company then needs to: †¢ Agree priorities for delivery. This needs to be planned in manageable stages to accommodate the company’s capacity to handle change. The company should also keep in mind the dependencies between one system and another or the possibility to run systems in parallel during the change over. †¢ Develop the required solutions. †¢ Agree standards. †¢ Evolve solutions.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Naive Macbeth :: Free Essay Writer

Naive Macbeth  Ã‚   Macbeth begins on a bloody note: a battle rages from which Banquo and Macbeth survive bloodied, but heroes.   They are the generals of Scotland; the country’s future is in their hands and in their blades.   However, when one clutches once to such power, it is hard to let go.   Macbeth cannot let go.   Macbeth also ends on a bloody note: Macbeth’s head is cut off and presented to Malcolm, his replacement.   Peace is restored through war; bloody injustice is righted finally with bloody justice.   What falls between these two notes—the beginning and end of the tragedy—is a symphony of treachery, deceit, and murder.   The images of nature gone awry spread all through the play—from the gardens that have turned to weeds to the horses that have turned to cannibalizing each other—for murder of one’s king is so unnatural that the entire landscape, all that is natural, is affected.   Macbeth, by killing Duncan, is himself made an enemy of nature.   Macbeth murders sleep, the ultimate embodiment of peace and nature, when he murders Duncan.   However, the title character is not as evil as is first suggested; Macbeth is only led to his evil deeds by those who surround him.   Macbeth’s only crime may be that he is weak minded and afraid.   Macbeth was lured and cajoled into his mistakes by his wife and the weird sisters. The first person who influences Macbeth into his sin is not really a person at all.   The weird sisters, as is their art, wreak havoc with Macbeth’s mind and life.   From the moment they are introduced, their every word affects Macbeth’s actions.   They are the characters that put the idea of becoming king in Macbeth’s head to begin with: â€Å"All hail, Macbeth!   Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!   / All hail, Macbeth!   Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!   / All hail, Macbeth!   Hail to thee, that shalt be King hereafter!   (1.3.48-50).†Ã‚   By addressing Macbeth first as he is, then with a title that he is but does not yet know of, and finally with a title he must take action to attain, they encourage him to take the actions necessary.   Their words are a promise to him that he will succeed if he murders Duncan.   Of course, the weird sisters are not responsible only for the first blood that covers Macbeth’s hands.   It is the s isters’ prediction that puts Macbeth on the course to kill Macduff: â€Å"Macbeth!   Macbeth!   Macbeth!   Beware Macduff!   Beware the Thane of Fife.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Islams Early Interactions with Judaism and Christianity

Chantel Hunt MNE 347 Palestinian Studies Bashir Bashir ISLAMS EARLY INTERACTIONS WITH JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY Because of its harsh desert environment, the Arabian Peninsula was left relatively unmolested by the several competing empires that swept through the Fertile Crescent just north of it in the early centuries before Islam. At the beginning of the 7th Century, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires were embroiled in a 26-year war for supremacy, which had a lasting cultural impact on the Arabs of the Peninsula eventually leading to the emergence and subsequent explosion of Islam into the monotheistic sphere.The interaction Islam had with existing religions led to a unique monotheism better suited to the Arabs, yet still maintained traditional elements with Judaism and Christianity, even enabling it to fall under the Abrahamic title. Monotheism was initially introduced through trade. According to Jonathon Berkey, â€Å"†¦the exchange of people and ideas between Arabs of the int erior and predominantly Aramaic-speaking inhabitants of Syria was, and had been for centuries, a routine element of life. That exchange touched on religious matters†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (64). Elements of these religions competed and intermingled with existing Arab paganism and traditions, creating a unique take on â€Å"the one God† that was much better suited to the Arabs than the politically-charged imperial baggage of the former traditions. Islam holds many similarities with the religions it sprung from besides its monotheism and devotion to the idea of a â€Å"true God,† yet even these similarities come with a unique Arabian flavor. These include a prophet-messenger, a holy book of scripture, and an ancestral link to the Abrahamic line.The idea of a special kind of person able to transcend mortal boundaries to commune with deity and transmit knowledge or specific messages to mankind has been an integral part of the Judeo-Christian experience. There are many prophets throu ghout Torah and Old Testament including Noah, Samuel, and Isaiah. The New Testament continues this tradition with the addition of new messengers from God (though not by the term prophets) such as John the Baptist, Jesus Christ the declared Son of God, and his disciples, the apostles.Islam adds one more prophet to the scene—Muhammad. Muslims view Muhammad as the greatest and last messenger of God. Muhammad's message was similar to the previously accepted prophets: to turn aside from false devotions and to worship the only true God in the right way. Like other Biblical prophets, Muhammad’s message was initially unpopular towards the masses, necessitating his flight to what became Medina (Esposito History of Islam 8).Despite initial troubles, however, Muhammad gained a considerable following and was able to later turn the tide against his former oppressors, and subdue them in a way no prophet of the earlier traditions was able to do: as a political conqueror (Esposito, Hi story of Islam 8-11). Unifying several Arabian tribes created the beginning of an empire that would bring the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires to their knees and open up the spread of Islam to the whole world. Also significant to each Abrahamic denomination was the creation of a holy book.Each consists of compilations of sacred texts, considered to be the words of God or of his prophets, though the original texts from which our modern ones are comprised of are non-existent today. It is generally assumed by many scholars that each text has likely been through apocryphal revisions and retellings before getting to us in their current state, but many adherents to Jewish and Christian faiths still view their books as the pure transmitted words of God.The holy book of Islam, the Qur’an, is also a compilation of revelations regarded as divine, though unlike the other sacred texts, it is only credited to one â€Å"receiver. † According to Muslim tradition, the Qur’an was preserved in both oral and written formats by Muhammad and his secretaries exactly as he had been given them from Allah, and were compiled in precise order of revelation and in their entirety (Esposito, Islam: the Straight Path 137). Yet like its contemporaries, it was not completed in written form while the receiver writer of the revelations lived. The Qur’an was compiled during the reign of Muhammad’s third successor, Uthman, leaving a window (admittedly a much smaller one than of the Jewish and Christian texts) where possible changes or mistakes in oral or written transmission may have occurred. In addition to a prophet and a holy book, Islam created a third link with the previous traditions giving it a higher sense of legitimacy and authority.Islam claims a direct ancestral link to Abraham—the great prophet to whom God promised nations of posterity, the land of Canaan and religious stewardship. Judaic and Christian traditions trace their spiritual ancestry t o Abraham through Isaac, Abraham’s son born to his legitimate wife, Sara. Islam instead, connects their heritage to Abraham through his first son Ishmael, born to Sara’s Egyptian handmaid, Hagar. Each separate tradition maintains that their particular son of Abraham was the favored son and heir to both the temporal and divine.There are many other similarities Islam has with its older brother religions, but it is by no means a copy or mere synthesis of them either. While drawn to many aspects of the new religions that had sifted to them from the north, the Arabs had a substantially different religious, political, and economic environment than origins of Judaism and Christianity, making many doctrines and practices of the religions completely foreign and ill-suited to Arab sensibilities.Islam has many similar components with the other two religions making its association with the other religions under Abraham a commonly accepted one. However, the unique political and spi ritual environment of Arabia created unique elements in Islam not to be found anywhere else, and is possibly responsible for its exponential rate it acquired followers. Works Cited Berkey, Jonathan Porter. The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 00-1800. New York: Cambridge UP, 2003. Esposito, John L. Islam: the Straight Path. New York: Oxford UP, 1998 Esposito, John L. The Oxford History of Islam. New York: Oxford UP, 1999 *As I could not find the original books to get exact page numbers, I used the page numbers given in our packet of materials instead for those ideas that came from them. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Qur’an 47:19. See also Exodus 20:3 in the Bible

Maxim’s Group Structure

Divisional structure is an organization design made up of self-contained units or divisions. Positions are grouped into departments based on similar products, regions or customer groups. Hong Kong Maxim's Group has grown into the largest catering company in Hong Kong, while serving more than 540,000 people every day. Nowadays, Hong Kong has built up many store, each store need human’s development. The Group invests a lot of resources in the development of talent to support its rapid growth. The Group also provides career incentives for potential employees such as promotions, role transfers, and new business management. Last but not the least, we prepare an â€Å"Individual Development Plan† for employees so that they can adapt to their new roles in a short time span. The food and beverage industry requires a people-oriented culture and focuses in recruiting strong human capital. Therefore, Maxim has set up comprehensive training and development programs for employees at varying levels. Through the programs, employees can develop their working skills as well as improve other aspects. As the Job Category, staff can be divided as Front Line Catering Service, Catering Ambassador,Catering Manager. Maxim’s Group has a matrix structure. Matrix structure is comprised of specialists from functional departments who are assigned to work on one or more projects led by a project manager. Combines product departmentalization and functional departmentalization. Also, matrix structure is advantages of work specialization and has high accountability. Maxim’s Group is a combines leading by a project manager, there are many different department in a larger organization. Differ from department have work specialization, faultless inside preference structure and having a high accountability and corporate social responsibility. Actually, Maxim’s Group is a diversify structure. Maxim’s Group has many group businesses as Chinese cuisine, quick service restaurant. Maxim’s cakes, festive products etc. Maxim’s Strategic and Business Development Department is always on the lookout for new business opportunities, including franchises, strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Freud, Jung, & Adler

Assignment One Jeremie William Edwards PSY/250 Elaine Parks Assignment Two Freud, Jung, and Adler are commonly referred to as the fathers of modern Psychology. The three men spent much time delving into why people act and think the ways which they do. Freud’s psychoanalytical approach tells us that the human psyche consists of three different parts that drive us to our thoughts and actions; the Ego, Super-Ego, and the Id (direct Latin translation is the it). Adler was at differences with Freud in this separation of these three parts.Adler believed that the Ego, Super-Ego, and the Id were not separated but viewed as a whole; He believed that it was more important to look at the entire picture rather than trying to separate these parts, as Freud would. Jung and Freud had a difference on personal motivation that drives each of us. Freud believed that all human motivation was sexually based, where Jung thought that every person suffered from a type of inferiority complex. I can ag ree with portions from all of the doctors and their theories.I believe that there is a sexual connotation to most everything that people do, whether it is out-right or hidden in context. I can also see where most everyone suffers from some type of inferiority complex. Every person can admit to be lacking in some area in which they would rather excel. As far as Jung and his individuation on the other hand, I believe this to be lacking in substance. His thoughts on humans being social creatures and the influence that our surroundings have on us are quite valid.I also believe that we do have an Id or a primal instinct inside of us, but that Id is not in conflict with our Ego and Super-Ego. These three parts work in unison to drive us and propel each of us into becoming better people yet not letting us forget from where we originate. Sigmund Freud had a five stage theory on human personality development. The five stages in order are; Oral/Dependency, Anal/Potty Training, Phallic, Latenc y Period, and Genital. The Oral stage is from the time of birth up to about two years old.This stage talks of breastfeeding and how a person can develop an oral fixation if weaned too early from the teat. An oral fixation can manifest in the forms of smoking, eating, or drinking. The second stage, Anal, is where the child is learning to use a toilet properly. The child uses the anal sphincter as a means of maintaining control of the situation. For example, if a child does not want to learn how to use the toilet they may withhold their feces or defecate in places or at times that are seen as inappropriate. These actions will allow the child to perceive that they are still in control of the situation.Under this understanding is where Freud believes that a person can develop obsessive compulsive disorder or dreams of spinning out of control and the person left trying to get everything back in order. The Phallic stage is the third stage of Freud’s. This stage is from the ages of three to five, this is the time where a child starts to become more aware of the differences between men and women. This time frame is when a person can develop an Oedipus or Electra complex, depending on the gender of the person. What this entails is the child becoming jealous of the same sex parent.For boys this would present because of the child wanting a relationship with the mother that the father has, this scenario in turn makes the boy child adopt the acts and mannerisms of the father in order to live vicariously through him in this relationship. For a girl child, she is jealous of the mother and wants the father’s penis (penis envy). The fourth phase is a latency period where no real advancement is made. The final stage of Freud’s five stages is the Genital stage. The Genital stage starts around the age of 12 and ends in the peak of puberty.This stage is a reawakening of a person’s sexual interest. In this stage a person will start to feel sexual attract ion towards the opposite sex (the writer does not know about homosexuality in this theory as of yet). The urges and needs are to pleasure the genitals and a sort of coming of age, or growing up. Freud had many different defense mechanisms. The three we will be looking at are; Denial, Rationalization, and Repression. Denial is a fairly self-explanatory defense; it is when a person argues with the reality of what has actually happened. E. G.When a woman has been raped she must deal with an extraordinary situation which she had no choice in. Some women face this reality with denying that it ever actually happened. Rationalization is a bit different in a person will fabricate a truth rather than facing what the observable truth is. Say a person gets fired from a position; he/she may claim that it is because they refused to kiss up to the boss when in reality it was because of a lack in performance. Repression is when a person forces something out of memory, often a person will repress m emories of child abuse.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Crimes against information system analysis

Cyber crime or computer crime is a type of crime that occurs through the internet. This type o f crime has become very common in modern times and many people have been conned money and other valuables. This kind of crime has grown to be high profile to the extent that governments around the world are devising and implementing strategies and policies in a move to curb this kind of crime. Some of the most common types of internet crime include financial theft, fraud, intellectual property theft, industrial espionage, spamming, spread of computer virus, software hacking among others (Grabosky, 2006).This paper will review the Nigerian Money Scams also called Advanced Fees Fraud or 419 Scams. The Nigerian scam is one of the most popular types of internet scam around the globe. It has been described as the widest ranging, cleverly planned and bizarre fraud schemes in the world in the recent years. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Interpol and Scotland Yard describe it as prepos terous, amateurish and plainly crude (Lohr, 1992). The scam involves the sending of bogus letters with a promise of big pay offs.The target of this fraud usually receives an Email that claims to be from Nigeria or another West African country. Initially its target was businessmen but these days, the target also includes average citizens due to the low cost associated with email communication and transactions. The content of the email includes an illegal proposal, a money laundering proposal or a legitimate and legal business proposal. It includes offers of help whereby the sender wants some assistance in shipping out oil from Nigeria, romance, some supposedly deposited money in your account, a bequest left a will in your name.Others include claims overpayment of a contract by the Nigeria Government and therefore a need of a front man to get the overpayment out of Nigeria or an invite to transfer a huge amount of money, usually in US Dollars to your personal offshore account (Nigeria n scams, 2000). After the recipient of this message responds positively, the sender then proceeds to advice him what else he requires to do. The purpose of the initial letter is to set the stage and is considered the opening ground to test the waters.Goal of the criminal The main intention of the criminal is to confuse you into thinking that whatever you are being drawn into is a lucrative business opportunity and a highway into instant riches. Even though, the arrangement appears questionable but very few people look at it that way. Therefore the first letter makes sure that the recipient is left with no doubts and that he or she is assured, and confident of the fact that the deal will be very success and that he is not in no way risking himself or herself.The allegations presented by these scammers are in such a way that you will be naturally cautious but deep down you, you will be praying softly and wanting hopefully that the deal is genuine. Another element associated with these emails is a sense of urgency (Gill, 2005). Either that the government is closing in or that the job of the sender is at risk. Therefore, his request is that the deal may be closed as son as possible. Their methodology is that they make sure that the recipient of the mail counts him or herself lucky because he has been singled out from billions of people the world over.And so as much as this deal may look suspicious, the receipt is left with the urge of gaining millions of shillings for doing what? Absolutely nothing. Even to the most skeptical people, they take the next step or sending an email, which will not cost you any risk at all and in return, might make you a multi millionaire. The feeling that being a rich man is only an email away is what makes people respond to this mail. After making that call or sending the email, the sender pleads with you to make this as secret as possible because he or she is taking a great risk in communicating with you.He emphasizes on the secrecy in that any disclosure might lead to the transaction of the transfer of funds being incomplete. As the recipient, you don’t see any harm in maintaining secrecy, confidentiality, utmost sense of purpose and maturity as it is what it will be asked of you by the sender (Lohr, 1992). After this communication, documents actually arrive to you. Official documents from the central bank of Nigeria together with documents from the firm of your newly appointed Nigerian lawyers. This is what convinces most people of the authenticity of the proposal as they contain the Nigerian Government Letter head (Gill, 2005).After you are satisfied of the authenticity of the transaction, you are then asked to pay some money to cater for unexpected taxes or contract fees demanded by the central bank of Nigeria, transfer of funds fees or fees to cater for the attorneys acting on your behalf. The sender assures you that those are things that he is not in control of. For example, he may tell you that th e lawyers want 5% of the whole money or $200,000 in advance in order to continue with the transfer. Being a wise person, you smell a rat and say no way.It is then after sometime that the sender contacts you again and tells you that he has been able to negotiate with the lawyers and they have brought down their fees to say $100,000. He convinces you that it is nothing compared to what you two are going to gain. But since you are a wise person, you say no way (Lohr, 1992). It is then that he calls you again and tells that even though he is a poor guy, he is ready to sell his only house to raise $30,000 if you are in a position of raising the rest. He cannot forget to remind you that it is a loan he has advanced to you and that you will refund it to him once you receive the money.Here, you see the commitment and you ultimately send the money and you wait for your cash. You even start planning for holiday. After two days, you are informed that there have been some few problems and that the inside man is asking for a small bribe. After paying the initial amount, you become the ultimate milk cow. More requests start coming your way for you to send in more money. At this juncture, you are faced with two options: either send more money as demanded or risk loosing the promised millions and the money you have already sent.In this way, you are a prey and tens or even hundreds of dollars may be swindled from you (Gill, 2005). Each amount of money that you send is regarded as the last amount but eventually, there rises some ‘temporary difficulties’, ‘errors’ or ‘complications’ that you are prompted to solve. This may go on for months until you run out of money or until you give up. But these scammers will not stop there. If you show signs of giving up, they remind you of the ultimate prize awaiting you. The asking of these â€Å"advance fees† is the ultimate objective of this scam.That’s why it is referred to as the Adva nce Fees Fraud (Gill, 2005). Once a victim has sent in more and more cash, he gets hooked up to the scam and the more he believes that it is not a scam but that it is a real deal. The denial of most victims that they have been conned is what drives them to make just one more payment and their windfall happens (Nigerian Scams, 2000). There are even instances whereby one is invited to Nigeria and you are taken through real or fake government offices. The fake government offices include many government support staff and you are left with no doubt.In some instances, victims have confessed going to the directory, looking up the number of the alleged government officiate and finding it there. On calling, it is received by the very same person who he has been in contact with. There are some victims who have been invited to go to Nigeria. They are told that a Visa is not necessary and in that case, they bribe an airport official for you to enter Nigeria. On entering you are told that it is illegal to be in Nigeria without a passport (which is true) and this is used to coerce more money from you (Lohr, 1992). Mechanism to discourage these crimesThe federal bureau of investigations has but in some mechanisms in bid to stop these fraudsters. The FBI has warned the public to be wary and not fall into this trick. In this regard, the public has been warned to be skeptical of any email or letter from persons claiming to be Nigerian government officials or any other foreigner asking for help with regard to transfer of large sums of money. The public has also been advised not to believe in the promise of large sums of money once they cooperate (FBI, 2010). Many countries have put in legislations that require citizens to report any form of 419 emails.In general, the governments all over the world are committed to ending this vice. There have also been developments of Internet Technologies which aim at stemming the advancement of the Nigerian Advanced Fee Fraud scams. Through th e use of this technology, law enforcement officers are in a position to cooperate internationally and therefore are able to track these scammers, obtain the necessary evidence and prosecuting them (Lohr, 1992). References FBI. (2010). Internet Fraud. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www. fbi. gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes. htm. Gill, P. (2005). About. Com. The Top ten internet/ Email Scams.Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://netforbeginners. about. com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/top10inetscams. htm Grabosky, P. (2006). Electronic Crime, New Jersey: Prentice Hall http://www. nytimes. com/1992/05/21/business/nigerian-scam-lures-companies. html. Lohr, S. (1992). Nigerian Scam' Lures Companies. Nigerian Advanced Fee Fraud Detection, Education, Eradication. The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www. nextwebsecurity. com/ Nigerian scams. (2000). Schemes, Scams and frauds. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www. crimes-of-persuasion. com/Crimes/Business/ nigerian. htm.