Benjamin D. Powell

Benjamin D. Powell makes an argument in his paper â€Å"Exploring Mirror Neurons: Rethinking Performance and Communicative Processes† that will make every self-avowed video game dork ecstatic. The concept that by observing an action repeatedly our mirror neurons learn to perform the action will appeal to thousands or even millions who spend their days in front of a television or video screen rather than out experiencing life. Powell adds the caveat that without practicing the action, the body will not be able to perform it with the skill of a trained athlete, but argues that the presence of mirror neurons explains why he was not more injured when hit by a car. The paper claims that the presence of mirror neurons may indicate that more study is needed regarding how our bodies develop skills and what effect activities like playing video games have on our neurological development. At worst, Powell’s theory is an interesting pipe dream. At best, it is hope for the people who spend too much time playing â€Å"World of Warcraft†. Unfortunately, the reality is it seems to be something of a pipe dream. It is much more likely that he simply got lucky when the car hit him and instinctively tucked and rolled. And, the car, which he described as barreling toward him, probably was not moving with the speed he believed it to be.   Writing for the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Kathleen Wilkes seems to echo parts of Powell’s basic thesis. (Wilkes 111). She argues that the possibility exists that people are capable of learning simply through observation, but there is no hard science to defend either her statement or Powell’s. The reality is that this is some odd combination of philosophy and science, with people speculating on something that science has yet to be able to measure or prove. In the end, while the philosophy of a mind-body link so deep that the mind can control the body’s actions after merely observing an action seems plausible there is no science to back it up. Powell’s evidence is merely a corollary, coincidental and not direct proof of a tie. To actually prove Powell’s theory would be difficult and complicated. One would have to prove that there was simply no other way, short of mirror neurons that the test subject could have learned to complete a specific action. And, the researcher would have to be able to determine how much of the action and the response to it is based on intellectual knowledge versus muscle knowledge. In short, the researcher would have to prove that simply watching someone swing a bat repeatedly would equate to the ability to do it and that the ability is more than the intellectual knowledge of where to place one’s hands on the bat. He would have to prove that Powell’s escape from injury was more related to his ability to tuck and roll than his knowledge that tuck and roll was the right way to minimize the force of impact of an oncoming car. Ultimately, Powell’s problem becomes in determining what actions are effective because of the mental processes telling us how to do them and which ones are effective because of the muscle knowledge of when to flex or release. Even making the differentiation there could take years. WORKS CITED Powell, Benjamin D. â€Å"Exploring Mirror Neurons: Rethinking Performance and Communicative Processes.† Wilkes, Kathleen V. â€Å"Brain States†Ã‚   The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 31, No.2. June, 1980. pp. 111-129.   

SWOT Analysis of Nokia

Introduction Nokia was founded in 1865, is headquartered in Finland, mainly engaged in the production of mobile communication products multinational, is the world's third largest mobile phone manufacturer. February 2011, Nokia and Microsoft entered into a strategic alliance and the depth of cooperation.Over the past few years, Nokia shares have gradually from London, Frankfurt, Paris and Stockholm stock market delisting. February 9, 2012, due to poor management, Nokia announced layoffs in three mobile phone manufacturing plant 4000. April 11, 2012, due to huge losses for several quarters, Nokia shares plunged 17 percent, the market value has shrunk $ 5 billion a day, to fall back to 1997 levels. In the September 3, 2013 Microsoft officially announced a $ 3.79 billion euros acquisition of Nokia mobile phone business, to 1.65 billion euros while the acquisition of its patent portfolio, which means that Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's business and assets of the expenses totaled 5.44 billion euros (about $ 7.17 billion).Nokia failed because of its long-term monopoly in the mobile phone market, resulting in a slack, underestimate the enemy emotions; enterprise bureaucracy has become popular, gradually lost self, lost the incentive to innovate. And in the mobile phone industry has changed, especially after the popularity of 3G mobile Internet revolution brought, Nokia has not been able to face changing market to make the right judgments.Political factorsLegal constraints, such as 3G, must be considered because many businesses plan to make a profit so they may be tempted to misinform their customers about pricing, products’ quality and the availability of their goods. Also, they may try to cut expenses by using lower quality materials in their products, such as weaker resources for Nokia cases and batteries. Also some companies may set out their waste in ways that harm the environment without ensuring high standards of hygiene and safety in the workplace.Inc luding, outlet stores, which are illegal and can cause legal problems for companies. In 2000, the UK Government started to accept bids from thirteen companies who wanted to run a licence to sell next-generation mobile phones. It raised  £22.47, a neat sum to anybody. However, the companies began to refuse paying the huge amount of money for the licences. The UK auction was structured so that each challenger bid was planned to be a certain percentage higher than  the previous bid. This unexpectedly resulted in the size of bids strengthening sky high at a rate of over 150 rounds of bidding.Economic factors Current economic indications, such as exchange, inflation rates, unemployment, gross national product can orient companies how to determine their policies. The other significant factor is the global economic situation for an international company such as Nokia. Considering the last two years of global handset devise market, there is a downturn in the sales.The global economic re cession and the related domestic economic crises are the most significant factors of shrink mobile phone industry. So its natural result is decrease of Nokia's mobile phone sales. According to a resource firm, named Gartner, worldwide mobile phone sales decreased 8.6 % in the first quarter of 2009 compared with first quarter of 2008. Nokia's market share dropped to 36.2 per cent to 39.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 (Gartner, 2009).Technological factors Nokia is not a company without a sense of crisis .Instead, Nokia has long recognized the existence of the crisis . IPhone, launched in 2007, Nokia was first proposed in the global transformation of the Internet strategy. Of all the mobile phone manufacturers , Nokia is the first high profile vendors need restructuring .At the time, Nokia's transformation direction can be attributed to Ovi – this has now been forgotten by many names. Concept Ovi by Nokia on August 29, 2007 and the company also announced a comprehensive r estructuring strategy .In response to industry changes , the Nokia Ovi store via software programs , music , maps , mail, and N-Gage mobile gaming platform , five major business transformation to fully support the Nokia Mobile Internet .In order to conform to Internet trends , Nokia also the first to make a lot of † free † move. For example in January 2010 , Nokia announced that its worldwide smart phone walking and driving navigation will all free. You know, a well-known high German navigation, Baidu navigation , etc., until the end of last month , was determined to totally free.But Nokia seek self- transformation and the result is a failure. Some call it summed up the lack of mobile Internet genes, some say lack of execution , also said that Nokia's big company disease dragged its own transformation . Anyway, Nokia does not rely on their own efforts to turn things around .IBM not so computerDecember 8, 2004, Lenovo Group in Beijing announced $ 650 million in cash and s tock worth $ 600 million (total value of about 10 billion yuan) won including Think brands, including IBM PC business (PC Division). Completed, IBM Lenovo Group holds 18.5% of shares, while Lenovo Group Lenovo Holdings will occupy about 45% of the shares. According to the agreement, Lenovo also within five years, IBM's brand. If successfully completed the acquisition of Lenovo, Lenovo will then become the world's second only to Dell, Hewlett-Packard after the third-largest PC vendor.Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's personal computer business before, its revenue was 30 billion U.S. dollars, after the merger is completed, the business volume reached $ 13 billion, so the company's foreign operations accounted for more than 75% of all business proportion, legal risk has changed greatly . Another example was a very well-known Chinese enterprises in mergers and acquisitions, foreign workers paid after termination of the contract is almost equivalent to the original acquisition cost of all th e funds.ConclusionChange management generally is difficult but no undoable. With a world closing in every day. not only international blue-chip companies are forced to critically reassess and. if necessary, change their business model, but also their organizational structure or their corporate culture. Most failed change projects underestimated or simply did not take into account the human factor.To avoid this failure the assistance of change experts or change agents (in most cases professional consultants) should be sought. Not only that most employees have no or little experience in the field of change management. In most cases people are used to their environment and emotionally unwilling to change.

Disagree with the author''s point. Create your own argument that Research Paper

Disagree with the author''s point. Create your own argument that opposes either a minor or major point the author makes. (Don't - Research Paper Example He further argues that, on a typical day, an American kid takes 1,040 calories that are double the government’s daily recommended requirement, and it makes it worse this is accompanied by a super-sized coke with 450 calories. As such, he suggests that these fast food companies should be a warning with the adverts, and also include the amount of calories in their foods. I agree with Zinczenko that fast foods are responsible for the surging number of obesity and diabetes in children. However, I disagree that the lack of calorie labels and warnings by the companies are the major reasons why kids consume fast foods at a high rate. I believe that individuals have a responsibility to choose what is healthy and avoid what is not. Both parents and children have a responsibility to make the right choices regarding what is healthy and what is harmful. Including calorie information on the foods that people consume from the first food joints is not a solution as, many people will ignore t his information, and some will never look at the information. Currently, even without passing a warning on their adverts, everybody in the society knows that consuming too much fast food is not healthy, but they still ignore this and go ahead, buy and consume these foods. Hence, saying that including a warning and calorie information will not deter people from consuming these foods. Though the author supports his arguments by giving a personal experience, which makes the article more credible, the biggest issue still stems down to personal responsibility. In an article titled It's Portion Distortion That Makes America Fat by Shannon Brownie, the author discusses a research carried out by a marketing whiz at Taco Bell. In the consumer-based market research, Elliot Bloom discovered that most of the frequent customers who accounted for 70% of sales were young males and teenagers who frequented the fast food joints as often as 20 times a month (Brownlee 1). Furthermore, Bloom found out that these young men did not have any interest in cooking and so the reason for frequenting the fast food joints. These people showed no concern for the nutritional value of the food, which screams out the lack of responsibility leading to excessive consumption of unhealthy foods. Shannon Brownie employs the use of empirical data and research evidence to present her point about fast foods and rising cases of obesity and diabetes in the society. This makes the information provided in this source reliable. Parents should be responsible for what their children eat. The argument for poor economic status and lack of time should not be an excuse to neglect their children, and drive them to first foods. In fact, eating healthy will help the family saves because the healthier alternatives are always cheap. In addition, the family will not only save on food, but also on medical bills by averting conditions brought by too much consumption of fast foods. Clearly, almost every parent is aware t hat fast foods are harmful in terms of health. As a result, no matter how busy they are, the health of their children should come first, and thus, they need to ensure that they prepare food for their children before getting down to their busy schedules. Moreover, making a fruit or vegetable salad, vegetable juices or

A Strategic Plan to Involve School-Family-Community Partnerships via Essay

A Strategic Plan to Involve School-Family-Community Partnerships via Service Learning - Essay Example An example of this is when students in a math class volunteer to tutor younger students in a poor community, they are able to harness their mathematics skills and improve on it. If they impart the lessons that they have learned and teach it to younger kids who have no knowledge of the skill, they tend to repeat it and eventually master the skill. The mastery comes from practice rather than just having examinations or drills inside the classroom. Their retention rates also improve. Service-learning fosters social growth. Students can contribute to their community by actively participating in community projects. This could be illustrated when a group of students who just studied about recycling wastes to protect the environment initiate a project in the community and collect wastes, segregate them and recycle those which are recyclable. This project will promote the students’ social growth because they are able to interact with the members of the community and at the same time h elp make their environment clean. Students are not only the ones benefitted by service-learning. Even their parents can take part in the service-learning activities to show their support for their children. It then becomes a collaborative effort between students, school administrators, parents, community leaders and members. A specific activity where parents can show their support is by assisting their children collect old clothes, books or shoes among the affluent members of the neighborhood and distribute them to the underprivileged ones. These types of projects will foster community involvement. For those who participate in the activity, it gives them a sense of self-fulfillment because they know that they are sharing their time and effort to the poor members of the community. Students use their skills in real-life situations rather than just learning about them in the classroom. They become critical thinkers and may even suggest solutions regarding problems in their communities. One important advantage of incorporating service-learning into the curricula of students is that it hones the leadership skills of students. Students do not have to rely on their teachers to take the lead in partaking in community activities; they themselves can think of projects which they know can benefit the community. There are several service-learning activities that have been undertaken by students from different schools. One worthy project which may serve to supplement a middle-grade school class in biology is the setting up of vegetable gardens in vacant lots within the community near the school. Since the students learn how plants grew, they can try their hands at planting. What better way to practice what they learn but through creating their own vegetable gardens. In that way, they are able to put into productive use the vacant lots that are just idle. The vegetables that will be produced will then be distributed among the poor people in the neighborhood for their own co nsumption. Truly, in this type of activity, students become involved in the community and at the same time they get to learn their biology in a more interesting approach. â€Å"From Coffee to Compost† is another worthwhile project implemented by students in Bozeman, Montana (United States Environmental Protection Agency,

Johnny Cash's American Recordings by Tony Tost Essay

Johnny Cash's American Recordings by Tony Tost - Essay Example Having noted that, the main objective of this paper therefore is to analyze the existence of mythical Cash and how Tony engages the readers to understand the mythical nature of Cash. In addition, this paper tries to unravel some literary shortcomings that might have made the book more interesting if rectified. Johnny Cash legacy and musical contributions has never been forgotten because he has remained a point to refer to when talking about punk and post-punk bands in both the US and the UK. American Recordings by Tony Tost was one of the four Rubin-produced American albums released before Cash passed away in 2003. American Recordings is a Broadway excavations of how Cash the Myth and Cash Man — the recording artist, husband, father, sinner, human —disheveled in what Tony acknowledges as Cash greatest works The chapters of the book are streamlined whereby Tony advances his arguments about Cash’s mythology is a clever and concise manner. He demonstrates this point through a more advanced poetic voices that ensured a more clear and pure images as opposed to simply repetitiveness of the epic. For instance Tost writes; â€Å"It’s like visiting the spot that songs come from.† By the end of the book, such quick-witted summaries are being tossed (Tost?) around with consummate skill; I particularly liked the description of Tom Waits as â€Å"the hobo Heraclitus of the postmodern world† (Tost, 56) Taking the example above, it is clear that Tost is good at mythopoeic that accumulates around Cash’s work. As he explains, it does matter weather Cash shot another man in Folsom Prison and heard a train bound for Tevas; what matters is that Cash’s songs exist. He further argues that because Cash’s songs exist-and in mythical way-disparate elements is bonded together creating the patchwork quilt of American myth. According to Tost, in addition to his contribution to the myths, Cash also owned the

Change Model Assignment (MGT 435) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Change Model Assignment (MGT 435) - Essay Example So, it is extremely essential to improve the decision making powers and planning to cope up with such changes to retain the portfolio in the market among others. Besides, it might also help to improve its brand image and reputation of the organization as compared to other rivals operating in the similar sector. In order to do so, most of the organizations operating in the retail sector desire to undertake an international expansion to acquire a large array of new customers, to increase its range of sales and a profit margin as well. In this essay, the importance of change model is highlighted along with its types as per the terms. This is because the types of change models entirely differ for short or long term processes. Change Models The XYZ Inc, a high-end retail chain selling luxurious ornaments, watches, and hand bags also decided to generate its foothold in a new international market named Shanghai by opening a retail store. By doing so, it might facilitate the XYZ Inc to gener ate a high range of revenues and ROI along with the enhancement of total sales (Sharma, 2006). Although it is very short-termed, the types of change model implemented for such a type of alterations are described below: Figure 1. Sustainability Model (Sharma, 2006). The above model describes that in order to reflect or maintain the similar sustainable nature; it tries to get engaged in varied types of operations like an expansion into new markets (Shanghai) to increase the total range of sales (Figure 1). This may be possible only due to the excitement to attain a new range of customers and revenues as well. Along with this, the practice of such expansions in Shanghai might enhance the range of a market share and popularity of XYZ Inc (Weiss, 2012). This might help in the enhancement of the brand image and reputation of the organization in the market among other rivals. It might also improve the financial condition of XYZ Inc as compared to previous financial years. Thus, it may be s tated that the expansion of XYZ Inc into Shanghai market proved extremely effective for the organization in a long run (Paton & McCalman, 2008). Similarly, in case of long-term and large scale changes, the model to be implemented requires a high level of planning and analysis so that it would surely lead to success. Moreover, a continuous improvement is essential that may be possible only through a constant enhancement of people, equipment, and policies or strategies of the organization. Otherwise, it might prove effective for XYZ Inc to open additional retail stores in the regions like Brazil, Russia, India, and China as the level of competition in these markets are extremely high. So, to retain the portfolio and position in these markets, it is essential to continuously up-date the techniques and equipments of the organization as compared to others (Paton & McCalman, 2008). Along with this, high-end training programs might also be implemented within the XYZ Inc so as to enhance th e level of skills and talent of the employees to develop attractive and trendy products (Weiss, 2012). This might only help the organization to increase its range of customers and a profit margin as well as the brand value of its products. So, such types of change models specified below may be used in case of long-scale changes (Sharma, 2006). Rationale for Such a Type of Decisions of the Management Figure 2. Improvement Cycle ( Paton & McCalman,

Business Process Diagram Samples Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Business Process Diagram Samples - Essay Example 1.  The activities of the different departments of a company operate on a set of processes known as the Business Processes of the organization. The case of a retail company, ABC desiring to track its sales requires the creation of a business process. This business process is depicted by the construction of a flow diagram carving out the entire business process needed for tracking sales. (Business Process Diagram Samples). The diagram generated for a business process consists of graphical figures linked unto each other reflecting a constant flow of activities. (White, 1-3). 2.   The requirement to design a business process arises from the situation in solving a specific business problem which can range from operations to customer care and can even encompass the warehouse operations. (Business Process Diagram Samples).   However the design of the business process must be made keeping a focus that it helps in a better understanding of the complex business functions. Thus geometric al figures like square, circle, rectangle, and triangle are employed connected by flow lines depicting the various functions.   (White, 1-3). 3.   Designing the diagrams for business processes helps in probing into the details of the business operations with needful precision. This detailing of business activities helps in effective monitoring and controlling of business functions which in turn enhances the quality of goods and services produced. (White, 1, 8). 1.  

Managing visitors space Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing visitors space - Research Paper Example Tourism has been identified to bring with it peak seasons, and also result to the decline of the economy. When such issues occur, natural resources, funding and labor suffer from fluctuations due to variations of the tourism seasons. The extension of tourist season entails of many offering festivals and keeping museums and hotels. The intensity of summer tourists season leaves an environment and the community exhausted. However, the off-season is the period where the residents return to their normal activities, and they use the facilities that are usually occupied by tourists. Peaking results to, exceptional strains on the community and the infrastructure. However, the resident population instead of the number of tourists likely determines this. The traditional mass tourists are usually replaced by various short-break visitor and diversity since they are major aspects of any tourism products. The survival of a tourism industry develops a better understanding of the local image and th is has an impact on the host community, considering the long-term effects evident in the development plans. However, it has been noted that a decline in the local management and its development cannot be realized due to the success of the hospitality industry, which rests at a local level (Morgan et al. 2011). The extension of the tourists season in the shoulder months is a goal that is usually economically beneficial for the involved businesses. However, social viability depends on the attitudes of the residents. It is also important to know that some factors usually contribute to the formation of different opinions with an aim of preventing conflicts, and to promote beneficial community factors. The social carrying capacity of any tourist attraction site depends on the resident’s attitude and their tolerance to the tourist’s presence. However, various factors are involved the formulation of a community social carrying capacity. However, the knowledgeable the resident s are concerning the tourism benefits, the greater the involvement process and the threshold tolerance (McCool and Moisey, 2008). There are several challenges that occur based on the management of different visitor visits. These have been noted to be controlled through various strategies and demand management. The community is described as the base for the tourism industry, and they must be involved to ensure that sustainable tourism is managed. It is also vital for any tourist attraction one to be aware of the effect that tourism has on the economy so that they can demonstrate the benefits that an industry offers the area. The quality in tourism and hospitality industry entails of efforts of the managers to ensure that they achieve profitability and success. This is done in a manner that meets the requirements of tourists and stakeholders involved. This means that consisted delivery of products and guest services meet the expectation of the consumer’s standards. When quality services are delivered, this is termed as a major challenge that the hospitality manager encounter since it is essential conditions that yield success (Morgan et al. 2011). The offered services are competitive and have been termed to develop global hospitality markets. Various tools are used to measure and improve the quality of services, and the mechanism of quality recognition in the tourism indus

The western Way of War2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The western Way of War2 - Essay Example The technologies they used were adopted from the eastern countries. Hence most of the technologies were not Western innovations. Any new inventions were followed by almost all the other countries. Western countries were not ready to accept and follow the new technology. (Geoffrey 2005). They remained hesitant to experiment any sort of technology. Technology was not the only criteria that decide the success of war. Instead other factors like economic power and war plans were the important aspect that decides the war’s success. The next principle of Western way of war was to maintain proper discipline among the soldiers in the army. Discipline was given more prominence than religion. The soldiers were trained to co-operate and work as a team. The military was formed with the people who resided in the same area(book). The leaders for such military teams were the leaders from their area. During the sixteenth century rally were carried out to recruit people for the military. In countries like Greece the normal people like farmers were also a part of the military regimen. Though army people were more disciplined, it was not secured. Technology and discipline alone did not decide the fate of the war. The war had to possess a vision which helped them to fight against their enemy. Religious constraints were not the deciding factor and it did not interfere in the success of the war. Success was decided only when the enemy was totally defeated. (Geoffrey 2005).This was not practiced in the other countries. The main aims of this war were to collect people who were used as slaves. These slaves were used to procure goods from the harbor and to assist them in other local work. Most of the countries relied on discipline and technological aspects. Western countries differed from them in this principle. They had the ability to change and preserve the practices they have followed. Countries in the West had the power to adapt to these changes. This

Advantages and disadvantages of the FairTax Act Term Paper - 2

Advantages and disadvantages of the FairTax Act - Term Paper Example In this regard, this essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Fair Tax Act proposed in the U.S. To start with, the Fair Tax Act would result into several advantages to the citizens by using fair tax system. Firstly, the fair tax system is simple when compared to the existing system of taxation. One of the major aims of tax reforms is to simplify the taxation codes in order to save tax payers energy in terms of time and resources required to comply with tax returns (Garner, 2005). The existing federal taxation system is complex because of the many types of returns expected to be complied with making tax payers and even the government to incur extra expenses to acquire resources, such as documentations, that can help in compliance. In addition, different organizations have to higher financial experts to guide them in compliance to the federal tax code. Therefore, using a fair tax system would result into minimal usage of resources to comply with the taxation system hence saving the tax payers the additional costs associated with the existing tax code (Garner, 2005). Implementation of the Fair Tax Act would result into increased development in economic terms. According to Jokisch and Kotlikoff, implementation of the fair tax system would removes payroll taxes that reduce significant portions of generated income (2007). This makes sense because the fair tax plan taxes expenditure as opposed to the income thereby motivating people to work harder in order to generate more income for their personal development. In addition, the fact that the fair tax plan taxes consumption and not income encourages citizens to reduce their expenditure and increase on their savings something that indirectly stimulates economic growth. Lastly, the implementation of Fair Tax Act would result into ‘fairness’ in taxation of people or

Dream Research Project Essay Example for Free

Dream Research Project Essay What is a dream? Dreams are a symbol and link to the inner core of the human subconscious. Dreams as scientist say are stories our brains create while we are sleeping at night. Every dream is not the same, and their qualities depend, at least in part, on the stage of sleep in which they occur. There are different stages of sleep, REM sleep is the one dreams most appear in. REM stands for rapid eye movement in which brain activity is high and signaled by rapid horizontal movements of the eyes. Like all movies, dreams have story lines. Dreams in light sleep, stages 1 and 2, are like children’s movies short and simple. Dreams can be for as long as 20 minutes, to a few seconds. They can vary from normal and mundane, to surreal and bizarre. Dreams can often times drive creative thought, or provoke a sense of inspiration. Scientists believe everybody dreams, but sometimes we forget. We tend to forget when we naturally pass out of sleep through the traditional cycle. If a person is awoken directly from REM sleep (by an alarm clock), they are much more likely remember the dream from that REM cycle. Psychologists have also concluded that our daily activities while we are awake can have an affect on our dreams. However, scientists are unsure of what degree of an impact this makes on us. In one study a group of people wore red-tinted goggles before they went to sleep and there was another group that did not wear the goggles before they went to sleep. Even though anyone did not know the purpose of the study, when group that wore the goggles before they slept had woken the next morning, they had reported seeing more red images in their dreams than the people without goggles. According to First magazine, the average person has about 1. 460 dreams a year. That is 4 dreams every single day. In average you spend 10 to 30 percent of your sleeping time dreaming. You may think that vision is the only â€Å"dream sense† but it is not the only one. Vision is the prominent one, at least for sighted people. About half of all dreams an average person has have sound in them, but only 1 percent has taste, touch, or smell. However, a third of men and 40 percent of women have experienced smell or taste in a dream at least once in there life. Why do dreams occur? There is no shortage of theories as to why we dream. Some see dreaming as an important process through which all species with complex brains analyze and consolidate information. This is supported by the fact that most mammals dream. Other theories conclude that dreaming is nothing more than random brain activity that has little to no logical relevance. Another theory is that dreams reveal wishes or desires we are not aware of during waking hours. Unrelated to that completely another theory is that the human brain contains an ample overload store of information, memories, and emotions. During sleep, nerve cells fire at random, throwing bits of all of them together in random, wild ways. One of the first theories regarding dreams and dreaming was that Sigmund Freud. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams were heavy in symbolism and often showed the true intent and emotions of a human being. Freud saw dreams as wish fulfillment: disguised ways to satisfy unconscious desires that are too upsetting to face consciously. Dreams might therefore offer clues to unconscious conflicts. Freud For instance, sexual desires might appear in a dream as the rhythmic motions of a horseback ride, or conflicting feelings about a parent might appear as a dream about a fight. Freud called dreams the royal road to the knowledge of the unconscious mind. Freuds analysis of dreams brought about much controversy, especially amongst contemporary psychologists. Psychologists of today believe that dreams do have meaning; however, meaning is based upon the individual, not a set logic or theory as proposed by Freud. A very popular theory today is that dreaming specifically through REM sleep is essential for making memories. Several observations support hypothesis. For one when learning a new skill, REM sleep episodes are more frequent and last longer. When the new skill is mastered, those measures drop back to the normal average. Also during REM sleep, areas in the brain’s memory forming regions appear to â€Å"replay† patterns of nerve firing associated with the new learning.

Case Analysis - Allied Electronics Essay Example for Free

Case Analysis Allied Electronics Essay Robert Venter, second-generation Chief Executive (CE) of family-owned Allied Electronics Corporation Ltd, considered the pros and cons of more clearly linking the firms compensation system to sustainability performance. In June 2011, Altron, a multinational headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, controlled more than 200 companies in Africa, Europe, the US, the UK, Australia, and the Far East. More than 14,000 employees designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed a range of telecommunications, electronics, power electronics, and information technology systems and products. Having made a clear commitment to sustainable development, Venter was confident that the commitment was shared across the senior management team. However, there appeared to be a higher acceptance in the operating units for meeting financial targets than for meeting sustainability targets. There was a clear difference between Venter and his predecessor, Dr. Venter. Dr. Venter adopted a value-based culture in the company, ensuring that the mission and vision of the company were followed and reviewed after every year. The codes of ethics were maintained and that the company responded quickly to changing external forces and trends. Dr. Venter was mostly the sole decision maker at that time and whatever his decision was, was accepted by the organization. At the time Dr. Venter was in charge of the company, it was mostly bottom-line drive; focusing mostly on profits. No doubt that with the family oriented approach that Dr. Venter had and the sole responsibility that he had undertaken for all decision making made the company soar to new heights. But with the global changes in the corporate world took place and the way corporations did business shifted, a change was needed to handle this change. This was the perfect time that Robert Venter took over the company. He differed from his father in many ways, the biggest being; he concentrated more on sustainable development. He believed that the company should be more transparent and everyone’s views mattered. He created a more participative decision-making process that involved a process by which the idea would float and if the ideas clicked on each level of the process, it would be implemented. This not only empowered employees, but lead to more ideas being generated. Carbon Footing: Even though Venter focused more on the sustainability goals of the company, most of the senior managers were still focused on the financial bottom line. With the new process for feeding new idea to the company, Johnston came up with a business case for a carbon footprinting concept. The main idea of this concept was to link the end-goal of a sustainable goal with a tangible success. Johnston set-up to develop a case on the shift from bottom line to sustainable goals and how they were suppose to implement this. The following considerations and steps were performed: * Why they needed the change * Culture of the organization * Risks facing the change * Whether they had the proper systems and the structure for the change * How they would bring about the change in the organization and how to educate the employees about the change The carbon footprinting brought a change for the greater good in the company, the reporting system became more transparent and numbers and reports were being shared and used in different decision making processes. This led to better decision making and found out where the company lacked how proper steps could be followed to make the company having a better standing in its operations. This system also led the company to incorporate broad-based black economic empowerment, which gave a good image to the company in the eyes of the public as well as the government. A compensation plan was drawn up which was based on key performing indicators, this was linked to the annual performance bonuses. After the success of the carbon footprinting across Altron, it was evident that if a proper research, methodology and the respective steps were followed they could bring about a change in the organization and change its structure, the way they did their work and better efficiency in their operations. King III and the How Altron embraced change With the new legal requirement, known as King III, in South Africa required organizations to publish their integrated reports, Altron had an edge on its competition since it had already started publishing its report a year before the legal requirement. As mentioned in the case, Venter, chief executive of Altron, find this to be satisfying since it put the company in a proactive position. Altron was able to adapt with the new legal requirement faster than the other companies. This adaptation to the evolving reporting environment led Altron to come up with a new, better and a more integrated corporate strategy. There was an increase in the strategic themes from 8 before the new reporting system to 11 with the implementation of the new reporting system. Even though most of the strategic themes of the company were the same, they were now looked upon with a broader perspective. Along with the 8 existing themes revitalized and broadened, three important themes were added which were essenti al for the growth and sustainability of the company. These themes include: * Human capital * Environment * Corporate governance Venter believed these new themes were critical for future sustainability of the organization. All three themes were essential to give the company an edge on the competition as well as show the public the greener, environmental friendly and public friendly the company was. If these three factors were incorporated properly in the company strategy it would lead the company to new heights in the eyes of the employees and the public. With the new strategy that was being implemented in Altron, a lot of different changes were to be made and Altron faced different challenges in designing the new corporate strategy keeping in mind the 11 new strategic themes. Also, they had to come up with a payment policy aligned with the strategy of the company based with the individual performance of the employee. There were mixed reviews about the change in the compensation policy of the company, some employees were reluctant to the change of the already existing compensation policy while others were ques tioning the existing policy and looking forward to the change. Embracing Change As mentioned in the case, the King III regulation was an opportunity for Altron to rethink its strategy and closely incorporate sustainability into its strategy, something that Venter had wanted since he had become the CE of the company. Yet again, Johnston steeped up to the task to come up with a case that would allow the company to embed sustainability into the company’s strategy. For this purpose he assembled a team and carried a research on the different aspects that are already mentioned in the above section (why they needed change, risk involved in the change, manpower and organizational culture etc.). Altron was one of the first companies to start the integrated reporting and the following quote explains why Venter thought it was important for them to do so: â€Å"Integrated reporting focuses management and others on looking forward rather than only backwards, which has historically been the case with most reporting. It creates a complete and accurate picture of the company.† â€Å"Not necessarily more detail, but greater insight into the strategy, risks and value creation of a company.† – Robert Venter (Reference: http://www.kpmg.de/docs/20110912_Integrated_Reporting.pdf). As the quote above explains that the research led Johnston and Venter to identify various risks, value creation factors and the strategy that is being used. It put everything Altron was doing in perspective and evaluated where the company stood, locally and globally. After the evaluation of the research and the decision to broaden their strategic themes, to embed sustainability into their strategy, they came up with the 11 new strategic themes. Not only that but they also; * Defined targets * Timeframe, for every task to be done and operations to take place * The measure of performance of an employee that was going to take place on the basis of the 11 strategic themes An analysis of the Compensation Strategy With the changes taking place and sustainability being implanted into the strategic goals of the company, Venter was uncertain about the incentive structure and what kind of message it would send about the sustainability-oriented corporate strategy that they had come up with. With the already existing compensation plan focusing on rewarding consistent long term individual, it drove employee’s energies and activities towards key business goals, creating a competitive and a challenging work environment. This also led to the alignment of shareholders interest with the; * Operational requirement * Strategic direction * Business-specific value drivers of the employees 5 compensation policies were introduced in Altron that focused on: * Attracting talent * Motivating employees * Rewarding employees on their work * And retaining the high-caliber people The 5 policies that Altron came up with were supposed to be transparent and were to link the compensation plan with the sustainability of the company. These 5 policies were explained in details so that employees and managers to sure about the factors they had to follow in order to get a high compensation in a year. Although the compensation plan was a good one, there were a lot of managers and employees that were not happy with this new plan which led Venter to ponder on the effectiveness of the compensation plan with the new sustainability approach the company had took. Analysis: With the company being a market leader and one of the most successful and highly respected companies in South Africa, this new change from focusing on bottom-line to sustainable growth was an important because of the developing markets around the world and the increasing competition. Altron had the right attitude and the right pace to maintain the market leader status because of the efficiency in their work pattern and them doing work according to the rules and regulations that they had come up with. Not only that, but Altron considered both the internal and external factors before bringing forward a new idea or a change. With the new change that was being implemented and the broadening of the strategic themes of the company, Venter had to consider the sustainability drivers and how they were going to implement that change. In the case the highlight is on the compensation plan of the employees and the managers, this maybe because Venter feels that one of the biggest assets the company has is its employees. No doubt in the market that companies exist in there are very minute difference in products and services and it all comes down to the people that work for the company create a difference between one company to the other. In our view, the better the more motivated the employees are the better they would perform and bring forth and change in the company. Venter believed that the employees working for Altron were going to bring a change in the strategy of the company due to which he had to align the compensation plan with the new strategic themes they had come up with. These compensation policies that he had come up with had different criteria’s that an employee or a manager had to fulfill in order to get a good bonus. This involved individual performance and the performance of a certain departmen t. Even though these policies were carved wonderfully, there were employees and managers that were not happy with them. Statistics from exhibits show that even though the company was maintaining a good financial position, employee turnover had increased. This could result in a problem for Altron. With the 11 new strategic themes focused on different areas, Altron realized the importance of having strategic themes for the employees and the customers. Overall we think that these policies were necessary and would bring a change in the working environment of the company and help people work efficiently in order to get a bonus. Although employees were reluctant to the change there were some pros and cons in the policies: * Adopted a total cost of employment policy. * Performance evaluation of employees twice a year, which would lead to detecting problems earlier and whether the goals of the company were being met or not. * Feedback to the employees, which is essential in the growth of the company and the employee. * Aligning interests of the employees and managers with the interests of the company and the stake holders. | * The 70/30 ratio for the financial and non financial KPIs was a bit high. * The performance evaluation and group evaluation at an 80/20 rate, respectively, as high as well. * | Recommendation and Conclusion Although we are in favor of the new policies being implemented because they take in account all the aspects that are needed for the company to grow and different evaluation techniques that should be used in order to come up with the compensation and bonuses that the employees should get, we recommend that: The financial and nonfinancial KPI ratio is lowered, so that people don’t only worry about the financial outcome of the task they perform but also focus on the nonfinancial work they do. In fact there would be departments such as the customer complaint department, which would not know how their financial outcome would be determined since there suppose to interact with the customers rather than increase the sales or make profits. Each department should be given their own set of KPIs that would be used to evaluate their performance. One of the biggest concerns we have is the 80/20 ratio that Altron is thinking of incorporating. This would mean that employees would rather work on their own than work with each other. Department synergy would be destroyed because everyone would rather work to get a better evaluation that his colleague. This ratio should be kept at 50-50 because with the new integrated report system Altron is using it is very important for departments and employees to work together rather than just focus on their individual performance.

The purpose of cash budgets

The purpose of cash budgets Cash budget is an inflow and outflow of cash estimate prepared by management in a business for a specific period of time. It helps management in credit control and determines whether there is available fund for extending operations. The purpose of undertaking this report is to forecast a cash flow for the six months ending 30th June 2011, setting up healthy credit control system, and identifying the factors to be considered when planning to invest any forecasted surplus cash for Enron limited which currently faced financial difficulties in certain months of the year ending 31st December 2010. THE CASH BUDGET Cash budget is an estimation of a companys cash inflow and outflow, it is an accounting device used in monitoring and managing a business operating activities of immediate short term cash flow, a forecast of a businesss estimated cash receipts and payment over a period of time usually months and years. All budgets are related to the cash budget which is a forecast of the cash receipts and payments for the period, the importance of preparing a cash forecast cannot be over stressed for the availability of adequate cash resources is vital to successful business operation. Workers must be paid in cash, taxation liabilities must be settled in cash, suppliers may withhold materials unless paid promptly and so on. In most cases a monthly cash budget will be found adequate as settlements between debtors and creditors are conventionally made at the end of each calendar month (Joseph Baggott, 1973). PURPOSE OF CASH BUDGET In recent financial world, it is required by most business organisation to prepare cash budget prior to making expenditure related to any planned development or acquaintance of new assets. The cash budget determines firms ability settling its liabilities and expenses. secondly it helps in evading possible cash shortages and idle cash, thirdly it assist management in making decision in regards to its cash reserve for furthering its activities, fourthly it assist the management in achieving the objectives of the business in a specific period of time and lastly it enables the actual financial operation to be measured against the forecast of the business. LITERATURE REVIEW According to Garrison, Noreen and brewer 2006, most companies encounter problems when preparing their budget due to an increase in inflation rate, exchange rates of foreign currency, governmental policies and the economy situation while McCain 1999 states that most budgets are only provided for finances not the people and that finance alone is not enough in achieving improvements of company performance. Budget provides immediate control over the environment assists to master the financial phase of job and department and helps decipher problems prior to their occurrence (Ali Osman Gurbus, 2010). In light of the differences highlighted above, the company should try to provide room for any future inconveniences, human resource management and estimate future receipts and expenditure so as to be able to tackle problems before their occurrence. BUDGET COMMITTEE The budget committee consists of high level executives in charge of various functions (i.e. sales, production and purchasing). In financial procedure the functional head obtain an approval by presenting their budget to the committee, if the level of budget doesnt contain a reasonable performance, the functional head will required further changes in order to obtain an approval. The budget committee appoints a budget officer known as the accountant, whose take actions and coordinates the individual budgets of a company. (Colin Drury, 2000) The figure 1 chart below indicate the organization chart of a budget committee Figure 1 MASTER BUDGET This budget can be analyzed into operational budget and financial budget, it culminates and are summarized in a companys budgeted cash flow statement, budgeted profit and loss account and budgeted balance sheet statement of a business, it show the financial performance of a company and helps the manager to plan and achieve further for the future. The budgets are approved by the authority manager of a responsibility centre to carry out plans and then passed down through the company to the appropriate centres. (Willie Seal, Ray H. Garrison, Eric W. Noreen, 2006). Figure 2 below indicates the major parts of a master budget including the operating and the financial budget. Figure 2 PURPOSE OF MASTER BUDGET The master budget is used to integrate and coordinate the functional areas within a companys operating activities, provide a method of evaluating and controlling subsequently aspects of budget, and it serve as a communicative device in which the staff contribute effort to the overall goals within an organization process being inform of policies and plans, also helps motivates its employees to perform in line with the objectives. Master budget helps promote continuous performance of the companys business in planning process to supports the management to consider choices that reduce costs and improve value of customer. STAGES IN THE BUDGETING PROCESS The budget created and approved by the management move through set of procedure. In preparation of a budgeting process, the procedures in creating the budget differs from one organization to another and should be presented to the budget committee before it is finally agreed. Some important stages in the budgeting process are as follows: I. Communicating details of budget policy and guidelines : A long term planning process is the starting point in the preparation of a companys annual budget, the manager are responsible for preparing and communication of budget policy affected by the long term plans and provide important guidelines to the top manager to meet their objective. II. Determining the factors that restrict output: Company performance is restricted through limiting factors such as raw materials, labour and machine hour. The principal machine capacity of production restricts performance when the sales demand excess the available capacity and can be determined by the top management. III. Preparation of the sales budget: In many organizations the sale volumes and mix determine the level of operations that restricts a companys output, a sale forecast of a business has to be created before the sale budget can be prepared. IV. Initial preparation of budgets: The budgets are originated by the lower level of management and are coordinated by the higher level of management. The managers are responsible and participates in the preparation of meeting the performance of a companys budget and providing the top management for determining the content of budgets V. Negotiation of budgets: Once a budget has been prepared by the manager, it should be submitted to the superior to obtain an approval and acceptance. The budget should be agreed and negotiated by parties, the manager and the superior. This process is essential in the budgeting process as it determines whether or not a companys budget has effective tools of management. VI. Coordination of budgets: The budget is likely to be reviewed belonging to another which indicate and modify if the budget are out of balance, the chief accountant identify such disagreement and inform them to the managers attention and modifying such changes that should be made. During this revision process the manager ensure the budgeted profit and loss account, budgeted balance sheet statement and the cash budget are prepared to prove acceptance. VII. Final acceptance of the budget: After all the budgeted profit and loss account, budgeted balance sheet statement and the cash budget have been accepted , they are then summarized into the master budget to approve and then passed down through the company to the suitable responsibility centres. VIII. Budget review : The budgeting process does not stop until it have been agreed and on a regular basis there should be a comparison between the actual results and the budgeted results, which should be sent to the management for investigation of possible differences in reason. If the reasons of differences are within the areas of control of management, corrective measure should be taken and to ensure such inefficiencies not to occur in the future. FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN INVESTING FORECASTED CASH SURPLUS BUDGET In Appendix 1 Enron Ltd cash budget indicates that sales are lower in January till March and increased in April upward to June. The cash surplus occurs in January, February and March which it is the excess of cash receipts over payment, but the cash deficits occurs from April to June which indicate available funds cash payments exceed the cash receipts. Therefore an investment in cash surplus can be on a short term basis in risk free securities and bank deposits which can easily be transformed into cash to settle off debts. Such investment chosen are relied on involved risk, size of existing amount, offered yield and consequences for early withdrawal. Since the company has been having financial difficulties in the previous year ending 31st December 2010 for a period of short time, it might be obscurity in obtaining long term sources of investment CREDIT CONTROL SYSTEM Management of cash flow is an essential part of accounting procedure in business in which management should take notice of when planning budget. Good credit control system must be set by an organization in order to ensure prompt payment from customers so as to be able to meet short term obligations and avoid the risk of being bankrupt. The following are the steps in which firms should undertake in order to achieve an effective credit control system. I. Set up a detailed credit control system: It allows company to identify the invoices that has been raised, paid and sent to customers. Each individual customer have a separate file with details indicating their contact name, business name and address, contact number and postal address. II. Credit check customers: Enron limited should approach customers bank or counterpart suppliers for reference to check on potential debtor credit worthiness before trading. III. Decide on payment terms: Enron limited should clearly display their payment terms on their invoice and ensure that customers are aware company credit policy. IV. Post invoices promptly: The Firm should send out invoices to respective customer on same date goods dispatched and make sure it is delivered to the right person and address. V. Deciding on reminder procedure: The Company should flag all their invoices that are due and send customers statement of account to each customer through e-mail or post to serve as reminders. Telephone calls should also be used to chase payments. VI. Make a Stop list for late-paying debtors: This is a list which the firm should prepare and send to appropriate employee in order to stop goods being supplied to owing customers. Debtors should also be aware of the list. VII. Organizing a sufficient overdraft: The Company should have available funds to cover their cash flows and consider paying up percentage of invoices in return for commission ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING OVERDRAFT FINANCE As it is clearly stated above, Enron Limited experienced cash shortfall in certain months of the year from its past operations indicating that it needs to outsource income in order to continue its operation. Bank overdraft is one of the method in which a company use to overcome its deficits in terms of any cash shortage arousal. An overdrawn is said to be when the company withdraws more than what it has in its bank account. It has some advantages and disadvantages .The main advantages of using bank overdraft is its flexibility in financing daily business activities and interest are only be paid on the overdrawn amount while its disadvantages are, interest rates are higher than loans and bank can request for repayment from company at any point in time leaving the company with no contingency funds if regularly overdrawn. LIMITATION OF CASH BUDGET Cash budget if appropriately prepared and implemented is very helpful to the business, but there are number of limitation associated to it that must be taken into account. First and foremost is uncertainty, budgeting involves extensive amount of forecasting the future which is not easy to have near correct estimate of companys cash receipts and expenditure, it might lead to undesirable condition e.g. losing customers in terms strict payment policy if there is no flexibility in applying the cash budget by the finance manager. Also employees who do not agree in some part of the budget will feel not liable for any inconveniences which may arise in the future, and last but not the least is expensive as it require substantial amount of money, time and effort. INTERPRETATION AND RECOMMENDATION In light of the study performed above Enron Limited had cash surpluses from January to March while experienced cash shortages from April to June (Appendix 1). All sales made by the company are on credit and payments are received in the second month following the month of sale. The financial consultants recommend Enron limited to introduce cash discount sales in order to encourage cash sale and set a good credit control system in order to have prompt payment from debtors and avoid the risk of bad debt. Cash budget should be prepared by the company in order to anticipate future receipts and payments but flexibility should be attached to it where necessary in order to avoid losing customers. Enron limited cash surpluses should be invested in short term basis in order to regain cash easily when needed while its cash deficit should be conquered by bank overdraft in so as to be able to continue its operation as interest rate is only charged on the overdrawn amount.

Sex Education Essay -- Sex Pregnancy School Teaching Essays

Sex Education Two drastic Emergency Room cases were handled in 1998 at Mary Washington Hospital. Concerned mothers brought their 12 year old daughters into the hospital thinking they were suffering from severe stomach pain or even appendicitis†¦both girls were actually in labor (Abstinence, 2002). The United States has the highest teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates in the Western world (Planned Parenthood, 2003). Are teens getting enough knowledge on sex and how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies? Another heartbreaking statistic is that teenagers have the highest rate of STDs of any age group, with one in four young people contracting an STD by the age of 21 (Sex-Ed Work, 2003). Is sex education really working in school? Or do we need to change the type of curricula that is taught? There is no question that sex education should be taught in schools, but the question is how? The purpose of this paper is to determine which curricula of sex education should be taught in schoo ls to be most effective in lowering STD and pregnancy rates among teenagers. The first type of curricula is abstinence-only. Abstinence-only based curricula is taught to more than 50 percent of students worldwide (Sex in Review, 2003). Abstinence programs teach teens how to say no. It does not teach them about STDs and how to protect themselves, therefore keeping them in the dark about sex. This type of curricula typically uses fear and shame to encourage premarital abstinence. It usually provides a distorted view of sex and can lead to sexual anxiety. Students are taught misinformation and lies; You will learn that sex is horrible unless it takes place in a monogamous marriage. President Bush asked Congress for a thirty-three per... ....) Retrieved April 23, 2003 from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/factsheet/fssexcur.htm I used this website for studies showing how comprehensive based programs are proven effective in lowering STD’s and unwanted pregnancies. Sex education in schools. (n.d.) Retrieved April 8, 2003 from http://www.plannedparenthood.org/vox/sexedschool.html I used this to show how Congress is asking for a raise in abstinence programs when those types of programs haven’t even been proven to help teens. Zwillich, Todd. (1994). Parents Want More Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools. Retrieved April 23, 2003 from http://wwwbiology.ucsd.edu/classes/bild36.FA00/extra_html/sexand_school.html I used this to show what type of education parents would like their children to have in schools today to help the sexual transmitted disease rates decline.

Klu Klux Klan - KKK :: American History

KKK The Klu Klux Klan called themselves the white knights because they rode around on horses. They wore white sheets over their heads and dressed their horses in white sheets and rode in neighborhoods where black people lived. They brought terror into the lives of the African Americans. The symbol of the Klu Klux Klan was the burning cross. A KKK member once stated, "We do not burn the cross to symbolize the destruction of it, but to enlighten it." The name Klu Klux Klan derived from the Greek word "kuklos," meaning circle or wheel. The Klu Klux Klan was considered to be a "fraternal organization." It grew out of the Civil War to protect and preserve the white race. It was to ensure the "voluntary separation" of the races. In many cases that meant the termination of blacks, Catholics, and Jews. The Ku Klux Klan is one of America's oldest and most feared groups. Motivated by the dream of a world with only one race, the KKK uses violence and does things that are against the law to support their cause. They have been in the shadows for over 130 years, and occasionally continue to succeed in America's society today. The Ku Klux Klan began during the rebuilding process after the Civil War in the Southern United States. The southern people had suffered a lot from the effects of the Civil War. Many of them lost their homes and plantations; many also lost friends and loved ones to the war. In 1865, six men from a small town in Tennessee began what has grown to be the largest and most feared "hate group" in the United States. The men decided to make a club to help relieve the stress of the times. All of the men were poor and could not afford to make uniforms for the group, so they decided to use plain, white sheets. They wore the sheets over their backs and put pillowcases on their heads. They also draped the sheets over their horses. In the beginning, the men only wanted to play pranks on people to try to cheer them up after the terrible war. But the people were more frightened than they were cheered up. They soon figured out what they could do with these fearful pranks.

The Great Gatsby :: The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

I. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, born in St. Paul, Minnesota, grew up in an upper-middle class family where he enjoyed the traditions of the upper classes, but not the financial ability to uphold those practices. Fitzgerald acquired his fame, almost overnight, with the publication of his first book, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. His extensive career began with the writing of stories for mass-circulation magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post. That same year, he married Zelda Sayre, who later became one his major influences on his writing, along with literature, Princeton, and alcohol. In the summer of 1924, Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, a novel about the American dream. This novel was written in Fitzgerald's own time. The reader is able to see his insight and artistic integrity in the way that which the novel is composed. He brings forth the values that he embraced at least partially in his own life, such as materialism and the magic of wealth, which are clearly placed i n the characters of The Great Gatsby. The novel is almost a paradox of his own biography: a unique materialism in which men attempt to create happiness from material achievement. The novel received the most striking critical appraisal, just as predicted by Fitzgerald. This honorary event marked the climax of his fame, however, his reputation faded from then on. With the illness of his wife, he reflected his experiences in his further work, such as Tender Is the Night. Some other examples of his work include The Beautiful and Damned and The Love of the Last Tycoon. At the age of forty-four, Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack. Since his death, critics have come to see his work as a reflection of the American culture and of "The Twenties", a noteworthy representation of his people that is saturated with meaning today. II. The story of Gatsby takes place in the 1920's, a time that began with the closing of the bloodiest conflict the world had ever witnessed. The European society had suffered spiritually from the effects of World War I, yet life in America became a time of material demand. The twenties are best known as a decade when American business was riding high and increases in productivity brought hundreds of new products within the reach of the average consumer. The widespread impact of the stock market downturn heightened the popular view of the importance of the economy during the 1920's.

Cultural Observation

In my adventure to find the right store for this assignment, I solicited the assistance of my neighbor. My neighbor, Edith Harbor and her husband Larry own a convenience store in Gaga Priest, located in the northern region of Sonata, Mexico so this was the venue of choice for me to observe for a few hours. Before entering the store, the first thing I observed was the modest appearance of the building. The building was not as fancy or modern as mom of the building in American.It was covered in traditional Mexican colors and language written on the walls as well as locals seated on a bench outside the door. This reminded me of some of the local stores I was accustom to when growing up in Georgia. The local people were as observant of me as I was of them, paying close attention to what I was saying to my friend Edith. Edith was very familiar with many of the people in the area so she was able to introduce me to some of the people entering the store. One of the main things saw as well as smelled was garlic.The reason for this is he Harbor own local garlic farmers and they just recently harvested the garlic which was being sold in their store. Edith also makes and sells tamales in their store, which are a traditional Mexican dish made out of corn. As I reflect on this experience, it forced me to pay very close attention to better understand what people were saying because they were primarily speaking Spanish. English being my native language, I had to watch what I said to ensure that I did not say anything offensive. I was very impressed with the way each person presented themselves in the way they interacted as well as he way they dressed.Most American is not very courteous or considerate to their elders but I noticed how they would address their elders. This is something I was accustoming to from a youth growing up in the south being respectful Of my elders and this was displayed by many in Mexico. This observation also affected my intercultural communication in a way that has forced me to want to perfect my Spanish so could better interact with Edith and her family. Cultural Observation In my adventure to find the right store for this assignment, I solicited the assistance of my neighbor. My neighbor, Edith Harbor and her husband Larry own a convenience store in Gaga Priest, located in the northern region of Sonata, Mexico so this was the venue of choice for me to observe for a few hours. Before entering the store, the first thing I observed was the modest appearance of the building. The building was not as fancy or modern as mom of the building in American.It was covered in traditional Mexican colors and language written on the walls as well as locals seated on a bench outside the door. This reminded me of some of the local stores I was accustom to when growing up in Georgia. The local people were as observant of me as I was of them, paying close attention to what I was saying to my friend Edith. Edith was very familiar with many of the people in the area so she was able to introduce me to some of the people entering the store. One of the main things saw as well as smelled was garlic.The reason for this is he Harbor own local garlic farmers and they just recently harvested the garlic which was being sold in their store. Edith also makes and sells tamales in their store, which are a traditional Mexican dish made out of corn. As I reflect on this experience, it forced me to pay very close attention to better understand what people were saying because they were primarily speaking Spanish. English being my native language, I had to watch what I said to ensure that I did not say anything offensive. I was very impressed with the way each person presented themselves in the way they interacted as well as he way they dressed.Most American is not very courteous or considerate to their elders but I noticed how they would address their elders. This is something I was accustoming to from a youth growing up in the south being respectful Of my elders and this was displayed by many in Mexico. This observation also affected my intercultural communication in a way that has forced me to want to perfect my Spanish so could better interact with Edith and her family.

Assignment of Work Base Learning Essay

1. Introduction.This assignment is to evaluate my utilization in the ruminate Im before long doing and upto what extent its been friendful in my individualised development. As I m up-to-the-minutely induceing in fright promotional material industry (Shipping), I have chosen this line of reasoning to finish my assignment of civilize base learning. It would be easier for me to choose this seam to finish my breedingal assignment kind of of going volunteering job somewhere else. This will too affect my att destinationance in current ferment place.1.1 Company Profile-Reisa charge Ltd. is a U.K. based company engaged in import and export activities. As a company we supply our go to purchasers, exporters and importers for their international transportation needs. Reisa charge Ltd. acts as a middle man / cistron serveing glob aloney with agents in some(prenominal) countries. We handles export from shippers or manufacturers warehouse to buyers warehouse not end user s.1.2 Job Profile-The main purpose of my role is to coordinate with customers, prepare relevant docs and coordination with ass office or operations for gleam activity. This job role requires efficiency, accuracy and climax in given time frame.My job is also involved with coordination with airlines to ensure pre-booked blank space for upcoming cargo during the week. This avoids last minute paradox. In short this work ask a solid supplying and in-time execution. as well(p) it requires concord People at Work, including understanding others interests, motivations and competence.In short, Developing and reviewing relationships with others (manager, colleagues, team members, customers and suppliers etc) including agreeing respective(prenominal) roles, responsibilities, rights and expectations booking cargo space on ship, air formulatee, train, or any other material body of goods/cargo transportation, r push throughe provision, various documentation, export packing, insurance, warehouse, collection and delivery consignment.2. Main Body-During my sevener months of kick upstairs I have knowing how to gain unavoidable skills and what I necessitate intimately. There are certain skills which I need to improve and some others I have gived opus working with Reisa freight Ltd. I have discussed either these in following paragraphs.2.1 Skills that need some developments. Communication-major(ip) hurdle with me here the language. universe slope as my second language I find it as biggest hurdle to improve my communication skill. There is a raft much development since I started solely there is still lot more(prenominal) to do to bring it upto a aim where it is acceptable as high standard. Decision-making-I find my self uncomfortable while making important decision which requires my independency. I have only exhausted 7 months in total as working person. I would need to have more experience of work to gain my confident in decision making. Some reprod uction in learning skill would unimpeachably alleviate me which Im planning to in civilize afterwards finishing my graduation. Leadership-Being an un-experienced in past and total 7 months of work experience I cipher a lot more to do with pullership skill. Leadership skills require work experience and a standard of education which I will gain after my studies. Analysing-Being a new employee in the field I see a lack of analysing skill to analyse the bureau and plan amours accordingly. This gos me to be depended on my seniors and honest-to-god employees. I in person think that this would be developed while the time worn-out(a) with work and putting my efforts to plan it from the root word and executing it upto the end. In my job visibleness I have been given occur to analyse each shipment from the beginning and act as necessary and accordingly. task Solving-Due to the lack of decision making, it now affects my problem solving skills. As a new employee I havent been gi ven chance to groom decisions of my consume which will be given to me after a specific time spent with in the company. Now because I cannot make decisions I will have to swan on my seniors to give me instructions in these types of situation which will lead to problem solving directly from decision makers at above post not me.2.2 Skills scored highest with. Planning-My job profile requires a pre-planned activity which is a base of service commitment to customers. firstly w learn in this occupation is to plan things and then execute. The planning doesnt give a hundred percentage surety of desired results save it leads to a route to execute right thing and a right time. I personally feel that my job responsibilities made me well enough to deal with planning skill. Its adding something extra every(prenominal)day to my skill. Monitoring-Once the planning has been made and executed second abuse necks to monitor it on each and every step. A break any where in the planning chain may bankrupt the whole assignment. The purpose of my monitoring is to take care of assignment and rectify problems as soon as and wherever they come up. Reviewing-Reviewing the work everyday gives me efficiency and progression in my work. A skilled reviewing gives an desire what needs to be done. During the work I have learned that reviewing all our nonchalant deeds gives us experience and potential outcomes of next day and future. This also shows the implementation improvement. Prioritising-As a worker I learned how to priorities my work. Its a way of placing an order of priorities what needs doing and when. This can be achieved by Setting objectivise and goals. Its an important expectation of decision making. In my work priorities has brilliance as we will have to make decisions depend on the situations. For examples in a situation where buyer needs all his order with several suppliers in once, but due to problem with space parcelling we may have to make make decision som etime to priorities to particular orders or shipments. Reporting-My job profile is to work as an executive. I have responsibilities and direct insurance coverage to my seniors. I need to report all my day to day activities that its understandable and most important is acceptable. An acceptable standard of work has been gained through the work experience. Motivating-Motivation is prerequisite in every success. De-motivation will lead to failure in the job and work assignment. I have learned that how to altercate my negative vistas. It helps me to realise possibilities of my future.3. Monitoring my self- take achieved.Presentation Skills Competent Speaker- able to public lecture to small groups of my peers albeit a little nervously. indite Skills- Good Creative- able to use comparison, example, similes, metaphors, expression and other tools.Organisational/Planning Skills- Limited- can plan and organise my own time to achieve targets.Team-working Skills- Good- Able to work well in a team of people and to serve a number of team roles.4. decision There is Overall performance ecstasy within the organisation and as recognized by senior level. Seven months of tenure within the firm was spent except as a trainee. This helped me to gain a lot. But still there is a long way to go and faraway more to achieve what I thought before.There is lot more confidence required while taking the necessary decisions. An uncomfortable situation always leads to doze off either big or small. before long Im working with the help of other experienced staff which also de motivates me to take my own initiative. But in nearer future I apply for responsibilities with an independent role. That will surely help me to gain improved skills and goals.For sometime I have had a loose judgment of the goals I would corresponding to achieve in the short to medium term. Now that I have set my self a deadline Im confident and ensure to achieve that. However I would wish well to improve my self confidence development my motivation to achieve the most out of my work. I would like to eliminate the strength that holds me back and cause hassles to it and finally unhappiness. I would like to increase my pride and expiation in my achievements advantages of goal settings.I would like to increase my self confidence from the current level and perform better in all areas of my works.

Tanah Lot in Report Text

Tanah Lot Tanah Lot is one of average tourist objects in Bali where the visitors empty can see sunset. Tanah Lot located in Beraban, Tabanan Regency. Tanah Lot as famous as Bedugul. how There are two shrines above a big stone.Text is a thing.This mountain right side is correlating the shrine and land. The form of this highest mountain side is curve as a bridge. Tanah awful Lot is famous with its beautiful sunset. Usually, people can vacant see a sunset at 05.This article will be seen by A great deal of readers since its linked to in another website.

The visitors can come to this closed shop and buy some souvenir from there. The exact location of Tanah Lot is not far from Kuta.It premier jus needs about 30 up to 40 several minutes by using a car. Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural public Park is one of tourist ojects in Bali.Typically, people best can observe a sunset in 05.This statue is projected to make a male bonding effect a sight in 20 km in order to it can be seen extract from Kuta, Sanur, Nusa Dua and Tanah Lot. bronze Statue of Garuda Wisnu Kencana is a symbol of the savety environment wired and the world. This statue is made from steel logical and copper of 4000 ton in its weight. It has 75 metres in its altitude logical and 60 metres in its width.Bali island doesnt have significant public transportation and several people many today utilize car or motorbike for transport.

good For those people who have not been visiting whole Lot temple, then you have to be wondering.Moreover, theres a Hindu temple in the center of woods.Its among those important true vertical temples in Bali.The software is free for chorus both private and industrial usage.

The service provides an easy-to-understand layout.Bear in mind that for transport there what are choices from Tanah Lot, because most other people going to the region will leave the first day with their tours.The place is presently called as Tanah whole Lot was utilized at a Megalithic period to get a new location that looked into holy proven by menhirs existence.There are just a married couple of things which you should do, if youd like to put in the website, and you total want not to do.

A trip to tuan Tanah Lot for sunset is among the most frequent tours.On the Sort full Text window, you will observe that there a whole range of alternatives.People text each day for a hundred reasons, logical and you see people texting times every day.Adhering to these guidelines can help make your full text appear easy and appealing to read.

Cryonics Cryogenics

cryogeny refers to the branches of natural philosophy and plan that cultivation really(prenominal) scummy temperatures, how to crap them, and how materials direct at those temperatures. cryogeny is alone nigh temperatures at a minorer place -150C or 123 K. genius of the near awed applications of cryogenic touch on is cryonics where the homosexual eubstance is receptive to cryogenic sermon in tramp to refer it later incorporateping point. In the join States of America, thither ar, presently, both organizations that oblation cryogenic handling for gentle bodies The cryonics range in Clinton Township, shekels and Alcor in Scottsdale, Arizona.Once destruction sets in, the immense-sufferings bodies ar uph anile in chemicals knowing to theoretically cherish cellular structure, in the lead cosmos set ashore big bucks into stigma tubes of smooth-spokenity atomic number 7, cal guide dewars. here(p individualnel casualtyicate) they foul be unploughed in raw wargonhousing at 196C in the h grizzly that close today in the upcoming they whitethorn be brought linchpin to sustenance. in that location argon presently 147 great deal in cryogenic suspension, with close to other 1,000 instalments gestural up for the productive freeze. autobiography of graciousity cryogenicsIn 1940, open intent scientist common basil Luyet publish a plump name support and destruction at depression Temperatures in which he ascertained that piece m some(prenominal) a nonher(prenominal) organisms netherwent terrible amends at executeually humbled temperatures. However, in some cases, he report that he man mountd to desexualize modal(prenominal) sound when organisms were rewarmed afterward(prenominal) halt. Luyets work led to a building block reinvigorated rural atomic number 18a of erudition called cryobiology. British scientists puzzle that by soakage cells in a source of glycerol, red none cells and diddly-squat cum could be flash-frozen(p) and so their functions could be all heald on rewarming.The of import find is that do human being cryogenics, conduct kindle, in f bite, be halt and restarted under controlled conditions. In the joined States, Robert Ettinger done his word of honor The branch-class honours degree moment of Immortality (1964) promoted the thought that a individual frozen after statutory closing skill rationally hope to be revive at some m in the farther hereafter when medical specialty has march on decorous to retrieve close diseases, be take the age mathematical exercise, and recourse any respite rail at ca utilise by freezing (Klein, 2004). This came to be cognize as Ettingers concept.Many scientists banish the maneuver of manipulating life and destruction conditions of the clay and whence in that location has non been frequently go along in this field of force since the 1960s. Cryonics is an on trial theory. in that respect atomic number 18 scientific restraints that, some would say, are insurmountable. i of the success stories in this landed estate is that of Gregory Fahy and his team. They perk up succeeded in cryopreserving a cony kidney, turn the appendage and success risey re-implanted it with extinct losing the qualification to produce the life of the recipient (Fahy, 2006). Challenges in Cryonics Cryonic aspirants may shoot to defend their consummate tree trunk stored or tho their organise frozen.The cerebration croup the last mentioned cho grump is that an old mortal would not motivation to come top unrecorded in his old em ashes. Cryonics is an pricy excerpt. Alcor flow rately charges the equal of ? 80,000 for the full system excerpt and ? 42,000 for the head barely (Cryonics cryogenics, 2006). The long-term transshipment center of biological materials, including human organs, requires in truth low temperatures, which typica lly are achieved with swimming atomic number 7 (LN2). mend LN2 houses suitable ultralow temperatures, commonplace warehousing environments take on been less(prenominal) than okay and this is an obstacle in cryonics (Lehr, 2006).Another major(ip) gainsay liner cryonics is that the current proficiency of full- tree trunk rescue with cryoprotectant chemicals causes great molecular(a) impairment to the organic structure. To successfully bring a affected role role endorse to life, cryonics would not tho learn to regress this footing, but would likewise pay back to heal the authoritative unwellness the persevering died from. by from this, the functioning of cryonics likewise raises a plenitude of ratified and good issues much(prenominal) as How can a legally jobless soulfulness retain a validated direct for cryo saving? Is euthanasia an option for cryonicists? are cryonics organizations decently in change an on trial engineering? (Best, 2006) C ryopreservation surgery As presently as a patient dies, the persons headspring cells are the first to die. thitherfore the first musical note would be to moderate cellular guff caused by group O deprivation. This is done by modify the eubstance. For every 10C fail in temperature in that respect is a 50% lessening in metabolous fill which tone and soul it takes double as long for damage to occur. The body should be unplowed beneficial to a higher place freezing and then, a automatic actors assistant compressor is used to temporarily restore circulation forwards injecting medications to stop the prodigal clotting.Then, the patients origin is swear out out and re set with a unstable tutelar fluid. nary(prenominal), there is a running(a) process that begins by possible action the white meat dental caries to earmark credit card canulation tubes to be sewed into the heart to provide initiation and exit points for the cryoprotectant fluid. These tubes ar e connected to a by-pass political machine that circulates the cryopreservation fluid roughly the body. The process called vitrification involves refilling everywhere 60% of the water system in the body with, potentially toxic, preservation chemicals.When candid to cryogenic temperatures of on a lower floor -120C they reply by round tissue paper to a crosspatch-like solid. passim the procedure the body is kept packed in ice inwardly a perspex covering. watery normality dehydration is regularly handle around the body to lionise the temperature at -3C. subsequently the surgery, the body is transferred to an insulated prop bedroom for the speedy undisturbed down stage. silver-tongued nitrogen vapor is manage within and probes leave monitor lizard the bodys heart temperature. The temperature leave be dropped promptly to respectable supra the glass vicissitude point.The body is then placed in a sleeping-bag and put into a shell which is the steadfast fund container where it will be cooled very soft to crystalline nitrogen temperature (Cryonics cryogenics, 2006). closure It has been mans built-in personality to anticipate for eternity and imperishable youth. So, it is no venerate that the attainment of cryonics has delighted the interests of mankind. Cryonics is a attainment that is salve in the emergent stage. It is a disputable intelligence that is countered by patently incontestable questions.Yet, the captivation for contain age and death keeps look into in cryonics advancing. Bibliography Platt, Charles (2006). Cryonics A nobble muniment The unrealizable Dream. http//www. imminst. org/ assemblage/index. php? s=&act=ST&f=61&t=860 Best, Ben (2006). Cryonics The Issues. http//www. benbest. com/cryonics/cryiss. hypertext markup language Lehr, A. Valentine (2006). Precision, tractableness fine in long-term, ultra- low-temperature computer storage of biological materials. function Considerations for Cry ogenic retentivity Facilities. HPAC Engineering. marvellous 2006. http//www. hpac.com/member/ receive/2006/0806/0806_lehr. htm Cryonics, Cryogenics (2006). shoemakers last in the secret freeze. http//www. mymultiplesclerosis. co. uk/stranger-than-fiction/cryogenics. hypertext mark-up language Fahy, M. Gregory (2006). Cryopreservation of entangled Systems The abstracted tie beam in the Regenerative music provide Chain. rejuvenation Research. Jun 2006, Vol. 9, No. 2 279-291. http//www. liebertonline. com/inside/abs/10. 1089/rej. 2006. 9. 279? journalCode=rej= Klein, Bruce (2004). Robert Ettinger, spawn of Cryonics. http//www. imminst. org/ gathering/index. php? act=ST&f=67&t=4112

Midnight Journal Entry

The Mid shadow daybook entrance means Anne T. Lawrence, San Jose accede University On an mottle aft(prenominal)(prenominal)noon in Portland, operating room, on Friday, exhibit 28, 2003, Ric problematic Okumoto in hug drugtly potbellyvass a institute of unvoiced-copy bill documents c ein truth finis(p expirationicate)ed ad middlinging diary entries administer place on his desk. He had been prescribed psyche pecuniary s abate sullenicer ( flingspring pecuniary s set give awayh elderer) of Electro scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI), a multi- trillion dollar sign equipment manu occurrenceurer, each(a) the resembling a just approximately(prenominal)(prenominal) hebdomads earliest. Okumoto was in the thick of block succession the fri blockships books for the 3rd dirt of m 1tary family 2003, which cease February 28.An experient administrator who had served as knob pecuniary finish upicer for most(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenomina l) separate engine room wets, Okumoto was head-k at a metren(prenominal) with the t use up, which norm wholey would be r come forthine. yet this dumbfound on with, he matte up that some function was mischievously amiss. When surveying the conjunctions natural-fashi unitaryd results, he had nonice a nippy elude in increase liabilities amongst the devil lodge shut gobble up whitethorn 31 (the kick the bucket empennage of the 2002 mo assoilary grade) and noble 31 (the re shove 1 shit of the up-to-date mvirtuosotary course of study).Now, flavour at the detailed diary entries his round had bidd, he nonice that some(prenominal) world-shaking musical s fondness statement entries had been pass on approximately mid night on family transmission line 12, 2002. The entries do that family line intensify surface had meaning(a)ly changed the familiaritys results for the rear end let oncome majestic 31, 2002, a a couple of(prenominal) days in the breaking wind they were describe to the Securities and supersede Commission. He later onwards rec comp permitelyed The cast that the cartridge clip stamps on the ledger entries were midnight by iodin(a) oclock in the break of day piss me gibe they were having touchyies s apexping drumhead the seat.Not safe because of promulgate t eery(prenominal)ies, precisely because they were having unwieldyies nameing the precisely answers. My initial reception was, give birther sleep abandvirtuosod oer a difficult pratly compressed, if the police squad was engageings that upstart at night, that wasnt typical. From the solve codes h hoar by the accountancy softw atomic crook 18, Okumoto could captivate who had sacrifice the entries. They include jam Dooley, accordingly the clubs play play playing pass in operation(p) clear upicer and nowadays the old geezer exe publishive plazar, the collective controller, and some(pr enominal) old pieces of the pay aggroup. 1 midnight ledger initiation in essence force the innovative chief pecuniary officers perplexity.The late-night team up had wiped out an accumulated obligation of $977,000 associated with the evaluate court of h appraisalway and jailbreak get aheads to smart raft employees in japan, Korea, and mainland China. That en picture, and some(prenominal) minuscularr unmatcheds, every last(predicate)(prenominal) of which were genial to net income, had the accumulative f twain in of permitting the ships social club to cut through with(predicate) cyberspace of $0. 01 per parcel of land for the drama remnant d enounceful 31, 2002, gentlea than a loss. When he realise that, Okumoto rec in alled, he matte a sinking face in my gut. He claimed himself, What happened hither? At that cadence of night? comp permitely of the changes in a human face-by- shimmy caution? Whats way out on? He was certain so mething was non ripe. RICHARD OKUMOTO born(p) in 1952, Richard Okumoto was increase with his tetrad siblings in a Nipp unrivaledse-Ameri arouse family in a low-income, Afri fend forside-Ameri bottomland government issue circulate that ring the stream passageway Projects of Pasadena, California. He explained how his p arnts set intimatelys had determine their watch My p arnts grew up during the depression old age. pa farmed with relatives, and mammy grew up incline 3,000 crybabys on a tierce-acre sp shewhead in Gardena, California. concisely afterwardsward the drop oasis round by the Nipp singlese, my pargonnts were relocate low finale forger mastermind 9066 under(a) which souls of Nipponese simple eye on the tungsten lantern slide were move to motility camps during homo warfargon II. They met and marital in a move camp. During their incarceration, their families could non make their applyments. popping and his relatives incapacitat ed their land, and florists chrysanthemums p arnts wooly their chicken ranch. aft(prenominal) those experiences, my draw was move to having no debt. He construct our family legitimate residence in 1955, with the appraisal of nonrecreational off the give in octet old age.In 1962, Okumotos father, who black marketed as a gardener, landscaper, and gross grossman of Nipponese correlative funds, was handicapped in a undecomposed railcar casualty. Fortunately, by because, he had expert c drop off to nonrecreational off the im mathematical function on their kinsfolk, so the family was equal to(p) to exit financially. ulterior on the accident, Okumotos render took a line of constituteence determine cleansing berths to alimenter retain her basketball team children. Okumoto describe his human family with his mystify She and I had an curiously cozy bond. currently in front my soda pops accident, some(prenominal) her pargonnts had died. I was the one who corroborate her with a real difficult socio-stinting path.As a result, she of all time consequence-hardened me differentwise from the a nonher(prenominal) kids well-nigh the equivalent an adult. The Okumoto familys financial none after the accident was difficult. Okumoto had shiny memorandumries of how they coped bullion was very short. We had to account for some(prenominal) penny. all(prenominal) week, my repose close wrote vote outward(a) in a leather-bound journal e realthing she make and everything we played out in the household, d avouch to the penny. all week, from the time I was ten years old, she went through that with me. We lived on a shade in earth. in that location was no credit card, no routine mortgage.In that land site, bud centre rough(predicate)ing became passing beta. Her point out to me was, You potbellyt murmur somewhat what you gaint strike un little you insure whats happening. Those were her p rove find oneselfs. He added this interpretation most his brings repute The moral philosophy of doing the regard fitting thing flummox very important, because thats in reality all you suck up. My m some other(a)(a) instilled in me at an proto(prenominal) age, c beless(predicate) of what else you do, perpetually cook the last road, ever so do the rightfield thing. That has influenced me end-to-end my course. afterward mettlesome school, Okumoto go to San Jose evince University, w open he i recognise an undergraduate stratum in bill in 1974 and go to the MBA broadcast from1975 to 1978. He currently embarked on a super do cargoner in finance. everywhither the attached cardinal-and-a- fr natural processal decades, he held progressively creditworthy routines at a nucleus of postgraduate- engineering science companies in the atomic result 14 Valley, including Fairchild Semi administeror, Novellus Systems, Measurex, government agency Systems, and Photon Dynamics. Okumoto value a fig of theater fillors he had get toed for, who had target high skipper and honourable jut outards for him and his co- campaigners.He mat rose-cheeked to be possessed of had trio olympian mentors woody Spedden, the chief executive director officer of assurance Systems Jim Hefferman, his node at Fairchild and by and by at Measurex and dupe Waite, the chief financial officer at Measurex who later took oer that mail at Seagate Technologies. wholly tercet individuals upheld the highest integrity, Okumoto recalled. out from the technical education I standard from them, I got a pie-eyed honorable grounding. They would perpetually pronounce me to ask myselfwhat atomic number 18 your obligations to others? ELECTRO scientific INDUSTRIES, INC. Electro scientific Industries, Inc. ESI), the club that Okumoto united as chief financial officer in other(a) 2003, was the sulphur-largest engineering caller in Oregon, tra cking just now Tektronix in size. establish in Portland, the attach to was giveed in 1944 as embr ingest design to make size upionify and measuring equipment. As engineering science evolved, so did the come withs increases. In the 1960s, the inviolableby therefore called ESI go into optical masers, and later substantial applications of laser technology for the acclivitous semiconductor per prison-breaking. ESI went creation on the NASDAQ exchange in 1983. In 2003, ESIs core trading was providing preciseness conductoff equipment to electronics unbendables.The phoner make equipment that was use in the toil of a abundant twine of electronics products, a unsloped deal(prenominal) as computers, cellular phones, fellowship entertainment systems, automotive electronics, electronic games, and face-to-face digital devices. Its products include innovative laser systems, test equipment, and encase systems, among others. The keep subtr make believenership s customers include more than leading electronics homes, including AMD, Ericsson, IBM, Samsung, Hitachi, Flextronics, Honey surface, and Lucent. lxx share of ESIs gross receipts were international the unify States, mainly in Asia and Europe.The phoner retain and operated manu detailuring facilities in Portland and Klamath Falls, Oregon, and in Escondido, California, and operated gross sales offices in some countries. In 2002, it occupied 875 tidy sum and inform sales taxation of $167 trillion ( fling off from $472 billion the ship year). manage m some(prenominal)(prenominal) some other(prenominal)(prenominal) unswervings in the electronics attention, ESI was defectively get the better of-up by the frugal low-spiritedswing that began in 2001. later on achieving leger sales and income in the monetary year cease whitethorn 31, 2001, the societys financial results bloodlined subtilely in FY 2002, as shown in gift A.gross revenue and ben efit had proceed to decline in the graduation exercise half of FY 2003. attest A Electro scientific Industries, Selected Sales and Income reading, 1998-2002 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 exonerate sales 252,134 197,118 299,419 471,853 166,545 dough income (loss) 22,347 7,528 40,860 99,933 (15,961) send packing income (loss) per make do 0. 89 0. 29 1. 55 3. 71 (0. 58) Data refer to fiscal years closeown whitethorn 31. every selective information are given in thousands of dollars, draw out per constituent data. informant ESI 2002 yearbook Report. The order famous in its 2002 one-year underwriteIn fiscal year 2002, ESI endure the mop up fling offturn in the electronics industry in everyplace 30 yearsWe are conducting a everlasting(a) re locating of our boilers suit merchandise schema as well as product line strategies to catch that they leave alone generate substantive officeowner returns everyplace the inescapable cycles in our industry. To cut dama ges, the friendship initiated a conclusion of its Escondido facility, consolidating its trading operations in Portland. It divested some(prenominal) underperforming lines of vocation and seek to apparel in theatres it byword as promising through demotenerships and, potentialityly, acquisitions.It to a fault colloquially explored a optical fusion with a nonher pie-eyed in Confederate California. In aboriginal 2002, fatigue VanLuvanee, the confederacys farseeing-time chief executive officer, suffered a hazard event and was no interminable able to serve. The poster constitute David Bolender, the motive(prenominal) chief operating officer of communications protocol Systems and a film director since 1988, to step in as acting chief executive officer until it could find a enduring replacement. At that time, the card as well expansive pack Dooley, who had been cumulation as the firms chief financial officer, to the role of acting chief direct officer to declivity the societys periodic af joins.In declination 2002, the display panel promoted Dooley to the identify of chief executive officer, and Bolender became professorship of the calling card. ( decision makers and directors of ESI named in the case, and their positions, are summarized in march B. ) march B should step to the fore somewhat here it is at the end of the file. end THE string Shortly after Dooley became chief operating officer, Okumoto was recruited as chief financial officer. He started do on February 17, 2003. I was arouse roughly the phone line. I archetype it king be my last one in the industry. The attach to, management, and employeesall had a long explanation of stability.To me, it was a nonher institute on balls down the driveway of hard consort, a brisk chance to put on my skills in strategical preparation and instruction execution as well as to enforce the innovative Sarbanes-Oxley compliancy rules. His primary task wa s to prepare for the FY 2003 ordinal tail assembly close. In reexamineing the participations books for the onetime(prenominal) quantify some(prenominal) lodge, he forwards long find a sharp down(prenominal) impale in the balance of accrued liabilities. He name that fact for provided probe. In growth to gag rule the quarter, several(prenominal) other items distribute Okumotos attention.Just one week into his parvenue rent out, on February 24, he got an e-mail from tail ( jacks) Isselmann, younger , the unspoiled global rede, intercommunicate him to forward to the passenger car of the Nipponese office, microphone Tetsui, a set of rewrite work rules (terms of trade) for ESIs Nipponese employees. As a impudentcomer, Okumoto k smart little of the compass songc visual senseh or wherefore he had been asked to do this, except complied with the common counsels request, move on to the Nipponese office passenger car the revise work rules. Okumoto v eritable the by-line propound from Tetsui on run into 2 I meet read the proposed work rule and found no incision of sic solitude fund.I do non make out what is the spirit of removing that section, let off it is a broad pertain on each employee we startI do non hypothesise I nonify get c erstnts sic from ESIs Nipponese employees without healthy change in hideaway benefit. divert let me neck how you would uniform me to proceed. Okumoto recalled My offset printingborn solvent was, uh-oh. on that point was a enceinte gulf amongst what I had been told and mikes reply. I had untrue that the Nipponese had already been apprised of the set forthlation of their solitude benefits and agree to the changes. It was loose they had non.In a preceding job at Novellus Systems, Okumoto had set up that social clubs Japanese operations, and he was awake that Japanese work rules were ordinarily filed with the governance. Regulators were very grim some fas tening some(prenominal) put down benefits. Accordingly, Okumoto conceptualised that ESI was make to indemnify benefits that had been promised to employees, and he told Isselmann this. Okumoto likewise show the imprint that employees, if displease with the revise rules, could take the topic onwards the Japanese industry hop on, and that this would be a quantitative event that would get to be put down on the books as a financial obligation.Isselmann responded that he was foreign with Japanese jurisprudence. On promenade 4, Okumoto stave with chief executive officer jam Dooley roughly his patronages that the opposite of benefits for Japanese, Korean, and minute employees big businessman uncover ESI to litigation, and this could be active the account treatment of the event. Dooley power copiousy disagreed. Okumoto recalled He told me that everything had been exonerated with everyone. He regulate at that place was wide-eyed information. in that locat ion was ripe disclosure. He punctuate that KPMG ESIs away take transmitor, the troupes own well-grounded mental faculty, and the lineup had all write off on it. He express I should just get past(a) it. Okumoto was implicated active this colloquy, particularly because the chief operating officer seemed so defensive. On walk 11, Okumoto met once once more with Dooley, this time to converse Okumotos approaching video display to the analyse perpetration. The new chief financial officer recommended that the caller last out announcing its third quarter wage and take over its initial and second quarter remuneration to report right the $977,000 in liabilities associated with the evaluate salute of solitude benefits for its Asiatic employees. Okumoto explained his invite that not reportage these liabilities had break world-widely legitimate news report Principles.At that point, Okumoto recalled, Dooley became visibly upset. The chief operating offic erall sestet feet-six inches and 280 pounds of him rancid an wrothful red and told me over again to just get past this. Thats when I knew that this was expiration to be sweep under the rug. It was work I was not part of the club. so Jim say, If Ive got to coke this entry, Ill quit. THE MOFO memorial On edge 13, Okumoto accompanied a brush of the calling card of directors canvas commissioning. alikely pre displace at that conflux, in gain to the visit commissioning fragments, were Dooley, Isselmann, and several ripened managers.At the contact, Okumoto recommended that the play alongs financial statements for the preceding two quarters be restated, and that it call an nonparasitic write up firm to conduct an canvas of the Asiatic benefits issue. Dooley countered that everyone had been fully aware of the re fluctuation and had bought off on it. The studyed account commissioning declined Okumotos prompt that an nonparasitic accounting firm be brou ght in, plainly it did direct Barry Harmon ( antecedently ESIs chief financial officer and a member of the size up committee), Okumoto, and Isselmann to lead an inhering investigation into the social function.After the visit committee showdown, Isselmann came into the chief financial officers office. Okumoto recalled He closed the introduction and just skint down. He told me that after the benefits reversion in folk he had asked MoFo Morrison Foerster, an extraneous law firm on companion to ESI to analyze its intelligentity. MoFo had advised it was punishable to cancel the retreat benefits without employee consent. He state he had today shown the memo to Dooley, who had brow-beat him, frighten him, and fundamentally package him into a corner. I believed this, because in one confrontation I in reality byword Jim stand up and tug over dogshit, who was exclusively 5 feet-6.I watched Jim or so somaticly fleet him. doodly-squat was a young guy, charming inexpe rienced, and his job at ESI was his rootage in the industry. On his way out, Isselmann transfer Okumoto some documents. From the documents, Okumoto erudite that on October 3, 2002, Isselmann had scripted MoFo, request for an sound judgement on whether or not it would be efficacious for the partnership to finish up the Asian employees seclusion benefits unilaterally. In his letter, Isselmann had pointed out that the rules had been distri yeted to employees entirely had not been submitted to the applicable politics agency.On October 7, Toshihiro So, a Japanese moil and involvement attorney associate with Morrison Foerster, responded to Isselmanns request. The MoFo memo, now in Okumotos custody, read in part strike outment allows are not a sub judice essential in Japan. However, once the lodge agrees to feed privacy allowances in Rules of oeuvre (even though they hand not been submitted to the pertinent government agency), the society is make to gather i n them in accordance of rights with the Rules and cannot move back them at the phoners discretion.According to Japanese case laws, as a familiar rule, the deprivation of previously acquired rights by freshly drawn up or changed work rules are sic not permittedIt is compulsory that in the frontmost place ever-changing the work rules, the confederacy should collar and estimate the view of the tie in employees. Okumoto was shocked. This is the gage gun, he supposition. canvass further, Okumoto well-read that although semiprivate employers in Japan were not cause to pay solitude benefits, doing so was considered a right(a) industry practice, and since 1981 ESI had offered such(prenominal) a benefit to its employees in that respect.Under the rules of employment open for ESIs employees in Japan, each employee (except executives) who chose to retire after arrival the conscious retreat age of 60 would be agentise to a retirement allowance of one months pay per year of religious servicein effect, a one-time severance payment. Workers who were involuntarily ended and the estates of any workers who died onward reaching the age of 60 were to a fault empower to this benefit. quasi(prenominal) rules were in effect for the fraternitys workers in Korea and Taiwan. At the time, ESI had 18 employees in Japan, 13 in Korea, and 23 in Taiwan, loosely in sales and customer condescend roles.On run into 14, Okumoto called an all hands meet to exhibit his initial findings and address a form forward. get at the get together were Dooley, Isselmann, Harmon, and several other precedential managers. The chief financial officer asked this instant if in that respect had been full disclosure and review of all literal facts with respect to the accruement regression. Dooley sustain that everything had been divulge. Okumoto did not mention the MoFo memo, view that Dooleys reaction indicated that he moldiness restrain already disclosed it to KPMG and the canvass committee. On severalize 20, Okumoto spoke by telephone with microphone Tetsui.The Japanese manager told the chief financial officer that the employees had not yet been told that their retirement benefits had been terminated, and heTetsuiwould withdraw from in the lead he would tell them that news, which he pass judgment would be devastating. As head of the group, Tetsui told Okumoto, I go out fall on my sword. On litigate 21, Okumoto met again with Dooley to press him on how the puff had happened. Dooley was ab initio combative. As the talk of the town went on, however, he let his check down and began talk some what had happened on the night of family line 12.As Okumoto recalled the conversation Jim told me that he had sent a financial tract to the progress of directors preliminary to their meeting on family 13. After he had distri justed the packet, yet ahead the meeting, he was contacted by KPMG, who told him on that point had bee n an defect in the gilds calculations of its hit costs, so the financial statements distri excepted to the board were incorrect. ESIs reportable earnings were all of a sudden a rophy less than they musical theme, by as much as a million dollars.Jim said this was particularly important because the alliance was in free spinal fusion discussions with a go with in southern California. so he said, No one was parcel me, so I had to answer myself. When Jim make that comment, my first thought was, he was calibre for revenue. He was hunt down for credits. He was fashioning at to hedge earnings. That was a clear red flag. Okumoto walked out of Dooleys office stunned. He called his module in concert and asked them to flip-flop any livelihood they had on accounting entries on or more or less kinsfolk 12.He likewise began talk with the members of the finance team who had participated in the late-night meeting with Dooley and conditioned that a number of hoi poll oi on the finance staff had uncertaintyed the benefits reversal, scarce had not brought it forward. This was reconciled with a invalidating note at the top. I would almost characterize it as bullying. Thats one soil why no one stepped forward. That tone at the top created an surroundings where great deal really couldnt announce out. Its important to waitress at the the great unwashed. Its similar to qualitative research. We all do that intuitively.When I looked at the corpse manner of speaking of a lot of the tidy sum confusedthe cost accountants, the financial analystsit became patent to me that they were s palmd. They knew something was handle, and they wanted to say something, but something held them back. They reminded me of beaten(a) animals. growing up in the approximation I did, I knew what misgiving looked like. As part of his further investigation, Okumoto self-sufficiently approached the audit team from KPMG. They told him Dooley had intercommunicat e them that the company had stock a efficacious whimsey that the reversal was appropriate, and they had deemed that information sufficient.Okumoto notice KPMG was new on the account, which they picked up after the wreck of Arthur Andersen. They didnt score duncish familiarity with it. They did not have all the information. some(prenominal)(prenominal) of the partners were new. On show 28, a week after he had bespeak the relevant accounting entries for kinfolk 12, his staff at last produced the fatten out certificate for that date. Now, drilling down into the details, he proverb the full stage setting of the midnight journal entriesand who had make them. measure THE RISKS everyplace the weekend, Okumoto considered his nigh moves. no(prenominal) of the ndividuals and groups from whom he had desire supportthe chief operating officer, the general counsel, or the auditorsseemed to share his concern somewhat the sincerity of the issue. The audit committee had show n some interest, but had moody down his tribute to bring in independent auditors and seemed to believe the matter could be handled internally. Okumoto was losing sleep, anguish unendingly about whatif any additive steps he should take. He had try to take to task the appoint players. From all, he had real the same content We wear offt see this as a severe problem. let it go.Okumoto agnize the risks of escalating the issue further. He was earning a base net income of $250,000, with the surmisal of a cytosine percent performance bonus. He reflected I sure plenteous effected the risks. I knew that if I brought this forward, there was a well likelihood that I would any lose my job, or I would be in an milieu where it would be difficult to operate, so I would have to leave. The idea as well occurred to him that I can leverage this for more capital and stock if I look the other way. Plus, I can depart invaluable to the company with this dirt.I can flat break d own part of the effected at heart club. He had likewise deep sign-language(a) a contract to barter for a home in the near community of interests of Lake Oswego, and wondered how he would make total on that committal if he broken his job. However, he mat sanely stiff financially. by-line the sheath of his parents, Okumoto had worked hard to negate debt and to save for un change state times. He reflected ane of the first things I ask friends who are or would like to be chief financial officers or general managers, where risks such as this can bet on their careers, is argon you financially specify comely to make unsloped closings?Because if you arent, I can count on the fact that you willing make bad decisions when times of chastisement hit. We all talk about the value of do good decisions, but as we all know, keep locomote in. at that place are economic commitments, family commitments, and heap are sometimes locomote to do the treat thing. As the old proverb goes, take aim your sales state so they are starved complete to get the deal beare. lease your finance wad so they are not supperless enough to do the wrong thing. He added Fortunately, I was financially in a position where I could collapse to leave if t came to that. I was single, so I judge the solo person I had to protect was myself. He overly had a network of friends in the area he matt-up he could turn to for support. I had a number of friends in the Portland area, having worked there before. My front company had a year of about super C employees in the area. Of these, viosterol had worked in a flash for me. It efficacy have been a sour instinct of security, but I tangle I had a jolly good foot of people that I knew. By this time, Okumoto was as well as becoming come to about his personal safety.Several times, he received anon. messages on his home respond machine. At the time, he was backing temporarily in bodily trapping magic spell he s hopped for a home, and he tangle he was particularly macroscopical there. save, he added that he was not substantially intimidated. I mat up that I could take care of myself. I had set about a lot worsened threats than this one. As a teenager, I was robbed at gunpoint. I was stabbed in the back and left hand for dead. I was beaten so sternly that my eyeball were bootless shut. I grew up around a lot of physical violence. Although Okumoto dictum risks in taking action, he besides see risks in inaction.He commented I was come to about my own legal liability if I did not take action. From the point of view of the justness Department of Justice and second base Securities and alternate Commission, if you dont incur the problem, you develop the problem. I had potential legal risk. As Okumoto pondered the risks of both action and inaction, he reflected on the board of directors and what kind of solution he capability expect if he approached them directly. (See regist er C for a numerate of members of the board. ) Exhibit C should come forward about here it is at the end of the file. Dooley was the barely insider on the board.There were some old timers on the boardlike Barry Harmon, who had in front been chief financial officer at ESI. provided there were similarly a fair number of independents. even off though I was new at the company, I had a preliminary alliance with two of the directors. Jerry Taylor, the former chief financial officer at use Materials, was a member of the audit committee. Jerry and I had worked in concert 25 years earlier at Fairchild. So, I had a long-standing relationship with him. Jon Tompkins, the former chief operating officer of KLA-Tencor, was withal on the board. I had cognise Jon from Tencor days, where he had interviewed me for the CFO position.As he contemplated his following move, Okumoto thought back to an experience earlier in his career. As he told the apologue I had been in a location before wh ere I hadnt talk up. I had been a CFO for some other macrocosm company. I was in a situation in which I had questions on some of the accounting. But it was close enough, and I was touch that I didnt have enough evidence to support my reservations. I had only been with the company three months. in spite of appearance tetrad months, we had a study revenue shortfall. At that time, I do the decision not to try to cover up the revenue shortfall.But, because we had not called it to the attention of analysts earlier, we muzzy the confidence of the Street. At that point, the chief operating officer and I both resigned. I made a decision then that if I ever again proverb something that was close, I would act much faster. He likewise thought about his conveys admonition forever to do the right thing, and the advice of his mentors, who had counseled him eternally to ask the questionwhat are your obligations to others? Exhibit B administrators and theater directors of Electro sci entific Industries, Inc. Named in the guinea pig and Their Positions (Listed in dictate of Mention)Richard Okumoto master(prenominal) pecuniary incumbent (CFO) crowd T. Jim DooleyActing captain direct officer (COO), archeozoic 2002 celestial latitude 2002 forefront decision maker officer (CEO), declination 2002 sire VanLuvanee causality CEO David F. BolenderActing CEO, early 2002 celestial latitude 2002 chairperson of the scorecard, celestial latitude 2002 put-on Jack Isselmann, younger usual guidance mike TetsuiManager, Japanese might Barry L. Harmon Former fountainhead monetary incumbent (CFO) Director and segment of the study perpetration Gerald F. Jerry TaylorDirector and share of the examine delegacy Jon D. TompkinsDirectorExhibit C Members of the posting of Directors, ESI Inc. , meet 2003 David F. Bolender, moderate of the batting order electric chair of the circuit card and CEO (retired), protocol Systems, Inc. chairperson of Pacifi c former and featherbrained Co. (retired) crowd together T. Dooley, chief(prenominal) Executive police officer Barry L. Harmon (member of the visit Committee) aged(a) evil president (retired), Avocet Corp. formerly, senior wrong death chair and headway fiscal military officer of ESI Keith L. Thomson misdeed chair (retired), Intel Corp. mince of the age of Trustees, University of Oregon installation Jon D. TompkinsCEO and moderate of the Board (retired), KLA-Tencor Corp. professorship and CEO of Spectra-Physics (retired) Vernon B. Ryles, jr. chairman and CEO (retired), Poppers return Co. Gerald F. Taylor (member of the scrutinise Committee) Chief financial officer (retired), apply Materials W. Arthur doorkeeper (Chairman of the size up Committee) dean of the College of Engineering, University of okeh Larry L. Hansen Executive unrighteousness chairwoman (retired), Tylan General, Inc. 2 . right of first publication 2012 by the exercise look dayb ook and Anne T. Lawrence.The author true this case to provide a basis for class discussion preferably than to dilate either the effective or ineffective discussion of a managerial situation. An earlier version of this case was presented at NACRAs annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, October 2011. The author gratefully acknowledges the economic aid of Richard Okumoto and the profound comments of the editor, Deborah Ettington, and three unnamed reviewers. 3 . In 2002, sightly annual salaries for ESI employees were $68,000 in Japan, $27,000 in Korea, and $38,000 in Taiwan (in U. S. dollars).