To What Extent was Gorbachev to blame for the Collapse of the USSR Essay

Gorbachev was to fault for the prostration of the USSR for assorted grounds. chiefly because of his two new policies. ‘Glasnost’ ( New Freedom and Openness ) and ‘Perestroika’ ( Economic Restructuring ) . However. there were a few external factors which helped do the prostration of the USSR. such as the consequence Yeltsin had on Russia and how states were turning tired of the whole Communist system itself. Gorbachev’s purpose was to do the Communist system work better by leting people to hold their say in how the system could be improved and to do the Soviet system of cardinal planning of production more efficient. However. it merely allowed people to openly knock the system and shortly people wanted to acquire rid of it. First. the Cold War created a crisis in the USSR. The weaponries race with the USA had become so expensive that Soviet life criterions became worse as more money was spent on arms. Soviet Farming was inefficient ; there wasn’t adequate nutrient. so metric tons of grain had to be imported from the USA. The communist authorities was going more and more corrupt and was unable to run into demands of high life criterions like the West for the Soviet people. The USSR had been at war with Afghanistan since 1979. The war was a complete catastrophe because it cost one million millions of dollars and 15 000 Soviet military personnels were killed. Already people ruled under Communism were get downing to experience uneasy. Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 in the USSR and radically changed Soviet Policies. He became General Secretary of the Communist Party. He was more unfastened to the West than old leaders and offered a solution for the current state of affairs. He introduced two major new policies. Glasnost and Perestroika. Glasnost meant New Freedom and Openness. In this policy the Soviet people won new rights. First 1000s of political captives were released. including the ill-famed Andrei Sakharov. Peoples were told of the atrociousnesss committed by Stalin’s dictatorial authorities. Free address was allowed and military muster was to be abolished. Perestroika meant Economic restructuring. Gorbachev wanted to do the system of production more efficient. nevertheless corruptness in the Soviet authorities was excessively great. So he was unable to see through his programs. Gorbachev changed foreign policy. In 1987. a disarming pact was signed. called the INF ( Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces ) . The USSR and the USA agreed to take all medium scope missiles from Europe within three old ages. In 1988. Gorbachev announced the immediate decrease in the arms reserve and the figure of military personnels in the Soviet armed forces. Gorbachev tried to better dealingss with the West. He met the US president Reagan several times. one of which was at the Geneva Summit in 1985. In 1988. Gorbachev abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine. He told the UN that people now had a pick in Eastern Europe and that the USSR wasn’t traveling to command them any longer. Gorbachev announced the complete backdown of Soviet military personnels from Afghanistan in 1988. In 1978. the Communist Afghan authorities secured a pact with the USSR that allowed them to inquire for military aid when they required it to contend against the Mujahideen Rebels. In 1979. they requested for armored combat vehicles and choppers. this was approved. They so started inquiring for platoons. The USSR was now a spot hesitating on O.K.ing this. In July 1979. American president Jimmy Carter funded for the Afghan Rebels and allowed them to purchase more and better arms. Besides the CIA conducted anti communist propaganda in the localities. In September. the Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Hafizullah Amin took power after the shot of President Taraki. The Soviets saw this as destabilising and on December 27th they decided to occupy Afghanistan in an effort to brace the communist authorities. It lasted nine old ages. and was referred to as the Soviet’s Vietnam. The USSR’s invasion cost them a great trade of money. Gorbachev offered what he thought to be a solution for this. The negative affects of communism can be highlighted by looking at the predominating conditions in Hungary and Germany. After the war. the USSR helped set Rakosi. a barbarous Stalinist in charge of Hungary. He was unpopular and in 1956. the people of Budapest protested against his authorities. The secret constabulary were hunted down. Khrushchev allowed the broad Nagy to go Prime Minister. After Austria declared itself a impersonal province in 1955. Nagy hoped that Hungary could make the same. In 1956. Nagy declared the terminal of communism there by retreating from the Warsaw treaty and keeping free elections. In response to this. Soviet armored combat vehicles invaded Hungary. 20 00 Hungarians were killed or injured. Nagy was arrested and shot. Kadar became premier curate and ensured trueness to the USSR. Western states didn’t assist the USSR. This was the first move made by Khrushchev to demo he was tough. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961. In 1949. Stalin ended the Berlin encirclement. Two new provinces formed were East Germany ( Democratic Republic ) and West Germany ( Federal Republic ) . Between so and 1961 over two and a half million people fled to West Germany. The communist authorities of East Germany was worried and so made a 30-mile barrier across the metropolis of Berlin. It was fortified with biting wire and machine gun stations and separated East and West Berlin. Anyone who tried to get away East Berlin was shot. so West Berliners were now separated from friends and household. More unrest continued. this clip with Poland. Solidarity played a major portion in 1980 when Poland’s people rebelled. Solidarity was lead by Lech Walesa and it demanded the right to strike and to be consulted on all major determinations impacting their life and on the job conditions. Solidarity started after the communist authorities decided to raise monetary values due to the foreign debt in Poland’s economic system. It was an anti-communist societal motion. which by 1981 attracted nine million members. It was particularly strong because of the support from the Catholic Church. General Jaruzelski took over the state in 1981 and declared Martial Law. Solidarity was banned and nutrient monetary values were raised 40 % . However. in 1989. free elections were held in Poland and Solidarity won. This was able to go on now because of Glasnost. Glasnost was assisting Eastern European states to really turn away from Communism. this had a really negative impact on Gorbachev. The Cold War was eventually over. Communism fell all over Eastern Europe in 1989. Hungary opened its frontier with Austria in May. Poland held free elections in June. Solidarity won and a new non-communist authorities came to power. Many East Germans crossed through Austria and into West Germany and the Berlin wall was knocked down in November. In 1990 Germany was reunified. Anti-communist presentations took topographic point in Czechoslovakia and the communist authorities collapsed in December. In December a revolution in Romania began against the cruel and corrupt government with dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and he was executed on Christmas twenty-four hours. The Warsaw Pact ended in 1991. Communism was rejected in the USSR. The chief nationalities in the Soviet Union demanded independency. particularly the Baltic democracies. Latvia. Lithuania and Estonia. Gorbachev tried to forestall the rise of patriotism in the Baltic democracies with military force. but he bit by bit started to lose control. The anti-communist Russian president was elected in 1991. Boris Yeltsin was an opposition of Gorbachev and became powerful and popular. He demanded the terminal of communism domination and the dividing up of the USSR. This led to a crisis in 1991. The old communist leaders feared the reforms. so they decided to acquire rid of Gorbachev ; this was an attempted putsch in 1991. A military group tried to prehend power by capturing Gorbachev but Yeltsin rallied the Russian people to defy and the ground forces supported him. the putsch failed. The Soviet democracies shortly became independent and the USSR did non be any longer. Gorbachev lost his power and had to vacate. Communism in Russia was dead. To reason. there were assorted factors which affected the prostration of the USSR. nevertheless I believe that Gorbachev was chiefly to fault because of his new policy Glasnost. Glasnost enabled people to hold free address. Gorbachev believed that it would assist reconstruct the Communist system but alternatively it ruined the system by leting people to openly knock it. Wagess were really low. people could now see the differences between their life style and the West’s life style. particularly when the uncensored Olympics were on. Communism was non offering good on the job conditions any longer. Soviet Young persons were non allowed to see certain movies. listen to certain music or Western wireless Stationss. In the Republics people were tired of being told what to make by Russia all the clip. they wanted to regulate themselves. Glasnost allowed them to knock and protest. Finally this got them independency and the brotherhood was deteriorating. The attempted putsch of 1991 triggered the terminal of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin rallied the Russian people to defy with the support of the ground forces. the putsch failed and the Soviet Republics became independent and the USSR ceased to be. Yeltsin besides had a big affect on the Russian people to act upon them to turn away from communism. Gorbachev allowed people to turn away from communism. which finally lead to the prostration of the USSR.

Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck Essay

Task: Say what happens on each of the three times we Curley’s wife and what we learn about her. Curley’s wife only appears three times throughout Of Mice and Men, even though she is a pivotal character in the story. The three times she appears are all small parts in the book, but are key scenes. They give us clues about her appearance, character and an insight into her life before she married Curley. The final time we see her is the vital scene where the plot comes together. The first time we see Curley’s wife is chapter 2, where she visits the bunkhouse. Curley’s wife enters the bunkhouse where Lennie and George are unpacking and George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble. Curley’s wife comes in looking for her husband; she stands in the doorway provocatively trying to get attention from Lennie and George. George ignores Curley’s wife, knowing what she is trying to do, but Lennie is instantly besotted with her. After Curley’s wife doesn’t get very far with Lennie and George she turns her attention to Slim and leaves the bunkhouse. This is only a short scene in the book, but we still learn a lot about Curley’s wife. The fact that she is only ever referred to as Curley’s wife suggests that she is only ever seen as the possession of Curley’s and has no individuality of her own. We learn that she has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her hair was hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages†. The part about her hair could be taken as an insult about her appearance and that she has failed in making herself attractive. She is descried as wearing mainly red rouged lips, fingernails were red, red mules with little bouquets of red ostrich feathers† which could be interpreted as a colour of danger or a sexual colour which she uses to gain attention from the ranch hands. Curley’s wife strives for attention; by always wearing a lot of make-up and bright clothing she gets the attention she craves so much. Because Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch she has no other women to walk to or be friends with and is therefore seen as a sexual object by the ranch hands. She uses this sexual image the ranch hands have of her to gain attention. Her body language suggests that she flirts provocatively her body was thrown forward†, showin her legs†. Her voice was said to have a brittle quality, which could imply that she is as so brittle herself, easily broken or venerable. Because Curley’s wife cannot escape from the sexual image that the other men have of her she uses it as a means of getting the attention she lacks. It is shown this scene that she doesn’t have a good relationship with Curley, because even though she says she is looking for Curley, when she is told where he is she looks apprehensive and rushes back to the bunkhouse as if she would be in trouble if she were not there. Also in this scene shows us that she is lonely and wants someone to talk to because when George answers her brusquely she still stays there and tries to talk to them. After she has gone George speaks of her despairingly bitch†, piece of jail bait† meaning that she has failed to impress him. This scene is like a prediction of what will happen later on in the story, before Curley wife comes into the bunkhouse George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble, then Curley’s wife walks in. This could be an indication that she is or has something to do with what gets Lennie into trouble. Over all in this scene we find out that Curley’s wife is lonely, pretty, flirty, frightened of her husband and is seen as a possession of Curley’s. The second time we see Curley’s wife is in chapter 4. This scene is where we see Curley’s wife visit Crooks room, gathered there are all the misfits on the ranch. They have been left behind while everyone else has on into town for the night. These people are left behind because they are misfits i.e. are not a young healthy white male. Crooks is black and is crippled, Candy is old and crippled, Lennie has learning disabilities (seen as being thick) and Curley’s wife is a woman. Candy, Lennie and Crooks are discussing the plans for the farm they are going to own, when Curley’s wife comes in looking for Curley. Candy and crooks want Curley’s wife to leave so the don’t get into trouble, but she persists in trying to talk to them. She asks them if they know what happened to Curley’s hand even though she all ready has worked out what has happened. When Crooks tells her to leave or he’ll tell the boss not to let her in the barn any more she becomes angry and tells him not to open his mouth, she threatens that if he dose she will get him strung up on a tree. Curley’s wife only leaves when she thinks the other ranch hands including, Curley have come back from town. Again in this scene we are shown that Curley’s wife is a very lonely person and only wants someone to talk to well, I ain’t givin you no trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time†. She is also again shown to use her appearance to get attention, Her face was heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly, as though she had been running†. Curley’s wife shows discontent in the life that she has now and a great dislike for her husband Curley, Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy aint he?†, I’m glad you bust up Curley a little bit. He got it comin’ to him. Sometimes I’d like to bust him myself†. She has this dislike for Curley because of his failure to satisfy her emotionally. Even though this scene is a gathering of the ranch misfits Curley’s wife has a slight advantage over the others. This is because she has a superior social standing as a young white female, she uses this to threaten dominate the other misfits. This happens on several occasions i.e. when she talks down to them You bindle bums† and also when Crooks orders her out of his room. By doing this he aggravates him and she attacks him verbally You know what I could do?† Well, you keep your place then Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny†. Crooks was an easy target for Curley’s wife to pick on because he is black. People were prejudiced against ethnic minorities in those days and this made it easy for her to frighten Crooks. In my opinion I think that she took pleasure out of his suffering and this particular scene shows a nasty side of her personality. The last time we see Curley’s wife is in the barn with Lennie, chapter 5. In this scene all of the men on the ranch except Lennie are outside taking part or are watching a horseshoe tournament. Lennie is in the barn playing with has pup, but accidentally kills it by stroking it too hard. Curley’s wife enters the barn because she is lonely and wants someone to talk too. She tries to flirt and impress Lennie by telling him about her life before she met Curley. She only really gets Lennie’s full attention when he tells her he likes to stroke nice things. When he tells her she invites Lennie to stroke her soft hair, but when Lennies stroking becomes harder, she panics; in a effort to stop her panicking and screaming Lennie puts his hand over her mouth, this in turn makes her panic even more. In the end Lennie like with the pup breaks her neck. He half-buries her in the hay and runs off. Candy later finds her body. Even though this is the last time we see Curley’s wife we still learn a lot about her and things we already know are reinforced. The fact that Curley’s wife is lonely is reinforced again in this scene I get lonely† this again makes her crave attention from other people. She attempts to gain Lennie’s attention in many ways in this scene, one of the ways she tries is by flirting here feel right her†. Another way is by playing on her own loneliness for sympathy even she shows none for Lennie when he shows her his dead pup. She tries to impress Lennie by telling him about her life before she met Curley She looked closely at Lennie to see whether she was impressing him†. Curley’s wife shows herself to be impatient and selfish by not letting Lennie tell his story before hers she went on with her story quickly, before she could be interrupted†. Again in this scene like the one before she shows a great dislike for Curley. This is because she married Curley only because she was let down by a man who said he could put her in movies, she married Curley so she could get away from home, but this turned out to be a hasty and bad decision for her. Because Curley doesn’t give his wife the attention she needs and tries to keep her from the other men on the ranch, she begins to hate Curley and seeks the attention from the other men on the ranch. Curley’s wife is also naive and lacks any common sense; this is because she believed that the man at the Riverside dance could put her in movies, when it is most probable that he just said it to sleep with her He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it† I never got that letter†. Also the fact that she let Lennie to stroke her hair after he told her that he killed his pup by stroking it shows that she lacks any common sense. Many of the characters show contempt for Curley’s wife; they feel that she is a troublemaker. Candy calls her a tart and even when she is dead he says to her you god-damn tramp†¦Ever’ body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart†. In my opinion I think that she deserves pity rather than contempt, because her husband is insensitive, possessive and aggressive. From the three times we see Curley’s wife we can say that she is a pivotal character in the story. Because of her hasty marriage to the possessive Curley she has become lonely in her isolation. To try to escape from the loneliness she uses the sexual image the ranch hands have of her to gain attention from other people, even those at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The fact that she is known only as Curley’s wife and is never called by her real name by ether the ranch hands or the author shows that she is seen only as a possession and is not treated as an individual.

A Mother’s Day Kiss-off; Critique Essay

â€Å"A Mother’s Day Kiss-off† was written by Leslie Bennetts to change the male view of everyday mothers. Bennetts wrote this because she has witnessed and studied these events. She wrote that mothers should not just be praised on one day a year versus the 365 days that she is doing it alone, well mostly. Not only is this problematic for the child but for the parents relationship as well. She wanted to make clear that women’s roles in parenting have been changing for several years now. They should be closely reviewed before assuming the roles will stay the same as they may have been in the past. Male parents too often expect mothers to maintain a household, work full time and take care of the children. Little do they understand the roles should take over for both parents not just one. Many mothers find their careers to be put on hold because they cannot go to school on top of everything else. This leads to disputes between income needs and family needs. This is commonly a call for divorce and other family members fear in anger that it could end a marriage. Father’s should want to take on family roles as the mother does. While most mothers make sure the needs of the child are fulfilled most fathers do not pay mind to things like; doctor visits, school sicknesses and playdates. They just expect a clean house, a warm meal, and a well maintained child. Mom’s are expected to drop everything including their jobs to take after the child, meaning having to leave work or be late to work, or having to stay home with a sick child. It all means the same, it’s not necessarily tradition of housewives but the role of mothers has simply changed. Too many families are failing to realize this drastic life style change that Bennett’s encounters. If roles were to ever switch fathers would understand the financial and emotional needs of a child, piled on to a full time job. One day Leslie hopes this will be an eye-opener for the opposing parent. Most mothers will continue to stay faithful to this lifestyle while others rush to find a way out. For some this role will change and others it will remain the same. Bennetts writes this article in hope that the father figure and other family members will  arrange changes in a life style to accommodate the mother, in my family this did not happen. In response to this article, I have a personal view of this very problem. My father expected my mom to clean and cook and do household chores, but also to work full time and take care of me. My dad drove truck so he wasn’t home often enough to see what my mother went through. He stayed within tradition like he thought it should be. This happens a lot and not just my family but many American families like my own. I do think she had a purpose to change a father’s lifestyle point of view, but not to change the person themselves. I agree that the roles have changed but for some families in the opposing argument, do not like the role switch and will continue in tradition to their previous generations. Bennetts is blind to the idea that some American housewives enjoy their lifestyle, not all families and mothers are miserable playing this role. She may assume so but it’s not a subject you can just assume upon, it is a serious issue that needs facts, not biased information written out of fear or anger. The family I was raised in relied on the father to take care of financial needs and the mother to take care of social and emotional needs of the family and the child. Some families are dependent on one income and cannot afford to make a change. Other families do not want to change and enjoy their outdated lifestyle.

Importance of Ice in Developing Coastal Communities Article

Importance of Ice in Developing Coastal Communities - Article Example For an ice business to be set up, the company should understand first the area whether it is sometimes affected by the disaster and the magnitude of the disaster. If such areas are prone to be affected by disaster, the company should store the product in excess so that when the disaster strikes, they will have enough products to satisfy the extra demand. In a disaster, approximately 10 lb of ice is required per person. Which means if 5, 000n people are affected by a hurricane it means 50,000 lb of ice is required. For product preservation such as pharmaceutical or fish preservatives, 30 lbs of ice per cubic meter is required. This constant demand will keep the demand at a stable rate. To reach the customers, the company should promote the product through advertising the product in through the media such as newspapers, ads, fliers in remote areas, and TV commercials. The company should also offer discounts to products sold at recreation facilities and promoting it at introductory pric e. Ice preserved medicines are pharmaceutical products such as vaccines and temperature sensitive clinical trial medicines that should be stored in places between 20C and 80C ensure their quality is not compromised. Products manufactured from plasma and red blood cell components detached from whole blood for transfusion also require extra care during storage to prevent them from spoiling as a result of high temperature. For quality of medical products to be maintained, all medicine needs to be stored and handled with guidelines from the manufacturer. The World Health Organization advocates for special storage conditions such as the need for ice preservation to ensure correct storage for refrigerated medicines. Manufacturers must be directed by good manufacturing practice in their production, storage and transportation and it is vital that medical facilities within the developing world handle temperature sensitive medicines as required to provide a

Auditing research paper for the Maybe It Was, But We Weren't case

Auditing for the Maybe It Was, But We Weren't case - Research Paper Example Relating to this case, the determination of the reports issued by Friday as appropriate or otherwise, has been taken into concern as a primary objective of this paper. Moreover, the significant terms associated with auditing like ‘scope limitation’, ‘limited engagement and ‘piecemeal opinion’ have also been considered and related to the case in the discussion of this paper. Most significantly, how Friday should submit the auditor’s report to the Board of Directors as on its performance for the Year 3 and Year 2 from a comparative perspective has also been considered in the discussion of this paper. INTRODUCTION The perception of audit or auditing is principally described as a procedure of verifying and examining the accounting as well as financial records of a particular company. It has often been argued that the organizations belonging to this modern day context normally conducts auditing for the purpose of adding credibility to their respectiv e financial statements resulting in analyzing along with recognizing the chief financial areas that are required to be enhanced. It has also been apparently observed in this regard that the modern organizations often attempt to prioritize auditing due to rising complexities particularly in the overall business or operational procedures and the decision-making systems (Gupta 1-2). In specific terms, the aim of this report is to analyze the approaches adopted and executed by the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) appointed within Friday & Co (Friday) who are again bestowed with the sole responsibility of auditing the financial statements of Johnson Company. It has been viewed in this similar concern that the CPAs have audited the financial records or the statements of Johnson Company and duly expressed a sort of incompetent opinion on the balance sheet only, deciphering a degree of negligence when considering other forms of financial statements. In this regard, a balance sheet depict s a financial statement which recapitulates liabilities, shareholder’s equity and assets among others with respect to a particular company. It is often regarded as a condensed financial record or a statement that portrays the monetary position of a business entity on a specific date. The other forms of financial statements might generally embrace an income statement along with a cash-flow statement, statement concerning retained earnings as well as profit and loss statement among others (Nelson 193-194). According to the case, it has been apparently observed that the CPAs of Friday had expressed an unqualified opinion on the balance sheet of Johnson Company as on December 31, Year 2. Specially mentioning, Friday did not note the inclusion of the physical inventory as of December 31, Year 1, on the grounds that the transaction took place prior to the appointment of auditors. However, the report indicates certain critical issues or aspects related with auditing concerns. For in stance, the first aspect was mainly concerned on the reason owing to which the opinion was issued only on the balance sheet as on Year 2. The second aspect that has been recognized in this context had been concerned about judging whether the issuance of an unqualified opinion by the CPAs of Friday, only for year 2 was appropriate. If otherwise, what are the suitable ways of disclosing or reporting the case? Finally, the other critical issue that has been viewed to appear in this case scenario was concerned with the fact that is it

Human Resource Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Resource Management - Case Study Example High attrition levels have emerged as one of the growing menaces in almost all organizations, which seem to be finding it hard to retain their own employees. It is difficult to find loyal employees and organizations must try and treasure those that they possess. The project seeks to identify the emerging HR problems in Sambian Partners, which is stricken by the problem of employee attritions. Unable to retain some of the crucial talents in the organization, the organization works hard to trace out the root of the problem in the organization. The surprising fact is that the company provides fair compensations, which are at par with industry standards, comfortable working conditions, recognizes employee works and contributions of employees and values them. Yet, it is deeply struck with the problem of losing its valued employees to a close competitor. The project seeks to identify the problems which are responsible for the same, and proposes suitable management strategies for controllin g the same too. Problems Identified The main problem identified is poor HR skills on the part of the HR department. Helen, being the CEO of the company, shows poor skills to manage the workforce. Though she seems to be a great architectural talent and has inherited the firm from her father, she does not display enough HR talent to be able to retain or even develop existing talents in the organization. The first instance when one of the reputed employees belonging to a senior level of the organization leaves the organization shows lack of motivational capability on part of the CEO and the human resource department of the organization at large. The conversation between Mary and Bob does not enlighten the organization on anything about the cause of frustration or dissatisfaction which drove his actions towards leaving the organization and joining its major rival organization. Despite being at a high position and blessed with appreciation and recognition of senior level employees in the organization, Bob’s decision to leave the company and move forth demonstrated very poor motivational characteristics of the management to keep him content with his present responsibilities and position. Bob is seen to have immense creative talent and his innovative skills employed at work fetch him good results. However, it is crucial for an organization for backing its critical and rare talents in the organization with the required support structure so as to ensure that he is able to deliver to the best of his ability. Bob finds a void when it comes to handling challenges at the workplace. This phenomenon can be compared to Maslow’s motivational hierarchy in which BOB has reached the second highest level in the hierarchy, i.e. self esteem, achievement, confidence and respect of others. He is seeking to get to the next level of self-actualization, but cannot find adequate opportunities to do so. In this case, it is seen that Bob does not have first class sales men, or marketing behind him to support his work. Thus his dream of attaining the level of self-actualization remains unfulfilled (Arredondo, 1996, p.139). One of the other crucial shortcomings displayed by the organization and the CEO, Helen, is to recognise the importance of employee loyalty

Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 2

Business Strategy - Essay Example The distribution networks handle yogurt as one of the most interesting products in fresh food division. The consumers have also their own preferences where market and product development are also hinged on. An adult consumer is particularly interested in the health/nutrition component of the product thus she chooses yogurt with added probiotics, or natural yogurt. She consumes the product as a breakfast or a main meal of the day. While the young consumers eat yogurt mainly as a snack for self-indulgence though they still consider health and nutritional value. For the children consumers, they have mothers who choose the product, are considers self-gratification and at the same time the nutritional aspect. The dominant competitors in this sector which have a national scope are the incumbent players such as Sitia Yomo, Danone, and Parmalat; and the new entrant Muller. Other firms operating in the dairy industry (Nestle, Granarolo, Lactis, A.L.A., Milkon, Latteria Sociale Vipiteno) had also their share in the yogurt industry, including the importers (Ehrmann, Stuffer) which caters a multi-regional market. There were emerging challenges among competitors because of the entry of new players in the industry. This has reduced the amount of display space allocation to market leaders and brands. Also, the overcrowding of the sector has increased the discretional power of distribution. The growth in commercial brands and price brackets (from average to medium price) has reduced the linear shelf space available and thus has increased the referencing costs of the major companies. The emergence of modern distribution channels has also raised the level of competition among players with regard to the economic crisis and the development of distribution formulas, e.g., hard discount stores. This has caused major distributors to take actions aiming to improve price perception of the end consumers. They inserted commercial brands in the market and introduced premium prices. Development of new products was done by traditionally marketing oriented companies. On the part of product developers, there are also challenges that can be considered to better compete in the industry. These concerns the choices and evolving values of the end-consumers: the emerging culture of valuing low calorie and health aspects of foods; the fact that proper meals are becoming less popular; because of fast-paced life, there was less time spent for breakfast. 1.2 Changes and reasons Thus, the intense competition among major players in the industry, the not-so-fast paced growth rate, and highly price sensitive consumers have contributed in the structure change. On the part of Yomo, Danone, and Parmalat, they have opted to maintain substantial investments in advertising of their products as well as improving their trade investments. While Yomo has continued to give a high retail price positioning, Danone, Parmalat and Muller has opted to become aggressive in determining and enforcing their pricing policies. The creation of new refrigerated sections and reduction of linear shelf space given to other fresh products such as pre-packed salami, butter or margarine has expanded the display shelf space allotted

Managerial Accounting and Organizational Controls Case Study

Managerial Accounting and Organizational Controls - Case Study Example This is done by standard reports that are generated at regular intervals. They may be generated monthly, quarterly, or annually and adhere to standard guidelines that are accepted by the accounting industry. The reports tell the amount of business, cost of sales, debt, and assets that a company has. The reports are used by creditors, bankers, investors, and shareholders to make financial decisions in regard to the company. Government agencies use these reports to calculate taxes and fees. These reports are routinely audited by outside parties to assure that proper accounting methods are being used and that the reports contain accurate information. This helps to safeguard investors and shareholders from financial loss and keeps investors and creditors apprised of the condition of the company's finances. Legal and ethical issues arise when external accounting is faulty and presents an incorrect view of the company's financial situation. If it is done intentionally, it is a grave legal issue as has been seen with some companies in the news recently. If it is done in error, or because of bad judgment, it is a serious violation of ethics and may also be criminal. The importance placed on these reports being correct cannot be overstated.

Relationship between Instant Texting and Language Decline Essay

Relationship between Instant Texting and Language Decline - Essay Example It is common to find people busy with their phones in workplaces, in vehicles, in school, and in homes. This does not exclude streets, in which one can notice individuals walking heads down; perhaps text messaging or reading texts. With the increased use of mobile phones, a sensitive issue has emerged which concerns the over-use of text messages. According to David Crystal’s Texting, people extensively use instant messages, for their conversations, using abbreviations for most words (Crystal 15). An analysis of David Crystal’s works can establish the controversies associated with the relationship between language development and the increased use of text messages, for communication. The emerging issue of concern is whether the increased use of text messages has resulted in the decline of language, or whether it affects literacy. With respect to David Crystal’s works, text messaging makes extensive use of coded language which may be unfamiliar to non-users. Substa ntial understanding of the code language is of the essence for a mobile phone user to converse with friends using the code language. In the practice of text messaging, users condense multiple and single words via a technique which sees them replace words or syllables with digits or single letters. In the development of the coded language, used in text messaging, cell phone users may also get full of whole words within common phrases. The process of developing SMS language tends to be progressive; this has the implication that some phrases and words have been modified with time. For example, the phrase ‘Thank you’ has gone through three transitions which are ‘thanks’, ‘tnx’, and ‘tx’. The language used in text messaging is unconventional and can fall under a number of categories. G-Clippings, for instance, involves the removal of the letter g at the end of such words as ‘Going’ to read as ‘Goin’. The coded language can also fall under the shortening category in which some letters are omitted; for example, the word ‘after’ can be written as ‘aft’. In other forms, users contract the middle letters of various words while others make use of acronyms (Crystal 18). Others include the use of letter homophones, number homophones, and such non-conventional words as ‘nite’ for ‘night’. To some extent, the use of text messages results to a decline in spoken language. This is because the development of spoken language has a direct relationship with social interaction. In the era of technology, texting diminishes children’s ability to have face-to –face communication with others, a trait which affects them throughout the other developmental stages. Self-expression is a technique best acquired via practice; hence its development faces a significant degree of limitation from the mobile technology. The effect of this aspect is more pro nounced in the younger generation than the old generation. The childhood stage of an individual serves as the most appropriate time for learning; therefore, with the extensive use of text messages, children and teenagers may not develop adequate skills of spoken language. Research indicates that, with the introduction of latest technology, only a small proportion of teenagers talk face-to-face with colleagues, as opposed to the percentage of young people that sends texts several times in a day. Ideally, over-reliance on text messages, for communication, promotes social anxiety and shyness among children, a trait which extends even to the adult stage (Crystal 20). The mode of texting, stated by David Crystal, can significantly cause a decline in language with respect spelling. Ideally, individuals have

Stirling sports Essay Example for Free

Stirling sports Essay Stirling Sports opened their first Store on Dominion Road in Auckland in 1964. The first Stirling Sports franchises were awarded in 1983 after Stirling Sports had invested almost 20 years in developing the best sports retail stores in New Zealand. Stirling Sports Dunedin’s mission statements asserts, ‘The Dunedin community speaks positively about their Stirling Sport experience’. Their logo is ‘We love our sport’, an apt summary of the passion held by management and staff for their products, service and the specialist knowledge they provide. Stirling Sports is the one of the New Zealand leading retailers of sporting goods. Stirling Sports has a huge range of sports clothing and mens and womens shoes, supporter gear and more. In 2004, Russell and Sue became aware of an opportunity to purchase the Stirling Sports Dunedin area franchise and made the decision to buy within a week. Since they originated from the Otago region, this was an opportunity ‘to come home’. After some negotiation they successfully acquired the franchise and began to determine how best to manage the two operations. After some deliberation, the  decision was made that Sue would move to Dunedin and manage that store, while Russell continued to manage the Kapiti store. Russell and Sue decided to buy the franchise with the existing staff at the Dunedin store. The store had to become profitable, so changes needed to be made. However, the change in structure and process did not suit everyone and staff left. Previously, the store had been managed from Auckland, so some having the manager on-site was very different from the previous management style. Stirling Sports adopts marketing strategies based on the seasonal nature of  various sports, student population migration during semester and holiday periods, public holidays and festive seasons Christmas is one of the biggest financial periods with equipment, clothing and shoes being in demand for Christmas gifts. In-store specials, glossy flyers, and newspaper and radio advertising are all useful means of marketing their products to all of their customer segments. The March/April period is the second-largest cash-flow period with the beginning of winter sports, such as rugby, soccer, netball, volleyball and basketball, traditionally boosting sales. September/October is also a peak period, with the focus particularly on fitness and getting ‘back into shape’ after the ravages of winter lifestyle choices. Sports such as cricket, tennis and softball also begin which may require the purchase of new equipment, uniforms and speciality footwear. Many sports are now played all year round, which is beneficial in maintaining an acceptable level of monthly sales in addition to seasonal cash-flow peaks. RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://STIRLINGSPORTS. CO. NZ Rebel Sport is a well known brand name throughout New Zealand and Australia.Until 2006, Rebel had no big-box sports competitor, prompting the use of the well-known slogan No ones got more sports gear. However, Lane Walker Rudkin, owners of sports franchise Stirling Sports, have announced plans to launch several large format stores across the country, beginning with a store in Christchurch, which opened in mid-2006. This followed the collapse of a deal between Briscoe Group and LWR a year earlier, which would have seen Briscoe buyout the Stirling franchise. Since Stirlings big box launch, Rebel has dropped their original slogan, which has been replaced with Lets Play, backed by a new marketing campaign which targets a wider audience from the traditional club-orientated team sport audience. The company is also continuing their aggressive expansion programme, launching several smaller-format stores such as Napier and Taupo to allow branches to reach further into provincial areas. Briscoe Group. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Briscoe_Group The latest retail customer satisfaction report for New Zealand from research organisation Roy Morgan Research reveals that Rebel Sport has emerged as the sports store with the highest percentage of satisfied customers. Rebel came in at at 82. 0 percent for the 12 months to December 2009 (up 4. 4 percent points from the 12 months to December ‘08). Stirling Sports was third with 77. 5 percent (down 2. 9 percent from the same period). â€Å"The category as a whole has performed below the average for all non-food stores. It seems all sports stores need to close the gap in improving their levels of satisfaction. † Sports Link. Sporting Goods Outdoor Retailing. (May 17, 2010). Retrieved from http://www. mysportslink. net/rebel-sport-leads-the-way-cms-837.

The Ethical and Moral Business Practices of Nestle

The Ethical and Moral Business Practices of Nestle In recent years the issue of ethical and unethical business practices have received lots of attention around the world especially by media. Ethics in business can be defined as behaviours that a business tie to in its daily dealings with the world or in other words what society believes is right or wrong which involves or impact how a business is carried out. Ethical or unethical business practices concerns not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with individuals. Many businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line or in other words they just want to be in business; on the other hand there are many businesses that making money does not mean everything to them, but doing the right thing and having responsibility and commitment toward society have far more importance. In past years there have been numerous reports from global businesses, including most of the major brands that the public use for their poor business ethics, which have received a huge attention by people around the world. One of the most shocking reports came from a well-known company Nestlà ©. The main ethical issues concerning Nestlà © company was endorsing infant formula with ambiguous and unsafe strategies, using suppliers that violate human rights and promoting harmful food. On the other hand in recent years many companies gained a huge reputation mainly because of their ethical business practices, such as Xerox, Pepsi, Solae and many other well-known companies. Solae Company was positioned as one of the most Worlds Most Ethical Companies in Food Industry in 2010. Solae mostly gained its reputation through its core value which cornerstone of that they are and what they stand for, values such as public safety and health, high ethical behaviour and respect for people. 1.0 Nestlà © S.A 1.1 Nestlà © History Nestlà © S.A is the world largest fast moving customer goods company in the worldwide; Nestlà © was originated, founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland in 1906 by merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company and the Farine Lactà ©e Henri Nestlà © Company. Nestlà © start growing after the First World War following the Second World War by expanding its market from 13 to 86 countries around the world, the company currently has more than 283,000 employees. In 2000 Nestlà © joined the World Coca Foundation (WCF) in order to deal with issues associated by farmers, the WCF goal is to help farmer in earning more income, encouraging them for more efficient farming technique and environmental and social practices (Mcspotlight, 2002). The Nestle Business Principles form the companys culture which has been developed over the period of 140 years. Nestlà ©s Corporate Business Principles are handed out to its 282,000 worker along with training tool in order spread out the companys core values and mission. The Company management is allocated according to its demographic location, along with the exception of Nestle waters and nutrition which are managed by a global department (nestle, 2010). 2.0 Nestlà © Controversy and Criticism In past ten years Nestlà © Company was accused by many of experts and organisations around the world for unethical business practices in the way the company does its business, the company was involved in serious boycotts which ruined the company overall reputation in past years. In this essay we have discussed and analysis some of the most serious Nestlà © unethical business practices (Phdinparenting, 2010). 2.1 Unethical Marketing of Artificial Baby Milk One of the most critical issues that Nestlà © has been criticised for during past 15 years is the promotion of the use of infant formula to mothers across the world. Many believe that Nestlà © strategy for promoting its infant formula was misleading and harmful that violates both International Symbols of Marketing of Breast milk Substitutes and WHO Code amendable the marketing of breast milk substitutes (Mcspotlight, 2002). Nestlà ©s marketing campaign encouraged mothers across the world for bottle feeding instead of breast feeding, they used free sample to pursue this mission in addition Nestlà © implies that malnourished mothers and mothers with twins have not the ability to Breastfeed their child, despite many international health organisations claimed that there is no sufficient evidence to shore up this statement which could put both the mothers and babies life in danger (Corporatewatch, 2003). There have been numerous reports of direct advertisement targeting mothers across the world in countries such as Malaysia, South Africa and Ireland as a result advocacy groups and health organizations accused Nestlà © of unethical methods of promoting its milk and demand the company to immediately stop its marketing strategies (Mcspotlight, 2002). One of the Health organisations that criticised Nestlà © for its marketing strategy was IBFAN which believed Nestlà © is harming misleading mothers by offering them a free sample of milks as they are in hospitals, because as mothers are released from hospitals they have to continually buy Nestlà ©s formula since babies get adapted to the Nestlà ©s milk. IBFAN also maintained that Nestlà © exercise Humanitarian Aid to form markets by offering striking gifts and different sponsorships to influence health officials to market and promote its products by targeting young mothers who have given birth (Corporatewatch, 2003). 2.2 Using Suppliers That Violate Human Rights Another controversy issue faced by the company during past years was using suppliers that violate human rights, in 2009 BBC reported that Nestlà © buy its milk from a farm seized from its white owners which is now owned by the wife of Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe, they supply between 10% to 15% of Nestlà ©s local milk supply (Corporatewatch, 2003). However the company denies the proclamation and claims that the only reason they purchase their milk supply from its African supplier is to help meet the food needs of Zimbabwean consumers (BBC, 2009). 2.3 Exploiting Farmers In 2001, Nestlà © faced huge criticism for purchasing cocoa from the Ivory Coast and Ghana suppliers, which may have been produced using child slaves. An investigation by BBC showed that hundreds of children who lived in Mali, Burkina and Togo were being purchased from their parents and sent to countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana to be used in production of coca (BBC, 2001). Most of the children who work in coca farms are ranged between 12 to 14 years old, and are forced to work 80 to 100 hours each week while they are not paid fairly, barely fed and beaten regularly (Corporatewatch, 2003). After the widespread of these reports Nestlà © Company faced huge criticism from health and labour organisations around the world to put a stop to these anti-humanities act, as a result the company did not have any choice except to express its concern over the use of child labour in coca farms to, however the company never confirmed that non of its chocolate products derived from these anti-humanities resources (Mcspotlight, 2002). 2.4 Union Busting In late 2001, labour organisations accused Nestlà © for denying its worker right; one of the countries that most of the accusation came from was Columbia, in which eight worker of the company got assassinated because they were part of food and drink labour union called SINALTRAINAL; however there have been no evidence linked Nestlà © to these assassinations. In another example involving Nestlà © union busting, in 2001 the management of Nestlà © subsidiary Comestibles La Rosa threatened the company worker that they must either renounce their union membership or they should leave the company (Corporatewatch, 2003). 2.5 Promoting Unhealthy Food Nestle was recently criticized after a report by the UK consumers association claiming that 7 out of 13 of the Nestlà ©s breakfast cereals containing the highest level of fat, sugar and salt. In addition the company is accused for denying and ignoring the role of community responsibility in promoting its product to public, however the company has made so many changes in past few years in order to gain back its reputation as healthy food provider but still there are many who critics the company despite all the changes (Corporatewatch, 2003). 2.6 Illegal Extraction of Groundwater The company was also accused for abusing and ruining water resources in Brazil and United State. In the region of Serra da mantiqueira in Brazil which is known for its susceptible groundwater resources, Nestlà ©s over pumping action has resulted in exhaustion and long term damages to the region water resources (Corporatewatch, 2003). Nestlà ©s was accused because people of the Serra da mantiquira believe that the company action has changed the taste of their drinking water and also the over pumping has caused complete dry out on the main region water resources. Nestle used these water resources for producing mineral water called Pure Life (Phdinparenting, 2010). Unfortunately, after analyzing Nestlà ©s corporation act, clearly ethics has no place in the company long term strategy. This fact has greatly influenced companys reputation and has ruined its position in food industries around the world. After the widespread of these reports Nestlà © Company faced huge criticism from health and labour organisations around the world to put a stop to these anti-humanities act, as a result the company did not have any choice except to express its concern over the use of child labour in coca farms to, however the company never confirmed that non of its chocolate products derived from these anti-humanities resources (Mcspo tlight, 2002). 3.0 Solae Company 3.1 Solae History Solae LLC is an international soy supplier which is based in Louis, Missouri. This company is the world leader in developing and producing innovative soy technologies, meat and other nutritional products. The company was founded in 1958 by producing just industrial soy protein products; however Solae started producing other food product (such as baked goods, meats, beverages and nutrition bars) in 1973 after DuPont and Bunge created Solae Company as a joint venture (Solae, 2010). Solar use soybean resources around the world in order to create nutritious and great-tasting ingredients including baked goods, meats, beverages and nutrition bars which are consumed by thousands of customers and consumers in more than 120 countries worldwide. The company has approximately 2,400 employees in different parts of the world as well as North America, Asia, Latin America and Europe (Solae, 2010). Solaes commitment to innovation and development has resulted in production of new soy product tag along by more than 98 patent and 338 patents pending which is more than any other soy provider in the world (Solae, 2010). On 26 of March 2010, Solae Company was identified by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the worlds most ethical companies in food industry. Each year Ethisphere Institute gathers a list of 100 companies which it believes are the most ethical companies in the world. The institute recognise these companies on basis of attitude and future refinement (Ethisphere, 2010). The world most ethical companies are recognize not only making statements about doing business ethically but also translating those statements into action. Solae was ranked among on of the 100 most ethical companies in the world along with giant companies like Pepsi, Nike, Ford, Xerox, Henkel and LOreal in addition the company was positioned at top 5 most ethical companies in food and beverage industry joined by Campbell, Mills and PepsiCo (Ethisphere, 2010). Solaes commitment to environment is one of the core value developed by the company which has allowed the company continually improve and implement main manufacturing process and activities to reduce its impact on Mother Nature, It is believed that Solae track its activities across all manufacturing department in order to replicate successful improvement where it is needed. 4.0 Solae Ethical and Decent Practices Solae ethical and moral practices are inspired by the companys core value which mostly concentrate on what the company is and what it is stand for, Solae top executives believes the strength of the company begins with a deep commitment to ethics from the top to bottom in the company, ethical behaviour is one of the core values at Solae, which is important in both the companys professional and personal lives. According to Solae officials, at Solae ethic codes are designed to make sure that each of the companies personnel are constantly upholds the companys standards and objectives. Any act that deliberately violates the law or regulation to screen non-compliance with this Code of Conducts, or company overall policy is an ethical violates (Solae code of conduct, 2010). 4.1 Safety and Health Solae Company believes that in doing business all occupational illnesses, environmental incidents and injuries are preventable and can be controlled by implementing the right business practices along with providing the best and high quality foods to consumers. The companys overall goal is zero for incidents, meaning that safety and health are the most central aspects of Solae Company in different levels involved in manufacturing and promoting its products (Solae, 2010). Every employee at Solae is responsible for acting in reliance with safety and health law which was developed to prevent any incident involving employees and other Solae personnel. Managements in each department are responsible for training, educating and motivating employees to understand and act accordingly to applicable safety and health laws. 4.2 Sustainable Practices for Society Solae core value of environmental custodiantion is a significant example of the companys commitment for people in different societies. At Solae employees are expected to compete lawfully at all manners, they are also expected to protect the environment and to be a responsible keeper of the company operations, services and products in all levels of the company (Ethisphere, 2010). 4.3 Environmental Practices Since the company was founded, Solae mission has been to be the preferred universal partner in the expansion and delivery of nutritional and efficient solutions for its customers, the Company is constantly committed to promise to conduct business and operations with respect and care for the Mother Nature. Since Solae main business is product of soybean resources, the company pays a great respect and attention to environmental practices which helps to keep our nature green and un harmful. At Solae managers at each corporate level are held responsible for educating, training, motivating and instructing employees to understand the important of Solaes commitment to protect environment in addition each employee at Sola company has the responsibility to meet and fulfil the terms of Health and Environment which were developed to guide each employee in pursuing the companies mission and vision (Solae code of conduct, 2010). Solaes commitment to environment is one of the core value developed by the company which has allowed the company continually improve and implement main manufacturing process and activities to reduce its impact on Mother Nature, It is believed that Solae track its activities across all manufacturing department in order to replicate successful improvement where it is needed. The company has received several awards because of its environmentally friendly business practices around the world. For example: In 2009, the company headquarter in St.Lous was given a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Certificate for having the most energy efficient, greenest and high productive building in the region (Solae, 2010). In 2005, Solae received two awards from different non-profit organisations for reducing total energy consumed by the company by more than 10 percent and decreasing greenhouse emissions by 7.7 produce by the company (Solae, 2010). 4.4 Ethical Competition Law Practices It is believed that, Solae competes forcefully in the marketplace to best supply its customers needs and preferences. Solae Company has gain most of its reputation as a result of its Competition Laws which the company follow in most of the countries that operates, these laws are compound and can vary from country to country depending to its market place competition condition and pressure (Solae code of conduct, 2010). 4.5 Water and Energy Consumption Solae is well known around the world for its efficient water and energy consumption in compare with other companies involved in food industry. The company uses very low water resources in compare with other food manufacturing companies because soy uses less water than other kind of proteins such as meat, milk and eggs. In addition soy is known to be an efficient source of protein based on return amount of energy use in compare with other resources of proteins. C:UsersArmanDesktopvirtuawater.jpg C:UsersArmanDesktopenergyefficiency.jpg USDA; FAO/ UNICEF, USA Protein Advisory Group (2005) As it can be seen beef, pork and chicken consume 5 or 6 times more water than soy products and soy much more efficient source of protein based on return amount of energy use in compare with milk, chicken, eggs and beef. 4.6 Equal Opportunity Non Discrimination Solae Company is strictly against any discrimination regarding any companys personnel or new application who wishes to join the group because of race, sex, age, colour, national origin, marital status, expression or ancestry. According to Solaes core value employees are treated the same despite their position in the company (Solae, 2010). Conclusion To sum up, Core values are particularly critical in these days as we operate in markets around the world and aiming to serve customers with different needs and ideas. Obviously at Solae Company the central attention is to understand responsibilities and obligations toward individuals and environment. As experiment has shown us a companys success is pretty much dependent on ethics and moral which builds a long term reputation for both the company and industry. Unfortunately, after analyzing Nestlà ©s corporation act, clearly ethics has no place in the company long term strategy. This fact has greatly influenced companys reputation and has ruined its position in food industries around the world. As a result the concept of ethics has become one of the most important aspects of management duty. For companies as big and successful as Solae and Nestle training employees to follow ethical and social principles are key success factor and has to be observed and practice continually. Many businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line or in other words they just want to be in business; on the other hand there are many businesses that making money does not mean everything to them, but doing the right thing and having responsibility and commitment toward society have far more importance. Solae has to continue its effort in practicing ethical principles in all company levels and Nestle has to change its long term strategy and pay attention to what is right and wrong.

Motivation For Drowsiness Detection Information Technology Essay

Motivation For Drowsiness Detection Information Technology Essay Monitoring the drivers action while driving by examining the manoeuvred of the vehicle can be a very prominent task in order to enhance safety while driving. To differentiate between unintentional and intentional car steering wheel inputs, will be the main key element to be discovered, such as a sudden large steering input could indicate the drivers level of alertness. Almost all the statistics have identified driver drowsiness as a high priority vehicle safety issue. Drowsiness has been estimated to be involved in 10-40 per cent of crashes on motorways [5, 6]. Fall-asleep crashes are very serious in terms of injury severity and more likely to occur in sleep-deprived individuals [8]. Drowsiness influences mental alertness, decreasing an individuals capability to handle a vehicle safely and expanding the possibility of a human mistakes that could lead to deaths and injuries. Furthermore, it has been indicated to slow response time, decreases awareness, and impairs judgment. A drowsy driver is unable to predict when he or she will have an uncontrolled sleep onset [9]. There is an increased interest with respect to the design and advancement of computer controlled automotive applications to overcome those problems by enhancing safety to reduce accidents, increase traffic flow, and enhance comfort for drivers. This thesis presented a way to detect drowsiness in driver non intrusively by warning the drivers, preventing accidents and to improve safety on the motorways. This method is employing Support Vector Machine (SVM) to train the classifier by using steering wheel angle, distance to outside lane and acceleration as an input to the SVM. All the parameters extracted from vehicle parameter data collected in a driving simulator. With all the features, a SVM drowsiness detection model is constructed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would also like to extend my appreciation to Mr John Mellor Dr Ping Jiang for his assistance in educating, assisting and helping me on the preparation of this thesis and who has supported the work not just financially but also provided very valuable feedback and guiding ideas for the production of this thesis. Chapter 1 This chapter illustrates a general overview of this research. Background information related to the topic of drowsiness detection and support vector machine along with research objectives are introduced. Related literature is reviewed in this section, linking relevant topics to the research presented here. Finally, an outline of the thesis and a brief description on the contents of each chapter are also presented. Introduction The proposed non intrusive drowsiness warning system uses a integration technique comprise of vision sensor to obtain road information and steering wheel angle data logger. Both parameters are taken from road simulation experiment. The system is composed of three main processes; To obtain the road information by calculating the distance of the outside lanes from vision input and extracting the steering wheel angle data. These data are used for training and testing intentions during the modelling of the SVM. To give a proper warning to the driver to eliminate false alarm. It is most important that a drowsiness warning system guarantee safety and reliance. Therefore the system must reliably as well as estimate the driver vehicle state in order to give proper warning. It must also consider driving habits and intention of the driver to be of practical use. Research Aim Objectives The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the study of driver behaviour while driving, through the development and evaluation of a drowsiness driver model system. Non-intrusive is chosen as a method due to comfort to the drivers. The result from the research will be integrated to produce the systems that can be efficient in detecting the drowsiness level at an early stage by giving a warning to them about their lack of attention due to drowsiness or other factors. In other words, they can correct the behavior or stop driving when they in the drowsiness state. This system will need to be robust against model mismatch and disturbances and comfort constraints. The objective of this research is to identify the current drowsiness detection by investigating flexible methods for studying the relationships between drivers manoeuvre performances whiles the vehicle on the move and the physiological driver drowsiness states. This thesis paper outlines the design and development of a system that focuses on drivers drowsiness detection and prediction through the following methods:-. Monitoring the driver behaviour by observing the vehicle manoeuvre stability and performance. Validate and measure the progress by using Specific algorithm. Updating the current performance by comparing with the last action stored in system database. Warning the drivers if the behaviour beyond the thresholds. To increase the detection and its reliability of the prediction, the methods stated earlier will be used. Here we will employ machine learning methods to classify the data of actual human behaviour during drowsiness. This will be done by studying and evaluating the learning phase identification of a driver driving pattern. After that we will look to evaluate the parameters comprehensively. In the detection phase on-line model adaptive identification; model error classification; drowsiness alert model will be studied. By implement a control system mechanism that integrates human and machine for classification of the dynamic model for drowsiness detection using information from various sources for achieving a probabilistic best possible alert. Scope The scope of the thesis is defined as follows: The road manoeuvre will be restricted to simulation environment only. There are no obstacles in the road lane, and thus there is no collision-avoidance aspect to manoeuvre. It is assumed the vehicle will operate with a fix velocity range of 50km/h. Two main parameters will be an indictor for the system detection consists of distance to outside lane and steering wheel angle. Motivation for drowsiness detection. Driver drowsiness is a significant factor in the increasing number of accidents on todays roads and has been extensively accepted [2]. This proof has been verified by many researchers that have demonstrated ties between driver drowsiness and road accidents. Although it is hard to decide the exact number of accidents due to drowsiness, it is much likely to be underestimated. The above statement shows the significance of a research with the objective of reducing the dangers of accidents anticipated to drowsiness. So far, researchers have tried to model the behavior by creating links between drowsiness and certain indications related to the vehicle and to the driver [2,3,4]. Previous approaches to drowsiness detection primarily make pre-assumptions about the relevant behavior, focusing on blink rate, eye closure, and yawning [29,30]. The automobile business also has tried to build several systems to predict driver drowsiness but there are only a few commercial products available today[31]. The systems do not look at driver performance and overlook driver ability and characteristics. Naturally, most people would agree that different people drive differently. The system that being develop able to adapt to the changes of the drivers behaviour. Contributions The contributions of thesis research extend to five areas. The introduction of a fully integrated drowsiness warning system with specific algorithms to detect driver condition. The main contribution of this study is it contributes an algorithm of drowsiness driver detection and tracking which based on incorporation of vision and vehicle performance parameter. The implementation of support vector machine for robust and accurate drowsiness warning system. The input incorporation from vision and data logger provides an efficient method for detecting drowsiness driver under varying mode and road conditions. Consideration of various type of driver with various conditions in order to build the system. Software tool Support Vector Machine In the way classifying things Support Vector Machine is the modern technique in the field of machine learning and has been successfully used in many fields of application. The aim of this thesis is not to give a comprehensive demonstration about the theoretical background but to reveal the fundamental functionality to get an extensive understanding how SVMs work. The thesis also summaries what has to be considered when SVMs are applied, which fields of application exist and what the fields of researches nowadays are. The machine is a learning algorithm for performing classification and regression via a hyperplane in a large virtual feature space. For classification, the SVM is given a set of inputs called the training set, and attempts to automatically determine a hyperplane in feature space that separates these inputs into two classes. The hyperplane allows the machine to make an informed classification on a test vector where the true classification is unknown. Based on the assumption that the test vector and the training set are drawn from the same source, the SVM has predictable bounds on getting the classification of the test vector correct. For regression, the SVM similarly uses training vectors but derives a hyperplane-based function that can estimate a real valued function. One of the things that set SVMs apart from more traditional linear systems is their use of what is known as a kernel function. Kernels functions which allow the SVM to classify features that are nonlinear functions of the training vector attributes. While it performs this classification in a space of very high dimensionality (the feature space), it only requires computation in the smaller dimensional space of the training vectors (attribute space or input space). The other thing that sets SVMs apart is parametrically controlling the capacity of the SVM (its VC Dimension) to avoid underfitting and overfitting. Let take some example what if you do if you have given a collection of oranges and apples, and you being asked to differentiate between the two types of fruit? Within a second, everyone can immediately separate them based on how they look and feel. Although this problem of differentiating orange and apples does not look very complex, automating this process turns out to be fairly complex. What should be the basis for the decision to call an object orange, and another object apple? This problem is called classification in order to assign a new object to one of a set of classes, which are known already. The classifier which should perform this classification operation, is based on a set of example objects. This thesis will not focus on this classification problem though, but on the next problem, the problem of one-class classification. Here an object should be classified as a genuine object (orange or apple), or an outlier object (another type of fruit). The one-class classification problem differs in one essential aspect from the conventional classification problem. In one-class classification it is assumed that only information of one of the classes, the target class, is available. This means that just example objects of the target class can be used and that no information about the other class of outlier objects is present. The boundary between the two classes has to be estimated from data of only the normal, genuine class. The task is to define a boundary around the target class, such that it accepts as much of the target objects as possible, while it minimizes the chance of accepting outlier objects. MATLAB: MATLAB is a matrix-based numerical computing environment and programming language developed by The MathWorks. Simulink was used extensively for modelling, simulating, and analysing the drowsiness detection system. By using the Simulink application such as Hough Transform, Hough Lines and Kalman Filter blocks to create a lane detection and tracking algorithm. Thesis Outline Chapter 2: describes the literature review. Chapter 3: Definitions of variables associated with this particular approach for solving the problem are discussed. Chapter 4: Summarizes the results of this research and presents findings from the parametric study. Chapter 5: Finally, the conclusion of the research and recommendation on future research are provided in Appendix contains the major experiment files used to perform the simulation. Chapter 2.0: Literature Review The initial phase of this thesis was the preparation of a literature review. This review included literature from past research projects, conferences and journals on the drowsiness detection system. A comprehensive search was studied and has been reviewed to identify key studies, reports and researches initiative addressing drowsiness toward driving issues. It is attended to investigate the available knowledge in the field and to distinguish the most encouraging indicators of drowsiness drivers. Most of these methodologies have only been developed in the laboratory or have had a limited application on-road. In the current development of the drowsiness detection system, the possible techniques can be generally divided into the several categories. This category technique includes measures of: The drivers current state, especially relating to the eye and eyelid movements and physiological state changes. Driver performance, with a focus on the vehicles behaviour including lateral position and headway. A combination of the drivers current state and driver performance. We can conclude the methodology can be separated into two sections: Intrusive methods Electroencephalography Some researchers have looked at the use of EEG as a method for detecting drowsiness. Most of these studies have used EEG to verify the existence of drowsiness when other measures are being evaluated rather than as a fatigue-detection measure [12]. For example, a study by [13] demonstrated substantial relationships between an EEG algorithm for detecting fatigue and drowsiness under simulated conditions. The biggest disadvantage associated with EEG as an on-road drowsiness detection device is the difficulty in obtaining recordings under natural driving conditions; making it a slightly unrealistic option for the detection of drowsiness. In summary the transition from wakefulness to sleep can be described as a shift towards slower frequencies in the EEG. The process different between individuals but seems to be consistent within the individual [10, 11]. EEG is widely received as a good indicator of the transition between wakefulness and sleep as well as between the different sleep stages. When a driver gets drowsy a burst of alpha activity can often be seen in the central regions of the brain. An increase in alpha activity is thus the first sign of drowsiness. As the driver gets drowsier, alpha activity is replaced by theta activity. When delta activity occurs in the EEG the driver is no longer awake, this is an indicator of deep sleep [10]. Electrooculography Electrooculography is a method used for measuring the potential difference between the front and back of the eye ball. The EOG can therefore be used for detection of eye movements and blinks. The eye is a dipole with the positive cornea in the front and the negative retina in the back and the potential between cornea and retina lies in the range 0.4 1.0 mV. When the eyes are fixated straight ahead a steady baseline potential is measured by electrodes placed around the eyes. When moving the eyes a change in potential is detected as the poles come closer or farther away from the electrodes. The sign of the change depends on the direction of the movement [10]. EOG is measured by placing electrodes around the eyes. Usually silver-silver chloride electrodes are used as they show negligible drift and develop almost no polarization potentials. The electrodes should be placed as near the eyes as possible to maximize the measured potential. Problems with EOG measurement are artefacts that arise from muscle potentials and small electromagnetic disturbances that can be induced in the cables. To reduce the impedance between skin and electrode, the skin must be cleaned carefully before measurement and electrode paste should be used [10]. When measuring blinks related characteristics, the sampling frequency should be high (at least 500 Hz) as a high resolution is required to measure small differences in for example blink duration. DC recording is preferable, while filtering the low frequency components away makes the detection of long blinks difficult. One problem with DC recording however, is the risk of slow baseline drift, which makes it important to monitor the EOG signal and adjust for the drift during the measurement [14]. Non Intrusive methods PERCLOS PERCLOS (Percent Eye Closure) is a video-based method that measures eye closure. One of the strengths of PERCLOS is that attempts have been made to establish its validity as a fatigue detection device. Satisfactory relationships were obtained between eye closure and lapses in attention, providing some convergent evidence. When a measure correlates with other tests believed to measure the same construct of the systems ability to detect the current state of the driver. Furthermore, PERCLOS showed the clearest relationship with performance on a driving simulator in comparison to a number of other potential drowsiness detection devices including two electroencephalographic (EEG) algorithms, a head tracker device, and two wearable eye-blink monitors. PERCLOS is the most reliable and valid measure of a drivers alertness level between many drowsiness detection measures. According to a study performed by [17], drivers in an automobile simulator exhibit certain characteristics when drowsy, that can be easily observed in eye and facial changes [17]. Alert drivers were reported to have normal facial tone, and fast eye blinks with short ordinary glances. Drowsy drivers were reported to have decreased facial tone and slower eyelid. Gaze Direction Other potentially good fatigue parameters include various parameters that characterize the pupil movement, which relates to the driver gaze and awareness of the happenings in surroundings area. The movement of a persons pupil (gaze) may have the potential to indicate ones intention and mental condition. For example, for a driver, the nominal gaze is frontal. Looking at other directions for an extended period of time may indicate fatigue or inattention. In addition, when people are drowsy, their visual awareness cannot cover a wide enough area, concentrating on one direction. Hence, gaze (deliberate fixation) and saccade eye movement may contain information about the ones level of alertness. Many recent efforts [18, 19] produce a computer vision system that can extract various parameters in real time to characterize an eyelid movement, gaze, head movement, and facial expression. The major benefits of the visual measures are that they can be acquired non-intrusively. Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS). LDWS system is used to determine the position of the vehicle on the road. It is used either to warn the driver when the vehicle is on a white line (like rumble strips) or to predict when the driver is in danger of departing from the road, which rumbles strips cannot do [20]. A vehicle lateral position or lane departure situation occurs when the vehicle runs off the road, either on the left or on the right side of the road. This kind of situation is also called Run-Off-Road (ROR) or Single Vehicle Roadway Departure (SVRD). It is defined in [21] as the crashes where the first harmful event is the vehicle leaving the road high way. The simplest system is the rumble strip in which it alerts the driver when he is in a situation of lane departure in order to avoid ROR crashes. Rumble strips are areas of grooved pavement usually situated under the white lines of the road. When the vehicle drifts to the line, its tire hits a rumble strip, which vibrates the vehicle and makes a loud noise, alerting the driver to take a corrective action. This simple system is efficient since it has been shown to reduce the number of run off road crashes by 70% [22] but requires infrastructure modification. Another approach is to use a system inside the vehicle, which detects when the driver is in danger of departing from the road, and trigger an alarm in time for the driver to react. Steering wheel algorithm. Studies indicate that the steering wheel variability increases with the amount of drowsiness [23]. The steering movements also become larger and occur less often, and the lateral position variability increases as the driver gets drowsier. Also, the speed variability increases and the minimum distance to any lead vehicle decreases. The reaction time to any unexpected events also gets longer with increased drowsiness. Different studies have shown that there is a relationship between various steering related variables and the sleepiness of the driver. The steering related variables have the advantage that they are easy to measure since they require no camera or image processing. The drawback is that these variables are dependent upon the road curvature and are therefore mostly reliable on highways. [24] Other literature review has studied drowsiness detection by using steering angle rotation as an input to detect drowsiness by tracking steering angle by using a camera [25]. It tracks the steering wheel angle by using a single camera system put on inside the car. The approach is based on the modelling of the motion of the steering wheel, as it appears perceptively distorted by the point of view of the un-calibrated camera. The system has some disadvantages such as the steering image being block by the drivers head, light beam that confuses the feature detection algorithm and camera setup that not suitable for a portable application in monitoring steering angle analysis. Another drowsiness detection algorithm is based on the steering wheel. This algorithm works with three kinds of functions [26]: Time based functions (weighting functions developed from the time variations of the angle and the angular velocity), Frequency based functions (weighting functions developed from the variations in the power spectrum) Phase based functions (weighting functions developed from the variations in the angle plotted against the angular velocity). This algorithm is interesting because it proposes new detection ideas, such as the use of the phase diagram. The algorithm was tested on a special track with really drowsy drivers and it seemed to work pretty well. However, it has been created using data from drives on straight roads, so it may only work for straight roads, similar to motorways. Head position monitoring rotation. The advantage of computer vision techniques is that they are non-invasive, and thus are more amenable to use by the general public. There are some significant previous studies about drowsiness detection using computer vision techniques. Most of the published research on computer vision approaches to detection of drowsiness has focused on the analysis of blinks and head movements. It has been studied that these drivers exhibits certain physiological patterns that are expected and detectible. The standard head bobbing movement, where the drivers head drops and then rapidly pulls back upward is one of the patterns that is frequently displayed when an individual is becoming drowsy while seated in an upright position. Head movement like nodding or inclination is a good indicator of a drivers drowsiness or the onset of drowsiness [27]. It could also indicate ones attention. Head movement parameters such as head orientation, movement speed, frequency, etc. could potentially indicate ones level of attention. Finally, facial expression may also provide information about ones attention. For example, a typical facial expression that indicates the onset of drowsiness is yawning. Head monitoring tracking is a significant process for many vision-driven interactive user interfaces. The acquired position and orientation allow for pose determination and recognition of simple gestures such as nodding and head shaking. The stabilized image obtained by perspective de-warping of the facial image according to the acquired parameters is ideal for facial expression recognition [28] or face recognition applications. There are several commercial products capable of accurate and reliable 3D head position and orientation estimation. These are either based on magnetic sensors or on special markers placed on the face; both practices causing discomfort and limiting natural motion. Also, commercial systems based on gaze tracking employing infrared illumination do guarantee reliable detection of eye location, at the cost, however of restrictions placed on head position and orientation Head monitoring system developed by Advanced Safety Concepts, Inc. is the non-contact Proximity Array Sensing System (PASS), is an apparatus designed to record the x, y and z coordinates of the head at electronic rates using three electromagnetic fields. Its development is based on research that indicates a relationship between micro-motion of the head and impairment or drowsiness. It is hypothesized by ASC that changes in the X, Y, Z coordinates of the head may be an indicator of drowsiness onset, and that PASS may detect micro-sleeps based on different head movement patterns. Advanced Safety Concepts, Inc. reports that in laboratory tests, the PASS system has detected changes in head position as little as 0.0 l, while providing absolute XYZ resolution of head position to about 0.1. Disadvantages of current system. PERCLOS Disadvantages. PERCLOS stands for Percent Eye Closure. The technical definition is the percent of time a drivers eyes are closed. Sometimes a driver who is trying to stay awake can fall asleep with his eyes open, this is the disadvantage of PERCLOS. Another problem with this system is that the curve for warning is very steep at the end, which means that no warning is given at an early stage, and then the situation is very serious quickly. LDWS Disadvantages. Lane departure warning systems (LDWS) are system that currently being use to detect drowsiness. If the driver is drowsy, sooner or later the vehicle will drift to the side of the road and when it crosses the lane boundaries a warning signal is given to alert the driver. The problem with this system is that the warning signal is given every time the driver crosses the line, it does not take into consideration that the crossing could be intentional. TLC. Disadvantages. A commonly used variable in the warning algorithm of the LDWS is the Time to Line Crossing (TLC). The Time-to-Line Crossing (TLC), is the estimated time it takes for the vehicle to cross the line, which is based on a predicted path of the vehicle and the speed. The major problem with TLC is its computation in real time while driving on the road. Moreover, the computation is different on straight roads and on curve roads. EEG Disadvantages. To measure this signal while driving causes annoyance to the driver, because multiple sensors have to be attached to the driver. This can affect the driver so much that it changes the driving behaviour, which is not good at all in traffic safety research. Eye Detection Systems Disadvantages. The eye detection systems are good but not perfect, when the driver is wearing glasses there might be errors in the detection, which in some systems lead to false warnings. Sunglasses cause problems that almost none of the systems can deal with, which makes the inattention detection almost impossible when the driver is wearing sunglasses. Different ethnical people are another problem, the eyes of Asian people differ from European people, but most manufacturers claim that it should not be a problem. Research Approach Several elements have been taken into a consideration into designing the drowsiness detection system. Some researchers have already followed this route with encouraging results. By using several hypotheses and finding transformations in vehicle and driver behaviour, three based parameters will be tested for potential to predict the vehicle behaviour characteristic. In the investigation the signal will be recorded for a various driver, therefore data recorded each of the driver will were analyzed. It is important to notice that the data, of each individual driver has his own style of driving pattern. Diameter to Lane. As we all known Lane Departure Warning System can determine the position of the vehicle on the road. This position can then be used either to warn the driver when the vehicle is on a white line or to predict when the driver is in danger of departing from the road, [4]. The technique that we plan to use is to measures the distance between the car coordination toward the road lane border. It is a relevant suggestion because LDWS normally triggered when it reaches the lane. By the way it was too late to notice the drivers. Steering wheel angle. Studies indicate that the steering wheel variability increases with the amount of drowsiness [5]. The steering movements also become larger and occur less often, and the lateral position variability increases as the driver gets drowsier. Changes of velocity. More recent research demonstrated that speed variability was higher for sleep-deprived drivers than for control drivers [6].

Organizational Psychology :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Organizational Psychology The University of Tulsa prepares Industrial/Organizational psychologists to deal with individual problems in the workplace. This philosophy matches my research area of interest on the effects of individual differences in the work environment. I believe that individual differences influence nearly every aspect of human behavior and interaction, including those in the workplace. By necessity, a successful manager is one who understands the potential influences of individual differences in the work environment. As an example, the management style utilized (as I have learned first hand) must match the personalities of the employees being managed. By conducting research in this area, theory relevant to motivating individually diverse employees may be developed and then applied. Of particular interest is the motivation of aging employees. The elimination of a mandatory retirement age has greatly increased the need for further research in this area. My interest in the University of Tulsa is strengthened by the required practicum and field experience, as well as, excellent faculty and facilities. I intend to pursue a career in applied research and organizational consulting, therefore, these qualities are imperative to myself and my career. My career goals are to: (a) initially gain practical experience in the field through employment with a consulting firm, and (b) eventually acquire a teaching position with a college or university, while continuing research and consulting endeavors. It is my intention to contribute empirically based findings to the Industrial/Organizational psychology field through my research and practice. I also hope to be a strong influence and encouragement in students' lives through my contact with them during their academic careers. I have assisted Dr. Whitsett of the University of Northern Iowa psychology department in the writing of his book on merging companies with different organizational cultures. For Dr. Whitsett, I selected and condensed pertinent information from audio-taped organizational interviews. Dr. Whitsett's book has not yet been submitted for publication. My research experience will be expanded during the spring, when I will be assisting Dr. Whitsett with a research endeavor on Vroom's Expectancy Theory. I will also be a teaching assistant for Dr. Whitsett's psychology research methods class. I believe I possess particular strengths that will contribute to my success in a graduate program. I am intrinsically motivated, possess a strong desire to remain "on task", and I persevere when confronted with obstacles and difficulties. Also, being a disciplined person, I have developed very useful time management skills to handle my busy work and class schedule during my undergraduate education.

The Lottery Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Message Sent in â€Å"The Lottery†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shock value of Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† is not only widely known, but also widely felt. Her writing style effectively allows the reader to pass a judgment on themselves and the society in which they live. In â€Å"The Lottery† Jackson is making a comparison to human nature. It is prominent in all human civilizations to take a chance as a source of entertainment and as this chance is taken, something is both won and lost.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As long as human civilization has existed, so has the idea of death or suffering, or taking a chance of death or suffering, as a form of entertainment. This can be traced back as far the day of the Roman gladiator, when an event was staged in a coliseum where people watched someone lose their life as a form of entertainment. Also, executions, once public, provide entertainment as they cause an inescapable excitement as an escape from the normal routine of daily life. This form of entertainment is displayed in â€Å"The Lottery† as the character Tessie Hutchinson is stoned in public because she won the town’s annual lottery and as the character Old Man Warner claims in the story, â€Å"There’s always been a lottery† (Jackson 275). People also take a chance of harming themselves for entertainment in event of drug usage or extreme sports. The townspeople harm themselves in â€Å"The Lottery† by harming another person. However, this form of entertainment can also take another...