E-paper At Its Best essays

E-paper At Its Best essays I bet you have never heard about this device called E-paper. The company that produces it believes that this device would be the first to be truly mass-produced, and may even reach production levels of one million per year by the end of 2005. Since the company seems so confident of their new product, there must be something about this amazing device. First of all, you can download several programs and images into your E-paper. It is similar to a computer; you can put the program you want inside it. Now, instead of a computer, you got a new choice! Imagine what conveniences it can bring to those poor students. Being able to download book programs as well, students can free themselves from the age-old hassle of carrying bulky textbooks inside their backpacks. Furthermore, since reducing paper waste is one of the top priorities now, people seem to put more focus on this reusable device. Of course, since it has a paper in its name, instead that it shapes like a piece of paper, it is also flexible and rollable, too! You can fold and stick it in your pocket, roll it up and put in your bag, or, just grab it and carry away with you! The device is a rectangular screen just three times thickness of a sheet of paper and measures five inches diagonally. It curls into a tube less than two inches in diameter. Now you can see the differences between an E-paper and a computer. What type of computer is able to be treated this way? Now, what surprises me most is: how much does this thing weigh, anyway? The lightest and handiest NBs now known weigh 785~825 grams. However, an E-paper weighs only 3.5 grams! You cannot even feel the existence of it while carrying it in your bag, not to mention it to be a burden. Since E-papers have so many advantages that other products cannot offer, I believe in the future, it can be extensively used. What is more, probably everyone would have his or her own E-paper. Prepare to ...

Prefixes and How to Use Them

Prefixes and How to Use Them Prefixes and How to Use Them Although we’ve got nothing on German, the English language sometimes involves putting different â€Å"parts† of words or even whole words together to make a new term. And prefixes are a big part of this. But what exactly are prefixes? And how do you use them in your writing? What Are Prefixes? A â€Å"prefix† is a group of letters placed at the start of a word to change its meaning. We can even see how this works using the word â€Å"prefix† itself, which is a combination of â€Å"pre-† and â€Å"fix†: â€Å"Pre-† is a prefix meaning â€Å"before† or â€Å"in front of.† â€Å"Fix† is a verb meaning â€Å"attach.† Combined, then, the word â€Å"prefix† indicates something we â€Å"attach† to the start of a word. There are many different prefixes in English. Some common examples include: Prefix Meaning Example Anti- Against or opposed to Antisocial, antiviral Auto- Related to the self or spontaneous Automatic, autobiography De- Reverse or reduce Devalue, decode Dis- Reverse or negate Disobey, disappear En- Cause to be or put into Enact, encase Ex- Out of or former Extract, ex-girlfriend Il-, Im-, In- or Ir- Not or negate Illegal, immobile, insufficient, irresponsible Mis- Incorrect Misbehave, misspell Post- After, later or behind Postseason, postscript Pre- Before or in front of Prefix, prefrontal Pro- Favoring or promoting Proclaim, pro-democracy Re- Repeat or restore Refresh, rewrite Sub- Below or less than Submarine, substandard Trans- Across or beyond Transatlantic, transgender Un- Reverse or negate Unzip, undo When to Hyphenate In the table above, you may notice that we hyphenate the words â€Å"ex-girlfriend† and â€Å"pro-democracy.† This is because you should use a prefix with a hyphen in certain cases, including: In most cases after â€Å"ex-† and â€Å"self-† (e.g., self-assessment) When combined with a proper noun (e.g., anti-Nazi) To prevent using the same vowel twice in a row (e.g., anti-inflammatory) To clarify meaning (e.g., to â€Å"recover† is to return to strength or regain something, but if we said we had â€Å"re-covered† something we would mean we have covered it again) There are exceptions to these rules (e.g., â€Å"cooperate† is usually spelled without a hyphen despite the double â€Å"o†). But they are useful guidelines when you’re not sure whether to use a hyphen. Tricky Prefixes Finally, a quick warning. The English language has borrowed lots of words from lots of places, so it is common for similar words to have different meanings. And the same applies to prefixes. For example, the â€Å"in-† in â€Å"inaccurate† is a negation, so it is the opposite of â€Å"accurate.† However, the word â€Å"inflammable† means the same as â€Å"flammable,† not the opposite! This is because the â€Å"in-† from â€Å"inflammable† is from the same root as â€Å"en-† in words like â€Å"enrich† or â€Å"entrust.† It therefore means â€Å"cause to be,† which is very different from negating something. As such, be careful when using prefixes, as they may not mean what they seem! And if you’d like help checking your prefix use, just let us know.

The Video of the USC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Video of the USC - Essay Example As seen in the video, the students are very responsive and assertive in contributing their knowledge and experiences to the aforementioned issues that have been the matter of a heated debate for several years. The teacher acts as a facilitator throughout the discussion. She also engages in the discussion to reiterate the need to understand these contexts. Her teaching style is relatively effective, as can be inferred from the video, since she welcomes all the points and contentions of the students. Ultimately, the issues of racism, gender and class stratification in society that affect the children are being dealt with in the video in a proper way; the teaching style can be deemed fit to address the issue and to provide an avenue for intellectual fermentation. 2. Analysis and Interpretation of the Video In its totality, the video evokes an inherent complexity about the issues of race, gender and class division in society. These issues affect the quality of education received by the s tudents. There is a structural problem in terms of implementing educational policies, since there is classification between the students and the selection of a manner of teaching can be problematic (McDermott et al 2008, p. 3). As there in attempt to make the kids realize the importance of engaging with these issues, there is a need to look at the relations of the social structures that affect the kids (McDermott et al 2008, p. 5). Is it important, and to what extent? For Rodgers, there is a need to analyze this matter, since it affects the intellectual condition and perception of the kids inside the classroom (2002, p. 231). The teacher-student relationship is considered to be very vital. This vitality is important; there is an intrinsic irony about American democracy where the person aspires to be accepted by others, yet there is dominance of racist practices despite of the attempts to eliminate them (McDermott et al 2008, p. 4). In relation to the video, the aforementioned ideas have been highlighted. The teacher tries to provide a very conducive learning environment that makes the children aware of racism, sexism and economic classification through a synthetic understanding of history and the political-economic structures that linger in society. As pointed out by McDermott et al, this manner implemented by the teacher to address the complexity of the matter shows that there is a need for reformulation of teaching methods. They must take into consideration the capacity of every student regardless of gender, race, and class (2008, p 13). This is considered a good step towards integration and understanding which will eventually abolish the racist and sexist practices that pose a detriment to the students’ learning capacity. Another positive aspect of the video is the very interactive approach that the teacher implements in making the subject matter interesting to the students. This shows a very reflective learning condition, wherein the understanding o f the students regarding the subject is based upon the input of the teacher and allows them to formulate their own approach which highlights independent thinking and critical reasoning (Rodgers 2002, p. 233). The verbal exchange between the stude

Wrapping the semester up for portfolio Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wrapping the semester up for portfolio - Article Example In addition, Montaigne hates cruelty against living things. He questions the presumption that human beings can and should rule over other creatures when the former could be so cruel to the latter. He gives examples of how ancient peoples despised cruelty against human beings and animals too, even those who/that have wronged them. Montaigne argues that torture and the death penalty are examples of human cruelty. He does not approve of cruelty because it violates the human sensibility for compassion and it turns humans into inhumane monsters. Jane Kramer describes Montaigne’s writings about the â€Å"self,† most especially, his â€Å"self.† Montaigne was 38 years old when he started writing his essays for the purpose of pursuing â€Å"Myself† or his identity. Kramer advises that people can best read Montaigne through his own observation of himself. By the self, she refers to Montaigne’s second life, because his identity in his writings is detached from his real life. She wonders why Montaigne did not speak with more details about his life. He did not connect his beliefs to his own experiences as a politician, family man, and a man with religion. She indicates that this must have enriched his thoughts about many more issues. She adds that Montaigne did not discuss other important political and social issues in his time too. Moreover, Kramer notes that Montaigne criticizes his essays for lack of unity. He also admits to fearing fear most of all, although, before he died, he accepted his f ear of emptiness that comes after death. Kramer ends with Montaigne’s desire to be statesman again. However, before he returns to a political post, he has become too sick of his kidney stones to perform his political functions. WikiHow describes the method of writing a five paragraph essay. It starts with an introduction that sets the tone and hooks the audience. The hook must be followed by the topic and then the thesis. The thesis must be coherent and

Comment on the reaction of the characters Essay Example for Free

Comment on the reaction of the characters Essay How does Miller create tension in this episode? Comment on the reaction of the characters. (Pages 35-42) Eddie feels threatened by his young guest, Rodolpho the blond Italian immigrant. The reasons why Eddie feels threatened are based on the fact that Catherine seems interested in Rodolpho. Eddie being her guardian for so many years feels that Catherine is drifted away from him and blames Rodolpho for that. Eddie never showed how he really felt about Rodolpho but throughout this scene some tension between the two characters is clearly conveyed by their actions and words. The first clear sign of tensions arises when the main characters are talking about lemons on trees. Eddie makes a joke about how oranges are painted to make them look orange. Marco claims in Italy oranges are orange. Rodolpho then says that lemons are green. What Rodolpho said seems so non-provoking but Eddie uses it to sound resentful towards Rodolpho for no reason at all. Eddie openly expresses his feelings. Beatrice tried to divert attention since she senses tension arising by asking Marco personal questions. The tension does not become unnoticed. Eddie shifts the discussion they are having that girls in Italy are strict to use it against Rodolpho, once more revealing the bad feelings he has for him. Eddie point out to Rodolpho that girls in the states also are not so free and those girls without a shawl or a black dress are taken for less strict by some. Rodolpho picks up quite well what Eddie tries to say. He can see where Eddie is coming from. He is not that nai ve as we thought he was at the start of the play. Rodolpho can understand that this discussion is really about Catherine and the time he spends with her. He tries to defend himself by saying to Eddie he always has respect about Catherine. Eddie tries to explain to Marco what he is trying to say and Marco sensing himself some tension he replies to Eddie cautiously. Tension increases due to Beatrices intervention in the conversation. She clearly defends Rodolpho by telling to Eddie that Rodolpho didnt dragged Catherine off. The same time Beatrice is going against her husband. Now we dont only sense tension between Rodolpho and Eddie but also between the couple. Beatrice points out to Eddie to be an uncle to Catherine. She intervenes strictly. Beatrice plays an important role in this episode because she highlights the tension between her and Eddie and also tries to influence Catherine. She tells Catherine to explain to Eddie why she and Rodolpho were late. She is trying to get Catherine involved, to stand up for herself. Marco also gets involved since he is the big brother and guardian of Rodolpho. He tries to ease tension with Eddie. Marco advises Rodolpho on some things to please Eddie and calm things down. Marco also reaches the point of apologizing to Eddie. He feels uncomfortable. Eddie justifies his arguments that Rodolpho shouldnt stay out late with Catherine because the more he is out the bigger the chances of him being caught. Beatrice once more defends Rodolpho. She says that the same chances exist in the daytime also. With the stage direction indicating Eddie is holding back a voice full of anger illustrates the conflict between the couple. Catherine doesnt stay quiet with all these happening around her. The whole conversation and tension is about her and she gets her chance to react to Eddies awkward behavior. Catherine becomes provoking and in a way rebels against Eddie by asking Rodolpho to dance with her. From the stage direction we see Eddies reaction, he freezes. Rodolpho due to the tension and with respect to Eddie he denies her offer. Beatrice once more goes against Eddie by encouraging Rodolpho to dance with Catherine. Catherine takes Rodolphos hands and they dance. A provoking attitude towards Eddie. Beatrice being the distracter in the whole episode she tries to ease the conflict by changing the subject once more. Eddie becomes sarcastic on Rodolphos expense when Marco informs them that Rodolpho can cook. Eddie points out Rodoplhos qualities several times to mock him. Eddie tries to suggest that Rodolpho is gay, a homosexual. Catherine defends Rodolpho by telling to Eddie that all the big chefs are men and get paid well.

Comparing Fascism, Communism and Nazism Essay examples -- Compare Cont

Comparing Fascism, Communism and Nazism Fascism, and discontent go hand in hand. After WWI Europe was devastated, the people had lost hope in the systems, neither the liberals, nor conservatives had been able to prevent the terrible disaster that was the war. Socialists were the closest one, however not happy with socialism either, a group of socialist joined and formed their own ideology. The difference between this new ideology, and other that had originated before, is that the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about fascism, is not what they stood for but what they hated most. Fascist hated socialism because of its internationality. They hated liberals because specifically because their ideology center in the individual strength of the human been, and in sharing when a variety of thoughts are in conflict, not imposing. They hated conservatives because they like to preserve the system, and for them change had to be very small, and slow, while fascist wanted radical change now. Fascism and communism had a lot in common. They both wanted radical change,...

Nolen cheese

The Nolan Cheese advertisement targets audience of all ages and both genders. The ad grabs the audience's attention with lighthearted music, melodramatic music, and upbeat, youthful music. It shows an endearing mouse enjoying a piece of cheese happily, with no care in the world because the cheese is from the Nolan brand. Unexpectedly, a tragic event takes place that was unforeseeable by the mouse. Some of us would laugh, others would feel sad but no matter the emotion, the fact of he matter is that the ad is able to get a reaction out of its audience.Our attention is held captive by our not knowing what the fate of the mouse is. At this point in time, the audience is unsure of what direction the advertisement is going. The first thing that really grabs the audience's attention is the mouse. People have mice for pets, and the entertainment industry has made millions from movies such as Stuart Little where a mouse lives as a functional member of a human family, and Ratatouille, where a mouse plays a big part in a French chefs culinary skills.The epitome of the mouse character is undoubtedly Mackey Mouse. A major icon as a part of Walt Disney's franchise, people from all across the world are able to recognize Mackey Mouse. Children grow up singing and dancing with Mackey, they learn their Abs with Mackey , and they dream of one day visiting Disney World to meet Mackey Mouse. Whenever there is a mouse, it would be difficult for the general population to not think of Mackey Mouse, the father of all mice. The advertisement uses the endearing mouse to target the animal lover in us.We love our pets, we treat our pets eke family and upon seeing the mouse in the commercial, we automatically care for and are invested in the mouse's fate – or at least enough to watch the entire commercial. The second grabbing point that kept us focused on the ad was the music. Music can often times can be more expressive, more telling than the spoken word. Music is often used to set the tone, mood, and ambiance of a scene before anything else is brought into the scene. When we hear soft, slow music, we feel relaxed and open. When we hear fast, abrupt and loud noises, we feel anxious and anticipatory.The first song, â€Å"On Top of the World† is by the band Imagine Dragon, It is a cheerful, lighthearted and fun song. The second is â€Å"The Doors† sung by The End. This song conveys a feeling of hopelessness, sorrow, and bitterness. For every person that is able to immediately identify with positive feelings of happiness, playfulness and love, there are two more people who are more able to identify and find comfort in the negative feelings of hopelessness and sorrow. Our society is built on chasing happiness, chasing what it is or who it is that makes us happy.This makes us feel the same hopelessness and sorrow for the mouse. If we can identify with someone else, we immediately feel closer to them. The commercial ends with the song â€Å"Eye of th e Tiger† by the Survivor. This is a classic and it is full of positive energy, encouragement, strength and the ability to persevere through anything and everything. The third and most important aspect of the Nolan Cheese advertisement is that the commercial takes us through a mini story, from blissfully happy, to tragedy, then to the resolution.The beginning sets the tone of a perfectly content mouse, enjoying his cheese, being happy. We see that things don't stay happy for long because tragedy is introduced when the screen turns black and a loud clamp noise is heard while we are left to speculate whether or not our friendly mouse was caught in the trap or not. We are in suspense and we are unsure. The commercial can go in any direction at this point. Our thoughts run from the mouse being caught in the trap and he is gone forever, or our friendly mouse was able to escape, or the clamp was not a trap at all.Curiosity killed the cat and curiosity will keep us focused on the ad t o see what happens next. The screen then appears to show our mouse laying in the trap, breathing heavily, with â€Å"The Door† playing as the background music. From what we see to what we hear at this point, we feel sad and we feel sorry for our mouse. It looks like our mouse has been caught in the trap and his fate has been decided. Suddenly, â€Å"Eye of the Tiger† begins to play and our mouse starts doing bench presses using the trap parts.The background music is encouraging, it is strong and it is rueful, which is the exact image that we see as our mouse not only is not caught in the trap, but is using the trap to his advantage. This is unrealistic and certainly would not happen in real life, but the advertisement made it possible in their world. The mouse was able to persevere and it is our human nature to love a good comeback story. We are able to laugh, be Joyful, and be in awe of the mighty mouse who was able to overcome such a obstacle. The Nolan Cheese commer cial is able to draw in an audience from across the board because it targeted the human in us.We all have had tragedy happen and we all know what it is like to be unsure of ourselves, be unsure for others, and not know what will happen next. We know the feeling of suspense and we know it is not a comfortable feeling. In addition, we also know the feeling of persevering, the feeling of being able to overcome obstacles in our life, and being strong enough to turn it into our advantage, Just like our mouse did in the commercial. It keepsake audience focused and watch all details of the ad, without taking our eyes away from the scene.It gives the audience a happy feeling, a sad feeling, and a resolution, problem solved feeling. In the end the mouse is alive and still eating Nolan cheese, which one can argue is the only reason why the mouse was able to bench press the trap. Upon seeing the Nolan Cheese brand in the supermarket, the audience will immediately think to the mouse, the troubl e, the perseverance, the eventual strength and happiness, and indirectly will feel like we will be able to have the same kind of ending if we buy Nolan Cheese because as aforementioned, we, as a society, Just want to be happy like our mouse.

The Role of Forensic Accountants in Corporate Governance

FORENSIC ACCOUNTING & FRAUD INVESTIGATION ASSESSMENT TASKS 1 THE ROLE OF FORENSIC ACCOUNTANTS IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Corporate governance is defined as the formal mechanism of direction, supervision and control put in place within a company in order to monitor the decisions and actions of its senior managers and ensure these are compatible and consistent with the specific interest of shareholders and the various other interests of shareholders who contribute to the operations of the company.Forensic Accountants are experienced  investigators  of  legal  and  financial documents  that are hired to look into possible suspicions of  fraudulent  activity within a company; or are hired by a company who may just want to prevent fraudulent activities from occurring. They also provide services in areas such as accounting,  antitrust, damages, analysis, valuation, and general consulting. Forensic accountants have also been used in  divorces,  bankruptcy, insurance claim s,  personal injury  claims, fraudulent claims, construction,  royalty  audits, and tracking terrorism by investigating financial records.Forensic Accountant should have the following skills and knowledge to serve as an effective Forensic Accountant. 1. Ability to identify frauds with minimal initial information The Forensic Accountant needs to be able to identify the possible scheme, the possible manner it was perpetrated and potentially effective procedures to prove or disprove the potential fraud. 2. Interviewing The Forensic Accountant get involved in interviewing in the course of seeking evidence and information. Forensic Accountant must be a way that the process ensures the evidence is admissible in a court of law. . Mind – set A successful Forensic Accountant has a certain mind-set that includes several abilities. He or she is able to think like a crook. 4. Knowledge of evidence It is imperative that Forensic Accountant understand the rule of evidence in court and how to conduct the investigation from the beginning as if all evidence will make it to a court of law. 5. Presentation of findings The Forensic Accountant must have the ability to clearly communicate the findings resulting from the investigation in way understandable to the layperson.Forensic accountants think creatively to consider and understand the tactics that a fraud perpetrator may use to commit and conceal fraudulent acts. Additionally, they need to clearly and concisely communicate findings to various parties, including those with less knowledge of accounting and auditing. Forensic accountants that are not part of the organization or company. They are hired in order to investigate the internal and  external performance  of the company, connected with the  accounting process. They provide independent opinion. Role of Forensic accountantsForensic accountant can play their vital role to improve corporate governance in a company. Forensic Accountants assists in address ing   allegations ranging from kickbacks and wrongful dismissals to internal situations involving allegations of management or employee wrongdoing. * With a strong background knowledge of the legal and institutional requirements of corporate governance, a forensic accountant can help to formulate and establish a comprehensive governance policy that: * ensures an appropriate mix of management and independent directors on the board. sets out the appropriate responsibilities of the board and the audit committees. * has a fair allocation of power between owners, management, and the board. * ensures there is a company â€Å"code of ethics† for employees and management * A Forensic Accountant helps the accounting professionals to have a efficient control system and a accounting system that ensures the proper recording, classification and reporting of all relevant transactions. * Forensic accountant can monitor not only compliance at the top levels of the corporate power, but also management procedures and employee activity.Information gathered as a result of the monitoring can be used to readjust and reformulate governance, ethics, and control policies. * Forensic accountants can ensure that corporate governance policies are formulated to avoid high-risk environments where management is apathetic, pay is inadequate or too high, there is a serious lack of proper training and compliance, or there are unreasonable profit and budget goals. It is also necessary to have well-defined hiring policies that result in honest, well-qualified employees. A forensic accountant can ensure the integrity of financial statements by actively investigating for fraud, identifying areas of risk and associated fraud symptoms, pursuing each anomaly aggressively, and delving into the finest details of accounting and financial anomalies * Forensic Accountants can help in creating policies that clearly state the company’s intent to take strict action against any criminal activi ties, and that such action will apply to all levels of employee, without any exception. At times, a Forensic Accountant can meet with those persons affected by the allegations, rumors, or inquiries. They may view the accountant as an independent and objective party and thus be more willing to engage in discussions. Forensic Accountants can be hired in order to review and strengthen  internal controls, in order to determine if any assets are missing, or to discover if tax laws or accounting rules have been applied correctly to company transactions.They are hired in order to determine if embezzlement has occurred or, if so, how much is missing and how it was done. Conclusion Forensic accountants are currently in great demand, with the public need for honesty, fairness and transparency in reporting increasing exponentially. These forensic accountants need accounting, finance, law, investigative and research skills to identify, interpret, communicate and prevent fraud.As more and more companies look for forensic accountants and professional organizations offer certifications in the area, it is becoming evident that the forensic accountant has a skill set that is very different from an auditor or a financial accountant. The role of the forensic accountant has expanded significantly during the last several years for many reasons, including the requirement for greater scrutiny on corporate governance brought about by the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation and the widespread recognition of the risks and prevalence of financial fraud in today’s business environment.As a result, forensic Accountants are usually retained to support special investigations related to a broad range of subjects. This can include the financial impact of marketplace events, such as intellectual property infringement and anti-trust actions, financial reporting fraud, asset impairment and business valuation. REFERENCE Crumbley, D. Larry (2009). Journal of Forensic Accounting, www. rtedwards. co m. journals/JFA/evidentiary. html, January 9.Golden, T, Skalak, S & Clayton, M 2006, A Guide to Forensic Accounting Investigation, John Wiley and Sons Latshaw, C. A. , â€Å"Fraudulent Financial Reporting: The Government and Accounting Profession React,† Review of Business, Spring 2005, pp. 13-15. Silverstone, H. and Sheetz, M. , â€Å"Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts,† Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 2008. Turnbull, N. (2005) Internal Control – Revised Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code. FRC, London.

Darden Essay Example

Darden Essay Example Darden Essay Darden Essay April 15, 2013 Executive Summary Darken Is one of the worlds top performing companies In the food services Industry, with over 2,000 locations and 180,000 employees. Including many brands from luxury restaurants to quick and easy restaurants Darken has been able to develop brand names into clear strategic advantages, which lead to competitive advantages and keeping customers coming back for more. In this paper a team of marketing students analyze Darners current position In the market through research and apply concepts from class to develop a strategic plan for Darken moving forward. Looking at the company through such lenses as source based view of the firm describes the firms most important assets. Using such charts as weighted competitive strength assessment and a nine cell attractiveness chart to show Darners current position and what they need start moving towards, allows the reader to develop an understanding of the teams aspirations for the company. Table of Contents Company Tangible and Intangible Weighted Competitive Strength Assessment.. External Issues Business Level Strategies Recommendations Current Corporate Level Strategy Service Divisions Financial Weighted Competitive Strength Chart Nine Cell Attractiveness Matrix International Strategy McKinney 7-S Model Utilization Company Environment Darken is one of the largest full-service dining companies in the world; they are also an extremely successful company. They have many strengths and a few competitive advantages, but like every other company, they also have some room for improvement. Some of the major strengths of Darken include its strong values, diverse workforce, size, recognizable and successful brands, and its people focused culture. Darken has a number of strong values in place that they believe help the company learn, strive and grow. Some of these values include integrity and fairness, respect and caring, always learning, always teaching, being of service, teamwork and excellence. All of these strong values continue to help Darken as one of the most successful dining services in the world. Darken also has a very diverse workforce. Darken does not care where employees are from all they care about is making them feel comfortable as part of the team at Darken. As the website states, Even though we have a common vision, we embrace and celebrate our individual differences. We are strengthened by a diversity of cultures, perspectives, attitudes, and ideas. We honor each others heritage and uniqueness. Our power of diversity makes a world of difference. (Darken. Com) The size of the company is also a major strength. They have over 2,000 restaurants and more than 180,000 employees. This means that they are continuing to have success because cities continue to want their restaurants, which means more employees. Another major strength for Darken is their recognizable and successful brands. This is strength for the company because these restaurants are well recognized and customers know they take pride in providing quality means and services. The final major strength for Darken is the diversity of food these restaurants have. They have seafood, Italian food, steaks, many other menu items and specialties that vary for each brand. This is strength for the company because these menu items attract customers in to the restaurants and the quality service will make most of its money with repeat customers so focusing on retaining old customers has to be at the top of managers broad strategic plans. Just like any company, Darken also has some areas where they can improve in order to make them even more successful. These weaknesses include they are mostly internalized in North America, they have a low stock price compared to their competitors, Olive Garden and Red Lobster continue to see a drop in sales, reducing hours may create unhappy employees, and no new restaurants. Being mostly centralized in North America is a major weakness because expanding overseas can bring in much more profit. Its great that there are so many restaurants here in the states, but expanding to other parts of the world would make Darken even better. The low stock price compared to competitors is a weakness because it shows that demand for their restaurants is not as high as it is for their competitors restaurants even with Darken being much more diversified then say Buffalo Wild Wings. The continued drop in sales from Olive Garden and Red Lobster is a weakness because a company is only as strong as its weakest link. Obviously the economy is bad and people are beginning to eat out less and less, but Darken needs to find a way to get these two restaurants sales back up. Because of the new Abominate law, companies with 50 or more workers could be hit with fines if they do not provide basic coverage for their employees. As a result of this, some restaurants are beginning to cut hours for employees making part-time workers instead of full time rockers. This is a weakness because cutting hours means less profits along with repeat or even new customers becoming UN happy with the new hours that they were accustomed too, or assumed. Having no new restaurants is a major weakness because it shows that the company is not expanding. Darken has 7 well known restaurants in their portfolio. With a strategic acquisition of well-defined restaurant chain, they could be even more successful and more dominant in the full service dining market. Tangible and Intangible Assets Darken possesses a good amount of tangible and intangible resources that are important for the company to succeed. Using the four test of Resource Based View of the firm it was obvious that both the tangible and intangible resources play a huge part in making the firm unique. These resources also are meant to give the company a competitive advantage over their competitors. A lot of the resources are imitable and shared by other companies, something that Darken has to realize may not be an advantage for them forever. Some of Darners tangible resources that are important to their company are the companys employees, the buildings that each restaurant operates from, and their suppliers. Employees are resources that are able to be touched and in the tangible sense can work to keep the restaurants operating. The buildings house the employees and customers and make it possible for the business to operate and compete. The suppliers are an important tangible resource because they supply each restaurant with the supplies that they need to operate properly. All of these tangible resources are important in the operation of the company as a whole. Darken also has numerous intangible resources that are an important part of the companys success. Some of these intangible resources that attribute to the success of Darken restaurants are their great culture, service, diversity, community these intangible resources because without their culture being so strong there would be no room for the other intangibles to follow. Darken has developed a culture of these other great intangibles such as service, diversity, community work, and sustainability. The service that Darken brings to the table is second to none and they make sure that their employees practice this awesome service on a regular basis. Darken also focuses heavily on diversity which is why they are known as one of the cost diverse companies in the industry. Community work is a big focus of Darken and they make it known that it is an important part of their success. Darken has been around for a very long time and is still striving to keep improving which shows the companys sustainability. All of these tangible and intangible resources that Darken acquired have separated them from other restaurant chains in the industry which gives them a slight competitive advantage. Weighted Competitive Strength Assessment This chart was produced using two competitors of Darken in the food services industry. The two companies are Pander Bread and Buffalo Wild Wing both of which are only a single brand. For this reason they are stronger than any one of Darners brand names or chain restaurants. But in this Chart they are compared to Darken as a whole to show the value of Synergy. (NASDAQ. Mom) External Issues One of the biggest issues facing not only Darken but the whole industry is making sure all restaurants are following ethical laws enforced by Abominate. Darken Restaurants including Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Longhorn Brands are not abiding ethically under Abominate. Under the new health care law, companies with fifty or more workers could be hit with fines if they do not prov ide basic coverage for full time workers and their dependents. For Darken, which operates more than 2,000 restaurants in the U. S and Canada, employs around 180,000 employees this is a huge expense. The Wall Street Journal reports that Darken is using the new health law to cut hours of full-time hourly workers to work less than 29. 5 hours, thus redefining them as part-timers. This can cause employees to become dishonest which may lead to bad service. The second big issue that can affect Darken industries is the threat of new entrants. As a company Darken needs to figure out what separates them from their competition and continue down that path. Recommendations for External Issues The first recommendation for Darken Restaurants is to continue the diverse workforce. The diverse workforce is viewed as strength by Darken employees and other companies. The employees are valued from the start, where they share in a respectful and caring environment which will keep them honest and motivated. Darken is strengthened by a diversity of perspectives, attitudes and ideas. They honor each others heritage and uniqueness, as well as those of the customers. Another recommendation for Darken restaurants is to run a promotion for each of the restaurants. For example, if you spend over $70 at this restaurant you receive a coupon for 15-20% off at another restaurant in the Darken family. The promotion money it gives them incentive to enjoy another meal at another one of our restaurants. Business Level Strategies In order for a company to be successful their main objective should be to focus on satisfying customer needs and preferences in order to achieve above average returns; generally done via business level strategies. These business level strategies entail actions taken to provide value to customers and gain a competitive advantage. These strategies are a direct result of the competition factor that the company is creating. The five generic business level strategies are cost leadership, differentiation, focused low cost, focused differentiation, and using an integrated low- cost/differentiation strategy (Business Level Strategy). Current Corporate Level Strategy The restaurant industry is all about how your company or organization can gain a competitive advantage. Darken Restaurants, Just like any other company, seems to Ochs on business level strategies. However, only three of the five strategies are predominantly seen throughout Darken Restaurant Corporation. The three strategies that Darken uses are cost leadership, differentiation, and using integrated low-cost/ differentiation strategies. Organizations are constantly competing to be the low cost leader for a wide range customer base. Price is based on internal efficiency in order to have a margin that will sustain above average returns and cost to the customer. Porters five forces model is very useful in helping with cost leadership. The model will help Darken identify their restaurants supplier power, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes and buyer power (Business Level Strategy). In order to attract current and new customers Darken Restaurants need to differentiate themselves from their competition by bringing the highest value to their customers. Value is brought to customers through unique features and characteristics of an organizations products. Darken can create value for their customers by lowering buyers costs, raising buyers performance, and creating sustainability. Implementing a differentiation strategy is important in order to be adaptable to environmental changes, learn new skills and technologies, and be able to effectively leverage objectives across the business. This should enable the firm to produce with differentiated features at lower costs (Business Level Strategy). Recommendation Darken should continue utilizing the business strategy objectives that has led to their success as a company. We do not find it necessary to deviate from the current strategies, because they are already one of the most successful companies in their industry. As long as Darken continues to differentiate themselves from their intention, customers will keep coming back. Darken focuses heavily on diversification. The company began to diversify by opening Olive Gardens, which became their second restaurant. Darken now has nine different restaurants that all serve a different style of food. The style of food ranges from Italian, Caribbean, steak and seafood. Service Divisions Darken has a couple cash cows services. Longhorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden and Red Lobsters are the cash cow restaurants that Darken owns. These services have owns are the most popular restaurants and bring in the most revenue for the company. Darken has two star services that would be The Capital Grille and Bahamas Breeze. These services have much room for growth and have a large market share. The only question mark that Darken has is Seasons 52. It is still unclear in what direction Seasons 52 will go. Eddie Vs. is the only dog that Darken owns; it is not very successful and is only retaining profits from a small amount of its restaurants. Financial The financial of their main companies this year were in the billions. Olive Garden has 3. 6 billion in sales, while Red Lobster had 2. 7 billion in sales, and Longhorn right Enid them with 1. 1 billion. With this amount of sales they have been able to increase their market share from 2. 55 in 2008 to 3. 58 in 2012 and are looking to increase to somewhere between 5. 75 7. 5 in 2017. They have currently been decreasing their long term and short term debt and have been increasing their assets of each division showing that Darken restaurants is only on the rise and is doing everything correctly to get there. Weighted Competitive Strength Chart Competitive Strength Measure Importance Weight Darken Rival A Rival B Rival C Market Share 0. 15 10/1 . 5 11. 15 61. 90 21. 0 Match or Beat R ivals on key attributes 0. 2 7/1 . 4 21. 40 5/1 . 00 31. 60 Benefit from strategic fit 0. 05 91. 45 4/. 20 81. 40 Bargaining leverage w/ suppliers/buyers 8/1 . 60 4/. 80 81. 80 21. 0 Brand Image 31. 15 61. 30 21. 10 Valuable Capabilities 0. 1 91. 90 21. 20 71. 70 51. 50 Sum of weights 7/1 . 05 51. 75 31. 45 Overall weighted competitive strength scores 11. 10 4/. 40 7. 85 2. 3 5. 25 3. 15 Nine-Cell Attractiveness Matrix Strong (6. 7 and up) Average (3. 3-6. 7) weak (0-3. 3) High (6. 7 and up) Darken= High 7. 20 and Strong 7. 85 Rival A-High 6. 75 and weak 2. 30 Medium (3. 3-6. 7) Rival B=Medium 5. 10 and Average 5. 25 LOW (0-3. 3) Rival LOW 2. 95 and weak 3. 15 International Strategy Darken Restaurants is using the international strategy of growth by acquisition. They are very successful when it comes to this process and have made many acquisitions over the last couple of years. Darken simply began with the restaurant we know today as Red Lobster, after they started, the restaurant began to develop quickly and reached 400 locations and became a stylish dining restaurant in Just over a fifteen year span. The first acquisition that the company made was of a New York steak souse that did not do so well and only a couple individual locations still exist. In the early sasss Darken opened their first Olive Garden in Florida. Olive Garden was able to develop into the restaurant it is today by chasing after Tuscany, Italy styles and many different Italian cuisines. Furthermore Darken was not quite done with expanding at this point and diversifying their company to different cultures. The next business that they had opened was the restaurant known as Bahamas Breeze; this is a Caribbean style restaurant. They also opened a sports bar style concept restaurant called Smokey Bones and Season 52. After they were done creating all of these restaurants Darken decided it was best for them to sell some and acquire a couple new ones. They began by selling Smokey Bones and buying out their biggest competitor Rare Hospitality, they made this acquisition for a cost of 1. 4 billion dollars. When buying this company they gained two new very successful restaurants, the Capital Grille and the Longhorn Steakhouse. After this acquisition Darken went forth and bought two other restaurants, these were Eddie Vs. which has a couple locations in Texas, and Yard House which is the most upscale out of all of the restaurants that Darken owns. When it comes to this strategy Darken should change anything that they are doing. Since 2008 their sales have been increasing every year with a slight drop in 2011, but this is expected with the way the economy and even with the bad economy term debts and are paying with more cash for items than they are taking out in debt to pay for these items. In this past year Darners sales were in the billions of dollars and they look to increase this in the current year. This recommendation is superior to any other suggestion because what Darken is doing now makes sense and they are building from every mistake they have made. If Darken were to switch strategies from their current one there is a potential chance that it does not work and it could be a major setback for the company. Furthermore based on the above information one can see that Darken is a growing company and is doing very well financially, with this there is no reason for the company to change their strategy and possibly Jeopardize all that they have accomplished with the current strategy. However Darken has to continually try to improve this strategy to maintain their strategic advantage. This includes constant industry research and rends to discover the next big acquisition. Darken uses a strategy known as multi-domestic, when it comes to competing internationally. What this strategy allows is for Darken to customize its restaurants to fit the style of service expected to help fit the needs of the customers and the cultures surrounding their customers. They do this by presenting different chains of restaurants to fit different styles of the society, and they are very successful at what they do. Darken has been able to attack pretty much every style of food that customers crave when they are looking to go out to dinner. They have done this with he ability to attract every part of the economy that they can both rich and poor. This strategy has worked very well and as time goes on Darken is only getting better at implementing this strategy across their company. The Teams suggestion for this strategy is to keep it and to learn from their previous and future mistakes and build with everything they do. Along with this continual research as mentioned before will help Darken develop in to a sustainable industry leader. As we have mentioned, Darken is a very successful company and is able to develop their brands quickly into industry leaders in particular restaurant disgorges. Not only this is important, Darken also has restaurants that other companies cannot even compete with in that specific category. This is the reason we feel that our recommendation is superior. We see no reason to change the strategy when Darken is the leading company in a lot of categories they have restaurants in and they are only growing larger and larger every year. McKinney 7-S Model At Darken we strive to bring value to the customer through our upbeat restaurant environment, friendly customer service, freshly prepared foods, and a fantastic dining experience. We believe that by following the seven S framework of McKinney we will be able to find the strengths and weaknesses of our company and build upon those. The better we are as a company the more we will be able to bring to our customers. The seven S framework of McKinney is a Value Based Management (IBM) model that describes how one can holistically and effectively organize a company. It can be used in a wide variety of situations where an alignment perspective is useful. These situations include but are not limited to the following: improving the performance of a company, examining the likely effects of future changes within a many, aligning departments and processes during a merger or acquisition, and determine the way in which corporations operate efficiently, effectively bringing value to the customer (The McKinney AS Framework). The first of the seven S components is shared values. What are shared values? They are the interconnecting center of Muckinesss model. In other words it represents what the organization stands for and believes in (The McKinney AS Framework). Darken Restaurants believes in and is committed to delivering genuine service to others. Whether its making an extra effort or a guest, helping our employees develop career skills or improving communities they serve. Darken is also a strong believer in equality, which is why their vibrant culture embraces diversity and inclusion as business imperatives. Throughout all their restaurant locations the spirit of inclusiveness is woven into our strong, values- based culture that we believe gives us a competitive advantage over our competition. This is evident throughout the company starting with the founder Bill Darken, who opens his doors to everyone, and continues to make sure the workforce reflects the makeup of the local community (Darken Restaurants). The second S component of Muckinesss seven S systems is strategy. Strategy describes how the company (Darken) plans for the allocation of firms scarce resources, over time, to reach identified goals (The McKinney AS Framework). Does Darken have the right strategy when it comes to the environment, giving themselves a competitive advantage over their competition, and having the right environment and atmosphere to bring in the right customers? Darken is actively committed to sustainability. The business depends on available, affordable, high quality natural resources, which is why they have chosen to focus sustainability efforts on preserving, conserving and enhancing their ecosystems. Over the past several years, Darken has advanced in sustainability-related activities. They have developed a sustainability strategy and established an Office of Sustainability and internal Sustainability Leadership Council and are continuing to identify and spread sustainable best practices throughout the company (Darken Restaurants). The third S in Muckinesss seven S systems is structure. Structure has to do with the way the organizations units relate to each other. Organizational structure s important for any company by providing guidance and clarity on specific human resources issues, such as managerial authority (The McKinney AS Framework). The structure in Darken, similar to many other large corporations, is a top down approach, meaning that Darners top executives communicate by telling the middle managers, who then tell the lower level employees how things are going to run (Darken Restaurants). The fourth S in Muckinesss seven S systems is system. The system step describes the procedures, processes, and routines that characterize how important work is before it is done: financial systems hiring, promotion and reference appraisal system and info system (The McKinney AS Framework). Darken is a great company to work for due to the fact that they promote from within the company. Promoting from within the company gives their current employees a sort of motivation; if they work hard enough to grab the attention of higher management it will give themselves an advantage over other employees when a promotion is available. Muckiness 5th S, style he is mainly talking about leadership and the way the leaders lead. Darken has a top down approach which is obvious with such a large company. They have presidents for all of their major chains such as

The Earth Has 3 Trillion Trees

The Earth Has 3 Trillion Trees The calculations are in and a recent study has revealed some rather shocking results regarding the number of trees on the planet. According to researchers at Yale University, there are 3 trillion trees on Earth at any given moment. Thats 3,000,000,000,000. Whew! Its 7.5 times more trees than previously thought! And that adds up to roughly 422 trees for every person on the planet. Pretty good, right? Unfortunately, researchers also estimate that it is only half the number of trees that were on the planet before humans came along. So just how did they come up with those numbers? A team of international researchers from 15 countries used  satellite imagery, tree surveys, and supercomputer technologies to map tree populations around the world - down the square kilometer. The results are the most comprehensive count of the worlds trees that has ever been undertaken. You can check out all of the data over at the journal Nature. The study was inspired by the global youth organization Plant for the Planet- a group that aims to plant trees around the world to reduce the effects of climate change. They asked researchers at Yale for the estimated global population of trees. At the time, researchers thought there were about 400 billion trees on the planet- thats 61 trees per person.   But researchers knew that this was just a ballpark guess as it used satellite imagery and forest area estimates but it did not incorporate any hard data from the ground.  Thomas Crowther, a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and lead author of the study, put together a team that studied tree populations using not only satellites but also  tree-density information through national forest inventories and tree counts that had been verified at the ground level. Through their inventories, researchers were also able to confirm that the largest forest areas in the world are in the tropics. Roughly 43 percent of the worlds trees can be found in this area. The locations with the highest densities of trees were  the sub-arctic regions of Russia, Scandinavia and North America. Researchers hope that this inventory- and the new data regarding the number of trees in the world- will result in improved information about the role and importance of the worlds trees- particularly when it comes to biodiversity and carbon storage. But they also think that it serves as a warning about the effects that human populations have already had on the worlds trees.  Deforestation, habitat loss, and poor forest-management practices result in the loss of over 15 billion trees each year, according to the study. This affects not only the number of trees on the planet, but also the diversity. The study noted that tree density and diversity drops drastically as the number of humans on the planet increases. Natural factors such as drought, flooding, and insect infestations also play a role in the loss of forest density and diversity. Weve nearly halved the number of trees on the planet, and weve seen the impacts on climate and human health as a result, Crowther said in a statement released by Yale. This study highlights how much more effort is needed if we are to restore healthy forests worldwide. Source Ehrenberg, Rachel. Global count reaches 3 trillion trees. Nature, September 2, 2015.

Egyptian and Greek Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Egyptian and Greek Art History - Essay Example The earliest forms of art in Greece are found in the archaic era.   The different forms of art were pottery, sculpture, architecture, and painting.   In comparison to Egyptian art, the Greek art was underdeveloped. The Egyptians had already made breakthroughs in the construction of the pyramids by the time the Greeks started acknowledging architecture. The painting in Egypt is governed by the use of specific colours that have specific meanings. Egyptian art was limited to the use of six colours. This was not the case of early painting in Greek, which focused on pottery. Artists were allowed to express themselves freely.   Greek artists were allowed to be creative and pass a message using art. This was not the case in Egypt where artists were hired to work as a part of a team. The lead artists did not receive any credit for the work. All the credit went to the person who had commissioned the painting.   It also explains why most Egyptian paintings contained particular messages as opposed to Greek art, which was a free expression of the human form as the artist wanted it.   Civilization in Egypt was deeply rooted in religion, which explains why most works of art were inspired by religion.   Many artworks all through the history of Egypt represented gods and goddesses in Egyptian culture.   This led to the development of strict rules on how humans and gods can be represented in painting. Greek’s art was inspired by creativity, which is evidenced by the expressions seen in their sculptures.