The Tit-for-Tat Strategy in the Context of Game Theory

In the context of game theory,  tit-for-tat is a strategy in a repeated game (or a series of similar games). Procedurally, the tit-for-tat strategy is to choose the cooperate action in the first round and, in subsequent rounds of play, choose the action that the other player chose in the previous round. This strategy generally results in a situation where cooperation is sustained once it begins, but noncooperative behavior is punished by a lack of cooperation in the next round of play.

Symptoms And Treatment Of 911 - 702 Words

A 55-year-old mother of 3three is brought to the emergency department shortly after being found lying on her bed by her neighbor. They usually have coffee in the afternoon and when her friend did not answer the door, her neighbor let herself in. Upon finding the patient, the neighbor called 911. First responders reported numerous bottles of medications next to the patient’s bed, but mistakenly did not grab them. In the emergency department, the patient is is lethargic and disoriented to person, place, and time. Her husband and three children have not arrived and a clear past and present medical history cannot be taken. The patient begins to become restless and mumble incoherently and intermittently loses consciousness. Physical Examination: Vital signs: Blood Ppressure: 120/78 mmHg, Hheart Rrate: 92 beats/min, Rrespirations: rate 15 breaths/min, O2 Soxygen saturation: 97% on room air General: not Not oriented to person, place, and time, acute distress secondary to intoxication Head: nNormocephalic, atraumatic Eyes: Pupils equal, dilated, and reactive, sclera anicteric Mouth: mMucosa dry, no exudate, erythema, lesions, thrush, or jaundice Cardiac: rRegular rate and rhythm, no murmurs, rubs, or gallops; no JVD, thrills, or heaves; PMI non-displaced at 5th intercostal space Respiratory: nNormal breath sounds present in all lung fields; no wheezing, rattles, crackles, or rhonchi Gastrointestinal: soft, non-tender, non-distended; bowel sounds present in all four quadrantsShow MoreRelatedHeart Attacks : A Heart Attack1468 Words   |  6 PagesCoronary Thrombosis, and even Coronary Occlusion. 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Telecommunication And Networks Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Telecommunication And Networks. Answer: Introduction The shire city council is responsible for managing and maintenance of road. The organization mainly focuses on smart city development. The organization mainly focuses on maintenance of road in suburban and semirural areas (Nakamura and Chow-White, 2013). As a result of development on continuous level shire is focused to provide maintenance and is looking for certain number of ways which can be monitoring and maintenance of road. The organization mainly focuses on the systematical collection of data of all roads with in the state. It focuses on the ability to determine the state of road from the available data prior to repairing. In coming pages of the report a comparison has been provided between two technologies for the council area of shire city (Robbins and Judge 2012). The report also addresses on current area of council and prediction of future needs of this Shire city. In the discussion portion various parameters like infrastructure that is internet connection and wireless technologies has been discussed. A brief idea has been provided regarding the existing wireless technologies like LoRaWAN and OpenIoT. After that an idea has been provided regarding the data storage and its use along with various kinds of processing facilities. Infrastructure This particular organization that is The shire city council focus on planning of smart city. The organization focus on maintenance of road for thousands of kilometers of road throughout the urban area both in suburban and semi-rural areas or zones (Usman and Miranda-Moreno, 2012). So various kinds of technologies have suggested for proper management and monitoring of road maintenance with The Shire. It mainly focuses on systematical collection of data of various kinds of roads with the city. This mainly checks the ability for analyzing the data of road from various kinds of maintenance. Internet connection Internet connection can be easily used for proper maintenance of traffic with the help of various kinds of sensor devices, RFID tags, global positioning system (GPS). IOT mainly helps in analyzing collection of information and integration of information based on traffic and analysis of information of traffic in a large area automatically and intelligent way (Gao and Zhang, 2013). Traffic generally require certain number of information about traffic and logistic which is generally available on road. With the help of internet system can easily become more reliable and intelligent. With a large number of WSN and sensor based communication an IOT based on traffic data will be easily generated. This particular type of traffic monitoring application need to be protected so that various kinds of security attacks can be prevented in various urban cities. The enabling technologies mainly focusses on building blocks for sensing communication technologies in various kinds of IOT like Wireless S ensor Networks (WSN) and various kinds of RFID based networks. Wireless technologies RFID is generally considered to be leading technologies because of its low cost, strong kind of support from various kinds of business communities (Denisov, Kamaev, and Kizim, 2013). With the help of RFID technology every object can be easily transformed into a smart object. Sensors networks generally integrate various kinds of technologies like sensors, distributed information processing, embedded computing and various kinds of wireless communication. Sensor and RFID plays a significant role in the building of various kinds of IOT based products. Various RFID and sensor with the power of communication and computing are connected to wireless networks (Sultana, Rahman and Chowdhury, 2013). They generally cooperate with each other for the collection of information with the physical world to accomplishing of various kinds of task. Other required components are mainly inclusive of cloud, storing, processing and various kinds of communication technologies (Huidrom, Das and Sud, 2013). The major kind of wireless technology which can be used for building wireless sensors are WPAN (Wireless Personal area network) and Wireless local area Network (Wi-Fi), wireless wide area network. A typical structure which is based on RFID generally consist of low end RFID networks which generated data and high end RFID sensors nodes which is used for low nodes. In this technology data is collected by various kinds of high nodes are sent to various kinds of mobile static nodes. Reader generally transmit data which is transmitted to various kinds of wireless devices (Frow et al., 2015). This device generally provides certain amount of processing of data and after that it is sent to various kinds computational server with the help of internet. Existing Technology solution:Open IOT Incorporation of various kinds of roadways into IOT network can be considered to one of the difficult thing when people start to easily think of smart road (Thompson and Visser, 2013). This mainly result due to current roadways which do not know the way of using internet of things. Roadways which does not have any kind of connection to various kinds of network devices. At present various kinds of various kinds of systems are there which can easily incorporate various kinds of IOT devices. Lora WAN LoRaWAN is nothing but a medium access control (MAC) protocol which is in various kinds of wide area networks. It is designed in such a way that it can easily provide communication with various kinds of Internet connected or device over a long range of wireless communication (Thompson et al., 2014). It is generally mapped into second and third kind of layer which is based on OSI models. It is used in road technology because it can easily provide communication over a large distance. Data storage and processing facilities: Data centers A data center is nothing but a facility which generally consist of various kinds of network computers and storage which can be easily used for organizing, processing and storing of large value or amount of data (Haiduzzaman et al., 2014). Datacenters are considered to be an important tool which can be used for maintenance of various roads. It can easily store data related to various kinds of information of roads very easily. Cloud computing Cloud computing enables various kinds of organization to easily consume a computable amount of resources (Botta et al., 2014). There are certain number of benefits of cloud computing like provisioning of self-services, elasticity, easy migration of facility. There are large number of benefits for using cloud computing that are reduction in the implementation and cost of maintenance with is generally involved in it. It can easily increase the mobility for various kinds of global workforce. Contrast and Comparison WAN that is wide area network can be easily used in a network which generally exist over a large area. This technology generally exists over in managing and monitoring of various kinds of roads. A WAN is a useful technology for connecting various kinds of smaller networks which is inclusive of LAN (Local Area Network) and MAN (Metro Area Network). A WAN is generally used for connecting more than one LAN over a large geographical area. WAN services are considered to be much cheaper in comparison so other kinds of services (Rittinghouse and Ransome, 2016). Whenever there is issue of security like troubleshooting. It mainly addresses or focusses on various kinds of anti-malware protection, proxy servers and prevention of any kind of intrusion. Apart from elimination of need for ISDN, WAN services will help in reduction of cost and increasing the profits in large number of ways. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is known to be an emerging technology which makes of radio frequency waves for transferring of data between reader and movable item which is generally tagged. This again used for identification and tracking of it. RFID can be easily used act like a transponder in the registration of various kinds of vehicle (Jamil and Zaki, 2016). RFID tag and sensor can be used so that individual car can easily get data if needed from the spot and can be delivered to assigned destination. The RIFDtag can easily store information on vehicle and its owner which consist of number plate and type of vehicle, speed and time when the particular reaches the point. It can be used for estimation of number of vehicle in the road and average speed of vehicle. The data containing information from each vehicle is generally captured with the help of RFID reader and the information of vehicle can be easily transmitted over central server unit. As soon as the system is connected to internet then all the information of vehicle on the various kinds of road segment is saved in the database which can again be utilized for any purpose or application. This particular node sends for provides data which can be easily send to the cluster head note (Xia et al., 2012). At the same time a GPS receiver which is installed on the monitoring station which can easily communicate with the various kinds of GPS satellite which is used for obtaining of obtaining the information of positioning which is generally considered as the position parameter of the vehicle (Wortmann and Flchter, 2015). After that the data is transmitted by making use of GPRS scheme which is generally based on real time central kind of database and it creates a platform where data can be easily updated on a regular basis. RFID are generally of two types namely active RFID and passive RFID. RFID readers can easily cost between 1250 dollars to 20000 dollars while on the contrary passive reader cost between 3000 dollars to 20000 dollars (Ruiz et al., 2012). Security issue in RFID can be easily classified into types namely violation of privacy and violation of security. In case of privacy violation attackers mainly tries to harvest information from the provided object by analyzing the communication between object and reader by proper tracking of it. In case of security violation an adversary generally checks the behavior of tag or reader by providing undesirable kind of communication (Dupont et al., 2012). This type of security attacks generally damages the various kinds of physical tag and the communication which lies between tag and reader or the application of system which generally requires various kinds of RFID technology. RFID tag are very easy to use as it contains information from the tags which i s transferred through radio waves and unlike bar codes a line of sight between the reader and tag is not required in general (Streimikiene, BaleÃ… ¾entis and BaleÃ… ¾entien?, 2013). Various kinds of RFID tags can be easily used in short time which does not require any kind of handling. Conclusion From the above discussion it can be easily concluded that this report is all about suggesting new ways which can be used for management and monitoring of road. This organization that is shire is focused for maintenance of road in various kilometers of road in urban and semirural areas of the smart city. Every year the organization focuses on repairing of road not only because of torrential rain but also because of general type of wear and tear. The shire needs infrastructure which can be used for collection of data in a systematic way of all the road within the smart city. The infrastructure focuses on determination of data from all kinds of roads and providing an information for work orders for various kinds of crew members. After that crew can easily get information regarding maintenance and reports on progress unless and until proper information has been provided. Two kinds of infrastructure have been compared and discussion has been provided related to it. An analysis has been pr ovided on the existing wireless technology that is LoRaWAN and OpenIoT. While suggesting various kinds of parameters have been checked that is storage, cost, privacy, ease of use and accessibility. References Botta, A., De Donato, W., Persico, V. and Pescap, A., 2014, August. On the integration of cloud computing and internet of things. InFuture internet of things and cloud (FiCloud), 2014 international conference on(pp. 23-30). IEEE. Denisov, M.V., Kamaev, V.A. and Kizim, A.V., 2013. Organization of the repair and maintenance in road sector with ontologies and multi-agent systems.Procedia Technology,9, pp.819-825. Dupont, C., Schulze, T., Giuliani, G., Somov, A. and Hermenier, F., 2012, May. An energy aware framework for virtual machine placement in cloud federated data centres. InFuture Energy Systems: Where Energy, Computing and Communication Meet (e-Energy), 2012 Third International Conference on(pp. 1-10). IEEE. Frow, P., Nenonen, S., Payne, A. and Storbacka, K., 2015. Managing co?creation design: A strategic approach to innovation.British Journal of Management,26(3), pp.463-483. Gao, H. and Zhang, X., 2013. A Markov?Based Road Maintenance Optimization Model Considering User Costs.Computer?Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering,28(6), pp.451-464. Huidrom, L., Das, L.K. and Sud, S.K., 2013. Method for automated assessment of potholes, cracks and patches from road surface video clips.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,104, pp.312-321. Jamil, D. and Zaki, H., 2016. Security issues in cloud computing and countermeasures.International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST),3(4), pp.2672-2676. Nakamura, L. and Chow-White, P. eds., 2013.Race after the Internet. Routledge. Rittinghouse, J.W. and Ransome, J.F., 2016.Cloud computing: implementation, management, and security. CRC press. Robbins, S.P. and Judge, T., 2012. Essentials of organizational behavior. Ruiz, A.R.J., Granja, F.S., Honorato, J.C.P. and Rosas, J.I.G., 2012. Accurate pedestrian indoor navigation by tightly coupling foot-mounted IMU and RFID measurements.IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and measurement,61(1), pp.178-189. Streimikiene, D., BaleÃ… ¾entis, T. and BaleÃ… ¾entien?, L., 2013. Comparative assessment of road transport technologies.Renewable and sustainable energy reviews,20, pp.611-618 Sultana, M., Rahman, A. and Chowdhury, S., 2013. A review of performance based maintenance of road infrastructure by contracting.International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management,62(3), pp.276-292. Thompson, R., Visser, A., Miller, R. and Lowe, T., 2014. Development of real-time mine road maintenance management system using haul truck and road vibration signature analysis.Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (1819), pp.305-312. Thompson, R.J. and Visser, A.T., 2013. Mine haul road maintenance management systems.Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy,103(5), pp.303-312. Usman, T., Fu, L. and Miranda-Moreno, L.F., 2012. A disaggregate model for quantifying the safety effects of winter road maintenance activities at an operational level.Accident Analysis Prevention,48, pp.368-378. Whaiduzzaman, M., Sookhak, M., Gani, A. and Buyya, R., 2014. A survey on vehicular cloud computing.Journal of Network and Computer Applications,40, pp.325-344. Wortmann, F. and Flchter, K., 2015. Internet of things.Business Information Systems Engineering,57(3), pp.221-224. Xia, F., Yang, L.T., Wang, L. and Vinel, A., 2012. Internet of things.International Journal of Communication Systems,25(9), p.1101.

The play Macbeth Essay Example

The play Macbeth Essay The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, tells the story of a brave man, called Macbeth, who killed his way to the throne. In doing so, he brings about his own downfall. The description of Macbeth from â€Å"brave, valiant cousin and worthy gentleman† and that of his wife â€Å"honoured hostess† changes to â€Å"dead butcher and his fiend like queen†. This change is due to the receiving of prophecies, ambition and greed and desire. The play explores themes, including power, ambition and guilt.In the beginning of the play Macbeth is a â€Å"brave, valiant cousin and worthy gentleman†, near the end of the play he turns into a â€Å"dead butcher†. This is a result of receiving three prophecies from a group of witches, who give him these prophecies in order to play and toy with him. â€Å"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis†, â€Å"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor†, All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter †. These prophecies, given to Macbeth by the witches address the theme of fate as they tell the audience what is going to happen to Macbeth in the course of the play.A technique used in this moment is foreshadowing. This is the scene in the play that informs the audience what the play is going to be about and what is going to happen. It also displays repetition as the prophecies all start with â€Å"All hail Macbeth†. These prophecies show the beginning of the downfall of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth towards becoming â€Å"dead butcher and his fiend like queen†, because without the prophecies Macbeth would’ve never killed King Duncan to become King.Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s spiral towards becoming tragic heroes involves them changing from â€Å"brave valiant cousin and worthy gentlemen† and â€Å"honoured hostess† to â€Å"dead butcher and his fiend like queen†. The moment when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan to kill Duncan is a pivo tal part of the play. â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business†. This shows how honourable Macbeth was at the start of the play and how much he changed throughout the play. â€Å"Valuating ambition which o’erleaps itself†.This quote displays how Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were overcome with a sense of ambition and greed. The audience can start to see how Macbeth is changing and how Lady Macbeth is the stronger one in the relationship at that point. Macbeth is hesitant but through Macbeth’s manipulation they come up with a plan to murder the King. Personification is used to describe a feeling of ambition come over both of them. Ambition is the main theme used here because it marks the first time the audience sees the ambition in the characters and their view on them definitely changes here.Betrayal versus trust is another theme used in this moment as Macbeth and Duncan are vey close and are cousins and he is planning to murder him and betray the tru st between them. Here, the audience sees the shift in their characters from â€Å"brave, valiant cousin and worthy gentleman† and â€Å"honoured hostess†, towards â€Å"dead butcher and his fiend like queen†. Near the end of the play, before the battle where Macbeth is killed, Lady Macbeth commits suicide as a result of the guilt that has accumulated from causing so many deaths.Before this, she starts sleepwalking; sleep talking and writing murder confessions. â€Å"Out, damned spot! Out, I say! † At this moment the audience can get a real insight into the change of Lady Macbeth due to her guilty conscience. The use of repetition suggests that all she is thinking about all the blood she has caused and is continually trying to get rid of it. The power struggle of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is conveyed here because it shows how they could not handle the power knowing how they gained it in the first place.Guilt is very prevalent in this moment and is the main reason for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth becoming a â€Å"dead butcher and his fiend like queen†. It is evident from the above discussion that throughout the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s descriptions of â€Å"brave, valiant cousin and worthy gentleman† and â€Å"honoured hostess† change and become â€Å"dead butcher and his fiend like queen† due to the ambition and greed that they possess. These themes of ambition and greed influences them to kill their way to the throne, which results in the guilt eating them up and leads to their downfall.

The Political Views of Muslim Americans

The Political Views of Muslim Americans The political views of Muslim Americans compare to the rest of the American religious public The largest number of Americans believe that Muslims pose a threat to the American society. Many Americans remain skeptical of the Islamic anti-democratic tendencies a factor that has triggered fear among them (Ghazal 40). The Muslim religion has a bad reputation for its violent characteristic with regard to the widespread understanding of their belief in jihad, the holy war.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Political Views of Muslim Americans specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research on Muslim Americans suggests that these assumptions are not the reality. Muslim Americans just like the American society are diverse. Not all Muslims are Arabs neither do they all come from one country. Many Muslims come from Asia although some also come from the African-Muslim countries like Libya and Egypt. These make the Islam community a very diverse religion with varying cultural practices. Just like the American people, the Muslim Americans are the most ethnically diverse population in the world today. Many Americans assume that Muslims are all Arabs but research contradicts that notion considering that one-fifth of the Muslim population in America is American born. The Muslims are not entirely uniformly religious neither do they share the same political views as many Americans assume. Muslims are outsiders Not all Muslims are devout. Some of them are serious and strict devotees of their religion while some are moderately devoted and others are non-practicing and secular. This is synonymous to the Christian religion which not all who profess Christianity are really practicing Christians. Muslim Americans are politically integrated and highly diverse and are equally engaged in today’s political issues like the rest of the Americans. For instance, the Islamic communities are highly opposed to gay marriages an d favor an increase in government spending to support the needy (Ghazal 41). However, they are a bit more conservative compared to the rest of the American population with regard to the issue of abortion (Ghazal 41). On foreign policies, the Muslim Americans do not agree or share the same sentiments as the rest of the public. While the public appreciates the war in Iraq and the anti-terrorist actions against the Middle East, the Islamic community bares some reservations on this issue. The Islamic community although they share most of the social and political views with all other religions in America, they are still largely considered Non-Americans. This is due to past activities that the Americans have held against the Muslim community the 9/11 bomb attack (Ghazal 43).Advertising Looking for essay on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other groups considered as outsiders However, just like other group s that the Americans thought of them as a threat to their harmonious religious existence, the Muslims will have to endure the rebellion factor. Maybe in time the mainstream Americans will be able to accept the American Muslims as fellow compatriots as they did with the Jews and the Italians. Another religion seen as an outsider is the Hindu community. Although they have been mostly involved in the business sector, the Hindu community does not enjoy the benefits of being an American as the natives do and other foreigners like Japanese and Chinese people. The Hindus are not very much involved when it comes to political and national matters. Integration and interaction especially with the Muslim community which research show is highly educated and well informed could be fruitful in achieving some of the development goals. The solution is only by bringing the Muslim American to the national dialogue and involve them in national matters. Ghazal, Jen’nan 2007, Muslims in America. Anti-Muslim graffiti defaces a Shi’ite mosque at the Islamic Center of America. PDF file. 11 Nov. 2012. https://contexts.org/articles/files/2008/10/contexts-fall08-muslims-in-america.pdf

Using the Spanish Verb Andar

Using the Spanish Verb Andar In its normal usage, the verb andar means to walk. However, it is often used more broadly with a vague meaning that isnt readily translatable- meaning something along the line of to function, to do, to go along, or even simply to be. Examples of Using Andarfor Walking Here are some examples of the verb being used with its common, most literal meaning: Yo andaba con mi amigo Adry. (I walked with my friend Adry.)Cada maà ±ana, Pedro andaba cuatro kilà ³metros. (Every morning, Pedro walked four kilometers.)Ella anduvo llorando el camino a su casa. (Crying, she walked the road to her house.)Vamos a andar por las calles y los neighborhoods de nuestra ciudad. (We are going to walk through the streets and villages of our city.) In many cases, andar can be used more broadly to mean simply to travel or to go: Todo el mundo andaba a pie pero los de la clase media andbamos en tranvà ­a. (Everybody traveled by foot, but we in the middle class traveled by streetcar.)Ms del 70 por ciento de los nià ±os andan en bicicleta. (More than 70 percent of the children bicycle.)Ando tras mi gato, que desaparecià ³. (Im going after my cat, who disappeared.) Andar Meaning ‘To Behave’ Andar can be used to refer acting or behaving in various ways. The reflexive form andarse is often used in this way. Tu nobleza innata no te permità ­a andar con malicia ni trampear. (Your innate honor doesnt allow you to behave maliciously nor to cheat people.)  Se andaron muy estrictos en mantener el anonimato absoluto. (They acted in a very disciplined fashion to maintain absolute anonymity.)  Los empleadores chinos se andan con cautela. (The Chinese employers are behaving cautiously.) Andar Meaning ‘To Function’ When a thing is the subject of the sentence, andar can be used to mean to function (much like the English verb to run can sometimes be used in the same way). Si se humedece esa motocicleta no anda. (If it gets wet, that motorcycle doesnt run.)Hay seà ±ales que no anda bien la conexià ³n. (There are signs that the connection isnt working well.)Mi telà ©fono no anda para llamar a ciertos nà ºmeros. (My telephone doesnt work for calling certain numbers.) Using Andar With a Gerund When followed by a gerund (a verb form ending in -ando or -endo), andar can mean something similar to go about. It can even be less specific in terms of action than that, serving as kind of a substitute for estar, forming a kind of a continuous tense. Translation will depend largely on the context. Andaba hablando consigo mismo. (He went around talking to himself.)Ahora nadie anda comprando esas blusas. (Now nobody is buying those blouses.)Habà ­a una gran piara de cerdos, que andaban comiendo en la falda del monte. (There was a large herd of pigs that were going about eating on the mountainside.)Los astrà ³nomos, que siempre andan estudiando el cielo, han llegado a pensar que muchas de las estrellas pueden tener planetas. (Astronomers, who are always studying the sky, have come to believe that many of the stars could have planets.) Andar Translated as ‘To Be’ In some cases, andar has vague enough of a meaning that it can be translated as to be.  ¿Andas por aquà ­? (Are you from around here?)Ahora se estima que la inversià ³n andar por los $30 millones. (Now it is estimated that the investment must be about $30 million.)Silvia hoy anda por los 43 aà ±os. (Sylvia today is 43 years old.)Muchas veces anda mal de dinero. (Hes often short on money.)Mi madre anda muy preocupada. (My mother is very worried.)Mi tà ­o andaba borracho. (My uncle was drunk.) Conjugation and Etymology of Andar Andar is irregular in the indicative preterite (yo anduve, tà º anduviste, à ©l/ella/usted anduvo, nosotros/nosotras anduvimos, vosotros/vosotras anduvisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes anduvieron) and the imperfect subjunctive (anduviera, anduvieras, anduviera, anduvià ©ramos, anduvierais, anduvieran) tenses. It is regular in all other tenses. Andar comes from the Latin verb ambulÄ re, meaning to walk. That makes it a cousin of English words such as ambulatory and ambulance. Key Takeaways The most common, literal meaning of andar is to walk, although it can refer more generally to traveling or otherwise engaging in a motion.Even more broadly, andar can refer to how a person or thing behaves, goes about doing something, or exists.When a machine or other device is the subject of andar, andar can refer to how it runs or operates.

Accounting information system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Accounting information system - Essay Example n cases where they have accepted to donate, the organization simply collects the cheque or cash from the donors and issues an acknowledgement for receipt of the funds. Some of the donors are government agencies, corporate sector, trust and foundations. Additionally, the organization gets its finances from program fees and consultation fees. Therefore, the revenue cycle has limited actors and the processes are simple and few as well. For instance the process of obtaining revenue is through donations and fees charged for consultations and program fees. There are no products or services to be sold in exchange for money. Therefore processes such as order processing, billing, invoicing and deliveries are not there. The revenue cycle is initiated by developing a set of programs and projects that can be funded by the donors. The organization writes a proposal to the donors who will in turn give a feedback on whether they will support the proposal or not. The following are some of the processes inherent in the revenue cycle: i) Request Proposal: This is done by the projects and program development department. The proposal for the various projects and programs is developed and submitted to the various donors. The donors will go through the proposals and determine whether they will support the project or not. Proposal development is an intensive process that requires a team of experts. The final proposal is submitted by a projects coordinator who is in charge of all project activities in the organization. ii) Approval of program Proposal: Once the donors receive the proposal, they will scrutinize the contents of the program proposed and decide whether to fund it or not. They will then approve the program and pledge their support for the organization. The program proposal always has the estimated budget, the duration of the program and the expected start and end date. It also has additional details that include the financial and technical proposal. It must have the

Education as a Group Activity Personal Statement

Education as a Group Activity - Personal Statement Example My experience has taught me that learning does not only take place while we are alone with a book, but that education is a group activity. The cooperation of my classmates and instructors was vital to my educational progress. There were days when I was frustrated by slowing the class down as they took the extra time to explain a concept to me. Still, they persisted and did not leave me to flounder in a sea of confusion. My teachers spent extra time during and after class to be sure that I had an understanding of the material. As their unselfish help supported me, it also provided a foundation for the trust that I had placed in them. I could ask questions without fear of being labeled silly or feeling out of place. Learning became a two way street where cooperation was the rule of the road. As I became more integrated into the class and became more fluent in English, I began to realize how diverse America really was. I gained an appreciation for the bountiful knowledge that we learn from each other and from our cultural backgrounds. I suddenly found that I was not alone in being different, from a different country, and a different world. We were all different and we were all learning from each other.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Essay Example for Free

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Essay Ever since the first printing of the first Harry Potter novel, the book series has been under attack from people arguing that the books are intended to initiate children into witchcraft and demonic practices or that they undermine traditional spiritual values. Yes, indeed, there are ghosts and Halloween, and the practice of magic. However, Harry Potter books are no more a threat to the traditional spiritual values of our children than The Wizard of Oz was before them. Harry Potter has not grown up in a â€Å"normal† family, even outside of the wizarding world. The Dursleys do not care for Harry and treat him poorly. They are clearly nominally Christians; in Chapter Two, Harry’s uncle threatens him with punishment, saying that Harry will â€Å"be in that cupboard from now until Christmas† if he is involved in any â€Å"funny business† (24). There is no evidence, however, that the Dursleys ever practice any particular faith. That lack of spiritual practice carries through the book, even in the wizarding world. .While no one falls to his or her knees in religious fervor, neither does anyone sacrifice a goat to Satan. Rowling has kept her books carefully neutral, but not because she wishes to undermine traditional spiritual values. Rather, it seems that Rowling wishes to appeal to the largest possible audience, without appealing to one spiritual belief over another. Rowling presents Halloween in such a manner that would appeal to the imagination of children, with bats, candles in pumpkins, and a feast; however, it is also merely a backdrop for the action that brings the Three Musketeers of Harry, Ron, and Hermione together (Rowling 172-179). Later in the book, the characters celebrate Christmas. Christmas, however, is no different from Halloween. The Christmas break serves only to give Harry a quiet moment to investigate the library and to investigate the Mirror of Erised (Rowling 204-209). Once again Rowling is carefully neutral, describing Christmas only in terms of what would appeal to children. While Rowling focuses primarily on food, gifts, and games, Ron’s brother George also takes the time to tell another brother that he will not be sitting with his fellow prefects, because â€Å"Christmas is a time for family† (203). Rather than glorifying the wizarding world, Rowling chooses to show that the wizarding world is no more appealing than the Muggle world. There are still bullies there: Draco Malfoy is just like Harry’s cousin, only he is thinner and can ride a broom. Friendship and loyalty and knowledge are all valued there; fellowship and fun are as much a part of the school as magic is. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is simply a fantasy story about a boy and his friends away at boarding school. The only real magic connected to this book is that it rekindled many children’s interest in reading. Who can truly argue with that result?

Moment In Life :: essays papers

Moment In Life I was born on 6 September 1980 in Bangkok, Thailand. The first two people that can describe me the best are my father and my mother. They told me that the first time they saw me they had the happiest time in their lives because I am the first son of them. They said that I was a curious and mischievous boy. When I was six years old, I entered Chulalongkorn University Demonstration school. In this school I was taught to be polite, responsible and loved in learning. I have made many friends in this school and I have had many experiences in this school, too. I was in a student council where I learnt how to work in a group in a democratic way. I was in a volleyball team. I got the certificate of merit from this school from 1992 to 1996. When I was in grade 11, I decided to go to study aboard because I think that now we live in a globalization and we all need to know other people in other countries in different culture so that we can help one another in the future. My mother and my father agree with me so they asked my aunt that which school in the United States is appropriate for me. My aunt told me that Cranbrook school is a good school in Michigan then I applied for Cranbrook. When I was accepted I am so glad because I can be near and take care of my sister who is now studying civil engineering in the University of Michigan attaining her Ph.D. Before I came here, I promise my mother and my father that I will never make them disappointed. Now I am in Cranbrook school, I have made many friends and I gained more experiences. I am the Residential Advisor of the dorm and also one of the leader in World Club. I am so happy to be here. In the future I want to be an engineer like my father and my sister so that I can help my father in his engineering company. I want to be a civil engineer because I like Calculus, Physic, Environmental Science, drawing and when I was young I always saw my father, working on his table, calculating his plan which was my first impression with engineering. Now it is time for me to go for a higher

My First Impression of Critical Thinking Class Essay

My first impression when I went to this university was very positive. The person I spoke to just made me feel completely at home because he said when I started as a mature student and that’s what I wanted to hear. He asked me about my experience so far and treated it as though it was something important, something worthwhile talking about and interesting and then he gave me chance to prove myself although I didn’t have the conventional qualifications, to prove myself by doing a written piece of writing which gave me access to the course. Quite pleased because I felt I was intelligent enough to get onto a course, intelligent enough but not educated enough, I didn’t have the certificates to prove it and this was my chance to do so. I’ve no way of knowing really to be honest I’ve nothing really to compare it without I imagine that obviously with the engineering and those sort of sciences you do need to show that you’ve gone through the steps, yes I can imagine there would be the difference, yeah.. My course is like a general introduction to socio-economic, political, even psychological studies and as you go through from one year to the next you can concentrate more on the areas that you find you are interested in but you don’t regret having done other areas which you weren’t particularly fascinated by because it’s building blocks and you build on the last one before you go onto the next one. I found it really hard work fitting – think fitting 6 subjects in one year is quite a lot to fit in. It would be nice if it was just 5 perhaps but that’s life. The deadlines are really hard work but I suppose you’ve got to have them so that’s okay. I chose to study full-time so I can’t really complain. I find the university itself a rather alienating environment. In the library it is difficult to concentrate – there are always people chatting, letting doors bang and so on. It’s mostly minor practical things like the long two bus journeys that I have and the fact that there is nowhere to base yourself. You can’t make yourself a coffee – you haven’t got a room of your own, not even a locker. You have to carry everything there and back every day and pay 82p for a drink, like a shopper going round town. You can’t find anywhere to have a nap if you’re tired and I love catnapping – it just revives me instantly. Study rooms get really hot. The food canteens are not as good as I’d expect but it’s great – I could stay all day reading in the library – it’s a fantastic resource. There is just so much there – and I think of it as an archive – as time goes on the more and more, the older stuff gets more and more important – the fact that it’s still there because if you compare it for example with the internet there’s loads of stuff on the internet but it’s all pretty current. The old stuff hasn’t necessarily been archived, it can just be switched off. Lack of grass roots involvement, choices and accountability – altogether you are treated more like a consumer than a participant but with no customer services hotline. You’ve very much following a series of chosen paths like levels in a computer game. The choices are just which subjects, not fundamentals like where, when and how to study – it’s not a democracy, it’s an institution. It’s not what I’d expected coming from the voluntary sector where every organisation is run by a committee that the grass roots can contact and appeal to. You can even put yourself forward to join the committees. Student Union’s just not the same, to me that’s like being invited to be a critic in the audience, not to have a share in running the show. Here they ask for one student rep from our group – just one – why not all of us? Why not an open forum meeting every few months to feed all our comments – big and small – through to the management. Why not a suggestion box at least? Where is the annual report to students? Where s the accountability? It was a surprise to find my course entirely full of 18 year old white kids – they all look the same. There must be less than 5% mature students which is a shame. The youngsters are so docile in the classroom, like sheep, they never challenge anything, they just don’t know loads of stuff like recent British history, politics. Of course, it’s easier if you’ve lived through it but I don’t think some of them even listen to the news. I feel sorry for anyone just studying the National Curriculum. The mature students mostly got kids, like me, I’ve got teenagers, some also work, have other activities, some are even doing other courses at the same time, they know how to push themselves. Even so, a lot feel unconfident at the university. They just don’t get what’s required of them, at least for the first year. I was a mentor when I started my second year for an adult in her first year. She said I really helped in lending an ear and explaining things. Mentoring is a really good system. I wish I’d had one when I started. Co-operative work, team work, committee skills. The whole emphasis is on developing you as an individual. You will become a researcher, not a team. We are also carefully told how to avoid plagiarism but people are afraid to actually work together – in fact, university doesn’t teach team work in general. It could. In reality there are vital committee skills some graduates won’t come across till they get to the workplace, making them look naive. I mean practical things like meetings, having agendas, minutes, standing orders and so on. In the voluntary sector I’d been used to organisations having good, well worked out policies and procedures which are publicly available documents. Here, the nearest we got was one session on ground rules in an introductory course which was never repeated, reviewed or built upon. Value and experiences, using skills and building your self-esteem. Something I got from training as an adult trainer was an appreciation of good methods in bringing out what people already have as a starting point for education. Lectures are obviously pretty much one way but seminars don’t have to be. I was taught to be a facilitator not a teacher with the idea that the group works together towards a result. The process of doing this is educational. It builds up self-esteem because everyone contributes – their input is valued. Their previous experiences in life and skills and attributes in group work come out. There is no time for that here. Seminars are mostly just tutors trying to get kids to talk about what they’ve understood from the text of some great intellectual man who’s probably dead now. Perhaps that is just in social science, I don’t know. Social justice, rights, respect, equality and diversity – all these things are central to the objectives in the voluntary sector. I am sure they are here in the mission statement for the university but the reality is different. The staff seem to be 100% white. I am on a course which must be about 98% white. Why aren’t people screaming about that? Where are the anti-racism posters around the place? It’s as if no-one wants to stir up agitation for a change. One good thing is that here in working-class South Yorkshire the university does open its library doors and other facilities to everyone although it doesn’t make a point of advertising the fact – perhaps they think that would cause trouble. Perhaps they’re not proud enough of the community focus part of the mission. Activism, forums, notice-boards. I was expecting university to be a hive of student activities like it perhaps was in the 1960’s but it’s not, as many people have said. The student societies are, to say the least, not high profile. This is a shame because it’s such a learning experience for people’s skills trying to organise something. One reason is that there are so few lively, open notice-boards where activities can be advertised. The few existing notice-boards are glass-covered, it’s not obvious if they’re for student use and people secretly try to slide notices through the glass where they just stay there for months curling up. Split between several campuses there’s no feeling of a sort of open forum for stalls. It’s as if a vital source is missing. True engagement with the community. Before I’d started at university I’d seven years or more with the credit unions which is part of the voluntary sector. It has it’s own culture perhaps, but it has good principles and tools which are used. Principles like diversity, equality, co-operation, mutual respect, rights and social justice, user management, community management, local provision and grass roots basis and a critical awareness of power structures. Democracy, self-esteem building and capacity building, accessible facilities with childcare if necessary, environmental awareness, accountability and sustainable progress. Useful tools include the use of ground rules for meetings, experiential learning, valuing people’s own experience, avoidance of jargon and good policies and procedures. The Hallam volunteering project has an impressive track record and it’s obviously a step in the right direction. It gets students out of the ivory towers or out of the pub and into the community for some real-life experience. But I wonder how this impacts on the organisations they work with. There is such a thing as institutional memory and I wonder whether they’re having a good or a bad experience with student volunteers in those organisations. The local voluntary action organisations could advise on this but I never heard much about Hallam volunteering when I worked in the voluntary sector. It may be a false impression but they seem to come for one-off projects, then go away to write up their experiences. For the full-time volunteers and clients of others in the voluntary sector it must feel a little bit like being experimented on I think. I’d like to think that students could be prepared with an idealistic visionary missionary statement in their minds about the voluntary sector – perhaps a course on community work, it’s principles, it’s forward-looking ideals. The voluntary and community sector is historic – it is immense, it is something Britain should be proud of. If this vision met the hard reality of imperfect organisations, over the years something would rub off for the organisations as well as the students and it would be a two-way learning experience. There are many hard-working development workers in most fields who would be grateful to show the ropes and get some real student volunteers if they came along with some grounding like this. The vision I would have of being a self-directed learner would be spending hours in the library and hours on the internet looking things up. With the guidance of an essay title, perhaps a list of resources that are recommended, web-site links, books by key writers on the subject but not an open brief, definitely working towards an agreed or a set title and writing an essay about that. Yeah it would be nice, it would be nice to have a completely free hand in setting an objective and working an open-ended way to collect data. The nearest I’ve come to that type of experience is in the final year dissertation but even that is within you have to choose within a subject area and then within that you can almost by negotiation choose your wn title for the essay or piece of work. I think I’ve found it quite liberating to be released from the confines of writing an essay – an essay is rather like, well I suppose that is the whole discipline of it – narrowing your words and your thoughts down to one and a half thousand words, certain format, very strict – yeah, that’s difficult, it is an art in itself but I’d much rather be doing something open-ended given the freedom and the flexibility to determine the limits myself. Yeah, I’ve seen people walking round with cameras, with questionnaire sheets. It seems as though I’m guessing, I might be wrong, but it seems as though they’re following year after year the same pattern so I imagine that cohorts of students come round every year and ask the same passers-by the same series of questions. In the first year or two of university is certainly following orders, like following a worksheet or following what you’ve been told to do. In my particular field I’d like to be more in contact with other people discussing working on the same areas. I think I like websites and I’d like to think, for one example off the top of my head, that I was working to a cumulative sort of website where we were each contributing pieces of work in the areas that we’re interested in which would build up as a resource over several years so that new students could come along and be shown this website – look at this as a resource and contribute and discuss with the people currently working on the website. That’s just one idea. Other things that make studying interesting would be student publications which were not reviews of pubs and bands and so on but on the topic so perhaps if the university had a tradition of contributing to the journals. There is a massive, massive range of journals which are great to read and very intellectual and some universities I think have this tradition of contributing and I haven’t seen anybody at undergraduate level making a contribution – you can do.

Marketing of Banking Services

Marketing scope in banking sector should be considered under the service marketing framework. Performed marketing strategy is the case which is determination of the place of financial institutions on customers’ mind. Bank marketing does not only include service selling of the bank but also is the function which gets personality and image for bank on its customers’ mind. On the other hand, financial marketing is the function which relates uncongenitalies, differences and non similar applications between financial institutions and judgement standards of their customers.The reasons for marketing scope to have importance in banking and for banks to interest in marketing subject can be arranged as:Change in demographic structure: Differentiation of population in the number and composition affect quality and attribute of customer whom benefits from banking services.Intense competition in financial service sector: The competition became intense due to the growing international banking perceptiveness and recently being non limiting for new enterprises in the sector. Increase in liberalization of interest rates has intensified the competition.Bank’s wish for increasing profit: Banks have to increase their profits to create new markets, to protect and develop their market shares and to survive on the basis of intense competition and demographic chance levels.SERVICERecently, banks are in a period that they earn money in servicing beyond selling money. The prestige is get as they offer their services to the masses. Like other services, banking services are also intangible. Banking services are about the money in different types and attributes like lending, depositing and transferring procedures. These intangible services are shaped in contracts. The structure of banking services affects the success of institution in long term. Besides the basic attributes like speed, security  and ease in banking services, the rights like consultancy for services to be compounded are also preferred.PRICEThe price which is an important component of marketing mix is named differently in the base of transaction exchange that it takes place. Banks have to estimate the prices of their services offered. By performing this, they keep their relations with extant customers and take new ones. The prices in banking have names like interest, commission and expenses. Price is the sole element of marketing variables that create earnings, while others cause expenditure. While marketing mix elements other than price affect sales volume, price affect both profit and sales volume directly.Banks should be very careful in determining their prices and price policies. Because mistakes in pricing cause customers’ shift toward the rivals offering likewise services. Traditionally, banks use three methods called â€Å"cost-plus†, â€Å"transaction volume base† and â€Å"challenging leader† in pricing of their services.DISTRIBUTIONThe complex ity of banking services are resulted from different kinds of them. The most important feature of banking is the persuasion of customers benefiting from services.Most banks’ services are complex in attribute and when this feature joins the intangibility characteristics, offerings take also mental intangibility in addition to physical intangibility. On the other hand, value of service and benefits taken from it mostly depend on knowledge, capability and participation of customers besides features of offerings. This is resulted from the fact that production and consumption have non separable characteristics in those services.Most authors argue that those features of banking services makes personal interaction between customer and bank obligatory and the direct distribution is the sole alternative. Due to this reason, like preceding applications in  recent years, branch offices use traditional method in distribution of banking services.PROMOTIONOne of the most important element of marketing mix of services is promotion which is consist of personal selling, advertising, public relations, and selling promotional tools.PERSONAL SELLINGDue to the characteristics of banking services, personal selling is the way that most banks prefer in expanding selling and use of them.Personal selling occurs in two ways. First occurs in a way that customer and banker perform interaction face to face at branch office. In this case, whole personnel, bank employees, chief and office manager, takes part in selling. Second occurs in a way that customer representatives go to customers’ place. Customer representatives are specialist in banks’ services to be offered and they shape the relationship between bank and customer.ADVERTISING Banks have too many goals which they want to achieve. Those goals are for accomplishing the objectives as follows in a way that banks develop advertising campaigns and use media.1. Conceive customers to examine all kinds of services that banks offer 2. Increase use of services 3. Create well fit image about banks and services 4. Change customers’ attitudes 5. Introduce services of banks 6. Support personal selling 7. Emphasize well serviceAdvertising media and channels that banks prefer are newspaper, magazine, radio, direct posting and outdoor ads and TV commercials. In the selection of media, target market should be determined and the media that reach this target easily and cheaply must be preferred.Banks should care about following criteria for selection of media.1. Which media the target market prefer 2. Characteristics of service 3. Content of message 4. Cost 5. Situation of rivalsAds should be mostly educative, image making and provide the information as follows:1. Activities of banks, results, programs, new services 2. Situation of market, government decisions, future developments 3. The opportunities offered for industry branches whose development meets national benefits.PUBLIC RELATIONS Public relati ons in banking should provide;1. Establishing most effective communication system 2. Creating sympathy about relationship between bank and customer 3. Giving broadest information about activities of bank.SELLING PROMOTIONAL TOOLSAnother element of the promotion mixes of banks is improvement of selling. Mostly used selling improvement tools are layout at selling point, rewarding personnel, seminaries, special gifts, premiums, contests.DEVELOPMENT IN MARKETING SCOPE AT THE ASPECT OF SERVICE MARKETINGMarketing scope develops day to day. These developments carry special significance for service sector in which customer and service producer interact closely.INTERNAL MARKETINGEspecially in service sector like external relations, internal relations also have significance. It requires finding and keeping successful personnel.For personnel of the organization to be considered their own goals and  service situation, values of the organization are sold to them. The communication techniques c arried out for customers are also performed for the personnel in internal marketing and this two techniques go together. For example, the ads that aim creating firm’s image should be prepared with regarding to audience which is composed of firm’s personnel.NETWORK MARKETINGThis approach takes the organization as a sequence which involves producer and customer that market services to each other in the organization. In this structure, the activities of departments that compose organization would be more focused on market. This will also affect the structure of organization.RELATIONSHIP MARKETINGIt was mentioned that close relationship was established between producer and customer in service sector. In addition to this, life cycle of a customer relationship was also mentioned under the product outline.According to the researchers, maintaining the relationship for extant customer increases the profit of firms. It should be emphasized that this fact has an importance for se rvice sector.Life cycle of a customer relationship is composed of three stages. At the first stage, firms try to be well known and to acquire new customers. At the second stage, the connection between customer and firm has been achieved. During the stage, firms intensified their activities on acquired customers and both of them promises mutually. At the third stage, these promises are accomplished and the service is consumed. During the stage, firms face â€Å"Reality Instants† which could possibly achieve satisfaction of customer and continuous relationship. This could be also true for second stage. So, these instants should be managed successfully. Implementation of close relations with customer successively and true applications at reality instants could not be accomplished by responsibilities of a marketing personnel.Besides, it should be remembered that consumption and production of service are closely interrelated. At this context, marketing should have role not  only in production-consumption between instants, but also at points that these intersect. In this case, 4P that was mentioned at second section would be insufficient. So, we could divide service marketing into two parts as specialist function (marketing mix, marketing researches) and marketing function buyerseller interactions)Efforts in first stage in which customers are not so clear, at the customer relationship life cycle could be minimized for lasting customers. This is achieved by successful customer relations. In this approach, marketing may be defined as; â€Å"Marketing is for establishing, keeping, developing relationship with customers in a manner that profit is got (especially in long term). So, objectives of two relevant sides would be achieved. This would be accomplished by shared promises and carrying out the promises.†

Analysis of Hargreaves Services Plc Short Term Liquidity Efficiency Ratios The WritePass Journal

Analysis of Hargreaves Services Plc Short Term Liquidity Efficiency Ratios Introduction Analysis of Hargreaves Services Plc Short Term Liquidity Efficiency Ratios IntroductionRecommendationRelated Introduction Liquidity ratios are used to determine a companys ability to pay off its short-terms debts obligations. Using Hargreaves Services Plc financial data from 2006 to 2010.I have the analysis for the companies’ current ratio, acid test, total asset turnover and fixed asset turn over below. The Current ratio tells us about the relationship between current assets and current Liabilities and how quickly an asset can be turned into cash. Hargreaves Services Plc had a current ratio of 1.09 in 2006 which was poor but significantly increased in 2007 to 1.31, it then fell in 2008 to 1.15, a further decrease in 2009 to 1.06 and has had a significant increase to 1.66 in 2010. I would say Hargreaves had a poor current ratio in 2006 and 2009 but currently has a good ratio at 1.66 indicating that for every  £1.66 of Current Assets the firm owns, it owes  £1.00 of Current Liabilities. Looking at this ratio we can see that if all the creditors of the business demanded their money, the business would have enough resources in the form of Current Assets to meet these demands. We can say then that as indicated by the Current Ratio the liquidity of the firm is good, it is managing its working capital effectively. I hence would recommend investors to buy shares. The Acid Test tells us how Hargreaves Services Plc can meet its short term demand for cash. Hargreaves Services Plc currently has a reasonable acid test at 0.82 and I would recommend its shares to investors, however the acid test was poor in 2009 and 2008, reasonable in 2007 and was good in 2006. Hargreaves Services Plc total asset turnover ratio compares its sales with the assets that the business has used to generate its sales. In 2010 Hargreaves Services Plc had sales of  £ 459,779,000 generating a ratio of 1.63 the sales in 2010 were lower than the previous year. Hargreaves Services Plc has made major investments in its assets and is   yet to generate their previous level of total turn over. The fixed asset turnover ratio of Hargreaves Services Plc measures Hargreaves effectiveness in generating sales from its investments in property, plant and equipment. The firm has gradually increased its property, plant and equipment from  £ 21,146.000 in 2006 to  £ 85,605,000 in 2010. Recommendation I recommend Hargreaves Services Plc to investors because it has invested in property, plant and equipment, even if it sales slightly fell this year .I strongly believe it has the potential to achieve positive returns in the years to come.

9 Huge Mistakes Youre Making When Negotiating Salary

9 Huge Mistakes Youre Making When Negotiating Salary You might think landing a job is most of the battle. But don’t forget, over the course of negotiations- and indeed your whole career- there are a few mistakes you can make that will stick you with a low salary, and sometimes for a lot longer than you might expect. So when you’re negotiating a new offer, remember not to fall victim to any of the following mistakes, and make sure you set yourself up to earn as much as you are worth!1. Not NegotiatingPerhaps the worst negotiation mistake you can make is not to negotiate at all. Don’t just accept whatever offer you receive. You’ll be settling for less- even than they would expect to end up paying you. This can have immediate and long-term impact on your finances. Figure out your work before you get an offer. Then negotiate. It’s standard practice and will be expected of you, no matter whether or not you hate the process.2. Not Providing a RangeTake your total salary, plus perks, from three years ago, ve rsus your total salary today, plus perks, and you have a range! Then visit a site like Glassdoor or Payscale to figure out what other professionals in your desired position are making. If you have the experience and skill set to justify being compensated at their level, then you can extend your range a little higher than your current compensation. But be prepared to show why you deserve this.3. Winging ItYou will not be in a strong position to negotiate salary if you’ve half-assed your resume and the interview process. Make sure there’s a solid paper trail documenting your strengths and talents, showing how competitive a candidate you are, and also make sure you’ve made a solid and impressive first impression. This will net you a higher first offer, and also give you more leeway to negotiate even higher. Remember: the negotiation process is more about your value being rewarded than it is about your need or greed.4. Negotiating Too SoonThe moment you get the offe r is not the time to counter. Get all the details about your compensation- including non-salary benefits, PTO, etc. Then sit on it for a while. Thank them, politely ask for a day or two to review the details, and then get back to them with a respectful, reasonable counter.5. Revealing Your Bottom LineDon’t give hirers the upper hand by letting them know the number you would take to accept the job and end negotiations. They may very well offer you just that- and then where would you be? It would be impossible for you to negotiate up from there.6. Not Doing Your HomeworkYou can’t make claims about industry standards or your value in the market if you haven’t done thorough research. Don’t get caught out saying something that won’t smell right to professionals in your industry. In other words: don’t fake anything. Be prepared to back all things up with hard fact- including your own skill and experience.7. Flubbing the CounterYou get to the negot iation phase- either over email, phone, or in person- and you thank them for their generous offer, then make your counter, ending with a number or range that would be more acceptable to you. STOP THERE. Don’t keep blabbing on. Leave the ball in their court, then take it from there depending on what you get for a response. Remember not to ask for wildly too much- that can get you laughed right out of the running. And don’t forget you can also negotiate non-salaried perks. Don’t leave the table until you feel really excited and honored to accept the job- or so certain that you couldn’t make it work that you have to decline (knowing, of course, that you’ve made a good faith effort to get what you deserve).8. Taking Things PersonallyNegotiations are business. Not personal. Don’t get offended if they don’t go exactly as you wanted. Or if you get push-back on your requests. Remember, this is business. You need to behave that way. Keep it pr ofessional and keep your ego and your bruised feelings out of the room.9. Not Getting Your Final Offer in WritingYou get the offer you wanted. Great! But it’s not real, or binding in any way, unless you get it in writing. If an employer balks at your request to have this formalized, then that might be a big red flag that you should try your luck at some other, better-behaved company.And remember, developing a strategy to answering the desired salary question is a big step towards determining how much money you will be paid, so make sure to go over answering that question in detail, in addition to everything mentioned in this article.

Social justice toolbox Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social justice toolbox - Research Paper Example Justice can be described as giving to everybody what he or she is due. The trouble is with knowing what is due. It is a set of worldwide principles that guide and direct people in judging what is right and what is wrong, no matter what society or culture in which they live in. Social justice covers economic justice. Social justice is a fundamental principle for prosperous and peaceful coexistence among and within nations. Social justice should be upheld by promoting the rights of migrants and indigenous peoples or gender equality. We can only progress towards social justice when we eliminate barriers that people face due to disability, culture, religion, ethnicity, race or age. It should be a global mission to pursuit social justice for all and promote human dignity and development (Www.cesj.Org). My vision for social justice in U.S. is to attain social justice and a more equitable and sustainable future, and for developments and promotion of human dignity. One tactic that can be used to attain sustainability would be to build markets that do better jobs of conveying and spreading the gains and benefits of development. This would mean meeting the growing demands of consumers for greener services and products. It also means laying the foundations for opportunity, stability and dignity for all. As we strive to make these transformations towards social justice, we must incorporate the inclusion of social aspects into our policies. We have to focus on guaranteeing fair outcomes for all through rights at work, fundamental principles, social dialogue, social protection and employment. We should put more emphasis on the World Day of Social Justice, which is on the 20th of February. This will be one of the ways of making everybody that social justice is a fundamental right of every human being, not only in U.S., but in the world at large. Member states should

The planning system's approach to managing change in rural areas is Essay

The planning system's approach to managing change in rural areas is fundamentally flawed. Discuss - Essay Example ountry planning†, so that planning is not just a regulator of land and property uses, but is at the centre of the spatial development process, coordinating policy with implementation based on sustainable development. (Gallent et al, 2008). Some of the most important factors which have shaped the United Kingdom Planning System are: the strong ethics towards land preservation which is epitomized in the work of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, and its Scottish and Welsh counterparts. and the agriculture and breeding of livestock of the land owning class. Additionally, popular attitudes to the preservation of the countryside and the containment of urban sprawl are related to the early industrialization of the United Kingdom, the small size of the country, the long history of parliamentary government, the power of the civil service in central government, and the professions in local government (Cullingworth & Nadin, 2002). Fundamental flaws are present in the planning system’s approach to managing change in rural areas, partly because of the following reasons: the United Kingdom planning system has been highly effective in stopping development, rather than in facilitating it. There are serious weaknesses in anticipating needs, and in acquisition and allocation of land, and in integrating the planning of infrastructure with new development. The powers which the system has for such important planning actions are inadequately used because of insufficient relationship between the public planning process and the largely private development process. Though the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 envisaged the undertaking of positive planning by the public sector, this was not adopted due to lack of feasibility; and alternative mechanisms remain underdeveloped (Cullingworth & Nadin, 2002). Another shortcoming of the planning system is the most difficult issue facing any policy, that is, defining the right questions. Current United Kingdom debates are

Cultural Post-Modernism and the Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cultural Post-Modernism and the Machine - Essay Example The essay "Cultural Post-Modernism and the Machine" discovers Michael Bay’s "Transformers". The film ties its themes to heroism, the sub plots involving U.S. Marines as well as covert divisions of the government. The film Transformers is a post-modern study of culture as it explores the nature of good and evil as well as the consumer culture as it is oriented towards the encoded objects for the male gender. The film Transformers has within it the construction those things that are most often associated with the male cultural dream of perfection: oversized machines that are heroic, sentient, and vehicular. Cars are gender coded, the appeal of the car traditionally a high priority for men with women not having the same kind of relationship with their vehicles . Where cars are concerned, men have wished to personify them since they were invented, naming them after women, giving them personalities, and creating a sense of identity through the formulation of the body as combined wi th the ‘heart’ or engine. In a variety of film projects such as the Disney film The Love Bug, the television show Knight Rider, the film Christine, and even to an extent, the television film Duel directed by Stephen Spielberg, the idea of giving a vehicle sentience and a personality has been used to give life to the post-modern symbol of male virility. The film gives reverence to this concept through everything from the emotional musical score to the intensity and wisdom filled authority of the voice of Optimus Prime. The vehicle is a cultural symbol of virility for the male. The post-modern world is one of consumerism and is about the shift from the domestic world to the public world where displays of consumer power has replaced other forms of displays of virility. The power to control the machine, to own it and to have dominion over it has become the center of mating practices, conflicts for domination within the male gender, and for expressing male gendered control o ver the environment. Men no longer pick up a sword and go into combat style displays of strength. Post-modern expressions of male domination can involve the economic power to hold and control the strongest, most dangerous looking car on the block (Griffens & Carnes, 1990). While the explicit male domination of the automobile has ended as women now equally own cars, the idea of the car as the male extension of virility still exists. This can be seen as little boys play with cars and are more often attracted to play that involves trucks and cars. One of the more interesting scenes in the film involves a cultural connection to past films, all relating to a specific look as it is associated with heroism. The car is chastised by Megan Fox’s character for choosing to wear the exterior of a crappy old Chevy Camero, which appears to have insulted the ‘Autobot’ (the name for the transforming alien). The car then throws her and her co-star, Shia Lebouf out of the car so th at it can drive a bit away to the rising sound of music that is reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’

Impact of the Nigerian Business Environment on Shell

Impact of the Nigerian Business Environment on Shell ABSTRACT Since the advent of crude oil production half a century ago in Nigeria, other parts of the productive economy such as agriculture and manufacturing have been neglected by the government and also the countrys poor and shambolic infrastructure has made doing business too costly for investors. There is a major exodus of Manufacturing companies from Nigeria presently as the rising cost of running their business is eating deeply into their profits for example Michelin, closed its operations in Nigeria two years ago citing the high cost of production, while chocolate maker, Cadbury has found it cheaper to move production to neighbouring country (like Ghana) and re-import its goods. Cheaper imports from China have closed a high percentage of factories in Nigerias once-thriving textile industry. Investors who bought equipment with foreign exchange component said they now need more naira to pay for their loans. They linked what is happening to their investment now to the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) or pre-SFEM days when importers suddenly had huge accumulated debts resulting from the adjustment of the exchange rate, over dependant on foreign goods, and high level of corrupt within the system. The micro and macro economic factors impacting on the running costs of manufacturing and production companies doing business in Nigeria makes it difficult for continued business activities in Nigeria by expatriate companies unless they are really making profit or they have a business that do not depend largely on the infrastructural amenities in Nigeria or can build a mini city that generates and produces its own power and other resources necessary to run its business such as Royal Dutch Shell. This report looks at the impact of the Nigerian business environment on Shell Plc and analysed the risks involved with macro-environmental factors. The report also analysed the strengths and weakness of shell Plc and strategies employed to take advantage of its strengths and opportunities in dealing with the various challenges they face. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 NIGERIA The Federal Republic of Nigeria comprises thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba (see appendix, fig 1). Nigeria has a population of almost 148 million and is the most populous African country and the 9th most populated country in the world. It has about 400 Languages (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo Etc) and its official Language Is English but its Lingua Franca in the North Is Hausa, Yoruba in the West, Ibo in the East and Pidgin English in the South. The Nigerian currency is Naira and Kobo (see appendix, fig 2). Nigeria has a dual economy with a modern segment dependent on oil earnings, overlaid by a traditional agricultural and trading economy. At independence in 1960, agriculture accounted for well over half of GDP, and was the main source of export earnings and public revenue. The oil sector, which emerged in the 1960s and was firmly established during the 1970s now making Nigeria the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and 8th largest exporter is now of overwhelming importance to the point of over-dependence: it provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. Competition between ethnic and regional groups for power and access to the countrys oil wealth has been at the root of politics in Nigeria. The per capita income of Nigeria is $2,300 as at 2008 base on the reports from the World Fact book. Nigeria is governed by a democratic government but not politically stable because Nigeria is a country of extremes. Great wealth and great poverty sit cheek by jowl, and tensions between different communities can boil over into civil strife especially in the delta region. While a few parts of the country remain problematic, the vast majority is as warm and welcoming to visitors as anywhere. The country have an image problem as corruption seems to be the order of the day, also email scams (419) has become known as a lot of innocent yet greedy people have been a prey to this scam. Conducting business in Nigeria is characterized with so many factors and this report will critically analyze the business environmental factors, degree of risk involved and the advantages of operating in such an environment (Nigeria). 1.1 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC The Royal Dutch Shell Plc is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies founded by Alfred Donovan, was formed in February 1907 with the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (legal name in Dutch, N.V. Koninklijke, Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij) and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom, a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with the then predominant US petroleum company, John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil in the ratio of 60:40. Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, transportation and marketing of natural gas and electricity, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals. The company also has interests in renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar; and hydrogen. The company has extensive operations in more than 140 countries around the world. Its headquartered is in The Hague, the Netherlands and employs more than 300,000 people across the globe. The company recorded revenues of $318,845 million during the fiscal year ended December 2006, an increase of 3.9% over 2005. The operating profit of the company was $45,777 million during fiscal year 2006, an increase of 0.3% over 2005. The net profit was $26,311 million in fiscal year 2006, an increase of 0.2% over 2005. The current supplies earnings for year 2008 were $31.4 billion compared to $27.6 billion for year 2007 with an increase of 13.7%. 1.2 Management The Non executive chairman of Shell is Jorma Ollila, former Chairman and CEO of Nokia, he was appointed on the 1 June 2006. Ollila is the first Shell Chairman to be neither Dutch nor British. Other non-executive directors include Maarten van den Bergh, Wim Kok, Nina Henderson, Lord Kerr, Adelbert van Roxe, and Christine Morin-Postel. Jeroen van der Veer is the present CEO of Shell. 1.3 Shell Plc in Nigeria Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) started onshore operations in Nigeria since 1958 as part of a consortium led by NNPC (The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) with 55 percent and including Shell (30 percent), Elf (10 percent) and Agip (5 percent). SPDCs operations concentrate in the Niger Delta and offshore shallows nearby, where it holds oil mining leases covering an area of 31,000 km2. There, it has installed more than 6,000 km of pipelines and flow lines, 87 flow stations, eight gas plants and more than 1,000 producing wells. In 1997, SPDC produced 899,000 barrels per day from this system (about 40 percent of Nigerias OPEC crude oil quota). The SPDC workforce stands at more than 10,000 people of whom 4,500 are employees; the remainder work for contractors and of total workers, 98 percent are Nigerians (see appendix, fig 3 for Niger delta oil field in Nigeria). Shell also has three other companies which are NLNG (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas) a gas company to produce Liquefied Natural gas and natural gas liquids for export. Shell is in joint venture with Nigeria with a 25.6% interest in NLNG (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas) together with NNPC (49%) while SNEPCO (Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company) and SNG (Shell Nigeria Gas) are both 100% owned by Shell. SNEPCO comprise Shell Plc, Total, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron Corporation. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 SHELL PLC AND OIL INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA 2.1 Oil and Gas The Oil and Gas Industry has played a major role globally. It has always been a central global player in international development and geopolitics and because of the critical importance of hydrocarbon based energy as the engine of rapid industrial growth in modern economy, either capitalist or communist. Due to the intrinsic dependence of this centurys growth model on access to ever-greater reserves, the industry has had to deal with increasing complexity in its relations with developing countries and environments. This in turn has led to increased cost of operations to match the growth models demands (Meadows et al, 1972; Nordhaus, 1973). WCED (1987) agreed that since 1970s, continued hydrocarbon-based Growth model is only justifiable if profits are ploughed into technological advances that would ensure a timely and less painful transition to alternative energy. 2.2 Challenges Faced By Shell Plc in Nigeria Since Shell started producing Oil in Nigeria, it has faced a lot of challenges in dealing with the government, micro and macro economics factors in Nigeria and most especially the communities, as Shell production led to oil spillage, gas leakage and so many more. It has affected the soil and water which is the main source of earnings for people in the Niger delta, as the agriculture and fishing has almost become impossible which is source of living for the people. This has raised a lot of community clashes with Shell so much so that their operations in Nigeria has been globally criticised and has also affected the image of company. In 1995, the company faced two major challenges; firstly, the Greenpeace occupied its Brent Spar platform in the North Sea to prevent its being decommissioned by sinking. Secondly, the Nigerian government executed Ogoni human rights activists: Ken Saro Wiwa, the head of the MOSOP (Movement for the survival of Ogoni people) a campaigning organization representing the ogoni people in their struggle for ethnic and environmental rights and eight others, this problem led to boycotts, public outcry and violence against the company. The crises arose soon after Shell began to review its societal relations, and further catalyzed internal support for transformation. Unfortunately, they occurred at a moment when the company was casting about for ways to avoid exactly such crises, leading Shell officials to heed those who internally promoted a new approach. CHAPTER THREE 3.0 ANALYSIS OF NIGERIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS For management of Shell Plc to apply effective Strategy that will work at international level and which will also reflect the Companys Vision, Mission, and Objectives, they need to understand the international business environment (both internal and external environment) of the host country (Niger delta, Nigeria). A good international strategic planner must recognise all relevant factors within the environment before pushing it through the process of analysing, decisions making and actions taking. Putting the relevant factors into consideration and testing them will help to create sustainable competitive advantages over other competitors. After critical analysis of the international business environment by the team of strategic planners for Shell Plc regarding Nigeria Oil Industry, decision needs to be taken to determine the mode of operation that should be employed by the company in order to compete effectively and efficiently within the oil industry of the host country. Decisions are of no use unless they have been implemented (acted on and monitored); Shell Plc needs competent strategists that will utilize the available resources effectively to bring the intended operations and strategies to reality. Shell Plc has been in Oil business since 1886 and operates around the world. The company has been able to maintain good name (goodwill), good customers loyalty, and strong customer database. The company construct meaningful strategic planning for Nigeria business environment before/after operating in the country, while the strategy is monitored and reviewed quarterly to reflect the companys true vision, mission, and objectives. 3.1 SWOT ANALYSIS The Strengths of Royal Dutch in Nigeria includes SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria) is the Oldest Oil and Gas industry in Nigeria. It was the first company to begin the production of Oil and Gas in Nigeria as a result, the company was able to monopolise the Oil Sector in Nigeria for a long period and established herself as a for-runner with a higher percentage than any competitors in the market. SPDC has a long standing name as one of the biggest Oil and Gas Company in the world as such it has the necessary equipment and money to invest in exploration of oil in Nigeria. Shell has been in business for over a century and they came to Nigeria with wealth of experience, technology, innovation and machinery. Shell operates autonomy of Shell Companies in a decentralized structure allowing Shell Offices in different countries to deal with the regulations, culture and behaviour of the communities in the best suitable way to meet their needs and concern. The Weaknesses of Shell Plc in Nigeria are: Shell faces the challenges that most companies encountered when they come into other countries as they have to learn the new rules, regulations and behaviours of the country and this can be a weakness from the start. Shell was not prepared for the challenge of dealing with the expense of ameliorating socio-environmental concerns which escalated and caused a lot of criticism internally and damaged the image of the company globally. The Opportunities of Shell Plc in Nigeria are: Nigeria was a virgin ground and shell Plc had the opportunity of being the first oil and gas to start production of oil and since then more and more oil fields were been discovered in Nigeria which has led to continuous production and increased production and business for the company. Shell had the opportunity for developing new business ideas as Nigeria gave them the licence to do that which led to joint venture between Shell Plc and Nigerian government, then the discovery of Natural gas led to LNG (another Joint venture) with Nigerian government and other opportunities opened up and shell now has SNEPCO and SNG, wholly owned. Also, Shell has the financial background to go into deep water exploration that led to new discoveries and new business expansion. The Threats of operating in Nigeria are: Fear of persistent interruption in their operations or damages to their properties and machineries by the militants in the delta region from which they conduct the drilling. Oil Gas extraction will someday reach a limit point but technical improvements in seismic exploration and extraction efficiencies have ensured continuing growth in reserves at the resource frontier. Growth of alternative sources of energy particularly renewable such as biomass and solar might changed their modus operandi. Continuing criticism on their image globally will increase costs spend on company and brand image. The new oil reform bill that would allow the Nigeria to retake acreage that has not yet been explored by their owners. Fear of new players into the oil sector from China and Brazil that will break its dominance in Nigerian oil and gas sector. It may be the target for other competitors. 3.2 PEST ANALYSIS AND RISK ASSESSMENT If organisation is able to know that only one thing that constant in this world is change, it would be able to make plan for emergent situations by understanding its business environment. It is very important for any organisation that intends to operate in Nigeria business environment to conduct environmental analysis before and after starting a business. In fact, continuous process should be applied to all aspects of planning because Nigeria business environment is not predictable despite its attractiveness. The companys strategic planners must be able to identify its marketing environment that is made up of the following: The internal environment is the staff (or internal customers- hired contractors), office technology, finance, wages etc. The microenvironment is the organisational external customers, suppliers, distributors, other competitors etc. Company with strong internal forces can still set up strategies to dictate the mode of its operations. The macro-environment cannot be control but company can set up strategies that will help in adapting to the business environment, which is known as PEST FACTORS- Political Factors (and Legal), Economic Factors, Socio-cultural Factors, and Technological Factors (see appendix, fig 4). 3.2.1 POLITICAL/ LEGAL FACTORS political/legal factors influences the environmental regulations which participants in the oil industry must comply with. As with many factors in the general environment, changes that benefit one industry may damage others. For example, on the political front, government legislation can affect oil production by increasing the leasing charges on oilfield and then charge taxes per barrel produced. In a broader view, the following constitutes the numerous political and legal issues to be considered in any business environment: Political stability Risk of military invasion Legal framework for air pollution Intellectual property protection Industrial safety regulations Anti-trust laws Pricing regulation Taxation and incentives Wages legislation Hours work per week Mandatory employee benefits RISK ASSESSMENT ON POLITICAL/LEGAL FACTORS Nigerian political/legal history was characterised by military intervention, civil war, ethnic sentiments, and marginalisation. The country has a bad record in democratic set up and abuse of human right practices. The high level of corruption and political instability did not allow the rule of law to reflect in the society and also, the problem of instability in government policy due to lack of continuity in governance. Shell Plc assessed Nigerian business environment and capitalised on the corruption practices of the people. The company involvement in the execution of environmental activist (Ken Saro-wiwa) and eight Ogoni people that protested against the company reckless operations on their farm lands (in Niger Delta) cannot be dismissed. The political/legal factors do not possess any risk to Shell Plc if it knows is way. It is not necessary also for the company to follow all the legislations laid down for the Oil Industry. Legislations on industrial safety, air pollution control, wages, maximum hours work, mandatory employee benefits etc were not observed by the company. 3.2.2 ECONOMIC FACTORS the economy has an impact in all industries, from suppliers of raw materials to manufacturers of finished goods and services as well as all organisation in the service, wholesale, retail, government and non-profit sectors of economies. Key economic indicators include the following: Interest rates Unemployment rate Type of economic system in countries of operation Government intervention in the free market Comparative advantages of host country Exchange rates and stability of host country currency Efficiency of financial markets Workforce and labour cost Business cycle stage (e.g. prosperity, recession and recovery) RISK ASSESSMENT ON ECONOMIC FACTORS Nigeria operates mixed economy system which helps Shell Plc to manipulate the system because of government intervention in the economy. The interest rate does not pose any threat to Shell Plc because it did not take loans from any Nigerian banks. The companys bankers (the foreign banks) finance and support all their financial activities which favour Shell Plc because of devaluation in Nigerian currency. The major economic risk assessment to Shell Plc operating in Nigeria is increase in unemployment rate (especially in Niger Delta) due to exploitation of crude oil in that area that leads to job lost. The effect of this action has turned thousand of youths into militant groups that kidnapped foreign workers employed the company in exchange for money while some stole extracted oil from Shell. Despite the problem encountered from the militants, the company still operate in Nigeria because of prosperity attached to Oil Industry in Nigeria. 3.2.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS -socio-cultural forces influence the values, believes, and lifestyles of a society. Examples include a higher percentage of women in civil service and more men engineering related jobs, holidaymaker, dual-income families, night out orientation, increases in the number of temporary workers, greater concern for healthy diets and physical fitness, greater interest in the environment, and postponement of having children. Some of these factors affect Oil Industry in Nigeria. RISK ASSESSMENT ON SOCIAL-CULTURAL FACTORS The risks that associate with Social-Cultural factors are many especial to the indigene of Niger Delta where eighty percent of the population are illiterate and have strong believed in their local tradition. Most of the indigene want to work for Shell Plc as a security officer or domestic assistant but their level of literacy does not matched the companys requirement. Shell Plc has employed some of the indigene on temporary basis and gives them opportunity to integrate within the system. The company give out scholarship to the indigene of Niger Delta to increase their level of literacy and give them sound orientations that meet the companys standard in order to tackle some of the problems associated with these factors. 3.2.4 TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS development in technology leads to new products and services and improve how they are produced and delivered to the customers. Innovations can create entire new industries and alter boundaries of existing industries. Issues to be considered in technological analysis include the following: Recent technological development Technologys impact on product offering Impact on cost of production Impact on value chain structure Rate of technological diffusion RISK ASSESSMENT ON TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS The only major risk on technological factors is problem of electricity power supply which can hinder technological advancement. This problem has been taken care for by using Power Generator to support the power system but add to the cost of production. There are no standard infrastructural facilities in place when Shell Plc moved to Nigeria but the government is now committed to modern technological development. Shell Plc imports most of its equipment with foreign expertise that operate it and then arranged with the expertise to train home workers. This process improves technological adoption and diffusion which also reduce the cost of production in long run. The company have used different methods to attract young talented graduates (in all disciplines but priority to engineering students) and trained them to become an expert. The number of Macro- environmental factors is virtually unlimited. In practice, the oil producers must prioritise and monitor those factors that influence the industry. It may be difficult to forecast future trends of any international business environment base on the macro-environmental factors with an accurate level of acceptability because of its complexity. 3.3 STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY SHELL PLC FOR DEALING WITH CHALLENGES Shell Plc used corporate alliance strategy to shed off threats from competitors and to maintain its dominant position. The company operates joint venture with Nigerian government (NNPC) and also in partnership with Total, Chevron Corporation, and Exxon Mobil Corporation to form Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO). The company was also in partnership with Globacom (a Nigerian telecommunication company) to create employment impact that will enhance the companys operations (Shell Plc) in Nigeria. Their strategy involved helping communities to leverage income and improve their quality of life in conventional ways, such as creating jobs and assisting to defray costs of social overheads such as roads, schools and hospitals. The company set up a committee that look into complain by the farmer(s). The committee assessed complains and compensate appropriate to their loss. The company also support the government initiative on amnesty by giving support to militants that submit their gun(s). The company want to support training or education of militants that surrendered their ammunition for to better life (see appendix, fig 6 for the images of militants surrendered their guns). The company is using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to build its image locally and globally to show more concern on corporate governance and sustainable development. The CSR campaign by Shell Plc is to accelerate developmental and employment-generating opportunities across the Nation but especial Niger delta. Two special partnerships have been entered into by the company with USAID (United States Agency for International Development)- a 5 year worth $20 million agreement to develop Nigerian capacity in agriculture, health and business enterprise; and with Africare- a 3 year worth $4.5 million partnership that focus on reducing deaths from malaria. Security strategy was used to crush the militants through cooperation between Shell and State Security Forces but proved ultimately counterproductive as youth militancy increased and the security deteriorated across the wider Delta. The militants target (kidnap) the foreign workers and key officers in Shell Plc in exchange for money (compensation) which nearly put an end to Shell operations in that region (see appendix, fig 5 for images of workers kidnapped). The company outlined a new approach of CSR and community engagement which aimed to build a security-development nexus in partnership with local people. This approach has worked well for the company but now it has led to uncivil tensions along gendered and ethnic lines which undermine the prospect of a long term solution. 3.4 NIGERIAN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE- Porters Diamond Model SWOT analysis was used to determine the advantages, the level of attractiveness and risk involved in Nigerian business environment in line with the macro environmental factors for Shell Plc to operate in Nigeria (especially in Oil Gas Sector). Despite the problems and criticism encountered by Shell Plc, the company still operate and increase investment in Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector, and also extend partnership across the sector because of Nigerian comparative advantage. The Nigerian business environment possesses most of the qualities and characteristics that determine national competitive advantage as stated by Michael Porter in his theory (see appendix, fig 7 for porters diamond model). He identifies four sets of conditions that are essential in determining country competitive advantage: Factor conditions- human, knowledge, physical, technological and capital resources. Demand conditions- quality and quantity of home demand, demand that internationalised the domestic market will stimulate innovation faster in the domestic market. Related and supporting industries- availability of aid to trade (banking, insurance, transportation, warehouse and telecommunication). Firm strategy, structure and rivalry- local rivals and strategy that works with business environment. There are two other factors that can play an important role for any company to fully enjoy competitive advantage of any nation: chance (war, politics, financial movement and serendipity) and government (government policies, subsidies, training/education, and effective capital market). We have discussed most of these factors in our SWOT analysis and PEST analysis on Shell Plc. CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION What is Shell Plc comparative advantage in economic reform, competitiveness and economic governance when viewed in the light of activities initiated by other bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, and the Government of Nigeria? Shell Plcs broad comparative advantages are in government institutional strengthening and promoting private sector-led growth. Shell Plc has the most impact when it targets its activities in these areas at operational levels, where they can have sustainable effects, rather than at broad consensus-building (except in public awareness activities). In a vast bureaucratic environment like Nigerias, support must be highly selective, focusing on agencies and institutions in key leverage positions. These activities will complement the comparative advantages of other donors (who are operating at different sector but in partnership with Shell plc like Globacom and USAID). Globacom will continue to focus on telecommunication, and its technical and operational activities in the technology area can coordinate with Shell Plc. The USAIDs comparative advantage is in developing and implementing programs that actually address agriculture, health and business development. Shell Plcs CSR campaigns and partnership with international body (like Africare and USAID) will go a long way to redeem the image of the company internationally and also help to maximise their competitive advantage over others (like BP- British Petroleum). Their support to Nigerian government amnesty to educate and employ militants that surrendered their guns will reduce the number of youth that join militant group to survive. It is very important to be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of any organisation when using SWOT analysis; it is of most important to identify the organisational current strengths and weaknesses then future chances. The macro environmental factors need to be mirrored with the organisational competitive advantage. Continuing evaluation of organisation strategy will help to check how effective they are in practice and then helps to inform of future environmental challenges. References Best, M. (1990) the New Competition: Institutions of Industrial Restructuring. Harvard University Press, Cambridge Dabbs and Bateson (1998), corporate impact of addressing social issues in projects of the developing world, Pro-Natural. Lima, Peru Davis, J (1998), a Commitment to Sustainable Development, WBCSD, London. 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