Planning Vacation

Krista Curtis Professor: Shelley St. Ange-Sheldon Essay: Problem Solving April 7th, 2013 Vacation time â€Å"A penny saved is a penny earned. † â€Å"A job worth doing is worth doing right. † We apply both of these sayings to the working world all of the time. Why not apply them to our vacationing world as well? Like most people, I look forward to a vacation, but planning it can become overwhelming if you’re not prepared. Planning a vacation should be fun and exciting.Vacationing is not always a priority to many families due to economic distress, but as little as a few hundred dollars you can plan a weekend getaway that’s inexpensive but a lot of fun! Figuring out what you’re interested in is a major factor in your planning. Not everyone is into car shows, bike rallies or the typical Disney vacation. Don't overlook major cities. Metropolitan areas like Jamestown, Norfolk, and Washington, D. C. offer families a variety of cultural and historical even ts that are child-friendly as well as interesting for adults.Look for destinations with sights, sounds, and adventures that match with your kids' interests like sports, theatre, art, history or architecture and choose a place that offers something for each one of your family member. First I would like to mention which states we would like to visit as a family, secondly I will discuss my finances and other requirements that best suit my family, and finally I would like discuss which state that I feel best meets those requirements.

Dirt Bike Usa

TABLE OF CONTENT I. DIRT BIKES USA COMPANY I. IS REQUIREMENT AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE II. COMPETITIVE STRATEGY III. OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: 1. rent or buy decision for hardware and software 2. CUSTOMER DATABASE 3. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOLUTION 4. E-COMMERCE STRATEGY 5. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 6. COMPONENT PRICE CHANGES. I – DIRT BIKES USA COMPANY: Dirt Bikes USA is Dirt Bikes production company based in California.It was founded in 1991 by Carl Schmidt and Steven McFadden, two young but experienced bikers with engineering backgrounds who saw that dirt bikes were becoming very popular in the United States as both sporting and racing motorcycles. 1. Goals and Culture * Culture: Carl Schmidt and Steven McFadden founded dirt bikes USA. They noticed that Dirt bike was becoming popular in the United States. They were founded on a friendly, family type atmosphere, attention to detail and quality, and continual learning and innovation.With these values Dirt bikes has excelled to one of the top companies, competing with the likes of Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. * Goals: Dirt bikes goals are very ambitious, and if fulfilled will bring them to the top of the list. They want to improve on their services, and products, and innovate cutting edge technology that will hopefully propel them to the top. They want to increase sales in both the domestic and international market. 2. Products and services: * Dirt Bikes does not sell directly to retail customers, relying on a network of 40 distributors concentrated in the Western and Midwestern United States.A small percentage of Dirt Bikes are sold in Europe using independent distributors that sell other brands of dirt bikes and motorcycles as well as Dirt Bikes. Dirt Bikes motorcycles, parts, and service, including warranty repairs, can only be obtained through an authorized Dirt Bikes dealer. All motorcycle and spare parts sales, shipping and set-up must be handled by a certified dealer. If a potential customer lives more than 50 miles from the nearest authorized Dirt Bikes dealer, the customer can purchase a Dirt Bike or Dirt Bike parts through a certified independent motorcycle dealer.Retail customers can purchase spare parts directly from Dirt Bikes only by verifying that they live more than 50 miles from an authorized Dirt Bikes dealer. The engines for Dirt Bikes are Rotax engines from Austria and tires are from Dunlop, but many of their parts, such as shock absorbers, front wheel forks, exhaust pipes, and headlights, are from the United States. Dirt Bikes currently produces four models: the Enduro 250, the Enduro 550, the Moto 300 and the Moto 450. The two Enduros are endurance racers, while the Motos are for motocross racing.All four are very modern, with such technology as both kick and electric starters, steering stabilizers, and liquid cooling 3. Organization: Carl Schmidt is the CEO of Dirt Bikes USA and Steve McFadden serves as President and COO. The employees of this company are involved in the design, engineering and production aspects, and include 3 full-time designers, 3 full-time engineers, 4 full-time parts specialist, and a 10-employee service department. There is also a marketing manager whose job is to oversee 5 sales representatives. Overall, the company employs 120 people and has expanded greatly since the early 1990’s.The strengths of this organization is that production department is divided effectively in smaller parts, they can easily control the operations. However, the weaknesses of organization is moderately hierarchical & small, there are no separate managers for service, shipping & receiving, parts and design & engineering and manufacturing. II – INFORMATION SYSTEM REQUIREMENT AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Dirt Bikes USA relies heavily on database software such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. This is to keep track of sales, inventory, and employee matters.The best selling product of Dirt Bikes USA has been the Enduro 550 and th e worst selling product has been the Moto 450. Sales by Model| Model| 2003| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| Enduro 250| 1201| 1663| 2291| 2312| 2195| Enduro 550| 2832| 3290| 3759| 4078| 3647| Moto 300| 1755| 1932| 2454| 2615| 2627| Moto 450| 463| 598| 661| 773| 823| TOTAL| 6251| 7483| 9165| 9778| 9292| In the first three years, international sales were consistently rising from 2003 – 2005, and then started to fall during the last two year. They have never contributed more than 10% of the total sales.International sales have grown relative to Domestic sales, however, in 2006, there has been a decrease in international sales while domestic sales have also increased. Domestic vs. International Sales| | 2003| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| Domestic| 5723| 6843| 8254| 8889| 8530| International| 528| 640| 911| 889| 762| TOTAL| 6251| 7483| 9165| 9778| 9292| % International| 8. 4%| 8. 6%| 9. 9%| 9. 1%| 8. 2%| | | | | | | Figure 2: Domestic vs International Sales from 2003 to 2007 Consolidated State ments of Income (in thousands)| | 2007| 2006| 2005| Revenue| | | |Net sales| 60,144 | 64,063 | 61,529 | Cost of goods sold| 45,835 | 43,155 | 41,072 | Gross profit/(loss)| 14,309 | 20,908 | 20,457 | Gross margin| 23. 8%| 32. 6%| 33. 2%| | | | | Operating expenses| | | | Sales and markering| 4,733 | 4,537 | 3,944 | Engineering and product development| 3,141 | 2,992 | 2,339 | General and administrative| 1,913 | 1,601 | 1,392 | Total operating expenses| 9,787 | 9,130 | 7,675 | Operating income/loss| 4,522 | 11,778 | 12,782 | | | | | Other income/expense| | | | Interest income/expense| 1,747 | 175 | 80 | Other income/(expense)| (6,254)| (2,914)| (3,080)|Income before provision for income taxes| 15 | 9,039 | 9,782 | Income taxes| 1,459 | 1,729 | 535 | Net income/(loss)| (1,444)| 7,310 | 9,247 | Net margin| -2%| 11%| 15%| | | | | Summary Balance Sheet Data| | | | | At December 31| 2007| 2006| 2005| Current assets| | | | Cash and cash equivalents| 6,994 | 7,197 | 6,891 | Accounts reveivabl e| 13,083 | 12,981 | 12,872 | Inventories| 6,315 | 5,931 | 5,843 | Total current assets| 26,392 | 26,109 | 25,606 | | | | | Property plant, and equipment| 36,920 | 34,515 | 32,002 | Other assets| 1,765 | 1,903 | 1,834 |Total assets| 65,077 | 62,527 | 59,442 | | | | | Current liabilities| | | | Accounts payable| 8,943 | 8,694 | 7,592 | Accrued expenses and other liabilities| 10,877 | 9,382 | 8,654 | Total current liabilities| 19,820 | 18,076 | 16,246 | | | | | Long-term debt| 9,772 | 9,338 | 8,890 | Total liabilities| 29,592 | 27,414 | 25,136 | | | | | Shareholders' equity| 35485| 35113| 34306| Total liabilities + shareholders' equity| 65,077 | 62,527 | 59,442 | The income statement and balance sheet are the primary financial statements used by management to determine how well a firm is performing.The income statement, also called an operating statement or profit and loss statement, shows the income and expenses of a firm over a period of time, such as a year, a quarter, or a month. The gross profit represents the difference between the firm’s revenue (or sales) and the cost of goods sold. The gross margin is calculated by dividing gross profit by net sales. Revenue is not growing steadily, from 2005 to 20046 the revenue increases at rate of 4. 12%; from 2006 to 2007 the revenue decreases at rate of -6. 12%.Cost of goods sold increases steadily from 2005 to 2007, while revenue just increases from 2005 to 2006, and decreases from 2006 to 2007. Gross margin and net margin decreases from 2005 to 2007 Operating expense increases from 2005 to 2007 A company has more current assets than current liabilities, firm has enough working capital to fund investments in new products and information systems. Firm has assets to pay for expenses and to finance the development of new products and information systems. III – ANALYZING COMPETETIVE STRATEGY 1. VALUE CHAIN OF DIRT BIKE USA:The company provides value to its customers by designing and manufacturing high qu ality custom motorcycles, and by servicing those motorcycles. Dirt Bikes choose top components from different famous suppliers around the world to make sure that each component of their product perform the best quality to customer. This activity make it become a unique spirited style for which company is noted. Moreover, all of Dirt Bikes’ product are warranty repaires, shipping and set-up must be handled by a certificate dealer, if the customers living within 50 miles from the nearset athoritizedDirt Bike dealers, they can purchase a Dirt Bike or Dirt Bike parts through a certified independent motocycle dealer, and so forth. The fact showing Dirt Bike’s concentration on providing the best products and services to its customers is that the company’s parts and service department is responsible for 15% of the total revenue. Furthermore, the most significant evidence to prove that Dirt Bike has provided the best quality products can be seen in the numbers of races that this brand wins each year. Besides, focusing on diversity of products is also a reason create value for Dirt Bike in the high competitive market.The company has produced many forms of racing dirt bike such as racing specifically for different size bikes, for short distances, long distances, and even for up to six days. Currently, Dirt Bike produces the highest value product is the Enduro 550, which is the top selling bike focused toward the dedicated beginner and semi-professional racer. By products lines that represent the needs and request of customers, Dirt Bike has gained the satisfation and trust from its customers. One of the most activities creating the most value for Dirt Bike is advertisement.Most of its advertisement is at racing event or racing magazines. Although known as one of the supplier selling the highest quality to customer, Dirt Bike use a very competitive level of price to against others competitors. Honda :2012 Honda CRF ® 450R $8,440| Dirt Bike 2012:Mot o 450 $8,995 The Enduro 250 $3,250The Enduro 550 $7,600The Moto 300 $4,295| Yamaha motocross :2012 Yamaha YZ 250F $7,290| | KTM: 2012 KTM SX 250| $6,899| | | | Kawasaki2012 KX450F US MSRP Price: $8,399| | Other ways to provide value to customers are the policy of listening to customers’ feedback on how to improve the product, sharing their experiences and informing the newest products to them through Dirt Bikes USA Owner Group. In addtion to adding value to its products and customers, Dirt Bikes also have a professtional employees who communicate with customers and show up the high quality as well as the differences of Dirt Bike directly. 2. RIVALS There are many company which produce and sell dirt bikes in the world.Among of such a huge competitors, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha represent as Dirt Bike’s primary competitors. Those companies are known for completely custom in-house design. Besdides that, they not only sell products but also the parts of their bikes ,which allow them to expand theirs business and control the quality as well as the revenue of company. Furhermore, Having a large Expenditure budget on advertisement helps them build a significant image in customer’s trust, gain a strong loyalty with long-term customer, appear popular on other retailers’ websites.Four brands shoould have been consider as the â€Å" big four† threaten Dirt Bikes USA. Honda Advantages: * Slimmed -down fuel tanks * Wide-ratio gearing * Electric starting Suzuki Advantages: * Loads of mid-range * Lightweight handling Yamaha Advantages: * Lightweight frame * Lightening- quick handling * Smooth power delivery 3. FACTORS INFLUENCE DIRT BIKE INDUSTRY: * Internet: the fast development of Internet is always a good sign for society and all manufacturing process whole the world. However, it is also considered as a potential threat of any industry, not except dirt bike.The ease of access allows Dirt Bike as well as other competitors to search the information of lower price supplies, high quality but cheaper parts as well as labor or advance advertisement. There is the same source for all compaies, therefore, it is hard for Dirt Bike to make the differences from other exitsting competitors as well as new potential competitors who are going to step into this segment. * Economy situtation: There is no exactly prediction about the world in the future, especially the current economy in Europe is not a optimistic view for Dirt Bike when its the largest market is almost in those Western countries.When there is a recession, people tent to reduce their demand in leisure activities; as a result, the revenue of dirt bike industry will steadily decrease. * The policy of goverment: It can not deny the relationship between economy and politic. Lower tax on import goods and service as well as afforable tax income, so forth are factors can determine the supply and demand of dirt bike industry. When governemnt carry out the tighten poli cy, selling those products will get the big trouble. * Taste of customer: Taste is also an important factors influent on dirt bike industy.It is very simple to see that switching hobby from using dirt bike to other vehicles will cause a headache for producer to motivate their customer to spend money on unnecessary procucts. * Quality: When Dirt Bike came into this industry, it made a promise on providing high quality and services to its customerl; therefore, it must keep its promise as its competitive advantage against others rivals. * New competitors: a market with many competitors will also cause some problems to existing company in dirt bike market. The organization as well as strategy will change along with behaviors of new enterprises. . COMPETITIVE STRATEGY: The most suitable strategy that Dirt Bike USA should follow is Low-cost Leadership. As we know, it has 4 big competitors who make Dirt Bike have to apply the most attractive strategy to gain more loyalty, interest from cus tomers as well as keep its market segment in long term. Others set the higher prices for their products as the claim on the quality. If Dirt Bike could produce such high quality products but sell at an attractive price, this competitive advantage would help Dirt Bike become unique in this industry.Moreover, Dirt Bike should apply some methods to improve its business besides the Low-cost Leadership: * Firstly, Dirt Bikes is known as one of the highest quality suppliers in the world. Its warranty on satifation of customer with Dirt Bikes’ products is its competitive advantage and it should continue to make use of this advantage to expand its business to others segment or others countries. It can do the same as other rivals by selling the parts to satisfy full demand of customers or expand its business to ATV or road motorcycles, which will help Dirt Bikes’ revenue as well as gain a better profit. Secondly, Dirt Bikes alsmot sell its products through its distributors. The information they keep is just information about those distributors not its customers. Another way to improve its business is develop its information system. Set up a large source of information about about all customers not only help Dirt Bike with managing customer profile more easily, spreading out needed information faster but also create a great bridge to build a long-term relationship with customer. * Finally, it should spend more money and time in advertisement, especially E-commerce.Its website should be redesigned to make customer as well as employees has a clearly look at all products it is selling. Providing more detail, technical information, comparision to others same line products. Those essential information has to be uploaded on the Website, beautiful and clear design to help customer more knowledgeable about products they would like to buy and support employees when they talk about products customers would like to know or they would like to sell. What is more, Dirt Bikes should invite famous riders to ride advertise for their products. This method will raise the trust in customer more. . INFORMATION SYSTEMS WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR THE CHOSEN STRATEGY: * CAD/CAM: technology allows engineer and draftspeople to design systems. * Communication and collaboration systems: allows all employees to communicate effectively and efficiently via e-mail, voice mail, call center and others. * Data warehouse: allows managers and knowlegde workers store huge amount of data that can be easily accessed and manipulated for decision support. * Mobile computing systems: supports mobile employees who work with cusomer or business partners outside the physical boudaries of the organization.Supply Chain Management System: This system may allow the company to manage their inventory levels more efficiently. * * IV – OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: * Developing a website privacy policy: developing a web site privacy policy There are some kind of personal information the web site can collect in order to serve customers well such as name, address, email, phone number†¦these database can be collected through: Order form If customers order products, the company requires personally identificable information. With these database, the company will deliver products exactly and on time.Email is very useful to provide services for customers. For example, a customer has a problem about his product, he can send email to service center to get the help instead of going to the company, or when the company has promotional campaign, it will send information to customers to announce about the news and encourage customers to buy new products. Surveys or contests: Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary. The requested information certainly includes contact information. Clickstream, web bacons: he company can use information collected from clickstreams to well understand about what customers are interested in, what they need; since the company set up pl ans to satisfy customers or provide services they needs. Although the website collects customer information and uses them as marketing and business purposes, it is ensured that security is very important to the company. When customers enter sensitive information such as social security number or credit card number on order forms, the company always warrant that information is encrypted by using secure socket layer technology (SSL).Additionally, not share personal information to the third party is a goal of the company. 1. Improving decision making: Making the rent or buy decision for hardware and software a. Rent or purchase software | | 2 tables above shows that the cost of purchasing software is less than the cost of renting hosted software. Thus, purchasing software is the best solution | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | b. Strengths and Weaknesses of renting vs purchasing | Rent| Purchase|Strengths| -cheaper cost -alternative new software easily-having most of the required features-minimal IT staffs| -free management to deal with product's core competence forever-have guaranteed appreciation over a time period time-minimal IT staffs| Weaknesses| -limited time using-limitation on the software customization-uncomfortable when the software is out of date-frequent software updates-long term reliance on vendor support| -expensive cost-expense when alternative new software-limitation on software customization-incompatible with company needs-frequent software updates-long term reliance on vendor support|If the company rent software, it can change into another software when the old one doesn’t fit company needs. The cost paid for rented software is cheaper than purchased software, so the cost for changing does not take much as well. Suppose the rented software is not out of date, the company also does not waste available resources as well as the money spending. Software is usually sold in a package. The c ompany has to buy full package even though it may not use all the functions. Thus, the company will waste the big money for spending useless functions of the software which is going to be released.Otherwise, the company has free management to deal with software’s core competencies forever. The company do not need to concern about time using as renting. That is uncomfortable when someday the software is out of date but the company still need to use it, the manager will have to sign a new contract for continuously using. That affects to company’s operations and waste time. Renting and purchasing need to be updated frequently to ensure that they always fits to company demands, hence both of them rely on vendor support in long term. Additionally, limitation on the software customization need to be considered as well.The company rent or purchase any software, it just has authority to use this software for helping the business to run effectively. It is not allowed to transfe r or copy into many versions to sell. However, minimal IT staffs is a strong point of both renting and purchasing. Software helps the company to handle well with a large information that human can not do although amount of staffs is large. c. Other factors need to be considered (beside cost): * Duration of need (long term or short term) If the company want to use in short term (usually under 6 months), then renting is optimal solution.In contrast, purchasing will be the best solution if time using is over 6 months (long term) * Compatibility Software run on iphone can not run on android. That is example about compatibility. Similarly, Microsoft 2010 can not run on window XP SP1, SP2, rather than they are window XP SP3, win 7 or later * Friendly interface Software that is easy to use will increase efficiency for the company. * Efficiency Microsoft 2007 is better than Microsoft 2003 because Microsoft 2007 has more functions than Microsoft 2003:colorful interface, beautiful templates.F urthermore, office 2007 can open XML files which are files of older office version†¦More functions are shown on ribbon. That helps users manipulate quickly. * Supporting The software should provide support for common tools used for the volume digitization of paper documents and integration with other devices that generate digital documents such as fax servers. 2 – CUSTOMER DATABASE: Dirt Bikes USA does not sell its products directly to retail customers; however, these transactions are primarily made through its distributors’ network.The information of a customer will be collected by the company’s distributors when this sale is made. This database is then forwarded to Dirt Bikes. Figure 1: Customer Database collected from distributors. Figure 1 shows the customers’ information that distributors forwarded to Dirt Bikes. This table includes many kinds of information: customer name, address (street, city, state, and zip code), telephone number, model pur chased, date of purchase, distributor, customers’ interests and tastes (their ages, level of education, and favorite sport), and their attentions to racing events.Storing all the information at only one place is so complicated and when it develops into thousand-record table, it is difficult to manage all information effectively. Moreover, it may take a lot of time to withdraw a piece of data as needed. To be able to market aggressively, therefore, the database needs to be redesigned. The new database will include tables and reports that allow the company to know certain information about the customers. The Marketing department would also like to be able to keep the customers updated on certain events, such as races and sales, depending on their ages, education level, and their previous purchases.Using Microsoft Access program (version 2007), the database that we designed is very simple to use, yet very effective. From the main database (Figure 1), 3 sub-tables are adding and each table manages 1 kind of information withdrawing from the main data. Figure 2: Distributor table The table shows the list of distributors’ names and their IDs. Managing distributors’ information by their IDs can avoid confusions and help looking up this information easily and quickly. Figure 3: Model table This table shows the models of dirt bike that the company produces and sells in the market.Each model is managed by 1 ID. Figure 4: Purchase table This table show previous purchases. Each record comprises Customer ID (the customer that made this transaction), Model ID (model ordered), date purchase of such transaction, and Distributor ID (distributor that made the transaction with the customer). Purchase ID is the primary key of the table. Figure 5: Relationship between 4 tables. This figure shows the relationship between 4 tables: Customer table (main table), Purchase table, Model table, and Distributor table.Specifically, Customer ID is the primary key in Custo mer table and in Purchase Table; Customer ID is the foreign key. Model ID is primary key in Model table and the field with the same name in Purchase table is foreign key. Distributor ID in Distributor table is the primary key and is the foreign key in Purchase table. All these relationships above are in one-to-Many type because the primary keys of tables of Customer, Distributor, and Model can appear many times in Purchase table. It means that one customer can make many transactions with many distributors and buy many models as well.Figure 6: Identify repeat customer by query. This table shows the way we design query to count the number of transactions that customers have made so far with source is Purchase table. Based on the result of this query, we can report frequent customers of Dirt Bikes USA. Figure 7: Repeat Customers. This figure shows the process that we create report of frequent customers. Customers that bought more than 1 product of the company will be reported with thei r names, phone number, model they ordered, dates of purchases and the distributors they bought dirt bikes from.Besides knowing who are valuable customers that the company needs to take good care of, Marketing department can also recognize effective distributors to give them acknowledgements for their good jobs (rewards, bonus, etc. ). Additionally, more reports can be added to better suite the needs of the company. Several reports that may be of need to Dirt Bikes USA are Racing events report, which show customers are avid racers, as well as the ages of the customers. Below are some examples of the reports needed by the Marketing department of Dirt Bikes USA. Figure 8: Racing events.This figure shows the way we made report of Racing events. The report shows customers that will attend racing events. This information is useful to Dirt Bikes USA because it enables the company to notify customers of when certain racers are being held. This way, the customers are aware of races and event s that they are interested in attending or racing in. Figure 9: Customers’ ages, Education levels, and favorite sports This figure shows the way we design the report of Customers ‘Ages, Education Levels, and favorite sports. The report allows the Marketing department to see their customers’ tastes.It can also help the company know which group of customers they are serving. From this information, Dirt Bikes USA can improve their performance in Customer services as well as improving its products’ designs and quality to fit customers’ interests. 3 – SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOLUTION: A supply chain is defined as a network of organizations and business processes for procuring materials, transforming raw materials into intermediate and finished products, and distributing the finished products to customers. Fulfilling orders on time is becoming increasingly harder for Dirt Bikes.This is due to the delays of obtaining certain parts to the motorcycles , especially their fuel tanks. This is a serious issue because this could lead to loses in sales because customers do not want to wait so long for their orders to be filled. Finding a different fuel tank supplier is very necessary. In response to the supply chain problems that Dirt Bikes USA searched for alternate suppliers on the internet. There are three possible alternative suppliers that were found: Company| Location| Cost of part| Cost of shipping| Motosport. com| Gresham, OR 97230| $247. 9| Fedex: free 2days| Motocyle-superstore. com| Medford, OR 97204| $273. 99| Free ground| Xrsonly. com| Hesperia, CA 92345| $249. 95| UPS 3 day: $26. 39| The suitable choice is motosport. com. They have the cheapest price and their website guarantees 30 day price matching. The shipping is not only free but 2nd day by Federal Express. The motosport. com website also looks more professional, and has a contact page that shows a picture of their administration offices, and the address of their war ehouse. It is possible that Dirt Bikes USA could be aided by implementing supply chain management software. Logility: Voyager SupplyPlanning| Wolin Design Group: da Vinci| Features| – Maximize probabilitycost for effective solutions- Optimizing sourcing and decision making. – Helps balance resources, constraints and customer service levels. – Analyses of customer orders-Evaluate costs and revenues| – Easy to report cost of effective solutions- Free training- Allows implementation of all or one applications- Optimizing resources. – Helps balance resources, constraints and customer service levels- Analyses of customer orders| Dirt Bike USA should also invest in good supply chain management software.The figure below compares the features of The Logility Company’s Voyager Supply Planning software with Wolin Design Group’s da Vinci software. The suitable option is the da Vinci software. There are some reasons for this, first of all, the co mpany does not require the purchase for all the components of the software; a company can choose to buy only certain applications. There are even add-ons to the standard software package. Before the company purchases the product, they are allows to do a demo with employees from Wolin Design Group.If the company is not satisfied with the product, the company will not have to purchase the software. Once the demo is complete and the company purchases the software, the implementation process begins. There is a Help Desk that can answer any questions or fix any problems that may arise. The actual software package itself provides Dirt Bikes with great services. Da Vinci is a whole database where every part of the ordering, financing, and inventory side of the company can be kept. It allows tracking of the products and shipping aspects.Inventory Management and other reports are easy to access because of the tracking. There are reports for the profit, revenue and costs of Dirt Bikes, as wel l as management reports. The reports help with the decision making and the everyday success of the company. The software also tries its best to minimize the cost of building the bikes and the all around costs in general. Voyager Supply Planning software is a great option, but da Vinci provides services that are more suitable for Dirt Bikes USA. 4- E-COMMERCE STRATEGY: Internet is becoming more and more popular in modern life as well as in business.E-commerce is an useful application for seller and buyer to reach their willingness.. Almost everyone has a computer with internet connection. By having a website, Dirt Bikes would be able to expand its business better because it will reach out to many people. Customers will also find it more convenient to do their shopping online. The customers have more time for choosing products and the shopper has a chance to read about all the different kinds of bikes. It also enables them to compare bikes to one another, as well as see pictures of al l of them. E-commerce allows the company to be more competitive.Dirt Bike should sell not only motorcycle but also parts on the Web, the customers will have more option when looking its website. Advertisement about the new products, popular product on the front page of the website is also a good way to attract customer. Although there are many benefits from E-commerce, Dirt Bike has to face with risks that derive from online trading. * Buyers from all over the world may use fake or stolen credit cards and online payment accounts or they outright lie about delivery. Many claim non-delivery or damaged goods in order to get refunds.This is turn makes it costly for sellers, as they are faced with the reality that now they have lost both their inventory and money. * Sellers may take money without ever sending any product or forwarding inferior goods to the customers. * When a company accepts a customer's credit card and personal data, unless the business takes measures to protect that in formation, data is easily stolen through hacking, making both the seller and the buyer vulnerable. Solutions for better E-commerce strategy: One e-commerce company that provides excellent services is NetSuite.It allows a small to medium company to be managed completely on this one software. Some of the services : website and web store building and hosting, built-in analytics and reporting, low-cost customer service, and superior e-commerce marketing tools. In order for the e-commerce software to be a profitable investment for Dirt Bikes, the cost savings need to increase. The increase should be more than the company has made in the past, and then some because of the cost of the e-commerce software. Advantages: * Managed Completely on on Software. Website and Web store building and hosting * Built-in analytics and reporting * Low-cost customer service * Superior e-commerce marketing tools 5 – KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: The most important explicit knowledge of Dirt Bike USA assets a re its engineering designs, its customer relations management, and its sales/marketing processes. This is the explicit and tacit knowledge, most of the knowledge can be documented. The engineer can graph his or her design and the customers or sellers can save their information in their documents.There is also tacit knowledge, the designers have to think about the new ideas to refresh the products and attract people, the engineers have to think about the techniques to deal with employees and customers as well, they have to think the ways to increase the employees’ productivity, some tricks that can be used by the sellers to persuade the customers to buy their products. However, the knowledge assets of Dirt Bike is not only internal asset but also external assets. The Dirt Bike use outside engine manufacture so it has be knowledgeable about the engine products that are produced and developed by their engine suppliers.The marketers also use outside media to know about the market trend, the customers interest to increase the investment from outsiders to expand the company. Knowledge management system is the system that would contain as much information as possible that can be documented and organized, from raw data to data studies. The system brings many benefits for employees and company itself. The engineers can use the data from this system for the correct engine designs and knowing whether the engine products from the suppliers are qualified are or not. The designers can use the data and get the materials for the products.The marketers can use external and internal data for making marketing plan and getting investment. The sellers can use the data for market segmentation, and determine the time for selling suitable kind of product. The managers can know the information quickly to update about the new plan, new economics trend to have better react. Finally, the company can get the products’ feedback from customers, make the survey about the custom ers’ interest. With many benefits from the Knowledge management system Dirt Bike need to use it but the problem here is how can they find he Knowledge management system company that suitable for them? The appropriate knowledge management system for Dirt Bike is Safeharbor (http://www. safeharbor. com/solutions/knowledge-management-services/) it has almost everything that suitable for not only Dirt Bike but also many different companies. Its Knowledge Engineers work directly with the company’s teams to help with some or all of the following: Content assessment, Content creation and testing, Analysis and reporting, Contact center alignment, Taxonomy, Best practices.It has some functions that other companies do not have like multi-language which is necessary for the company to have agencies in different countries, multi-currency for faster transaction and Boolean search for faster searching. The company has 3 competitive advantages: simple and intuitive, powerful and cust omizable, cost effective. It provides: Internal Knowledge base: * Powerful Search Engine. * Easy Article Creation and Content Management. * Powerful Knowledge Base Management Tools. * Improved Agent Effectiveness * Moderator Controls. * Reporting & Analytics * Cloud Mobility. External Knowledge base: Extremely Customizable. * Intuitive Self Service. * User Feedback. * Community Forums. Component| Component No. | Source| Unit Cost| Quantity| Extended Cost| | Brake cable| M0593| Nissin| 27. 81| 1| 27. 81| | Brake pedal| M0546| Harrison Billet| 6. 03| 2| 12. 06| | Brake pad| M3203| Russell| 27. 05| 2| 54. 10| | Front brake pump| M0959| Brembo| 66. 05| 1| 66. 05| | Rear brake pump| M4739| Brembo| 54. 00| 1| 54. 00| | Front brake caliper| M5930| Nissin| 105. 20| 1| 105. 20| | Rear brake caliper| M7942| Nissin| 106. 78| 1| 106. 78| | Front brake disc| M3920| Russell| 143. 80| 1| 143. 80| | Rear brake disc| M0588|Russell| 56. 42| 1| 56. 42| | Brake pipe| M0943| Harrison Billet| 28. 52| 1| 28. 52| | Brake lever cover| M1059| Brembo| 2. 62| 1| 2. 62| | | | | Total cost| | 657. 36| | | | | | | | | * Integrated Help Desk and Call Center. 6. COMPONENT PRICE CHANGES The table above shows the cost when it is not affected by any impacts. However when the front brake caliper increased from $103 to $107,the extended cost would increase, too and if the brake pipe increases from $27 to $30 the extended cost increases. The brake system represent 30 percent of the total materials cost for one complete Moto 300 motorcycle.Therefore, not only does the cost of the brake system increase, but the whole motorcycle price. | | | Brake Pipe| | | Total Cost| 657. 36| 27| 28. 00| 29| 30. 00| | 103| 653. 64| 654. 64| 655. 64| 656. 64| | 104| 654. 64| 655. 64| 656. 64| 657. 64| Front Brake caliper| 105. 00| 655. 64| 656. 64| 657. 64| 658. 64| | 106| 656. 64| 657. 64| 658. 64| 659. 64| | 107| 657. 64| 658. 64| 659. 64| 660. 64| The table shows the total cost increase when the price of the brake pipe and front brake caliper increase. Finally when the front brake caliper and brake pipe increase up to $ 107 and $30 the total cost increases to $660. 64. REFERENCES:

Macbeth – Analysis of Fear. In Macbeth, it is evident of how fear can affect any character

Fear is a significant factor in building a person's character, be it affecting their actions, their words, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. This emotional quality, of which can motivate one to success as well as to downfall, had played an important role in countless works of literature. As for the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, fear was the main motivating factor in influencing the actions and reactions towards the witches' prophecies of Macbeth, in addition to of Lady Macbeth. Seen through the development of the plotline, the final outcome of the play was affected greatly by fear and also inspired by how this particular sentiment can dominate and control the nature of mankind. Following the death of Duncan, Macbeth's subsequent acts of murder were carried out of fear and insecurity for his position as the king of Scotland. Once Duncan's body was discovered, Macbeth had immediately rushed up to the king's chamber and killed the two sleeping guards. He justified himself by saying ‘Who could refrain, That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage to make's love known? ‘ (2. . 112-114) Out of fear and without thinking straight, Macbeth has slain the grooms of Duncan in order to deprive them of a chance to justify themselves. The over-exaggerated passion displayed by Macbeth, as well as the amplified account of his courage, fired up the rising suspicions of Macbeth's true intentions in the incident. His fear of getting caught and accused of Duncan's death only further enhanced his fear of Banquo, who was beginning to doubt the justice behind Macbeth's new status. As in the witches' prophecies, Banquo was destined to father generation after generation of Scottish kings. Macbeth demonstrated his anxiety regarding his royal legacy by commenting ‘To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo Stick deep' (3. 1. 48-50). This lead to his participation in the murder of Banquo, where Macbeth's cautious attitude insisted that committing a second crime would further secure his role as king. This characteristic of Macbeth's fear was also shown much later into the play after meeting with the apparitions. Upon learning that ‘none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth' (4. 1. 8-81), Macbeth immediately scoffed ‘Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee? But yet I'll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live' (4. 1. 82-84). Macbeth's psychological mindset was indicated through this quote, his vigilance drove him to the desire of murdering Macduff and hence his family. Therefore, fear precipitated Macbeth's many redundant murders, which then amplified his downfall. Lady Macbeth was greatly consumed by fear and guilt that she was slowly losing her sanity, as a result of not being able to handle what she had done to Duncan. In the quote of ‘Out, damned spot! Out, I say! ‘ (5. 1. 30), Lady Macbeth was trying to wash out what she saw as blood on her hands. The repetition of the word ‘out' towards an inanimate object – something insignificant – emphasized her emotionally instable behaviour and inability to control her sentiments. Also, Lady Macbeth's fear of blood contrasted greatly with Macbeth's obsession with murder and bloodbath in the latter half of the play: when Macbeth utilized his fear in evolving into a vigilant character, Lady Macbeth deteriorates from a callous character into one overwhelmed with fear. She mentioned hell – ‘Hell is murky' (5. 1. 31), announcing her fear of going there for what she has done. Initially, Lady Macbeth had been the driving force behind Macbeth's ambition to be king, masking whatever fears she occupied by calling proposed threats bluff as like in the quote ‘What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? ‘ (5. 1. 32-33) Nevertheless, Lady Macbeth's role became smaller and more insignificant as the play neared the end as she was driven mad by guilt. Unable to take the torment, it was implied that she ended up taking her own life right before the battle between Macbeth and the English troops began – ‘The queen, my lord, is dead' (5. 5. 17) – which demonstrated her fear and what fear can do to a person. The witches' prophecies, particularly the apparitions, were a main source of fear for Macbeth, where he fell further into a belief of what fate had in store for him. The straightforward warning from the first apparition – ‘Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. ‘ (4. 1. 1-2)' – angered Macbeth greatly and drove him to kill Macduff's family. This then further motivated Macduff to slay Macbeth in combat. The second and third apparitions then told of the causes of Macbeth's downfall. Once the battle commenced, Macbeth repeatedly announced the prophecies, either to himself or to whatever audience is there to listen, fearing he would have forgotten. He would declare ‘Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane I cannot taint with fear' (5. 3. 2-3) and ‘I will not be afraid of death and bane, Till Birnam forest comes to Dunsinane' (5. . 61-62). The fear of Macbeth's own defeat had lead to a constant reminder for himself to continue fighting and living until the predictions did come true. Meanwhile, his consistent repetitions of the apparitions' predictions implied a certain mindset of where he saw them as a protection against whatever harm. In using verbs like ‘cannot' and ‘will', the determination of Macbeth is demonstrated, as well as him trying to calm himself down in trying to be relieved of whatever emotions or fears which may affect his performance. On the other hand, Macbeth's obsession with the prophecies also weakened himself. Once having killed Young Siward in battle, Macbeth laughed ‘Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man that's of a woman born' (5. 7. 15-17) and this lead to the underestimation of Macduff once they started to fight and hence brought the tyrant and protagonist of the play to his end. In conclusion, fear plays a part in one's decisions in every day life. Though one may hide his or her fears behind a strong exterior, it remains a potent motivating force throughout life. In Macbeth, it is evident of how fear can affect any character. For the duration of the play, Macbeth's fears of losing his position as king contributed to his many acts of murder in the means of being cautious. Similar to Lady Macbeth who found relief from her fears in death, Macbeth then buried himself into the witches' prophecies; trusting whatever was told for security and, in the end, lead to his downfall. Therefore, fear can force people into great situations, motivating and hindering actions as stimuli for accomplishment in life.

Analysis of Neoclassical and Romantic Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis of Neoclassical and Romantic Art - Essay Example He mostly worked with historical paintings and portraits. "Portrait of Colonel Guy Johnson" represents the British commissioner of Indian Affairs in the American colony. Next to him is represented a figure with the "peace pipe" in his hand, contrast to the Englishman, holding a gun. In the background we can see a large waterfall, Niagara. In the picture, the figure of the colonel is highlighted, while the aborigine is hidden in the shadow. In this way, the painter contrasts illuminated mind to the civilization located in the darkness of ignorance culture. In general both pictures represent the spirit of â€Å"antiquity†. â€Å""Visions of Antiquity" broadens our understanding of neoclassicism.† (Pagel, D., 1993). The picture of Francisco Goya is definitely a representation of romantic Art. â€Å"In Romantic art, nature—with its uncontrollable power, unpredictability, and potential for cataclysmic extremes—offered an alternative to the ordered world of Enlightenment thought.† (Galitz, K. C., 2000). Comparing two pictures, we can see that they are performed in the same color pattern. The authors mostly use dark background and light items of closing in order to highlight the personalities. In terms of shape, both pictures are presented in two dimensional areas, separating the images of the characters from the surrounding world by the invisible boundaries. Talking about space, the authors used the method of overlap in order to make people on the pictures closer to the viewer. Taking into consideration the art principles, it is necessary to state that the elements of graphic design are expressed in a united and harmonious way. The balance is revealed through the proportional placement of the main elements. The dominance is created by means of the contrasting figures on the first place and the elements behind. Pagel, G. ART REVIEW: A Progressive Definition of Neoclassicism in Visions: LACMAs

Anthropology - Primates Observations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anthropology - Primates Observations - Essay Example Focusing on the Gibbon at first, I was able to obtain a lot of information on the creature. The animal bears the scientific name Hylobates simang. The observation made on the behavior for this animal was around 20 minutes. One of the characteristics noted about the animal in a clear manner is the high amount of social skills that it bears. This derivation attributes to the way the animal went about its activities and occasionally going over to other hears of its family. The vocalization of the Gibbon appeared to be very high as compared to other animals in the zoo. The animal has a very high vocal ability perceived from a distance that well exceeds one kilometer. Another characteristic observed from the creature is its high flexibility. This is from the manner in which it jumped from tree to tree at ease. These vigorous activities helped in putting the animal in good health. The animals have a very dynamic field of view and thus a high rate of accuracy while swinging. Moreover, their hands have a very large surface area and thus hard for them to miss a rope in their swinging activities. After a round of swings, the animal only rested for around five or less minutes. This was because it was the social responsibility of each of the animals to watch over each other (Stoinski 113). The feeding behavior of the animal was very typical of the primates in the same order. This is from the large amount of bananas that the animals consumed. In the feeding process, the animals were very kind as they shared the meal with the rest of the family members. The animals were very entertaining from the fact that they could occasionally sing for each other. This was from the male and female members of the animals. The singing was some kind of communication between the two sexes. The other animal to study was the Western Lowland Gorilla. Research led me to the understanding that the animal has the scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla. With the animal, I was also able to spend 20 minutes in its natural habitat observing its lifestyle and the noticeable features. For a gorilla, the animal was rather small and hence considered the smallest of the Gorilla family. Unlike other primates, the animal did not show any signs of territorial domination. This is from the manner in which other gorillas of the same type could interact freely with those of another family. The animals also generally fear areas that that are enclosed and do not find comfort in those areas. It is due to this that the animals are in the open multiple times. The feeding of the animals generally characterized high-energy foods due to the high amount of social activities witnessed from the animals. Bamboo plants are the favorite food types of these animals. This is because the plants bear lot of proteins that offer the animals a lot of energy to swing from tree to tree and run at a very high speed in an effort to run away from their predators. The animals stay in large groups for protection. This is very important as they have a natural fear of poachers hunting them down. The animals live in groups of around seven females together with their children and one dominant male. The animal spends around 5 hours daytime to sleep. This is after the consumption of a healthy and heavy meal. The male however does not enjoy this kind of comfort. This is because it is his role to take care of the

The advantages and disadvantages of electronic books Essay

The advantages and disadvantages of electronic books - Essay Example Furthermore, personal readers from Amazon and Sony have been experiencing a breakthrough in the commercial business and this has attracted popular press and business. There has been rising interest in the academic field for the usage of e- books owing to their convenience and increasing printing costs. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of the advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of e-books and gives recommendations on how to improve in their usage. In spite of the numerous disadvantages associated with the use of e- books, different users are gradually accepting their use in the academic and commercial fields (Steve, 32). In the recent times, e- books have gained popularity due to the several advantages they have over printed books. There are numerous advantages linked with the usage of e- books that are discussed below. According to a recent survey conducted among users, the main advantages were found to be ability to search key words, ease of access from dif ferent locations; they are environmentally friendly and portable (Anuradha and Usha 47). It is clear that users value the ability to search information in detail, time saving abilities and their convenience. E- Books are more efficient since if one is looking for a particular topic they can apply a search feature to get the relevant internet pages that are worth checking out. In addition to, e- books are ranked in order of importance hence the reader can establish the credible ones (Staiger 367). E- Books offer customized display since the user can adjust them according to their desires. They can make the print bigger or smaller depending on their wish or even minimize the web page. E- Books are an amazing way of preserving past literature (Grant). This is through the digitization of historical collections that leads to the creation of a knowledge base and restoration of cultures. E- Books enable audio translation and this enables the readers to privately listen to the information o n the book. This improves learning and has massive benefits for the visually impaired users. Additionally, e- books are easy to navigate and search for information. In relation to this, e- books enhance interactivity and allow the use of different learning styles (Grant). Moreover, e- books offer privacy as it is difficult to see what one is reading (Jeong). E- Books have a positive impact on the environment. This is because e- books minimize the amount of paper used for printing since they do not require any printing paper. In the long run, it will lead to the conservation of trees (The Economist). It is easy to transfer information that is contained in e- books and this is convenient for travellers and long – distance learners. At the same time e- books are free from problems of wear and tear, theft and the risk of being misplaced. The dictionary function makes learning of new words and concepts easier as one can easily find out the definition of a word by simply clicking o n it (Siriginidi, 371) . E- Books allow for the integration of social sites such as Twitter and Facebook thereby facilitating sharing of information (Siriginidi, 256). Additionally, it enhances the making and taking of notes and this leaves a digital trail for future student (Shelburne 60). This also benefits book clubs and recreational readers. E- Books offer divers e choice to the readers as they can have as many books as they

Teen pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teen pregnancy - Essay Example In relation to the idea of making valuable ideas, my stand in this case will significantly focus on the cons of teen pregnancy as opposed to the pros. Teen pregnancy may be viewed as something profitable to mothers since they are considered to be a milestone ahead in the reproductive category and thus considering teen pregnancy not as an immoral action but as an action of negligence of failure to take actions (Arai, p.199). However, the cons are so alarming than the pros. For instance, early pregnancy has a higher percentage of causing obstetric complications which most often than not result into complications in the newborn (Baker p, 81). Again, people in different cultures in the world especially on the religious point of view agree that a child is a blessing, but the truth is the bearer will be economically affected. Take for example a young girl who happens to get unplanned pregnancy instead of going on with her education, the implications are that, she will have completely disoriented her life both socially and academically, since she is most likely to find problems in planning anything (Wakle, p,105, 107) further notes that the teen in question will be in deep stress of wanting to terminate the pregnancy or not to as well as pressure from her parents who always would want her to continue with her studies. Moreover, another disadvantage of teen pregnancy is that teens who have been affected end up living as social handicapped since they end up living as single mothers (Hoffman p, 52). Economically, they are more vulnerable to living under the line of poverty as indicated by Hoffman (P, 52) who further argues that statistically, bearing a child at an early age results in to the social effects under the economic trends.They live so poorly with a lot of stress of making the ends meet. Academic wise they either decide to bear the responsibility of having the

Strategic leadership Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic leadership - Case Study Example Moreover franchise allows companies to enjoy the operating economies of scale in advertisement of the product and also in purchasing the raw materials needed for manufacturing the product. With the expansion and maturity of the franchise the chain managements often buy them or became interested in opening own stores for themselves which help in gaining a better understanding and controlling of the operations. And with increasing control and understanding the franchising fees get supplemented by profits. Secondly the decision to choose the town, the neighborhood and even which side of the street as the region of the location is an important key factor of success. A difference in the location of the store can make a huge difference between the success and the failure. Thus the importance of ‘scale economies’ is to be recognized at the store level because the fixed cost of the outlets are very high and so to meet the cost, the small returns per unit sells and the traffic vo lume is very crucial. Efficiency in store management is also an important factor of profitability within the industry. Since the opportunities of waste, inefficiency and shrinkage are many there is a requirement of an efficient management system. Thirdly the efficiency of the store managers in building relations with the local public, developing goodwill with the customers, maintenance of the morality of the employees and keeping an eye on the competing chains are important for ensuring the short term profits. Fourthly with the development of the industry a clear overall market image of the chain is very important. There is a need of maintaining consistency and reliability of the product line throughout the chain. Introducing more innovative recipes often becomes risky as it may deviate from the basic and core theme of the industry. (Bartlett and Rangan, 2) Answer of Question no 2:- Dick Mayer emphasizes on Strategic planning. According to him strategic planning can bring effective changes in the way of marketing and brings accountability in the function. Every product and their pricing proposals require analysis and review by the management to evaluate their ability to meet long term strategies. He focused mainly on the subsidiary in Japan as it was one of the fastest growing units with the highest potentiality also a challenge for the entire international operations. Mayer was aware of the issues related to the resistance of the headquarters administrative control over the entire international operations. The office of the international operations felt that the lack of organized and effective planning and control for the overseas expansions resulted in the financial constraints, the inconsistency in the strategies taken and the ‘stalled expansion’ in the overseas market. Accordingly increasing efforts made by the staffs of the head quarters aiming at increasing support to the overseas staff and providing them with the resource and the experience of the parent company would help them in achieving optimality. The subsidiaries were helped from the headquarters in developing new marketing skills. New techniques of market research and advertising in television to introduce the products to the customers and to enhance the brand awareness were introduced among the subsidiaries through seminars. According to him the head quarter cannot turn a blind eye on the subsidiaries submission of approval forms after the plan already implemented and not submitting proper reporting to the head quarters for analysis. Moreover manager’s proposals of new market entry and the details of their strategies should be properly evaluated for setting financial and operational expectations in the changing world of

Legal Issues Affecting the Healthcare Work place Research Paper

Legal Issues Affecting the Healthcare Work place - Research Paper Example Bullying can include a series of incidents when overt or covert aggression can be inflicted on a person through spreading of rumors, withholding data, blocking promotion, or inflicting psychological abuse through exclusion (Leonard, Norman, and Spring, 2009). Horizontal violence is also a form of bullying, but it involves non-physical acts of aggression between employees of similar hierarchical positions. It includes: criticizing, insulting, undermining, and bickering (Leonard, Norman, and Spring, 2009). Mobbing involves negative actions of a group directed towards one employee. Parties involved may be those of higher positions abusing those in power positions. Workplace abuse may either be physical through shoving, pushing, and be kicking, or it may also be verbal through berating or threatening; it may be active or passive, and it may also be directly or indirectly carried out. In healthcare, studies and reviews indicate that these workers are about 16 times more likely to suffer workplace violence as compared to other employees. Moreover, nurses who are often at the frontline of health services are subjected to abuse from family members of patients. These nurses are unavoidably exposed to these dangers because they are exposed to patients who have issues related to substance abuse, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, mental health problems, and other social issues. In effect, the patient’s health issues and unfavorable conditions when they face nurses create dangerous scenarios for nurses.

Dealing with Evil Essay Example for Free

Dealing with Evil Essay After the World War II the planet has been divided by the Iron Curtain into two antagonistic camps: the communist countries, headed by the USSR and the capitalistic countries, headed by the USA. The struggle between two systems took forms of economic competition, ideological dispute, armament race and even local armed conflicts. Both leaders aimed to spread their influence at every possible region and attract carry over every possible country. At that they often paid little attention to home policy of a particular state concentrating exclusively on their ability to control it. Declaring their desire for democracy both the USA and the USSR often supported authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. This paper shall review some examples when the US cooperated with undemocratic rulers and demonstrate the necessity of such cooperation in order to stop the communist expansion. In one of the global key-points – the Middle East the USA did a lot to support an unpopular regime of the Shah of Iran. Between 1945 and 1979 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, conducted a policy of westernization and close ties with the United States. His rule has been marked by growing poorness of the population and total corruption of the state officials. Failure of economic reforms has only compounded the crisis. Under such conditions the communist party gained increasing popularity among the people of Iran. However, despite of Shah’s authoritarism, the USA instructed him when he removed a democratically elected government in 1953, as well as later in his actions. Only in 1977 the President has sent â€Å"a polite reminder† to the Shah about the necessity to take care of human rights . In response the Shah has freed some political prisoners and allowed the Red Cross to operate in Iran. Those measures appeared to be late and the Shah has been overthrown in 1979. Between 1940 and 1959 the USA favored a regime of l Ruben Fulgencio Batista at Cuba, preferring to have a dictator rather than a communist country just a few miles away. Batista has been provided with funds for electoral campaign. The CIA assisted Batista in detecting and destroying his opponents. However, Batista’s regime appeared to be so unpopular among the people of Cuba, that it has been destroyed by a small group of guerillas lead by Fidel Castro in 1959 . Another example of support rendered by the USA to totalitarian leader is cooperation with the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo ). Mobutu’s attitude to Soviet Union was rather frosty because of the Soviet support of local rebels. So he has chosen to strengthen the relationships with America and Belgium – a former mother-country of Zaire. The US was third largest donor to Zaire economy. Even despite of Mobutu’s warlike rhetoric and poor human rights record, Zaire received almost 50% of US assistance to sub-Sahara countries in the times of President Carter. America also directly cooperated with Mobutu during inner conflicts by providing supplies and transporting Belgian paratroopers . Nevertheless after collapse of the USSR the USA has found it unnecessary to further work with Mobutu and he was even refused of American visa. In contrast he was now suppressed to democratize his regime. And without outside assistance he has been overthrown in 1994. In total, the attitude of the USA to friendly dictators can be characterized by a rude but frank phrase of Franklin D. Roosevelt: â€Å"He may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch†. In the titanic struggle with communism political loyalty was a priority in comparison to observation of human rights. REFERNCES 1. Gellman, Irwin F.(1973) Roosevelt and Batista: Good neighbor diplomacy in Cuba, 1933-1945. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM 2. Ayittey, George B. N. (1999) Africa in Chaos: A Comparative History. Palgrave Macmillan 3. Afoaku, Osita. U. S. foreign policy and authoritarian regimes: Change and continuity in international clientelism, Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2000, pp. -345-241

Case Study Food Restaurant Management Marketing Essay

Case Study Food Restaurant Management Marketing Essay Jack Sprat is the owner of seafood restaurant in a coastal town. He is 63 year old and doctor has advised him to take rest so he had appointed a Manager to look after the business operations and he use to come to see the business once in a week. But once he handed over the business to the manager his business is not doing well and there is continuous decline in the business. So in order to find remedy owner has approached to the investigator to analyse the case and suggest as what should be done to bring back the business of the restaurant. The investigator has analyzed the business with the tools of business (case) analysis-SWOT and further financial data has also been taken into consideration to find out the declining trend and come to a conclusion as why business is going down. In order to evaluate the business operation and put the findings in the report the investigator has done extensive research-secondary research and analysed the case with his valuable suggestions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The investigator would like to convey his gratitude to those entire people who helped him to enhance his understanding of the case and analyzed the situation so that a valid conclusion of the case can be drawn. The investigator has completed this case successfully and has presented his findings with suggestion in this report. So author would like to thank the Module tutor for kind support and guidance. INTRODUCTION Jack Sprat is 63 year old owner of 60 seat licensed seafood restaurant that is situated in a coastal town. Before starting this business Jack was simply a Manager at a local Bluebeckers Restaurant. But an inheritance left this restaurant to him. Since the opening of this restaurant business it has given very good return. The belief of Jack towards success of this business is the Maintenance of high standards in food production and presentation. Other fact is Menu and beverage list has been fairly constant since beginning of this restaurant. Jack did not change menu and beverage list because business was giving modest return since beginning. But jack is not regular to the restaurant so he has appointed a Manager to manage the business operation and he used to come to the restaurant to see the business operation once in a week. This is because at this age (63) he has been suffering from health problem and his doctor has advised him to take rest. But business of this restaurant has gone down as soon as it was handed over to the manager. Absenteeism of the staff has increased. Keeping in mind the remedy of the situation author has established aim and objectives of this report, here are the aim and objectives written in detail: Aim of this report is to find remedy of the existing problem or discrepancies of the restaurant and give valuable suggestions to overcome from these problems so that business can be put on its old pattern-profitable. Objectives are: Finding most important problems Identification of further information that would be helpful in making realistic plans for the future of the business To list the priorities Drawing an action Plan The structure of this report is as follows: First of all main body has been presented wherein SWOT other detailed analysis has been done. Then conclusion has been drawn and bibliography (list of references) has been given followed by appendix section where additional information has been provided. MAIN SECTION Before providing solution of anything one has to find the problems first. So to find problems related to Jack Spart business the investigator has conducted SWOT analysis and financial analysis. Before going for the SWOT analysis of the business concerned it is important to understand SWOT first. SWOT ANALYSIS is the detailed search and listing of factors from situational analysis that might or will impact the businesss strategy. Strategic marketing is based on the SWOT analysis. The process by which SWOT factors are derived is to carefully review the internal analysis for strengths and weaknesses, and the environmental analysis for opportunities and threats, and to then record. (Reich, Z.A, 1997) According to Morrison, J (2002) The SWOT analysis is a commonly used planning tool, which assesses the firms strategic profile in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Focusing on both internal and external environments, it serves to highlight a firms distinctive competences, which will enable it to gain competitive advantage. Based on the above information from the scholars it is true that business environment can be divided into two part-internal and external environments. Internal environment consists of all factors that are internal part of the business. These internal factors are within the control of the business. Strength and Weaknesses of the business can be found in the internal environment of the business. External factors are those factors which are not within the control of the business and to be into existence business houses have to change in internal policy and adjust itself to cope with the external environment factors. Opportunities and Threats are the factors that are part of external environment of a business. For SWOT analysis please refer to appendix1..SWOT ANALYSIS.docx FINANCIAL ANALYSIS REVENUE (SALES) POINT OF VIEW: Food sales has increased in 2007-8 by 4.3% compared to 2006-7, and it has gone down in the financial year 2008-9 by 3.95% compared to 2007-8 sales of food. Liquor Sales has increased in 2007-8 by 5.97% compared to 2006-7 and further it increase by 15.59% in the year 2008-9 compared to 2007-8. Overall Total Sales has been increasing in the financial year by 4.67% in the financial year 2007-8 compared to 2006-7, and further increased by 6.57% in the financial year 2008-9 compared to 2007-8. DIRECT COST POINT OF VIEW: In the financial year 2006-7 food cost was 42.05% of its sales and in 2007-8 it became little favorable by going down to 41.16% of its sales figure and in the year 2008-9 in again gone up to 43.63% Direct cost of Liquor is 59.72% of its sales in the financial year 2006-7, and 57.70% in 2007-8 and further 57.91% in 2008-9. So its favorable as it is in declining trend. Total direct cost is 54.01%, 55.11% and 52.88% in the financial year 2006-7, 7-8, and 2008-9 respectively which also seems favorable because in 2007-8 it gone little up but again it gone down by good margin-around 2 to 3% GROSS PROFIT POINT OF VIEW: Gross profit of food is 57.95%, 58.84% and 56.37% in the financial year 2006-7, 7-8, 8-9. This shows increase in 2007-8 and further decline in 2008-9. Gross profit of Liquor is 40.28%, 42.30% and 42.09% in the financial year 2006-7, 2007-8, and 2008-9 respectively. Overall it is in favorable trend. Gross profit in the financial year 2006-7 is 54.01%, 55.11% in 2007-8 and 52.88% in 2008-9 which seems declining trend. In the year 2007-8 it gone up but in 208-9 it came down. This is because there was declining of sales of food in the financial year 2008-9 by 3.95%, otherwise sale of liquor in this financial year was good and direct costs were also behaving favorably. INDIRECT EXPENSES POINT OF VIEW: There are three component of indirect expenses-labour, overheads and operating expenses and maintenance expenses. Amount spent in labour is in increasing order i.e., 29.76%, 31.51% and 33.21% in the year 6-7, 7-8, and 2008-9 respectively. This shows restaurant is spending more % every year in its staffing. Overheads and operating expenses seems within control as its 8.78%, 7.21% and 8.36% in the year 2006-7, 2007-8, and 2008-9 respectively. Maintenance expenses is 1.61% of sales in the financial year 2006-7, 1.40% in the financial year 2007-8 and 0.91% of sales of financial year 2008-9. This shows that organization is spending very less on maintenance expenses. Overall total indirect expenses is 40.15% of its sales in the financial year 2006-7, 40.12% in 2007-08 and gone up in the financial year 2008-9 to 42.48% NET PROFIT POINT OF VIEW: Net profit is 13.86%, 14.99% and 10.40% in the financial years 2006-7, 7-8, and 8-9 respectively. This shows that Net profit has going down, and in the financial year it has gone down with huge gap compared to previous years percentage. Overall its a matter of discussion and management should pay attention to the indirect costs as percentage of indirect cost is very high. As gross profit is in 50% so almost 40% of sales are being spent for indirect expenses. Although management is not spending much in maintenance component of indirect expenses but other components i.e., overhead and operating expense, and payroll expenses are very high that is the reason Net profit of the restaurant is not attractive. For further information please refer to financial ratios table in appendix2..FINANCIAL ANALYSIS.docx Aim and objective No.1: Finding important problems: Operational System A sales forecast is a prediction based on past sales performance and an analysis of expected market conditions. The true value in making a forecast is that it forces us to look at the future objectively. The hotel can takes note of the past and stay aware of the present and precisely analyzes that information to see into the future. It will also help the hotel to establish policies so that one can easily monitor prices and operating costs to guarantee profits, and make one aware of minor problems before they become major problems. Employee Morale Employee morale describes the overall outlook, attitude, satisfaction, and confidence that employees feel at work. When employees are positive about their work environment and believe that they can meet their most important needs at work, employee morale is positive or high which can lead to better service and customer retention. Since there is an increase in absenteeism in restaurant employee morale can be increased by treating employees with respect, recognition and empowering them. Menu choice is stale and boring Redesign menu to increase the average spend of the hotel customers, correctly categorize the items on the menu, improve the food presentation, increase food and beverage cost and thereby increase sales at the same time. Maintenance and Hygiene problem The organization is spending very less on maintenance expenses. In any food establishments, food handlers are either the first line of defense or the cause for the need for defense. This is because most types of foods can be contaminated and it is the responsibility of the food handler to ensure the safety of the consumers by eliminating or minimizing the contamination to safer levels for consumption.   The restaurant needs to have rules and procedures in place to ensure that Personal Hygiene is effectively managed. Aim and objective No.2: Identification of further information that would be helpful in making realistic plans for the future of the business: Information needed towards market segmentation-target market: Information to the case is very important to analyze any businesss health or problem. It is equally important like medical tests are important for human body for remedy of any kind of complain of a patient. There are other tests or scanning is needed for business analysis. Market segmentation is one of them. Market segmentation: market consists of buyers who differ in one or more ways. They may differ in their wants, resources, locations, buying attitudes and buying practices. Because buyers have unique needs and wants, each buyer is potentially a separate market. Ideally, then a seller might design a separate marketing program for each buyer. For example a caterer can customize the menu, entertainment, and the setting to meet the needs of specific clients. However, most companies are unable to offer complete segmentation. The cost of complete segmentation is high and most customers cannot afford completely customized products. Companies therefore, look for broad class of buyers who differ in their product needs or buying responses. The restaurant industry offers many examples of segmentation by a variety of variables. (kotler,p 2004) The reason why knowledge of market segmentation is needed because until unless it is not known that which segment is being targeted by the organization concerned (in this case Restaurant of Jack Sprat), it would be very difficult to compare the strength of that segment for the business. In this case it is not given in the case so its important to analyse this business from its segment point of view. Information Needed for competitors analysis: To get success of the business its needed to deal with customers, suppliers, employees, and others. In almost all cases there will also be other organizations offering similar products to similar customers. These other organizations are competitors. Objective of the other organizations is the same as yours to grow, make money and succeed. Effectively, the businesses are at war fighting to gain the same resource and territory; the customer. And like in war, it is necessary to understand the enemy: How he thinks; What his strengths are; What his weaknesses are; Where he can be attacked; Where the risk of attack is too greatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. And so on. And like in war, the competitor will have secrets that can be the difference between profit and loss, expansion or bankruptcy for the business. Identifying these secrets is thus crucial for business survival. (http://dspace.dial.pipex.com) accessed on 2/01/2011 Other information needed is about its competitors. Information of competitors is very important to know the business of competitors and further business concerned can be compared with the competitors. So competitor analysis is very important. Aim and objective No.3: To list the priorities: First of all instant action should be taken to solve Hygiene problem. Proper forecasting of guests so that underproduction and overproduction both can be kept under control Extra manpower has to be reduced so that there will be less burden on payroll cost Choice of menu has to be increased Manager should be empowered or can be changed (as information is not given properly and in detail so it is impossible to say to change) Somehow owner has to be in touch even over the phone to monitor the business operation and if possible frequency to visit may be increased. Local bank should be approached for short term loan for the refurbishment activities. Aim and objective No.4: Drawing an Action Plan: Action plan is a process that includes assessments of own strengths, available resources and market opportunities. There must be idea about marketing objective of the organization concerned then a plan can be prepared and further implemented to achieve the determined objective. In other words these informations are basic and needed at very first step towards making action plan: Market and trading environment of the business concerned Decision about market business is targeting to Knowledge about differentiation or advantage of uniqueness of own product and services Deciding marketing mix Estimation of Fund etc. ACTION PLAN: PRODUCT: Option in Menu list will be given PRICING : May charge little higher than what has been charging PROMOTION: There is need to promote the product and create awareness to remove the negative image of the organization. So it can be done through normal aids of advertisement-Newspapers or T.V Channels. Through T.V Channels it may be a little costly affair in that point of view daily is better. Other Actions to be taken: It could have opened even on Sunday to attract customers who want to utilize their holidays. So it will be open all 7 days. Funds should be managed instantly- It can be done by approaching Commercial Banks for short term loans. Refurbishment will have to be done as soon as loan is approved. Employees have to be re-motivated so that absenteeism of staff can be kept under control. CONCLUSION The investigator has analysed the case of Jack Sprats restaurant and found that major problem is its hygiene and maintenance and indirect expenses. These two factors have to be kept under control and converted into favorable mode only then this organization can earn profit like previous time. There are other areas also that needs attention i.e., arrangement of fund, manpower management, empowering manager etc. BIBLIOGRAPHY Britton, C and Worthington. I (2003) The Business Environment, 4th Edition, UK:Prentice hall. Hooley.G(2004) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, 3rd Edition: UK: Prentice Hall Kotler, P. (2004) Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, 3rd Edition, Delhi:Person Luck.D and Rubin, S.R (1996) Marketing Research,7th Edition, USA:Prentice hall Morrison, J (2002) The International Business Environment, 1st Edition, New York; Pal Grave. Reich, Z.A (1997) Marketing Management for the Hospitality Industry,1st Edition,: Wiley and Sons Canada. Wearne.N (2001) Hospitality Management, 1st Edition, New Delhi: Global www.netmba.com/strategy/pest/ Accessed on 2/01/2011 http://dspace.dial.pipex.com) Accessed on 2/01/2011 APPENDIX 1 SWOT : Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat Analysis of Seafood Restaurant Business of Jack Sprat STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES It is an established organization Maintaining high standard in food and presentation Customers feel that restaurant is conveniently placed and charges reasonable price Owner is not able to give full time attention to the business Maintenance and Hygiene problem Menu choice is stale and boring OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Restaurant is old so having established market Market Image is good- reasonable price and consistent standard Dilution of market share due to inability to refurbish Environment Health officer may not be informal in future and there will be time when formal notice will be issued.

Classifications of Government Expenditure

Classifications of Government Expenditure The welfare of the people of India highly depends on the expenditure of the Government of India (GOI). Government expenditure is a very important aspect of the governments budget presented by the finance minister every fiscal. Through it GOI tries to maximise the welfare of the people by appropriately allocating economic resources to various government activities. Government expenditure can be broadly classified into four categories: Functional Classification or Budget Classification: In April 1974, the GOI introduced a new accounting structure in order to serve the requirement of financial control and accountability. Under this structure, a five tier classification has been adopted sectoral, major head, minor head, subhead, and detailed heads of accounts. Sectoral classification has clubbed the government functions into three sectors, namely, General Services, Social and Community Services and Economic services. In the new structure, a major head is assigned to each function and minor head is assigned to each programme. Each minor head include activities or schemes or organizations as subheads. Economic Classification: Economic classification of the government expenditure signifies the way of the allocation of resources to various economic activities. It involves listing the government expenditure by significant economic categories, separating current expenditure from capital expenditure, spending for goods and services from transfers to individuals and institutions, inter-governmental loans from grants etc. This classification provides a record of governments influence in each sector of the economy. Cross Classification or Economic-cum-functional Classification: Cross classification provides the break-up of government expenditure both by economic and by functional heads. For example, expenditure on medical facilities, a functional head, is split as current expenditure, capital expenditure, transfers and loans. Accounting Classification: Accounting classification of the government expenditure can be presented under (i) Revenue and Capital (ii) Developmental and Non-Developmental and (iii) Plan and Non-Plan. Each classification of expenditure has an objective associated with it. For instance, Revenue and Capital expenditure indicates the creation of assets by government expenditure and unproductive expenditure. Further, the developmental and non-developmental classification differentiates the government classification as the expenditure on social and community services and economic service from that against general expenditure. Similarly, the Plan and Non-Plan expenditure represents the expenditure on planned schemes of government and non-plan expenditures. The above classification of the government expenditure serves one or more of the purposes of the government, such as, parliamentary control over expenditure, economic development, price stability etc. Analysis of Government Expenditure in India The chart given below shows the division of government expenditure in terms of capital and revenue expenditure for some selected years. The percentage share of revenue expenditure in government expenditure has increased over time due to increase in expenditure in society welfare. The growth story of the India can be said in terms of five year plans which give an account of government expenditure during the plans. The first five year plan (1951-56) laid emphasis on agriculture, including irrigation and power, wherein the government had spent 36% of its subject on these heads. The second five year plan (1956-61) marks the foray towards industrialization with an increased government spending in transport and communication sector with an contribution of 28.9% of its expenditure. The urge for industrialization continues even during the third five year pan (1961-66) with 24% and 20% public spending on Industry Minerals, and Transport and Communication respectively. Fourth to seventh five year plans have social services of education, health, welfare sharing a majority of the pie with 24% and 26% expenditure in fourth and fifth plan. The eight five year plan (1992-97) commenced the era of fiscal reform and liberalization. There were increased efforts to improve the economic growth and quality of life of the common man. There were high public spending on the sectors like energy (26.6%), Transportation and communication (20.8%) and Social and other services (19.6%). The Ninth five year plan (1997-2002) focussed on the development of infrastructure by allocating 72% of the funds to irrigation, energy, transport and communication and social service. The tenth five year had an objective of atleast 8% growth rate by providing a boast to power sector spending (26.56%) and increasing social Community services sector spending to 29.27%. COMPARISON OF INFLATION BASED ON CPI AND WPI Consumer Price Index (CPI), is defined as the weighted average change over time in the prices of a basket of the good and services consumed by a consumer. While, Wholesale Price Index is defined as the weighted average change over time in the price of a basket of wholesale goods. Inflation rate is calculated based on the CPI and WPI as the percentage in the respective indices over time, generally a year. The calculation of inflation rates based on CPI and WPI form 1994-95 to 2006-07 is given in the table provided below: CPI and WPI differ in terms of their weights assigned to their respective constituent basket goods and services. Food has been assigned a higher weight in CPI (46% in CPI-IW) as compared to a weight of only 27% in WPI. As a result, the CPI changes more with the change in the food process as compared to the WPI. Further, the fuel group has a much lower weight in CPI (7% on an average) relative to that in the WPI (14.2%). Consequently, the variations in international crude process affect the WPI more than CPI. Also, services are not included under WPI, but are included in the CPI to different extents. Hence, the CPIs are influenced by the service price inflation. Considering the data provided in the table above, it can be inferred that on an average CPI-IW inflation is higher than that of WPI inflation. Also, in terms of WPI inflation the period from 1994-95 to 1995-94 was of higher inflation, then the inflation decreases and increases again in 2000-01 and then decreases again. It can be seen that the inflation rate, both CPI inflation and WPI inflation, follows a cyclic pattern.

Understanding Teens Who Self Injure Essay -- Psychology Depression You

Understanding Teens Who Self Injure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imagine being sixteen years old and taking a razor to your arm because you feel so much pain inside that cutting is the only way to escape it. For a lot of people this idea seems strange and incomprehensible, but for many teenagers this is their reality. In a society with so much abuse, neglect and crime children are facing things that they never had to face in the past. Adolescents who are lacking more positive coping skills are turning to self-injurious behaviors to ease their pain and frustration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In recent years the issue of self-injurious behaviors or SIB (White Kress, 2003) has increased in popularity. The general public is starting to take a special interest in the issue as more and more people are doing it. The issue of self-mutilation can be found in movies, television and popular literature today. With increasing media attention people want to understand what these behaviors include, who does it and why. Although researchers agree that more research is needed on the topic, much is already known about these behaviors. About 1% of the general population and 4% of the mental health population suffer from a form of SIB (Shoemaker, 2004). Often times people who suffer from SIB have preexisting mental health disorders such as major depression, Dysthymia, dissociate identity disorder, OCD, substance abuse disorders, adjustment disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and eating disorders (Brittlebank et al. as quoted in White Kress, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although there is many different definitions of what SIB is, most researchers would agree that ?SIB is defined as a volitional act to harm one?s body without any intention to die as a result of the behavior? (White Kress, 2003). There are also a lot of different terms out there for these behaviors, they include self-inflicted violence, self-injury, self-harm, parasuicide, cutting, self-abuse, and self-mutilation (Martinson, 2001). Without any intention to die as a result is a very important piece of information when understanding SIB. While many people who self injure do have suicidal ideation, most are not in fact suicidal. ?Menninger described self-mutilation as the focusing of suicidal impulse on part of the body instead of the whole body to avoid actual suicide? (Zila & Kiselica, 2001). Someone who is suicidal wants to end his or her life, howev... ...er from SIB could have suicidal ideation, which at times Lisa does, but I would not consider her suicidal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, my information was very informative and well written. It gave me a clearer look into the world of SIB and a better understanding of Lisa and what she is dealing with. I definitely think more research needs to be done in the field. I would like to find more information on boys with SIB because that seems to be becoming more frequent and also more treatment suggestions. Works Cited Martinson, Deb. (2001). Self Injury. Focus Adolescent Services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.focusas.com/SelfInjury.html Personal Interview with Lisa at Kids Peace Children?s Psychiatric Hospital Shoemaker, Carma Haley. (2004). A Cut Above: The Practice of Self-Mutilation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teenagers today. http://teenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/mutilate.htm White Kress, Victoria. (2003). Self Injurious Behaviors: Assessment and Diagnosis. J  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Journal of Counseling & Development, 81(4), 490-497. Zila, Laurie MacAniff & Kiselica Mark. (2001). Understanding and Counseling Self-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mutilation in Female Adolescents and Young Adults. Journal of Counseling &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Development, 79 (1) 46-53.

Computer Crime In The 1990s :: essays research papers

Computer Crime In The 1990's We're being ushered into the digital frontier. It's a cyberland with incredible promise and untold dangers. Are we prepared ? It's a battle between modern day computer cops and digital hackers. Essentially just think what is controlled by computer systems, virtually everything. By programming a telephone voice mail to repeat the word yes over and over again a hacker has beaten the system. The hacker of the 1990's is increasingly becoming more organized very clear in what they're looking for and very, very sophisticated in their methods of attack.. As hackers have become more sophisticated and more destructive, governments, phone companies and businesses are struggling to defend themselves. Phone Fraud In North America the telecommunications industry estimates long distance fraud costs five hundred million perhaps up to a billion every year, the exact the exact figures are hard to be sure of but in North America alone phone fraud committed by computer hackers costs three, four maybe even up to five billion dollars every year. Making an unwitting company pay for long distance calls is the most popular form of phone fraud today. The first step is to gain access to a private automated branch exchange known as a "PABX" or "PBX". One of these can be found in any company with twenty or more employees. A "PABX" is a computer that manages the phone system including it's voice mail. Once inside a "PABX" a hacker looks for a phone whose voice mail has not yet been programmed, then the hacker cracks it's access code and programs it's voice mail account to accept charges for long distance calls, until the authorities catch on, not for a few days, hackers can use voice mail accounts to make free and untraceablecalls to all over the world. The hackers that commit this type of crime are becoming increasingly organized. Known as "call cell operators" they setup flyby night storefronts were people off the street can come in and make long distance calls at a large discount, for the call cell operators of course the calls cost nothing, by hacking into a PABX system they can put all the charges on the victimized companies tab. With a set of stolen voice mail access codes known as "good numbers" hackers can crack into any phone whenever a company disables the phone they're using. In some cases call cell operators have run up hundreds of thousands of dollars in long distance charges, driving businesses and companies straight into bankruptcy. Hacking into a PABX is not as complicated as some people seem to think.