Revisit my anwser to the question in week one What is Wisdom Essay

Revisit my anwser to the question in week one What is Wisdom - Essay Example My initial conception of this view mainly derived through the book, The Last Days of Socrates by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant, has been reinforced by further readings of authors like William Thomas, Aldous Huxley, Joseph Piper, Victor Frank. Before reading Socrates, I was focused on the materialistic concepts of wisdom, believing that wisdom, within context of modern life, refers to the success a person achieves materialistically. But after mulling over the philosophical musings of these renowned authors, I became aware that one’s spirituality definitely plays a key role in evolving his individuality by which he strives for the pursuit of wisdom, and there by acquires happiness. Thus my distorted perception of human wisdom and welfare transformed drastically through the treasure trove of knowledge I could acquire from the profound works of these great men. They promulgated the concept that living the life of a values, guided by spiritually and motivated by true virtues, for the common good of humanity is one philosophy that can salvage the man’s soul rather than hours together spent in religious rituals or millions of sermons chanted to appease gods. It now transpires to me that wisdom is the essential thread that holds together the astute concepts of spirituality, philosophy, ultimate happiness and there by supreme attainment of the soul. This, I understand, is the true meaning or purpose of life. The impact of this has enabled me to think positively and see life in a new perspective and meaning as the realization dawns on me that overall what the present world lacks is the essential insight into the need of spirituality due to which its focus const antly shifts to the wrong direction of materialism. And, unfortunately humans fail to realize where this ignorance, that entails from the lack of wisdom, is going to take them. The works of authors like Socrates, Thoreau, Huxley, Piper and Frankl read and

Academic degree Essay Example for Free

Academic degree Essay After the SPM examination,many students have to decide their future on which education to pursue. Some of my friends chose to enrol in college. I decided to study in matriculation college as a Pre-U qualification to enter university. My reason is university education is better than college education. This is because university has a better education system,more dedicated lecturers and better facilities. First,university education provides a better education system than college does. A SPM certificate is enough for you to enrol in a college but to enter a university you need a Pre-U qualification such as STPM or A-level. This simply shows that it is harder to study in university as you need some qualifications in which the college does not demand. Besides,the grading system in university is stricter than that of college. So,students have to work harder to get a good result. On the other hand,most college change their grading system,according to the overall result of their students. Moreover,the the syllabus in university is well designed. Besides giving knowledge,it helps to develop the social skills of students. For example,Students have to do survey on public about topics related to their study. This ensures that the graduates can have critical thinking skill and communication skill. Universities usually hire more experienced lecturers with better knowledge. According to a research, these lectures possess a Master or PhD degree and some even graduated overseas. Thus,they have higher level of of knowledge which benefits the students. Besides,Most of them have years of teaching experience and so they know how to guide their students,developing their skills and exploring their potential. For instance,a Physics lecturer does not only talk on theories. Instead,he teaches the students to analyse a problem logically. They are also more caring and responsible to their students. These qualities are hard to seen in college lecturers,who are mostly bachelor degree holder and work just for money. (very serious generalisation here!) Last but not least,university usually has better facilities,for example,the state-of-art computers. Unlike those college such as Inti College which are run by private companies,university has a better management. Thus every single thing in the university,including the infrastructure is planned and developed well. This is beneficial to students. For instance,university with advanced laboratories is beneficial to students as they can learn science better by being explored to the real situation while conducting experiments. Besides,university with better sports facilities can help the students to relax their mind. In other words,better facilities means a more conducive environment for university students. In a nutshell,university education is better than college education for its better education system,lecturers and facilities. Despite the growing number of college in our country,I advice fellow friends to choose university education so that when you graduate,you are competitive enough to survive in this ever developing world.

What Factors Effect Student Cinema Attendance Media Essay

What Factors Effect Student Cinema Attendance Media Essay The main objective of this research is to determine factors that affect UEL students cinema-going behaviour. This report consist two main parts, Research Methodology and Finding and Analysis. At the end, a conclusion will be drawn out based on finding. 1.0 Literature Review Cinema-going refer to an action taken by individual to visit cinema for a movie screening, as those who visit cinema are called cinema-goers (Lipponen et al, 2003). Many researches have been done by researchers on cinema going behaviour in some country such as Australia (Henderson, 2007), Finland, Estonia, and Portugal (Lipponen et al, 2003). These studies focus on characteristics of cinema-goers that are similar between two or more different place. In order to determine what factors that affect cinema going behaviours, several areas of consumer behaviour have put into consideration. Knowledge Consumers knowledge refers to the amount of information that store within the memory of consumer on that particular product or services (Blackwell et al, 2001). What UEL students knew about that movie will affect their cinema-going behaviour. For examples, who is starring that movie? Who is the director? When the movie will be screen on local cinema? Attitudes Basically attitudes refer to what consumer prefer or like to consume. Cinema-goers usually go cinema watch movie is because of their favourite type movie screening. If that particular movie is dislike by him/her, most likely he/she wont go cinema. Perception Sometimes what consumer thought about that particular goods or services might affect their purchasing decision. Example action movies might suit to boys because of fighting scene but not suit for girl as they think that fighting is not good. 2.0 Methodology Research methods that going to apply is sampling method consist of survey throughout UEL students who study in International Business and Marketing course. Comparison between local and foreign students applied as different in background, education level, cinema censorship and perception toward a particular movie. Non-probability sampling applied where questionnaires were distributed based on their knowledge and personality. There are several limitations and advantages (Singleton et al, 1993) by using non-probability sampling. Limitations of non-probability sampling are unable to prevent bias of investigator on selection of participants and unable to predict the sampling error or sample precision. Advantages are less expensive and easy to collect with high respond rate. Primary data Questionnaire consist of 90 sets were distributed among UEL students and 80 sets responded. The questionnaire consists of 3 sections with total of 18 where most are close-ended questions (referring to Appendix 1). Total Responded Rate = 80 / 90 * 100% = 88.89% Besides that, focus group and personal interview have been used to collect primary data. This method apply is because focus group provide more information compare to observation (Morgan, 1997). Besides that, result can be obtained in fast and easy way. Yet some may not be able to join in the focus group due to distance and not easy to locate the right person (Morgan, 1997). Detailed explanation on these two methods stated on Appendix 2. Personally interview was carried out in order to obtain more accurate data beside questionnaire and focus group. Two respondents with different background and knowledge level were selected as they able to provide different answers which are not generalise. Yet limitation of personal interview is bias may occurred when selecting respondents and that respondents may not have the time for interview. 3.0 Finding and Analysis Based on Table 1, questionnaire respondents of 80 divided into two groups, 46 local students and 34 foreign students. All those respondents are UEL students. Question 2: What day in a week you likely will visit to cinema? Based on the finding from questionnaire, Saturday ranked as the first choose of day to go cinema for a movie with a total of 43 (27.56%), both local and foreign, students. While Wednesday ranked as second choice of UEL students with 37 (23.72%) students. Friday and Sunday follow after second ranking. Values of percentage refer to Table 2.1. From the overall finding, we conclude that local and foreign students prefer to watch movie on weekends. Result from focus group has found similarity to questionnaire where majority of member prefer to watch movie on Saturday and Wednesday. One of them stated that Wednesday they able to purchase the ticket using student price. The others stated Saturday is more suitable as their boyfriend/girlfriend/classmates doesnt have any class where they usually unable to meet during weekdays. Yet from personal interview, local respondent choose weekdays as weekends price for ticket is much expensive. Foreign respondent stated that weekends will not suitable as too crowded. Question 3: What types of movie genre you prefer to watch at cinema? Through questionnaire, both local and foreign students prefer to watch action movies in cinema with a total of 54 (20.69%) respondents. While comedy (46 respondents, 17.62%) and romance (30 respondents, 11.49%) following the back. Dance/musical movies found as the lowest pick (20 respondents, 7.66%) and hence being ranked as likely unwelcome movies among local and foreign students. Values of percentage can be found in Table 3.1. Focus group show same result where majority of them are like to watch action movie. Reasons are have different kind of feeling, more excited, sound system made it more real, love to watch martial arts and so on. One of them stated that romance movies are suitable to watch together with their spouse. None of them prefer to watch dance/musical movies at cinema. Personal interview indicated that action movies are their first choice if they wish go cinema. One of respondents says that dance/musical movies are not worth to watch at cinema. Hence conclusion is movie genre can affect UEL student cinema-going behaviour where the movie must in the preference of them. Question 4: What language of movie that you preferred to watch? Based on the result of questionnaire, both local and foreign students prefer to watch English language movies (68 respondents, 57.63%). Chinese language movies are the second higher (38 respondents, 32.2%). Certain respondents have chosen other languages such as Japanese, Korean, and Hindu. From focus group, all respondents choose English language movies. Reasons are they want to improve/strengthen their language in English, much better compare with other types, learn the way they speak and etc. Result from personal interview also supporting finding in questionnaire as they found that their spoken language in English is bad and want to improve by learning how they speak. Local respondent stated that English movies are much more excited that other language movie. Question 5: Usually you go to cinema with whom? From questionnaires result, we found that majority of local and foreign UEL students go cinema with their friends (75 respondents, 64.66%). Spouse (22 respondents, 18.97%) and family (13 respondents, 11.21%) following after friends. This situation occurred as majority of respondents prefer to watch action movies and their girlfriend unwilling to follow them. Focus groups respondents also providing similar answer as questionnaire where they feel that a group of friends go for movie watching is part of their entertainment, fulfil their social needs as illustrated in Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (refer to Appendix 3). Result from personal interview show different respond. Local respondent spend much of the time watch movies with his girlfriend while foreign respondent prefer to watch movies with friends as his spouse didnt follow him come here to study. Question 8: Based on your last cinema going experience, please the following statement. (1 Very Poor, 2 Poor, 3 Fair, 4 Good, 5 Very Good) Respondents in questionnaire choose that environment on previous visiting to cinema are good. Majority of local and foreign students (46 respondents which is the highest among three factors, 57.5%) are satisfied with the environment such as seats, screening, sound system and others. This shows that students satisfaction on cinemas environment can be important factor in affecting cinema-going behaviour. At the same time, focus group provide more reasons to support result in questionnaire as all respondents are satisfied with overall environment during last visit to cinema. One of the respondents stated that every single cinema company is competing with each other by providing better environment and services especially Golden Screen Cinema (GSC). The others say they will visit the same cinema again in the future because that particular cinema can satisfied them. Respondents in personal interview stated that environment play less role when determine cinema-going where location is the most important. Even the closer cinema to his house didnt provide good environment, he will insist to go there. Question 9: How do you become aware of the new movies screening in the local cinema? Through questionnaire, we can see that majority of local and foreign UEL students become aware of new movies and obtain their information through newspaper and friends recommendations (both with the same respondents rate of 49, 24.87%). Besides that, online website (36 respondents, 18.27%) is another place where they can get new movies information from. Focus groups respondents also stated that they usually obtain information from their friends or through newspaper. Seldom watch movie trailer before going to cinema and watch that particular movie. Online website usually used for e-reservation purpose only. Personal interview also found that local and foreign UEL students also obtain their information by friends recommendation and newspaper. Respondents stated that movies that rated best or good by friends should be fine with them. Therefore they will go cinema and watch that movies. We able to conclude that friends influence can affect their cinema-going behaviour. Question 10: Please indicate what reasons that discourage you from going cinema. Result from questionnaire show that location (53 respondents, 42.06%) is the main factor that affects their cinema-going behaviour, both local and foreign students. Ticket price ranked as second factor with 28 respondents and 22.22% while public transportation (21 respondents, 16.67%) follows at the back. Those respondents choose others provide reason such as environment and availability of new movies in that cinema. In contrast focus group provides different answer from questionnaire where majority of respondents stated that location is not their concern. They stated that environment is their main concern of going cinema even that cinema located far from their living place. Minority say that public transportation must available as they dont have own transportation. But personal interview show that location is their main concern as they need to travel with their own transport. Sometime traffic is too crowded until they feel tired if that cinema located far from their house. Environment will fall under consideration when going cinema. Question 12: Does the availability of movie viewing alternative such as DVD/VCD/Online streaming discourage you from going cinema? Based on questionnaire result, we may conclude that majority of the respondents will not be discouraged to go cinema even there is availability of movie viewing alternative. The result accumulated with 43 respondents or 53.75% of total respondents. Focus group show supportive result where all respondents choose that movie viewing alternative will not be the factor from discouraging them from going cinema. Respondents say that watching movie at cinema will have different feeling from watching VCD/DVD at home. Besides that environment in cinema can allow couple to strengthen their relation according to respondent. Moreover personal interview show the similar result as questionnaire and focus group. Both local and foreign students will not bought VCD/DVD/Online streaming as they want to be the first person to watch the movie in cinema. Besides that, if the movie is good then they can recommend to their friends. 4.0 Conclusion When preparing the report, comparison is made between local students and foreign students. Through the research, we can conclude that both local and foreign UEL students prefer to watch movies with their friends. Besides that, majority of them go to cinema based on their satisfaction on several areas such as environment, sound system, screen and etc. Yet local students obtain their information for that particular movie through their friends recommendation while foreign students prefer to get information through newspaper. However, this research topic required a deeper analysis to a wider range of factors and keeps up to date where human behaviour will change from time-to-time. (2,057 words) 5.0 Appendixes Survey form sample (Appendix 1) University of East London Stamford College Petaling Jaya Lot 7A, Jalan 223, Seksyen 14, 46100 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Tel: (+603) 79563188 Website: www.stamford.edu.my Dear Sir/Madam, A research has been conducted in order to determine what factors that affect UEL students cinema-going behaviour. Therefore survey form was distributed among UEL students. Information will be used for education and research purpose only. All information disclosed in this survey form will not be distributed or re-used by third party. Please kindly answer ALL questions listed in the survey form. Thank you. Section A: Demographic (Please read the question carefully and place à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ on those answer that most appropriate) Gender: Male Female Age: Below 20 21 23 24 26 27 29 Above 30 Nationality: Malaysian China Indonesian Others: _______________ Race: Malay Chinese Indian Others: _______________ Marital status: Single Married Divorced Highest education level: Primary school Secondary school A Level College University *UEL ID: ____________________ (Year ___ Semester ___) * Field indicated to fill in for future data keeping. Section B: How often do you visit cinema? Everyday 3 4 times per week Once a month Once per week Never visit (Go to Section C) What day in a week you likely will visit to cinema? Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday What types of genre you prefer to watch at cinema? (Continued Pg 3) Animation 3D Horror Romance Action Comedy Sci-Fi Dance/Musical What language of movie that you preferred to watch? English Chinese Tamil Others: ______________ Do you prefer to watch movie similar to drama? (eg, High School Musical1, 2 and 3) Yes No Usually you go to cinema with whom? (Can choose more than one answer) Family Friends Spouse Alone How much are you prepared to spend to purchase a cinema ticket? RM 5 RM 10 RM 11 RM 16 RM 17 RM 22 Above RM 22 Based on your last cinema going experience, please rate every statements stated below: Lighting Lighting(1 Very poor, 2 Poor, 3 Fair, 4 Good, 5 Very good) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚  1 2 3 4 5 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Clear screen Clear screen à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚  1 2 3 4 5 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Air condition Air condition à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚  1 2 3 4 5 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Seats setting Seats setting à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚  1 2 3 4 5 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Sound system Sound system à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚  1 2 3 4 5 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ How do you become aware of the new movies screening in the local cinema? (Continue Section C) Magazines Friends recommendation Online website Newspaper Cinema centre Broadcasting Section C: Please indicate what reasons that discourage you from going cinema (Can choose more than one answer). Price Cinema location Public transportation Promotion Other (Please specify: _________________________________________________) Please rank the following cinema companies from most popular to not popular based on your opinions. (1 Most popular, 2 Popular, 3 Fair, 4 Less popular, 5 Not popular) GSC TGV Cathay Cineplex MBO Lotus Five Star Does the availability of movie viewing alternative such as DVD/VCD/Online streaming discourage you from going cinema? Yes No Thank you for helping in this survey. Appendix 2 Focus Group Discussion This group consists of seven members, both local and foreign UEL students. Their personal information was not collected as each person prefer to remain anonymous in this research. Below is the result from the discussion: Usually you prefer to watch movies on which day? Why? Wednesday. Promotion. Student price. Not so crowded as weekends. Friday. No class on Friday for most of the students. Can spend more time with girlfriend/boyfriend. Saturday. Weekends price cheaper than weekdays. Usually not class for their spouse. What movies genre that you always watch at cinema? Action movies Romance movies (usually with spouse) 3D movies yet due to newly introduce therefore seldom watch by students. Horror movies What type of movies language that you prefer to watch at cinema? Why? English. Strengthen their language. Improve their speaking skill. More better if compare with other language Adopt the correct way to speak English. Forced by lecturer to watch English movies. Usually you go to cinema with whom? Why? Friends. Part of their life. To entertain friends because they ask for a movie. Can share opinions after watching movies. Spouse. Being forced. Improve relationship. Do you satisfied with last experience to cinema in term of seat, sound system, and screen? Will you go to that particular cinema again? Satisfied with those three factors. Yes because GSC provide the best environment to their customers. Satisfied. Now every cinema companies are competing in term of environment in order to booths up their sales. Willing to visit that cinema again. How do you become aware of new movies screening in cinema? Newspaper. Online website (usually for reserve purpose) Friends recommendation Does public transportation affect your cinema-going behaviour? No. Usually have own transportation. Major concern when dont have own transportation. Does location will affect your cinema-going behaviour? Yes. Sometime that cinema is located far away from their house. Stuck in traffic jam will feel exhausted and eliminate the mood to watch movie. Usually price will discourage you from going cinema? No. As long the price is within reasonable price range. No. To enjoy different feeling. Yes. Not affordable to purchase expensive ticket. Does alternative of movie viewing such as DVD or online streaming will discourage you from going cinema? No. That kind of feeling which obtained through watching at cinema is different from watching movie at home. No. Able to have more private space with spouse. Personal Interview Respondents personal information: L: Local student (1116421) F: Foreign student (1116608) Date: 12 April 2010 Duration: 45 minutes Can you tell me in which day of a week that you always go watch movies? L: I always watch movies on weekends especially on Saturday because I able to save cost compare to weekdays. F: Prefer to watch on weekdays oh because I can use my student card to get student price on Wednesday. Then what movies genre that you always watch at cinema? L: Action movies will be my first choose because the way they fight make me feel excited. F: Action movies. I dont like to watch dance/musical movies because is very boring and not attractive to me. What language movies that you always watch at cinema? L: English movies. More excited and adventure compare to other type of language. F: English movies because I am weak in speaking English when communicating with friends or lecturer. So I want to learn how to speak English. You usually go to cinema with whom? L: Friends. To entertain them. But majority of the time will go on date with girlfriend as normal day is study day and unable to spend more time with her. F: Friends. No choice because my boyfriend is not with me at Malaysia. Do environment factors affect your cinema going behaviour? Factors such as seat, sound system and screen. L: Of course not. Fuel price becoming more expensive than before so nearest cinema will be my choice. F: No. As long that I able to be with my friends, other factors will not be my concern. How you get your information about new movies at cinema? L: Through my friends and sometime from newspaper. F: Friends recommendation and newspaper. Usually online website was used to book ticket only. Does distance from your house to cinema is another factor discouraging you from going cinema? L: Yes. More nearest to my house, more likely I will choose that cinema. F: Yes. Sometime when the traffic is crowded then I might late for that movie. Then how about public transportation? L: No. Usually I will drive my car. F: No. My friends will come and fetch me. Will you pay high price for a movie? L: Depend on what movie. If that movie is my favourite then I wont mind spending high price but must be reasonable. F: Usually wont because I have limited budget to spend on every week. Will you buy DVD or go online to watch movie instead of going cinema? L: No. That kind of excitement cannot found if watch at home. (Some reasons have been removed due to personal reason) F: No. As long I can be with my friend, I can go watch movie even I watch that movie for more than two times. Appendix 3 Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, introduced by Abraham Maslow, a famous psychologist, divine into five areas: Physiological Needs, Security Needs, Social Needs, Esteem Needs, Self-actualisation needs. In Social Needs stage, human want to have a sense of belonging, being love or loving. Involved in relationship such as friendship, romance, families can help human being to fulfil their needs for companionship and acceptance (Maslow, 1970).

Mary Magdalen of Dostoevskys Notes from Underground Essay -- Notes Fr

Not for this I was born and then raised up. Unacquainted was I with such need. I once prayed to God, I was faithful. I once had a soul that knew peace. -from "Fallen," a Russian brothel song (Bernstein, 169) Prostitutes, women who sell their bodies for money, have been frowned upon since antiquity by most members of society. However, from as early as Rahab, the Whore of Jericho in the Old Testament who helped Joshua and his men regain the Promised Land, prostitutes have been portrayed as not only as sinners with the possibility of redemption, but women who lead men to salvation as well. This trend was particularly taken up in nineteenth-century Russian literature: "Elevated into powerful literary symbols by authors like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy..., prostitutes became female archetypes who either disillusioned the men with whom they associated or raised them to a higher plane of being" (11). Dostoevsky uses this idea of a "saintly prostitute" repeatedly in his works. The archetype that Bernstein claims he creates in based on the image of Mary Magdalen from the New Testament, the celebrated reformed prostitute who devotes her life to Christ. Crime and Punishment's Sonya Marmeladova, of whom "No tes from Underground's Liza is a prototype, performs the role of the penitent sinner who leads the way to salvation: the saintly prostitute Mary Magdalen. Despite common belief, Mary Magdalen is never referred to as a reformed prostitute in the four Gospels of the New Testament, though her actual role is just as pertinent to Dostoevsky's writing. In spite of the Gospels' tendencies to conflict with each other, they agree on four aspects of the Magdalen's life. First of all, she is one of Jesus Christ's female followers who is present at ... ...r one's sins and the perpetual chance of salvation. Works Cited Bernstein, Laurie. Sonia's Daughter's: Prostitutes and Their Regulation in Imperial Russia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. Conradi, Peter. Modern Novelists: Fyodor Dostoevsky. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988. Dostoevsky, Fyodor M. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson. Ed. George Gibian. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1989. Dostoevsky, Fyodor M. "Notes from Underground." Trans. Andrew R. MacAndrew. New York: Penguin Books, 1961. Haskins, Susan. Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor. London: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993. Malvern, Marjorie M. Venus in Sackcloth: The Magdalen's Origins and Metamorphoses. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1975. Wasiolek, Edward. Dostoevsky: The Major Fiction. Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press, 1964.

BioPharma Case Study Essay

BioPharma Case Questions 1. How should BioPharma have used its production network in 2009? Should any of the plants have been idled? What is the annual cost of your proposal, including import duties? This solution was obtained using the tables displayed below. Note that Germany and Japan produced none of the Relax product and that side of their plants has been idled. The annual cost of this solution is: $24.85Total Transportation Cost (millions) $1,268.31Total Production Cost (millions) $195.15Total Tariffs (millions) $1,488,315,983TOTAL COST Highcal Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 7 0 0 1.23 0 0 Germany 0 15 0 0 0 0 India 0 0 5 3.77 0 0.35 Japan 0 0 0 2 0 0 Mexico 0 0 0 0 3 12.65 U.S. 0 0 0 0 0 5 Total 7 15 5 7 3 18 Relax Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 7 0 0 2.77 0 0 Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 India 0 0.65 3 5.23 0 0 Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mexico 0 11.35 0 0 3 0 U.S. 0 0 0 0 0 17 Total 7 12 3 8 3 17 Total Plant Output Plant Total Brazil 18 Germany 15 India 18 Japan 2 Mexico 30 U.S. 22 2. How should Phil structure his global production network? Assume that the past is a reasonable indicator of the future in terms of exchange rates. Phil should note that the Dollar and Peso have been getting killed by the Euro, Real and the Yen the last three years. Over the five year period, the net movement has not been a disaster, and recognition of business cycles would suggest that it would be wise to retain capacity and capabilities throughout the entire supply chain so that production can be diverted as currencies move against each other. 3. Is there any plant for which it may be worth adding a million kilograms of additional capacity at a fixed cost of $3 million per year? It doesn’t appear this improves the solution shown in question 1. The plants that are at capacity in part 1 are Brazil, India, Mexico, and the U.S.; adding a million kilograms of capacity to those plants does not result in a lower overall cost for the entire supply chain. 4. How are your recommendations affected by the reduction of duties? A reduction in duties to 0% across the board results in the following costs: $38.25Total Transportation Cost (millions) $1,325.40Total Production Cost (millions) $0.00Total Tariffs (millions) $1,363,650,824TOTAL COST The solution matrix is far less sparse; virtually every market receives imports from every other market with the exception of Mexico and Asia without Japan. Production increases in Germany and Japan at the expense of India, Mexico, and the U.S. Highcal Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 1.20 2.28 0.62 1.20 0.00 4.90 Germany 1.52 2.90 1.23 1.52 0.95 2.98 India 1.12 2.50 .83 1.12 0.55 2.58 Japan 0.53 1.91 0.25 0.53 0.00 1.99 Mexico 1.52 2.90 1.23 1.52 0.95 2.98 U.S. 1.12 2.50 0.83 1.12 0.55 2.58 Total 7 15 5 7 3 18 Relax Production Plant Latin America Europe Asia w/o Japan Japan Mexico U.S. Brazil 1.20 1.48 0.00 1.48 0.00 3.65 Germany 1.52 2.46 0.95 1.66 0.95 3.03 India 1.12 2.06 0.55 1.26 0.55 2.63 Japan 0.53 1.47 0.00 0.67 0.00 2.04 Mexico 1.52 2.46 0.95 1.66 0.95 3.03 U.S. 1.12 2.06 0.55 1.26 0.55 2.63 Total 7 12 3 8 3 17 Total Plant Output Plant Total Brazil 18.00 Germany 21.67 India 16.87 Japan 9.93 Mexico 21.67 U.S. 16.87 5. The analysis has assumed that each plant has a100 percent yield (percent output of acceptable quality). How would you modify your analysis to account for yield differences across plants? To adjust for yields less than 100%, the capacity of each plant could be adjusted down by the loss percentage. Another approach would be to leave capacity as stated but adjust the amount shipped down by the scrap percentage. 6. What other factors should be accounted for when making your recommendations? This global supply chain is exposed to a variety of risks as enumerated below. Supply chain decisions should be made after careful assessment of the likelihood of these events and the effectiveness of possible mitigation plans. Disruptions – disasters, war, terrorism, labor disputes Delays – inflexibility or poor yield of supply, insufficient supply Systems – IS breakdown, system integration issues Forecast – inaccurate forecasting Intellectual property – vertical integration and global sourcing Procurement – exchange rate movement, industry-wide capacity issues Receivables – number and financial strength of customers Inventory – rate of obsolescence, holding costs, uncertainty of demand Capacity – cost and flexibility of capacit

Reflection Summary Essays

Reflection Summary Essays Reflection Summary Essay Reflection Summary Essay Essay Topic: The Outsiders Reflection Summary Name: Course: Date: Question 1 Reflection How is â€Å"the local† valued (or not valued) in a community that you are familiar with? The locals in the Willow Glen Community in San Jose, in the United States of America, are valued on various but fundamental aspects that constitute the community. This is mainly attributed by the acknowledgement of the local aspects by outsiders who do not understand how the local community functions. Such aspects comprise the knowledge of the locals, the culture, resources, skills and processes. By acknowledging such aspects, the outsiders and the local people are able to interact positively and work together in harmony and concord. On the subject of local knowledge, it is correct to assert that the locals know most about their respective communities than the outsiders. However, most people tend to rely on external expertise in order to provide solutions for problems affecting the community. Utilizing the knowledge of external expertise devalues the local people’s knowledge since such experts are mostly outsiders. For instance, the Willow Glen community works with local groups such as Martha’s Kitchen and the Sacred Heart Community Service to provide basic needs for the homeless in the community. This enables the community to cater for its inhabitants without relying on outside groups. Both locals and outsiders need to have confidence in the local knowledge available. It is also noteworthy for outsiders to know and learn about the local culture. Since local culture refers to the practices and customs of the community, outsiders often are precarious about the local culture. For instance, every December on Christmas Day, the residents of the Willow Glen community decorate Christmas trees on the residents’ front yards. The event is an annual event comprising culture of the San Jose Community and is a common tradition among the residents. Therefore, learning about the culture enables the outsiders to value the local customs and practices as well as be cautious regarding rare occurrences of harmful practices. Outsiders require taking advantage of the local resources in the community. Local resources comprise the products and services a community locally creates. For instance, the Willow Glen Community Center relies on local produce in order to provide healthy and nutritious food for the visitors such as children and aged adults. Hence, by investing in local products, the community benefits since it becomes developed. Furthermore, investing in the local products and services enables the capacity of the local people. Additionally, the community will be able to rely on itself for the provision of communal amenities and even fund its own community projects. The local people also need to utilize their own resources to further their own community. Both the outsider and local person should value the local skills. Community workers are skilful workers in the community, and they work around their respective communities in order to improve the locals’ welfare. However, for a community to develop, the local people require to involve themselves in learning about the workers’ skills and participate in the community work. The outsiders are not an exception. For instance, The Willow Glen Community works together with the Willow Glen Business Action to incorporate a benefit improvement program that will transform the business district of the community. Hence, by working together with the community workers, the outsiders and the local people will be able to build relationships and work in solidarity. Outsiders should learn about the processes in the community. The processes dictate how the community works. For instance, locals at the Willow Glen community have specific times set for local meetings in order to discuss the welfare of their community. Hence, it is necessary for outsiders to learn about such processes because some of the processes can be easily ignored leading to disruption of the event. Furthermore, ignoring the community’s processes can make the outsiders change the event leading to discord leading to a negative perception of the developers by the local people since such processes should be respected. Therefore, taking an interest in the community processes induces the locals to perceive the outsiders in a positive way and appreciate them. In retrospect, the local community is knowledgeable on the fundamental aspects that constitute the community in which they live and they should portray this knowledge to outsiders. In addition, outsiders should know and learn the local culture and through its appreciation, they should enhance the local resources in the community. Question 2 Summary The chapter, the Development Hoax, discusses the paradox nature of development. Using the region of Ladakh, the chapter defines the irony associated with development by using the region as an illustration to outline the absurdity of development in the modern context. Ladakh was once a region that adopted conventional practices and the locals were able to be self-reliant and emphasize on contentment rather than material comfort. However, with the influence of the common paradigm known as modernization or westernization, the region immediately besmirched because of the increase in environmental degradation, greed and material gain: aspects that define the notion termed as development. The agents of development are perceived to be associated with technological advancements and economic growth. To incorporate such objectives, labor and capital intensive methods are required to inculcate the Westernized from of development, which comprises heavy infrastructure. However, the unfavorable as pect of such activities is never realized. The characteristics of development are not different around the world: hence, it is valid to enhance a broad generalization of development since it comprises the creation of a single economic and culture system and elimination of diversity and autonomy. The introduction of cash to a system assumes an improvement in development. Hence, the more finances a country possesses, the more developed it is. This defines the economic growth of the country while disregarding the ethical practices of acquiring the money. The money is used to fund high resource-consuming projects neglecting projects that can actually assist people. Moreover, such a notion eliminates self-reliance and contentment. Development is also attributed to environmental degradation due to the production of chemicals, such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers and energy intensive farming methods, for commercial gain. The negative attributes are because of the self-serving intere sts of industrialized countries and multinational enterprises who want to create a single and similar economic system. Furthermore, development is associated with tracing the paths of developed countries for underdeveloped nations to become developed. The influence to follow the developed countries is characterized by abstract low poverty and population rates and the reduction in environmental pollution. However, that concept is no more than a hoax since most developed nations consume essential industrial resources in a way that the resources cannot be replenished and enable the underdeveloped countries to develop. Development is, therefore, a term that characterized by the exploitation of resources of the underdeveloped countries by the developed to further themselves and ensure dependence of the underdeveloped countries. Despite the argument that poverty and overpopulation represent significant problems globally and that economic development is the viable solution, the truth is th at such problems are an attribute of conventional development. This is because of advocacy for urbanization, industrialization and negligence of agriculture and the bucolic economy, which has led to the creation for destitution on a grand scale. Hence, the notion of development has only created a biased system that disregards self-reliance and diversity and advocates for dominance and exploitation of underdeveloped countries, maintaining the same status quo for immeasurable time without alleviating the affected who are the majority of the world.

Prey essays

Prey essays I found Prey to be a very enjoyable book. It presents situations that could, in fact be realistic in the future, as this tends to be a common theme in Michael Crichtons writings. The book also puts forward interesting concepts in Nanotechnology that mankind is not too far from achieving. Michael Crichtons writing in Prey is ingenious because one conflict cleverly leads to another, each new conflict growing as the old one gradually fades. He utilizes the first person point of view to get the reader so immersed in the main character that he or she feels his emotions. Michael Crichtons brilliant writing creates an excellent book that will keep any reader captivated for hours on end. Prey has brought a new awareness to me of how quickly nanotechnology is developing and what a promising technology it is. Because of Michael Crichtons extensive knowledge in the field of science and his brilliant writing abilities, he is able to create a research-backed fiction book that is still enjoyable. In the bibliography, Michael Crichton states, This novel is entirely fictitious, but the underlying research programs are real. He then lists about 30 sources. This incorporation of nanotechnology into an interesting book really sparked an interest in me. I have done some research and seen that this amazing technology does have a quite promising future. The characters in prey are very well developed throughout the book. Because the book is in a first-person point of view, all of the characters are characterized by the main character, Jack. If Jack dislikes a particular person, the reader has a tendency to dislike that person as well. The characters are also very realistic, each having reasonable conflicts and a personality that remains fairly constant throughout the book. The story is largely affected by the characters in it. Often, a very large conflict in the book is an internal conflict experienced ...