Succubus Shadows Chapter 17

My initial time with the Oneroi had been a mix of true and false dreams. As time went on – and I really had no way of saying how much of it did go on – the majority of them seemed to be true ones. They were either visitations of awful memories or more glimpses into my current life, meant to demoralize me and make me homesick. I was still torn apart, still feeling more animal than human or succubus or†¦whatever. Yet, the fleeting pieces of rationality within me wondered at the sudden lack of handcrafted visions. One might argue the Oneroi were being lazy. They were just giving me recycled material, and whenever I did see my friends in the world, I got the impression that it was less a dream and more like the Oneroi flipping me onto a TV channel to make sure I stayed distracted and gave them something to feed off of. It almost felt like they were trying to keep me busy because†¦well, they were busy. But why? What had happened? What had Dante been about to tell Roman and the others? Was it enough to make the Oneroi pull some of their attention from me? Or were these simply more mind games meant to leave me in turmoil? I kept hoping I'd see a follow-up to what had happened with Dante, but the Oneroi had other parts of the life I'd left behind to show me. Or, well, parts I hadn't left behind. Simone was still impersonating me, and the Oneroi wanted me to know. Adding insult to injury, she was helping Maddie and Seth with the wedding. The three of them were out cake shopping, and honestly, I was almost more surprised to find Seth there than I was Simone in her disguise. He'd pretty much kept away from the wedding planning as much as possible, using the pretense that he was no good at decisions and was happy to let Maddie run things the way she wanted. I didn't doubt the first part of what he said but wondered about the second. In my heart of hearts, the one that believed he was still in love with me, I secretly hoped he was passing it to Maddie just because he was indifferent to it all. I wanted to believe that he really didn't care about the planning because he didn't care about the wedding. It was clear, however, that I cared. Or rather – Simone cared. Considering my reluctance at dress shopping, you would have thought Maddie might notice the sudden increase in zeal. Nope. Maddie was too caught up in her own bubble of happiness and welcomed â€Å"my† assistance. So, the three of them set off on a cake adventure, visiting all the bakeries Maddie had compiled and ranked on a list pulled from hours of Internet research. â€Å"You want it creamy,† said Simone, licking icing off her fingers at a bakery in Belltown. Actually, it was more like sucking. â€Å"This is a little too sugary.† The threesome sat at a table where they had been provided with a plate of samples. â€Å"That's the point,† said Maddie. She was eating a bite-size piece of chocolate cake in a much less pornographic way. â€Å"Mega sugar rush.† â€Å"Yeah, but if you get too much sugar, it just tastes grainy. You want it to slide right over your lips.† She turned to Seth. â€Å"Don't you think so?† Seth had taken a bite out of a piece of marble cake. â€Å"It is kind of grainy.† Simone gave him a knowing smile, one that seemed to say, See? I know you better than anyone else in the world. Seth held her eyes for a moment, but his expression was unreadable. He turned toward Maddie. â€Å"But we can do whatever you want.† â€Å"No, no,† she said, not sounding too disappointed. â€Å"This is for both of us. I want it to be something you like too.† Seth gave her a mischievous smile. â€Å"Does it matter? It all gets shoved in the face anyway.† Maddie's eyes went wide. â€Å"No, it doesn't! Don't even think about doing that.† â€Å"Guess you won't know until the time comes, huh?† His smile had grown. Seeing him play with her made me (figuratively) squirm, but I took comfort in seeing a flash of annoyance in Simone's eyes. Maddie was succeeding where Simone couldn't. That was how it should be†¦or was it? Maddie's unwitting triumph over Simone meant she had†¦well, triumphed over me. Or had she? Simone looked like me but wasn't truly me. Damn. This was all so confusing. â€Å"Seth wouldn't do that,† said Simone, resting her hand on his shoulder in what was supposed to be a friendly way. Maddie couldn't see it from her vantage, but Simone's fingers lightly brushed the back of his neck. â€Å"Not if he wants a good honeymoon.† She spoke lightly, but there was a sly undertone there. Having her sex life brought up in public made Maddie blush. Seth had shifted uncomfortably, but the reason was unclear. Simone's fingers? The mention of sex? Maybe both. Simone removed her hand, seeming innocent to all the world, except Seth and me. Maddie seemed eager to change the subject from the romantic goings-on of a honeymoon. â€Å"I think you should at least pick the cake flavor,† she said. â€Å"I'm choosing so much else.† â€Å"I don't know,† said Seth. He still seemed uncomfortable. â€Å"I don't care if you do it.† â€Å"Yeah, but she wants you to,† said Simone. â€Å"Come on, make one firm decision here. You can't go wrong. Maddie'll eat anything you pick.† Loaded statement. Neither Seth nor Maddie acted as though they read anything into it, but I had a feeling Simone had intended it as a reference to Maddie's very buxom figure. â€Å"Exactly,† said Maddie. â€Å"What's your favorite flavor?† â€Å"I bet I can guess,† said Simone. â€Å"Chocolate.† â€Å"Strawberry,† said Maddie. Losers. It was vanilla. â€Å"Vanilla,† said Seth. Maddie groaned. â€Å"Naturally. Well, there's one decision made.† She rose from the table. â€Å"Let's try a few other places and get the rest of this taken care of. Not much left after this.† They reached the door, and Maddie stopped to glance at Simone. â€Å"Oh, hey. Will you do me a favor? Will you take Seth tux shopping?† â€Å"What?† asked Seth. No neutral face now. He was shocked. Maddie grinned. â€Å"If you don't have a keeper, you'll show up at the church in a Billy Idol T-shirt. And it's bad luck if I go with you.† â€Å"I thought that was just for the bride,† said Seth. â€Å"I want to be surprised,† Maddie countered. â€Å"Of course I'll go,† said Simone, putting her arm around Seth again in that â€Å"friendly† way. Maddie beamed, and the bakery faded away†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦transforming into Erik's store. Erik sat at a small table with Jerome and Roman, and – so help me – they were drinking tea. Even Jerome. Roman was visible, which made me think Jerome must have decided they no longer needed to fear the eyes of higher powers who might wonder why my â€Å"human† roommate kept tagging along with Seattle's archdemon. Erik was tapping his tea cup thoughtfully. â€Å"If your theory is right, it would explain a lot.† These words were directed at Roman. â€Å"The dream quality of the visions. Mr. Jerome's complete inability to find her.† Jerome's slightly arched eyebrow was the only indication of his displeasure over the word â€Å"inability.† Erik continued, eyes on his cup as he pondered it all. â€Å"And you're right†¦of all the creatures you suggested, Oneroi or Morphean demons make the most sense.† Oh! I thought in triumph to the Oneroi. How do you like that, bitches? My friends are on to you. No response came. No dissolving of the dream, as I would have expected. â€Å"But why her?† asked Roman irritably. I had a feeling he'd taken credit for the dream idea, shielding Dante from Jerome's wrath. â€Å"Why a succubus? Don't they only care about human dreams?† â€Å"They're tied to Nyx,† pointed out Erik. Oh, yes. My friends were smart. Smarter than Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys put together. Maybe even Matlock too. â€Å"The ‘why' is irrelevant,† said Jerome, speaking at last. â€Å"Whether it's Oneroi or Morpheans is also irrelevant. If something's taken her to the world of dreams, she's completely inaccessible.† Roman frowned. â€Å"Why? Can't you just go in there and pull her out now that you know?† Jerome gave his son a smile that almost, almost seemed genuinely amused. â€Å"You're half-human, and it shows. Greater immortals can't go there. We don't dream. Only humans do. The way is barred to us.† â€Å"Because you have no hopes or imaginings of what might be,† said Erik. His manner and tone clearly indicated he believed such a thing to be a failing for angels and demons. â€Å"You need a soul to dream.† â€Å"Well, if I'm half-human, then I'll go there,† said Roman obstinately, cutting off any retort Jerome might have given. â€Å"I dream. So I can enter, right? And I can take on whatever's there.† There was so much determination in his voice that I half believed he could take on an army of Oneroi right now. â€Å"You have no idea what you're talking about,† said Jerome. â€Å"Clearly. Do you have any idea what the dream world is like?† â€Å"Do you?† asked Roman dryly. â€Å"I thought you couldn't go there.† â€Å"Dreams are what fuel human existence. Dreams of power, love, revenge, redemption†¦the dreams of mankind are vast, uncountable. Humans dream both waking and asleep. Those hopes and fears are what put them at risk – they gamble their lives and souls on dreams. You go into the world of dreams, and it's like stepping into a blizzard. Every snowflake is some human imagining flitting by so quickly, you can't even see it. All you see is a blur, a tangle of longings and chaos. If Georgina is there, she is one of those snowflakes. You would never find her soul.† Heavy silence fell. Finally, Roman said, â€Å"That was like poetry, Dad.† â€Å"But he's correct,† Erik told Roman. More silence. Roman glanced between the two of them incredulously. â€Å"So that's it? It's hopeless? You're giving up without even trying to find her?† â€Å"Trying is hopeless,† said Jerome. Demons might not dream the way humans did, but I suspected even he could picture what his superiors would do when they found out he'd lost a succubus. â€Å"Human magic could access the world of dreams, but it'd do no good.† He glanced at Erik, who nodded. â€Å"Someone lost among all that couldn't be called back. Not even the strongest ritual could do it. Her soul would never hear anything we could muster.† Roman's face was a mixture of emotions. Anger. Disbelief. And†¦resignation. That didn't surprise me. Jerome's face did, however. He had stiffened at Erik's words, a spark of insight flashing in those cold, dark eyes. â€Å"But you could do the ritual, correct?† he asked Erik. â€Å"You're human. You're strong enough to open the way.† Erik eyed him warily. â€Å"Yes†¦but by your own admission, it would achieve nothing. The connection you had to her was theoretically strong enough to possibly summon her back, but you can't enter. All we'd have is a useless doorway.† Jerome stood up abruptly. He glanced at Roman. â€Å"Find your own way home.† The demon vanished with a showy poof of smoke. And I vanished back into the Oneroi's prison. They stood there in the dark, glowing from what they'd taken from me. In dreams, though I suffered, I never felt the horrific effects they caused until I returned from them. That was when the agony, energy loss, and confusion hit me. Yet, this time, I wasn't completely lost to despair. â€Å"You were wrong,† I said. I tried to put some smugness in my voice, but it came out hoarse from my exhaustion. Good God. I was so, so tired. I guess dreaming didn't necessarily mean sleeping. â€Å"My friends have figured it out. They know where I am.† As always, One and Two were nearly impossible to read. â€Å"What makes you think that was a true dream?† Excellent question. â€Å"Gut instinct,† I said. â€Å"You believe you can trust it?† asked One. â€Å"After all this time? After so many dreams? How can you tell what's real and unreal?† I couldn't. I knew when the memories were true – for now – but the â€Å"real world† scenes were harder. Maybe it wasn't my gut so much as my blind optimism that believed what I'd just seen was real. Two guessed my thoughts. â€Å"You hope. And we've fed that hope, making you think you have a chance. So you will wait. And wait. And wait.† â€Å"It was real,† I said firmly, as though that would make it so. â€Å"Even if it was,† said One, â€Å"it meant nothing. You saw for yourself. There is no way to bring you back.† â€Å"Maybe that was the lie,† I said. â€Å"Maybe the rest was true. You mixed it. They figured out where I was, but you didn't show me the part where they learned how to rescue me. They're going to do that ritual.† â€Å"They will fail. Nothing can pull your soul from here.† â€Å"You're wrong.† I didn't even really know what I was saying. My essence felt like it was tearing apart, and really, the only thing I knew to do was to keep contradicting them. â€Å"And you are naive. You always have been. Lesser immortals carry that weakness over from their human days, and you're one of the worst. Our mother nearly used your weakness to free herself from the angels. Now it will be your downfall.† â€Å"What do you mean Nyx almost used it?† The Oneroi exchanged glances – very, very pleased ones. â€Å"Your dream. Your fantasy,† explained Two. â€Å"The one she promised to show you if you freed her. You wanted so badly to believe it was possible, that you nearly gave in.† For a moment, I didn't see them or that perpetual blackness. I was in a dream of my own creation, not theirs. The dream Nyx had sent to me over and over had been one of my future, with a home and a child – and a man. A man I loved whose identity remained a mystery. Nyx had never shown me the ending. Never shown me the man in the dream. â€Å"You are so full of shit,† I said. â€Å"You claim Nyx shows the truth – the future. But how could that vision have been true if I'm also supposed to be locked here for all eternity? They can't both be true.† â€Å"The future is always changing,† said One. â€Å"That was true when she showed it to you. Your path shifted.† â€Å"Oh, come on! What's the point of having a vision of the future if it can change at any moment? That's not a truth or a lie. That's a guess. And I never believed her anyway. What she showed me was impossible – even if I wasn't here with you two assholes.† â€Å"You will never know if it was,† said Two. Then, he reconsidered. â€Å"Actually it was possible, but you will live with the knowledge that it's a future that's been taken from you.† â€Å"You can't take what I never had,† I growled. â€Å"Succubi can't have children. I could never have that kind of life.† What I didn't add was that one startling thing had come from the dream. In it, I'd had two cats. At the time, I'd only had one – Aubrey. Not long after, I'd found Godiva, who was the other cat in the dream. Coincidence? Or had I truly been on the path to that future, only to have it ripped from me now? As always, the Oneroi could see into my heart and knew what I was thinking. â€Å"Do you want to see?† asked One. â€Å"See what?† â€Å"The man,† said Two. â€Å"The man in the dream.†

Are Video Games Good for Kids? Essay

Are video games bad for kids? Back in time in mid 90’s the best source of entertainment for kids was the television that have a great variety of cartoons for the kids to have good entertainment and learn good things. But now they have video games that right now are the top selling industry in the world according to Barbara Ortutay of MSNBC online â€Å"the selling of video games on July of this year went to $1. 19 billion with a 17 percent more than last year. But the only concern for the society is that kids are getting to much access to violent games and that makes the video games bad for them. As said by David Walsh, Ph. D. National Institute on Media and the Family he said in this report that â€Å"Children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator. Video games by their very nature require active participation rather than passive observation. Repetition increases learning. Video games involve a great deal of repetition. If the games are violent, then the effect is a behavioral rehearsal for violent activity. † He also said that â€Å"Exposure to violent games increases physiological arousal, increases aggressive thoughts, increases aggressive emotions and increases aggressive actions. † Video games should not be at the reach of any kid because more all less they all involve violence like for example Mario games that all of them involve killing enemies for success, or crash bandicoot that have the same type of game experience as Mario. Naturally there are always people that do not think the same way like ABC news. com that make a report of social critic Steven Johnson, author of the controversial new book, â€Å"Everything Bad Is Good for You. â€Å"he argues that video games — violent or not — are making children smarter. â€Å"You have to manage multiple objectives at the same time,† he said. â€Å"You have to manage all these different resources, and you have to make decisions every second of the game. † Video games typically require the player to complete a number of specific tasks to win. â€Å"Well we have to get the Jeep, we have to ride up a hill, kill the snipers, drive past the mountainside, go into another giant palace and activate the remote,† said one 10-year-old interviewed by ABC News while playing the Halo 2 video game, designed for the Microsoft Xbox gaming system. But children should not be exposed to that type of learning because they are going to be more aggressive and â€Å"less positive people toward life† according to David Walsh. ABC also site from Johnson that â€Å"Children who play such video games exhibit what experts call â€Å"fluid intelligence,† or problem solving. † â€Å"They have to discover the rules of the game and how to think strategically,† said James Paul Gee, a University of Wisconsin-Madison curriculum and instruction professor. â€Å"Like any problem solving that is good for your head, it makes you smarter. † â€Å"Intelligence test scores in the United States are rising faster than ever, experts say. One possible reason: Studies show video games make people more perceptive, training their brains to analyze things faster. † But the truth based on studies is that â€Å"Studies measuring cognitive responses to playing violent video games have shown that violent games increase aggressive thoughts. These findings have been found for males and females, children and adults, and in experimental and correlational studies. † Said David Walsh on his report. In conclusion violent video games should be restricted for kids in all the way possible because they will develop more aggressive actions, less caring and aggressive emotions in comparison with regular games that also have that responses and that also should be avoided for the raising of a kid. People can say that the help to problem solving and to fast response to other thing but the truth is that the make more damage than a helping. Works Cited Walsh, David. â€Å"Video Game Violence and Public Policy† culturalpolicy. edu. 2001. September 30, 2008. http://culturalpolicy. uchicago. edu/conf2001/papers/walsh. html. Ortutay, Barbara. â€Å"July video game sales jump 28 percent† MSNBC. com. August 14, 2008. September 30, 2008. http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/26208654/ Argumentative essay Angel Bello 802-08-0724 October 1,2008.

Family Guy Essay

Family guy is a dysfunctional family that lives in Quahog, Rhode Island. The parents: Peter and Lois. The children: the oldest, Meg, the middle child, Chris and the baby is Stewie. Last but not least, the dog Brian. This TV show exhibits crude, adult humour. There are many different opinions on this show, many parents are ok with letting there children watch it and other refuse to do so because of the kind of humour some parents are on edge. So is family guy a negative influence on children? I believe it does have a negative influence on kids. To start the language they use, secondly the violence and actions towards each other and other and also it is a very sexist show. Firstly, the language used in the episodes of family guy is a very vulgar, crude, dirty and coarse. They swear a lot for example when Brian talks to Megs friend he says, quote â€Å"you know Connie, I think I have a theory about why you’re such a bitch†. If kids watch this on TV by fictional characters they can’t tell that its not the way to talk so they can repeat it at school or even say it to there parents and they do not want their children to talk that way. Also the language they use that discriminates different races, religions and gay people is negative on the children watching this show it gives them the impression that it’s ok, so if in school or at the shopping center they see a person of colour or even if they know a person of different religion they might talk to them and say things that are very inappropriate. For example where the children could get it from, episode two of season eight , the whole episode is about Jewish people, Louis finds out that she and her mother are Jewish and wants to peruse fallowing the Jewish culture but then peter says to her â€Å"Jews are gross Lois. It’s the only religion with the word ew in it. And there are also the comments that discriminate against people of colour and to do so they use Kermit the frog, the black man sitting in a boat (looks like he is escaping from being a slave) asks him â€Å"which way to get into town? † Kermit replies with a shot gun in his hand â€Å"back from where you came from†. This is just a tiny bit of what happens in the show. This show is very negative on children and they way they will interact with other in public. They also make fun of amputees, this can be very harmful to the way children interact with other kids that have this kind of problem example Joe is Peter Griffins neighbour and there is an episode that says no legs no service. Also, this show is a very sexist show, they always make reference to women being in the kitchen and that is all they’re good at for example, in one episode peter tells Louis that making sandwiches and babies are the only thing she is good for. This kind of behaviour shows to young children that women are no good for anything because that is how the men on this show treat the women. There’s also lots of coarse language towards women, for example Quagmire a neighbours always has many women over to his house for pleasurable reasons and you hear him call them names like whores, bitches, sluts and more this foul language towards women is another bad influence. Also peter has a teenage daughter Meg, everyone in the show is mean to her. This girl is treated very badly for example in an episode she had sexual intercourse with a guy and a little after that the guy Brandon, broke up with her, in another episode she has another boyfriend Luke and Louis, her mother stole him away from her. Peter never listens to her and Brian always picks on her. This gives the children watching a sense that’s it is ok to treat women like dogs because in the end they stay with you. Because no matter what kind of pranks or insults Peter does to Louis she never leaves him. Lastly, the amount of violence and the stupid actions that the characters do is a big part of family guy there’s always someone getting hurt or doing something illegal for example doing drugs. They have an episode dedicated to four-twenty; there are many episodes that show peter, Louis and Brian doing weed and other drugs like meth and cocaine. Also one of the episodes shows peter bringing Stewie his baby to a man that injects him with steroids because he was beat on by another baby but it was a girl and peter wanted Stewie to be a strong baby. This give the impression to children that taking drugs is ok because family guy does it. Nothing bad ever happens to these characters only funny events or they come out of it. It doesn’t show them the side effects or any of the real effects it has on them so kids think its only play and when its offered to them by others like friends they will take it and this can all lead to hospitalization and even death. But the children won’t see that on TV. Also there’s an episode that Stewie shoots Louis and pushes her over a boat into the water and dies but there’s a turn around and at the end of this episode Louis is really alive. If a child who doesn’t know any better sees this he will not understand that it is not real and that if you shoot someone they will most likely die. So if this child happens to find a gun in his father’s drawer and starts playing with and they’re playing cops and shoots the other child he will not think anything of it because in family guy the character came to life again, but in real life the child is dead. This will have a negative effect on the child and all he thought was that he was playing. The violence in this show is for an older audience, it will only have a negative effect on younger children. In conclusion, family guy is a show full of violence, drugs, sex, coarse language, racism and more. It should only be viewed by an older audience and not younger because it makes younger children who don’t know what is real and what’s not and what’s wrong and what’s not, react to different situations. So should TV shows like family guy be cancelled completely?

Mammalian cell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mammalian cell - Essay Example hirae V1 is central to increasing binding affinity of the chimeric V1 for phosphate, resulting in reduction of the ADP inhibition. These findings together with a comparison of the crystal structures of T. thermophilus V1 with E. hirae V1 strongly suggest that the A subunit adopts a conformation in T. thermophilus V1 different from that in E. hirae V1. This key difference results in ADP inhibition of T. thermophilus V1 by abolishing the binding affinity for phosphate during ATP hydrolysis (Hu, Wei-Shou, Zeng, & Berger 13). The preparation of Chimeric was constructed by an overlap of PCR-based method. The second procedure, on the other hand involved the introduction of cysteine residues into the D subunit contained in the V1 (Hu, Wei-Shou, Zeng, & Berger 13). Lastly, the last portion of the experiment involved the introduction of protein concentrations of the already purified V1constructs which were established from the UV absorbance which was calibrated by the quantitative amino acid examination (Mather,

The Ability to Value Assets Accurately is at the Heart of the Essay

The Ability to Value Assets Accurately is at the Heart of the Discipline of Finance. Discuss - Essay Example Inappropriate asset valuation would fail to determine the actual status of the business performance which would adversely affect the formulation of business strategies. According to Brigham & Daves (2009), â€Å"Real options are opportunities for management to change the timing, scale, or other aspects of an investment in response to changes in market conditions.† (Brigham & Daves, 2009, p.490). Since the real options are concerned with the real assets such as plants, fixtures, and land, it enables the management to take timely and appropriate decisions regarding investment strategies. Brigham and Daves also opine that formulation of model and estimation of input is necessary for the valuation of real options in investments. It will be a cumbersome task for the management to determine the exact value of real options in investment since it includes intangible components like contract, decision to expand or abandon etc. Even though exact valuation of real options is not possible, it helps to determine the sustainability of the proposed project. According to the writers, in order to valuate the real options more accurately, it is better to trea t the valuation with a ‘standard model for financial option’. Similarly usage of ‘discounted cash flow valuation and decision tree analysis’ are also better methods in order to increase the accuracy of valuation of real options (Brigham & Daves, 2009, pp.490-491). If the value of underlying asset (an asset underlies and offers value to the particular security or investment) can be properly estimated, then it is possible to find out the value of real options in investment almost accurately. Likewise, while dealing with valuation of real options, it is essential to represent the payouts precisely in order to bring out maximum relevant facts in the valuation process. The Black-Scholes model is a comparatively better method to determine the theoretical value of real

The Transformation of the Music Industry Supply Chain Essay

The Transformation of the Music Industry Supply Chain - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that developments such as Information Technology (IT) have had profound impacts on the way companies do business. Of late, companies have had to rethink the way their activities are coordinated from production to the final consumers. These shifts in company’s actions have not been initiated by technology alone. The theory of investment, changes in consumer preferences, taste and fashion have had a profound impact in shaping company’s strategy. Supply chain management (SCM) has been considered as the most popular operations strategy to help companies sail through these challenges and for improving organisational competitiveness in the twenty-first century. In the 1990s, agile manufacturing (AM) gained momentum and received due attention from both researchers and practitioners as SCM gradually attract interest. Both AM and SCM appear to differ in philosophical emphasis, but each complements the other in objectives for improving organisational competitiveness.Supply Chain Management (SCM) activities are related to problem-solving, information sharing, and cost reduction initiatives. The influences of individual-level antecedents on post-adoption utilisation of a specialised IT within an SCM context were examined by Bradley. Bradley found out that 92% of the people he questioned in1999, were planning to implement one or more supply chain initiatives. Supply chain plans to integrate key business activities through improved relationships at all levels of the supply chains. In short, SCM has become a necessity for any firm seeking to solidify its position in the marketplace. An effective supply chain includes a variety of firms, ranging from those that process raw materials to those engaged in wholesaling and retailing. It also includes organisations engaged in transportation, warehousing, information processing, and materials handling. 1.2 Supply-Chain and the Music Industry Supply chain is a competitive management technique employed within the last two decades to ensure the effective flow of resources, information, services within and organisation network. Today, organisations have adopted it as a strategic competitive weapon as they continue to seek competitive advantage. This quest by organisation explained the recent influx of research into SCM. Hines, P. & Rich, N. (2005) postulated that SCM has become a converging ground for various disciplines and integrate key business activities through improved relationships at all levels of the supply chains (Internal operations, upstream supplier, networks and downstream distribution channels. In figure 1.0 below, I try to look at key players in the music industry and some of their labels. This table has been adapted from http://www.soc.duke.edu . 1.2.1 Warner Music Group Being the largest in the industry, it has total assets of over $16.7 billion. The company started in the 20s following an attempt to control music. It owns the Warner music group with publisher, Warner/Chappel Music Publishing. It merger with EMI Ltd. in 2000 took it to the dominant market position. 1.2.2 Sony Music With the main publisher Sony music publishing and Columbia records, to complement its hardware operations, the management of Sony created a software manufacturing and distribution system. Sony music is a key player in the music indusrty 1.2.3 PolyGram N.V. The company has a Dutch origin and is 75% own by Phillips. The position of the company today resulted from a

The Fight for Protecting Women Rights in 1700-1877 Research Paper - 1

The Fight for Protecting Women Rights in 1700-1877 - Research Paper Example Feminism, in the modern socio-political and philosophical domain, has been provided with special attention from every discipline of sociological studies. However, there is no denying that in order to evaluate the position of feminism as a poignant socio-political and philosophical discipline it is also important to acknowledge the history of women activism as well as the gradual process of development of the movement that was gradually germinating since late 16th century. Compared to the recent situation of women in civilized world they were tremendously challenged and consequently oppressed in the context of â€Å"expressing themselves in a patriarchal system that generally refused to grant merit to women's views.†1 One of the greatest feminist thinkers of all time, Simone de Beauvoir, in her essay â€Å"The Second Sex,† while attempted to evaluate the position of women in the traditional patriarchal system said that a woman in terms of patriarchal judgment is nothing but a womb, a mere organism for child production2. She also has specified that every time women have proved their existence as equal to their male counterparts in terms of merit and capacity of accomplishment the same system has declared that â€Å"they are not women, although they are equipped with a uterus like the rest.†3 It is clear from these observations that women in hands of the traditional social patriarchy are considered as mere instruments of sensuality, objects of attaining physical pleasure, an organic manifestation of sensuality and above all they are regarded as organisms without individual identity and human entity. The patriarchy has always denied acknowledging the humane attributes of a woman. The male-dominated social system always faced difficulty to share its monopolistic position with female counterparts and by denying humane attributes or entity of women they actually aimed at oppressing women for its selfish  benefits.

Requires the student to reflect upon own and group performance and Essay

Requires the student to reflect upon own and group performance and contribution - Essay Example This forms a reflection of both personal and class performance on the unit. Furthermore, the influence of social media on career choices in PR and media will be given an in-depth analysis. An overview of the unit represented three related think pieces. There was a one press release exam in which we all read the article and examined on the content. The unit featured a class debate in which the topic was â€Å"50 should Be the Cut off Age for Women to Have Children†. The unit was interesting and represented a personal interaction with the real issues affecting us. The press release exam concerned on a recent event that took place while the debate gave the real issue affecting women in the society. The lecturer was had vast knowledge and ready to listen to us. He would joke and make us laugh breaking the boredom. At times, he would allow us to stretch. His philosophy was that learning should not be difficult but rather made easier for students to understand. He always reminded us to remain practical at all times since the world out there needed people with our abilities. Some of the advices given by the lecturer influenced our learning both at the personal and class level. Since the unit had some level of difficulty, we decide to come together and form a class discussion for one minute session. It was difficult when coming up with the idea. Most of the students did not support the idea, but I insisted that it was appropriate we form a one minute session for the class for deliberating. I had to convince a rebellious friend to understand that it was for our common good. The lecturer was not strict in terms of the approach to the unit. He required 100% class attendance, and submission of while observing the deadline. He reminded us that in life it is important to make personal choices that we would never regret. With like-minded friends, we made it our decision to form the one minute session. Forming a one minute session helped in deliberating on the

Introduction to Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Introduction to Management - Essay Example This essay will explain business management theory and its application to Medibank Private, a leading prominent insurance and healthcare provider in Australia. As a new manager who found weak organizational culture and poor customer-driven approach, some recommendations are explicated herewith to enhance the institutional capacity toward excellence of service. Medibank  (2011) is a government-owned health insurance company organized in 1976 in Australia with the facilitation of the Health Insurance Commission, also known as Medicare Australia. It is the largest and dominant health insurance with an estimated subscriber of 3.6 million insurance holders. As a dominant insurance company, Medibank (2011) possessed Australian Health Management (AHM) and merged with HSA Group in 2009. With these developments, the company expanded by opening the Health Solutions Division which takes care on health insurances covering basic medication such as clinical services, preventative, and health support program—the latter is inclusive of coaching services through the Medibank Health Solutions and Travel Doctor. In mid- 2010 Medibank (2011) purchased McKesson Asia-Pacific, which transformed company into a health solution and insurance provider organization. Medibank (2011) decided in 2010 to amend its basic First Choice Savers hospital policy. The benefits associated to heart operations and reproductive services became accessible only by customers who opted to increase its health policy at a higher cost of 50% more for the restricted services (Medibank, 2011). The company evolved into a corporate company in 2009 under the regulation of Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC). In exercising their corporate social responsibility, Medibank (2011) supported health-related and community-based charity. However, much as the institution endeavors to attain corporate excellence and to achieve operational efficiency, the organization has apparent weak

Varieties of Corporate Governance PowerPoint Presentation

Varieties of Corporate Governance - PowerPoint Presentation Example Corporate governance is not only a strategic approach and a driving force for an economy, but it also emphasizes on the variations in its system. The variations differ according to the business situation, such as failed incorporate networks may emphasize on the implementation of financial orientation type corporate governance system (Lazonick & O'Sullivan, 2000). Within the applied system of corporate governance, organizational arrangements and social relations act as those factors that determine the controlling authorities for an organization. The culture within an organization is thoroughly important, when directors and controlling authorities to run corporate governance are to be decided. It is up to the priorities of an organization; whether it is more towards revenue generation or towards the development of an ideal presence in the market, such as HTC Corporation. Therefore, this is the organizational arrangement that helps in picking the controlling authorities for a firm (Lazo nick & O'Sullivan, 2000). ... The firms may take advantage of the institutional approach, where system of corporate governance can be accomplished according to the outcomes (Dore, 2000, pp. 115-127). Supporting Arguments As the core argument of the article talks about the diversifications and variations of the corporate governance; therefore, in order support this main argument few of the supporting arguments are developed to achieve the aim appropriately. It is revealed that the relationship developed among the key stakeholders of an organization, including labour, capital and management, differs region to region (Aguillera & Jackson, 2003). Article also measures the isolated effects of all the stakeholders; thus, ‘forward-looking’ approach is used to analyze the effects. In the considered article, role of institutional complementarities in developing a suitable corporate governance system at a firm level is also analyzed. It can be observed that practicability of a certain institution rises, when o ther business institution does not suit particular business circumstances. In few cases, it is found that organizations are not likely to work on strategic orientation, when it comes to deal with financial system (Dore, 2000, pp. 118-124). By describing the dimensions and variations in such system, the role of directors and executive is also truly significant in determining the sustainable and reliable dimensions for any firm. One of the existing obstacles in the implementation of corporate governance is the conflicts, which may arise when interests of labour are suppressed by the interests of management and capital of the firm. The theoretical model presented in the article has served the main purpose properly.

Patient portal adoption challanges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Patient portal adoption challanges - Essay Example On the contrary, motivation based factors are the attitudes that the medical staff has towards the adoption of healthcare portals. In this context, the professionals complain that the portals are difficult to use, require more than enough training. Moreover, some have presumed that the portals are inappropriate for handling healthcare records while others simply state that they do not enjoy using the information systems. To some extent, the medical staffs are justified in their objection to patient portals since they require technical knowledge absent in most of the workers (Ronda, Dijkhorst-Oei, & Rutten, 2014). The use of a patient portal requires suffice skills on Information Technology as opposed to medical and health care knowledge. Security and privacy concerns have been some of the misgivings of information systems and given the nature of the systems, breaches can occur where stealing of personal data can be a huge set back to the adoption of the portals. Nonetheless, the privacy issue concerns sharing of critical information with the employer, a situation that has made many medical staffs be worried about the extent of personal information they leave feed into the system. Medical workers presume that too much personal information is compromising their relationships with their employers. LeRouge, C., Slyke, C., Seale, D & Wright, K. (September, 2014). Baby Boomers’ Adoption of Consumer Health Technologies: Survey on Readiness and Barriers. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 16(9). Retrieved from http://www.jmir.org/2014/9/e200/#table4 Ronda, M. C., Dijkhorst-Oei, L.-T., & Rutten, G. E. (2014). Reasons and Barriers for Using a Patient Portal: Survey Among Patients With Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(11), e263.

Shutter Island Analysis Essay Example for Free

Shutter Island Analysis Essay The story revolved about a man named, Teddy Daniels. A US Marshall who, with his partner, Chuck Aule, went to an island known as â€Å"Shutter Island† to conduct an investigation regarding the escape patient of the said psychiatric institution. upon arriving, he met, Dr. Cawley, the person in charge of the facility. there he found out that the said patient was named, Rachel Solando. when he went to his room, he had found a piece of paper containing a riddle saying, â€Å"the law of 4, Who is 67†. During the investigation, some members of the said facility was uneager to search for the said patient, and during teddy’s interview with some of the patients, one of them told him to run away from the place. This event had added to his curiosity and felt that something was wrong. everyone has his own secrets until it was revealed that even Teddy, has a hidden agenda, he was there for his own reason, he was there to look for, Andrew laeddis, the one who killed his wife, Dolores Chanal. As days go by, many things had happened, he had met George Noyce, his informant about the island and he was shocked to see him locked in the institution.one day, while conducting his investigation, his instict had brought him into a cave, wherein he met, an escape psychiatrist of the intitution. She had dropped the bomb to Teddy, that Shutter island is no ordinary island. it is the place where experiments where done, and that even him is victim of the said work. she said that bit by bit, they are drugging him and making him insane. she also tipped him that they conduct the experiments to the old lighthouse. after the conversation, he was immeadiately found by one of the security officers and was brought back to the facility. Eagerness and curiosity bothered him, that is why he had taken the next step, in which he went to the old lighthouse. upon arriving, he saw dr. cawley, that is when the reality, was revealed. Andrew laeddis is a psychiatric patient named â€Å"Edward Daniels†. His wife killed herself in front of him after drowning her kids, that had been a reason for his illness. his psychiatrist, Dr. Sheehan and Dr. Cawley, had taken a big risk by riding with his delusions, making it appear real, slowly showing him the reality. others had condemmed them for doing that, that being a good man, they want Daniels to regain his sanity, whatever it takes. At the end of the story, Daniels had said something that had had brought hope upon them all, it is when he stood up, surrendered himself and said,  Which would be worse? To live as a monster or Die as a good man?† Analysis Sanity is not a choice. It is one of the things that the movie shutter island wants to show. No one wants to have a psychological problem. They are just victims of the circumstances that they werent able to accept. This is something that Dr. Sheehan and Dr. Cawley had always believed in. Daniels isjust a victim of an event that he wasnt able to accept. That is why his past keeps hunting him and made him make a world of his own wherein only the things he wants to see, feel and experience exist. Dr. Sheehan and Dr.Cawley, both dedicated to thier profession wants Daniels to be treated using a more humane way, the psychological way. The way the two doctors treated and risk their proffesion just to help daniels show how a true caregiver should be. And us, being future nurses should have a mmore open mind and understanding heart especially in handling such patients. Everyone desrves humane treatment.

Impact of Humans on Toronto Islands

Impact of Humans on Toronto Islands The Impacts of the Geomorphology, Climatology, and Hydrology on Human Activities in the Toronto Islands By: Nerujan Sivanesan Student No: 500510777 A place of entertainment and relaxation is what the Toronto Islands are known for presently. It still catered this tranquil and enticing environment even when it was first founded by the natives around the mid- 1700’s (Toronto Islands, n.d.). However, it was discovered and claimed by other settlers as a result the islands’ first hotel was built and this was by Michael O’Connor in 1833 (Higgens, 1999). He helped make the Toronto Islands become a popular tourist attraction for many and it became known for its amusement park, hotels, summer cottages, and other popular outdoor activities like fishing, and swimming. During the mid-1700’s, the Toronto Islands was found to be 1.6 km south of downtown Toronto, and its area was thought to be around 332 hectares (Sward, 2014). Moreover, it was known to be made up of fifteen islands (Sward, 2014) and the population of the community living in this area at the time was estimated to be over 600 people (Toronto Island Co mmunity Association, n.d.). These islands were not the same now as they were over 3500 years ago, they were originally a recurved sandspit whose, sediments were carried from the Scarborough Bluffs by the water currents from Lake Ontario (Toronto Islands History City of Toronto, n.d.). This later formed into large sandbar and through weathering they formed into the Toronto Islands as we know today. In addition, the climatic conditions and hydrologic activities that these Islands encounter affected the society’s way of living. Furthermore, the Toronto Island’s were thoroughly examined on its geomorphology, hydrology, and climatology and the impacts on the general population by the natural environment. The research for this report of acquiring peer-reviewed resources was difficult due to the specified topic. The research for this topic was conducted for credible resources were done on two scholarly search engines which were â€Å"Google Scholar† and â€Å"RULA- Articles and Database†. However, RULA did not yield the sufficient information required regarding the study of this topic. Moreover, the majority of the research was done by searching for key words on Google scholar and Google. On this search engine, key words such as â€Å"Geomorphology of the Toronto Islands† were used to retrieve specified details of the formations and evolution of the Islands. Other words were searched for instance, â€Å"Hydrology, and Climatology of the Toronto Islands†, and â€Å"the Toronto Island’s history†. These searches provided adequate information regarding the geographical aspects of the Toronto Islands. In addition, the Toronto Island’s website was used to acquire the history of the Toronto Islands and statistical information regarding the population, and the area of the islands. The information that was collected by this technique shows it was a successful approach in learning about the Islands. Through the examined information that was collected, it was found that the Toronto Islands were not always Islands. It was a tombolo (Christopherson, Byrne, Giles, 2012, pg 499), it was found on the North shore of Lake Ontario which linked itself to downtown Toronto. These group of islands were originally formed by sediments that were deposited by winds that moved from northeast to southwest and eroded stone which originated from the Scarborough Bluffs from over 3500 years ago (Toronto Islands History City of Toronto, n.d.). The eroded sediments from the Bluffs were carried by the Lake Ontario currents which moved from the east as well as by the wind currents (Naim et al, 1994). In addition, the water currents moved from the east because they had a longer fetch. The eroded sediments that were transported from the Bluffs to the Toronto Islands were deemed to be 30000m3/year on average (Naim et al, 1994). However, in 1858 severely violent storms eroded the tombolo (Christopherson et al, 2012, pg 499) over time this separated the Toronto Islands from Toronto (Toronto Islands History City of Toronto, n.d.). Many years after this incident, the Islands itself began to grow larger and larger almost doubling its size, because of sediments that was deposited into the Eastern Channel of the Islands (Naim, et al., 1994). As a result of the storms in 1858, a seawall was built to prevent future erosion however, this stopped the sediments being deposited from the Bluffs (Naim, et al., 1994). The evolution of these islands has affected the community living in these areas as it became more commercialized with more leisurely activities. They were either forced to move to different parts of the islands or away from them in order compensate for the construction of the amusement park. The people that did decide to stay were forced to live in the Algonquin Island or Ward’s Island since the homes on the other Islands were destroyed and used for the airport, the school, nursery, and amusement parks (Toronto Islands, n.d.). In addition, the erosion of the tombolo (Christopherson et al, 2012, pg 499) necessitated travel by boat or ferries towards each other. Moreover, with the Toronto Islands sitting on Lake Ontario, it allowed more water-based activities to be present such as swimming, canoeing, boating and etc. It became more of a car-free environment and encouraged bike riding because of the size bridges built between the islands. Furthermore, the transformation of these islands shows that how geomorphology has affected and influences the human population to these areas. The study area’s climate condition was thoroughly investigated on how it affected the Toronto Islands. Based on the data (see Table 1) (Class Environmental Assessment, 2010), the Toronto Islands have been coupled with mild summers and cooler winters. It was found that the mean daily temperature was 8.2 and encountered an annual rainfall and snowfall of 705mm and 112.8cm (see Table 1), respectively (Class Environmental Assessment, 2010). It was concluded that the Toronto Islands were confronted with warmer winters and cooler summers compared to the more localized areas. The warm conditions of Lake Ontario allowed the snow melt into rain because of the warmer winters and the colder temperatures rose to warmer ones due to its warmer conditions (Class Environmental Assessment, 2010). These climatic conditions affect the lives of the people that are within this area and it affects their way of life. Many people will be attracted to these islands because there will be specific activities that are available in accordance to the seasonal changes. For example, during the summer, the Toronto Islands are at peak of drawing crowds of tourists. This is because their famous amusement park, Centreville, is open as well as the appeal of biking, going for picnics, swimming at the beach, tourists staying over at hotels and etc. During the winter times most of the water bodies will be frozen therefore, these areas will be open for ice fishing. This research shows that the climate of this area is a factor in attracting people to the Islands in different seasonal conditions. The hydrological conditions of the Toronto Islands have been a source for promoting more water based activities as well as supplying safe drinking water. The water currents that transported the sediments from the Bluffs moved from the east however, the wind blew from the west. The water currents were able surpass the wind since, it had a long fetch. In addition, a water treatment plant has been built on this site and collects the water from Lake Ontario and converts it to safe drinking water. The treatment plant was mainly used as a backup when other treatment plants were out of service for maintenance (Island Water Treatment Plant City of Toronto, n.d.). This water treatment plant is one of the plants which provide clean drinking water for the Islands as well as the rest of Toronto (Island Water Treatment Plant, n.d.). In addition, it is statistically reported that the plant water that is produced is 87, 947 million litres (on Table 2) (Island Water Treatment Plant City of Toronto , n.d.). Despite having a treatment plant, it is known for water based activities such as the ferries that are taken to travel to the Toronto Islands, boating and fishing. Furthermore, the research shows water conditions tend to attract the human population because of the elegance the water and the resources it provides which shows that this physical environment attracted the people going to the Islands. The Toronto Islands is an alluring tourist destination for many due to its climate conditions, geological features, and water bodies. The climatic conditions encountered, geomorphology, and the hydrologic features helped shape the Toronto Islands into a popular tourist attraction for many because of the abundance of leisurely activities it possesses and the environmental features that it embodies. Furthermore, the features of this physical environment has helped propel the Toronto Islands become an active place for human recreation. Table 1: Note. From Class Environmental Assessment, 2010. Table 2: 2013 statistics Total annual plant water produced 87,947million litres Percentage of plant water produced to the overall system 20% Number of days the plant operated 341 days Average daily production 254 million litres Maximum days production 354million litres Date of maximum water production July 18, 2013 Note. From Island Water Treatment Plant, n.d.. References: Christopherson, R., Byrne, M., Giles, P. (2012, April 15). The oceans, coastal Processes, and the landforms. InGeosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography(Third edition ed., p. 499). Peasrson Education Canada. Class Environmental Assessment. (2010). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.hydroone.com/Projects/Lakeshore/Documents/draft ESR/FINAL Lakeshore Renewal Environmental Baseline Report .pdf Higgens, D. (1999, April 25). The Place of My Dreams. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://torontoisland.org/briefhistory Island Water Treatment Plant. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=037409f8e0c7f310VgnVCM10000071d66f89RCRD Naim, R., Scott, R., Anglin, C., Zuzek, P. (1994, November 24). Analysis of Coastal Processes at Toronto Islands. Retrieved November 3, 2014, from https://icce-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/icce/index.php/icce/article/viewFile/5116/4794 Sward, R. (2014, September 10). Toronto Islands. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-islands/ Toronto Islands. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.aviewoncities.com/toronto/torontoislands.htm Toronto Island Community Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://torontoisland.org/tica Toronto Islands History. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2014, from http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=cc90dada600f0410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRDvgnextchannel=34e9dada600f0410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD http://www.hydroone.com/Projects/Lakeshore/Documents/draft ESR/FINAL Lakeshore Renewal Environmental Baseline Report .pdf References http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=037409f8e0c7f310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: Personal Response to the Film and Novel

‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ is a 2006 novel by Irish novelist John Boyne; this is his fourth novel, and the first he has written for children. My classmates and I have read the book and watched the trailer of its newly releasing movie. And I have to say, this novel is really remarkable. The novel truly engages the reader completely into the book and it’s difficult to put down. â€Å"Believe me†!!.......the trailer is all the more brilliant, with a high standard quality and exceptionally mind capturing images. ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ is told through the eyes of an eight year old boy shielded from the reality of World War II. Bruno is growing up in Berlin, but moves to Auschwitz during World War II, sets out to explore the place around him. The novel also involves the horrific part of history; the holocaust. Bruno is irritated and shocked when he’s told they’re moving from Berlin but being a very naive boy doesn’t understand why their family has to leave. The story follows on as Bruno sets out from his house in Auschwitz to explore and finds a boy the same age as him sitting on the ground, on the other side of a fence. His name is Shmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp, but Bruno believes the camp is just a farm. Their friendship cements but is separated by a barbed wire. Bruno’s father is a Nazi commandant, but Bruno never seems to understand what his father’s job is. For Bruno he’s just a loving father, but the truth isn’t hidden for long, as we soon realize Bruno’s father is the most merciless and cruel man there could ever be. A lot of consideration was put into this novels appropriateness for children; it was thought parents might have to explain the Holocaust; however it was decide... ...ferences between book and film are that in a book everything is in more detail and you’re informed of every little change happening constantly whereas in a movie you do get a bigger and clearer view of the situation but sometimes you might just miss out a few important bits that are told in detail in a book. The movie looks really realistic. The problem of using children in films is that children can be so naive they might not be able to handle the scenes and deliver their speech very efficiently, some parts of the film might affect them by frightening them and they might not be able to give their best in that scene, this could affect the quality of the movie. The terrible outcome that Bruno faces could have an emotional effect on the younger audience. I would recommend teenagers to watch this movie and read the novel because it is very educational and emotional.

The Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration of David Milgaard :: Criminal Justice Essays

The Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration of David Milgaard Background At the time of the murder of which David Milgaard was accused of committing he was just 16 years old. He was a hippie, constantly in trouble. Even before he was a teenager he was getting into trouble. His parents and teachers considered him impulsive; he resisted authority (Regina Leader Post, 1992, as cited in Anderson & Anderson 1998). He was removed from kindergarten because he was considered to be a negative influence on the other children. When he was thirteen he spent time in a psychiatric centre (Anderson & Anderson, 1998) Elements of the Crime Gail Miller was a 22-year-old nursing assistant living in Saskatoon. She was found in an alley way between 6:45 and 7:30am on January 31st 1969. She had been raped, stabbed twelve times and left for dead. The rape was found to have occurred after she died. The police had little evidence; few clues had been left behind. There had been other attacks in the same area. Authorities tried to suppress the information that linked the Miller rape and murder to the two other assaults. Milgaard's Whereabouts David had decided to take a trip out to Alberta, along with two of his friends, Ron Wilson and Nichol John. Along the way there David wanted to stop through Saskatoon to pick up another friend, Shorty Cadrain. Once they got to Saskatoon they drove around not really knowing where they were going. They stopped to help someone out of a snow bank, and got stuck themselves; this is when Milgaard ripped his pants, something that came into evidence against him. When they finally arrived at Cadrain's home, David changed his pants, and they left to go to Alberta. Larry Fisher, who was later convicted of this crime (Miller's murder) was staying in the same home as Cadrain at the time. Some time after returning from their short trip to Alberta, Cadrain heard about the $2000 reward for information into Miller's death. Cadrain went to the police with a version of what happened that night, although he had been questioned earlier and had no information to give at that time. This is what made Milgaard a suspect in the case. From then on the police concentrated their efforts on finding evidence implicating Milgaard. Within the statement Cadrain gave to the police he said Milgaard had blood on his clothes, he threw away a woman's cosmetic case from the car on the way to Alberta and Cadrain also stated that he threatened to kill Wilson and John because they knew too much.

Willy Russell’s Intention by the End of the Play :: Educating Rita Plays Willy Russell Essays

Willy Russell’s Intention by the End of the Play ‘Blood Brothers’ The stage production of ‘Blood Brothers’ helps to emphasise the social difference between Mickey and Edward. There are two main sets used, one for Mrs. Johnstone’s house and street and one which is the inside of Mrs. Lyons house. Mrs. Johnstone’s house is a poorer set; there are smashed windows and graffiti written on the walls. The houses are small close together terrace houses built out of red brick. There is lack of colour in this set Willy Russell is trying to show the gloominess, coldness and poverty of their area with this set. Whereas, Mrs. Lyons house is colourful and bright. There is a bookshelf which shows that they are privileged enough to have books and that this family is refined and educated. There is a carpet that is rolled out every time that the Lyons house is on stage. This shows comfort, softness and warmth as does the fireplace in the Lyons house. This is a contrast between the Johnstons house where they have broken windows which shows coolness and discomfort. This shows the difference between two classes in a Thatcherite Britain at the time to the audience. At the Johnstone’s house the lighting is always dim, not well lit, to show the gloominess and poverty in their lives. However the lighting in the Lyon’s house is always very bright. This is to show to the audience that the life of the Lyons is brighter than the Johnstones. In parts of the play (especially I found when the narrator was speaking) the lighting was red and black I think Willy Russell’s intention here is to show that there is death in the play and symbolises the bloodshed. Sometimes one person would have the spotlight on just them so the background is black. This picks out this one person so all our attention is focused on this person and the darkness in the background is very gloomy like a dark hole to symbolise the emptiness that will be in some of their lives because of the deaths at the end. There is a musical theme to suggest the same idea or place theme. Like the music that is played at the Johnstones house. When this song comes on it is to show the poverty of the Johnstons. The song that I remember the most is the game when Mickey, Sammy and their friends are all children and they are shooting each other. The words of the song are very childish and it’s just a game. However when they become older this game becomes reality and a lot more serious and it’s not so

Old Spice Essay

This essay covers persuasive techniques used in the video commercial for Old Spice deodorant, as well as the messages that lie in the heart of the very commercial. The essay will try to explain the techniques and effects of persuasion on targeted audience, while at the same time referring to style and language. A great emphasis is put on humor, as it is the main technique of persuasion used in the very commercial. The commercial that is the subject of this work is Old Spice’s â€Å"The man your man could smell like† 33 second long video, which increased Old Spice sales as much as 106% at one point. In order to explain and understand this phenomenon, attention should be drawn to persuasive techniques used by advertisers to subconsciously influence targeted audience, while analyzing main messages itself. First, let us take a look at the concept of the commercial itself. The product, Old Spice deodorant, is presented to the audience by a physically attractive, stereotypically masculine African American, the narrator and the only character in the commercial, stereotyped to the point of exaggeration. Presented image leaves us with the idea of a parody. The main character is addressing the audience in second person, leading them through the commercial. One of the most interesting things about his narration is that, although the product itself is aimed at men, the commercial is not directly addressed to them. The narrator speaks to women, which is undoubtedly one of the factors of the popularity of this commercial, as it gives an unexpected twist to it, taking into consideration the well-known fact that most commercials of this type feature a stereotypical macho model, who addresses that men should aspire to look and act like him. By looking at some of the commercials of the type, especially at the older Old Spice commercials, a common persistent pattern can be noticed, which is now made fun of, the reason being the company’s attempt to try and abandon their outdated image. The narrator is, as mentioned before, an exaggeratedly stereotypical masculine persona, overly confident and arrogant to the degree that makes his personality unrealistic and humorous. He is trying to sell the product by selling himself, stating that any ordinary man could come at least close to what he was, just by using the same deodorant. The unintentional humor comes from his exaggerated personality and randomness of the commercial’s plot. First, we see the man in the bathroom, three seconds later he is on a boat, holding an oyster containing two tickets, which are soon replaced by diamonds and at the very end, he is on a horse. What makes this concept interesting and humorous is that he keeps eye contact with the audience through every second of the commercial, while describing everything that he is doing and everything that is seen on the screen, thus stating the obvious. The advertisement is not saying anything about the actual product, and is instead focused on selling the commercial rather than the product, which in this case is understandable as Old Spice is an established and popular brand. Advertisers count on the sense of humor of both men and women, whilst using an attractive man to occupy women’s attention. Targeted audience, as aforementioned, is the younger population of heterosexual men and women who share a particular sense of humour. By using mockery and a sort of parodying of the commercial, mixing it with sex appeal and personality, advertisers have created a persuasive and informative advertisement that is not aimed at a broader audience, as the above mentioned factors, do not appeal to older generations. Having a particular sense of humor is crucial to understanding this commercial, as it would otherwise face the risk of being labeled derogatory and sexist. Advertisers have applied the â€Å"sex sells† rule of advertising on this commercial, with the change of men being objectified rather than women, and mixed it with humor in order to create a desirable effect. Before turning to analysis of other techniques, it is important to mention the use of language and sentences as well, which cannot really be seen as a persuasive technique but is a powerful tool in manipulating audience. Sentences in the commercial are brief and straight to the point. The narrator is confident and he knows what he is talking about- no stops in between the sentences, no improvisation and no commas, which, aside with random images, helps to create the desirable dynamic effect. Dynamic commercial embodies the dynamic lifestyle led by the targeted audience, which consists of young people who are always on the move and trying to keep up with the modern world. As for the style and tone of the author, it is important to mention that the narrator states his point of view up-front, the language is forceful and persuasive, making the narrator sound arrogant and powerful, even superior to the audience he is talking to. He is even making fun of the audience, which is, however, not to be taken seriously, taking into account that the parodying tone is present from the very beginning and it is clear that the intention is to make fun of the male and female stereotypes, rather than the audience. After analyzing the messages, style, tone, and use of humor, an emphasis should be put on persuasive techniques, in order to understand the effect this commercial has on the audience. The second persuasive technique that can be read is â€Å"repetition†. Even by inattentive listening to the commercial it is clear that some of the words and sentences are repeated in order to reinforce the main point. At the very beginning, the narrator draws women’s attention by inviting them to compare their man with him, by repeating repeatedly â€Å"back at your man, now back to me†. This technique is used to state the obvious, and is meant to be a certain â€Å"wake up call† to all the women whose boyfriends and husbands are not as attractive, wealthy, confident and manly as the narrator is. Apart from â€Å"humor† and â€Å"repetition†, one of the persuasive techniques used in this commercial is â€Å"beautiful people†, an extremely common technique in ads that uses good looking models to attract attention of the viewers by implying that they will look like them if they use the product. In this instance, Isaiah Mustafa, an American actor, is used to draw the attention of female audience, by promising that their â€Å"man† would look like him if they used the product. Somewhat connected to the mentioned â€Å"beautiful people† technique, is â€Å"snob appeal†, another technique that uses beautiful, confident models to suggest that â€Å"the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous lifestyle†. Not only the narrator in this commercial is attractive and confident, but he is also well dressed, wealthy and powerful, owning a boat and having the power to turn an oyster into diamonds, and is again implying that the use of the advertised product, Old Spice deodorant, made all the mentioned things possible. All of the mentioned techniques- humor, repetition, beautiful people and snob appeal, are just some of the well-known, common techniques used by advertisers in order to trick the targeted audience into buying the advertised product. Behind the effect and success of those techniques lays the complex human psychology and the role of the subconscious, which the advertisers understand very well. Most people never pay attention to the manipulation they are subdued to every day by consuming media, but the crude truth is that the manipulation is ever present- in advertising, media and political speeches. The success of the Old Spice commercial lays behind the canny techniques of persuasion used by the advertisers, and although the parodying in this case is not accepted by everybody, and there are people who argue that the commercial is derogatory and shallow, advertisers undoubtedly got what they wanted- popularity and publicity.

The Amateur Marriage

Anne Tyler’s The Amateur Marriage is a novel depicting two mismatched spouses that continually fight for six decades. They each fail to form their own individual sense of identify. They also do not form a social sense of identity as a couple within a larger community. They each fight for superiority in the marriage as their identity. This paper will examine this long-term conflict, related to each spouse’s quest for individual identity. Several elements form the identity of an individual.Some are biological, stemming from ancestry in nationality, ethnic, and genetic backgrounds; and, from basic human needs of food, shelter, love, and recognition (Richland College, 2007). Other elements are social, including what groups a person joins or tries to join, religious background and conversions to other religions, political leanings, and careers and occupations. One also sees oneself in one way, while others see them in another, making up two identities that usually do not ful ly match.Further, an individual is a son/daughter, spouse/partner, parent, or other relative or friend of someone else, and these are identities as well. One interesting and very strong identity is the one arising from being in conflict with another person or group. Such a person may be, for example, anti child-abuse, anti war-with-Iraq; or against all that his neighbor who has insulted him stands for. The Father of Psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, taught that all identity is biologically developed, completed by the end of adolescence (Richland College, 2007).His student Erik Erickson broke away from Freud, believing that identity forms via social interactions as well as biological maturity throughout the lifespan, not ending in adolescence (ibid. ). Identity is an ongoing process. Erikson devised â€Å"Eight Stages of Man. † These include Trust (infant), Autonomy (toddler), Initiative (child), Identity (adolescent), Intimacy (young adult), Generativity (middle age), and Integrity (older age). Erickson believed that social environment combines with biology (aging) to give people sets of crises to resolve at each stage.Resolving them creates maturity, because one must resolve the crises of one level before going on to the next, or become stuck at the lower level, never to mature and always having the same type of problems, as the main couple in Tyler’s novel do. The couple Pauline and Michael Anton meets in pre-WWII Baltimore. Pauline jumps from a streetcar to join a patriotic parade and suffers a head gash, so she flings herself into Michael’s old family grocery store for help. A more reserved individual, Michael is taken aback by Pauline’s dramatic energy and falls instantly in love.Both in their early 20’s, they marry, but they do not pass adolescence and never develop intimacy. Mike goes to war, is shot in training, and comes straight home. He and Pauline have three children and move to the suburbs. They have numerous conflicts over the years and their marriage stagnates, because they are both stuck in childhood and adolescence, fighting over everything to be known as the winner and the superior partner. Pauline always flies off the handle emotionally, while Michael silently stews over things as mundane as whether it will get cold enough to snow.Nothing is ever solved over 60 years’ time, and the marriage and the individual Antons do not change or grow, either. They cut themselves off from the social interactions that would help them to grow. Their identity was formed by the time they married and never had a chance to develop further, because they would not allow it. They fight, each trying to win in order to be identified as the winner and the leader of the marriage. Then either would feel important, worthy, and adult. Unfortunately, it never happens. Mike is Polish Catholic, Pauline is WASP, and these disparate ethnic and religious identities are hard to meld into a marriage.Pauline believes that two souls should combine as one. Michael feels that they should remain distinct, but walk in the same direction. The marriage cannot work, because neither will learn additional new ways of thinking. Thus, for six decades, she is flighty, he is cold, and they remain constant in this. While marriages of their friends grow and develop via individual maturity and interactions as a couple through the usual give and take with a larger community, the Anton's marriage is stuck because of their feuding. Life passes them by, except for the problems.The Antons and their marriage cannot grow up. The author describes the friends’ growing marriages as fruit trees: â€Å"Marriages are like fruit trees†¦ After a time they meld, they grow together, and it doesn't matter how crazy the mix is, peaches on an apple tree or cherries on a plum tree; still if you tried to separate them you would cause a fatal wound. † Meanwhile, the Anton's marriage is a â€Å"gnarled, wizened, whiskery tree you see on windbeaten cliffs where there's not enough soil or water. † The marriage is anorexic, starving to death.Pauline, who once loved Mike’s reserved qualities â€Å"chafed daily at . . . his rigidity, his caution, his literal-mindedness . . . his reluctance to spend money, his suspicion of anything unfamiliar, his tendency to pass judgment . . . and his magical ability to make her seem hysterical† (p. 75). Michael’s opinion of Pauline becomes â€Å"a frantic, impossible woman, so unstable, even in good moods, with her exultant voice and glittery eyes, her dangerous excitement† (p. 167). Neither one is concerned with self-development, but only with criticizing the other.Over the decades, they become entrenched in these mindsets and unable to develop past their mid-twenties, psychologically. The miss all of the intimacy, generativity and integrity by holding onto adolescence. In identity, they are only â€Å"the fighting spouses. † When he does think about the marriage and where it is going, Mike sees that â€Å"all those young marrieds of the war years† have grown â€Å"wise and seasoned and comfortable in their roles, until only he and Pauline remained, as inexperienced as ever — the last couple left in the amateurs' parade† (p.168). He saw themselves as â€Å"more like brother and sister than husband and wife. This constant elbowing and competing, jockeying for position, glorying in I-told-you-so† (p. 168). Further, the Anton’s drug-abusing daughter Lindy sees the family as a stagnated hell, a â€Å"wretched, tangled knot, inward-turned, stunted, like a trapped fox chewing its own leg off† (p. 300). The marriage is stuck, as well as the family. In dysfunctional families, some members develop identities despite the stagnation and toxicity.The development of such an identity, a â€Å"hardy personality†, is described by Professor Suzanne Kobasa Ouellette of City University of New York (Richland College, 2007). Hardiness and its needed control, commitment, and challenge develop through attaining the following eight skills: 1. Recognize and tolerate anxiety and act anyway. 2. Separate fantasy from reality and tackle reality. 3. Set goals and establish priorities. 4. Project into the future and understand how today's choices affect the future. 5. Discriminate and make choices consistent with goals and values.6. Set boundaries and limits. 7. Ask assertively for wants and desires. 8. Trust self and own perceptions. Some dysfunctional people achieve these skills through study and counseling, but the Antons do not. Even when they decide to parent their small grandson Pagan, whom they rescue from the drug culture, they cannot reconcile their entrenched differences. Pauline believes their fights can be patched up in a â€Å"firefighting† management technique. Michael sees these fights as hellfire itself. Mike and Pauline decide just to toler ate each other, until Michael leaves.Even though it is possible to develop self-identities through conflict, Mike and Pauline are not able to do so, because they do not stop fighting in order to find social interactions as a couple (clubs, volunteer work, etc,), and counseling that would help them grow. They remain in the adolescent stage in their mid-60s. At this age and firmly entrenched in adolescence, it may or may not be too late for humans to grow further psychologically. REFERENCES Kriesberg, Lewis. , PhD. ‘ â€Å"Us† versus â€Å"Them. † ’ 2003.From the website of Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict: http://www. beyondintractability. org/essay/identity_issues/ Retrieved Feb. 25 2007. Richland College. Dallas County Community College District. 12800 Abrams Road, Dallas, TX 75243-2199. â€Å"The Developmental Psychology of Erik Erikson. † From the Richland College website: http:/ /www. rlc. dcccd. edu/MATHSCI/anth/P101/DVLMENTL/ERIKSON. HTM/ Retrieved Feb 25 2007. Tyler, Anne. The Amateur Marriage. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2004

Acquisition Strategy Essay

In today’s market it is very important for company’s to remain competive in order to maintain an edge over its competitors. The days that a company can rely on its reputation to continue making profits are gone. Today, everyone is looking to save money by buying less expensive items like economy brands, considering that the diffrences between the two products are similar and the features that are not offered are of little value. This will make a consumer buy the less expensive item. Like consumers, companies are also looking to save money and maximize profit. One way of doing this is through acquisition strategies. Combining the operations of two companies is a very good option for companies that are looking to stregnthening the company’s competincies and competitiveness, this will ultimately open new market opportunities (Gamble/Thompson, p. 119). The benefit of this type of strategy, unlike alliances, they do not go far enough for the resources needed and a very important factor, ownership. In the following paragraphs, I will give two examples of two different companies in different industries and explain how they will stregnthen their market position through acquisiton, to include resources and competive capabilities. The first example I will use it Wells Fargo & Co. results from the acquisition of Wachovia Corporation. During the economic crisis Wells Fargo & Co. acquired Wachovia Corp in a bail out to keep the bank from going under. At one point Wachovia was Wells Fargo’s competitor. After the acquisiton it made Wells Fargo a banking giant absorbing its competion. Earnings from that acquisition have earned Wells Fargo Financial & Co. a 21% earnings since the acquistion, reporting record profits. This acquistion has allowed them to gain market share, this was mostly created by winning new customers. Mortgage loans was the top earner and low rates and prices of homes falling to record lows has allowed the company to grow even in these tough economic times. Additionally, the acquisition of Wacovia Corp. moves Wells Fargo as the second largest bank, second only to Bank of America. The strategy has allowed them to acquire a larger share of the financial market. The second company I will discuss is DuPont Nutrition & Health and Applied BioSciences acquisition of Danisco Corp. Once a long time partner of DuPont, is a very good and proven company, is a good fit because of their proven market science business and offers clear synergy for them. The acquisition will make them the clear leader in industrial biotechnology with inovations in global challenges in food production and fossil fuel. This effort will position the company ahead of all rivals addressing dramatic growth in human population in the years to come. Danisco is well established company that has research and application capabilities. This will create a more cost efficient operation of the combined companies. The applications do not need to be duplicated, meaning their buying power will increase, administrative functions do not need to be replicated, and will further create more cost savings by downsizing. This acquisition will also allow them to enter new product categories, for example 65% of Danisco’s revenue comes from specialty foods, product substitution items such as sweetners and enablers. This will allow them to enter renewable materials and addressing food needs. In conclusion, I have discussed Wells Fargo & Co. , and how their acquisition of Wachovia Corp has allowed the company to gain a larger geographic coverage has helped it create a more cost efficient operation by allowing to cut overhead costs by elliminating duplicate processes. Second, DuPont Nutrition & Health and Applied BioSciences acquisition of Danisco Corporation has allowed DuPont has made them the clear leader in industrial biotechnology with inovations in global challenges in food production and fossil fuel.

Proc 5850 Logistics Essay

1. KLF Electronics is an American manufacturer of electronic equipment. The company has a single manufacturing facility in San Jose California. (20 points) KLF Electronics distributes its products through five regional warehouses located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. In the current distribution system, the United States is partitioned into five major markets, each of which is served by a single regional warehouse. Customers, typically retail outlets, receive items directly from the regional warehouses in their market area. That is, in the current distribution system, each customer is assigned to a single market and receives deliveries from one regional warehouse. The warehouses receive items from the manufacturing facility; typically, it takes about two weeks to satisfy an order placed by any of the regional warehouses. In recent years, KLF has seen a significant increase in competition and huge pressure from their customers to improve service levels and reduce costs. To improve service level and reduce costs, KLF would like to consider an alternative distribution strategy in which the five regional warehouses are replaced with a single, central warehouse that will be in charge of all customer orders. Part A: Describe how you would design a new logistics network consisting of only a single warehouse. Due to increasing competition in the world, the company has to advance its logistics system. To meet the ever increasing demands of the customers, the company is planning to form a single regional warehouse that will be in charge of the customer orders. Logistics is responsible for the movement of people and materials in the organization. Logistics department of the company decides as to how and when, the raw materials or other finished or semi-finished products should be moved and stored. If the company plans for a single warehousing system, then it is basically focusing on the centralized warehousing which is responsible for serving the whole market. The network will be designed with the help of complete analysis of the company’s operations. This will help to design an efficient strategy for the company. The location and size of the warehouse will be decided. The transportation and facility costs will also be calculated. The cost set up will be properly estimated. The network will consist of various facilities like manufacturing center, vendor, distribution center and customers. There will also be a variety of raw materials and finished products that flow among these facilities. Part B: Provide an outline of such an analysis; what are the main steps? There are various steps that will be involved for designing a new logistics activity. In the first step, the currently operating network in the organization should be analyzed. In the second step, the network optimization database should be designed and populated. After this in the third step, the alternatives for network design should be created. In the fourth step, the network optimization model should be adopted. In the fifth step, the tool for network optimization should be selected. In the sixth step, the network optimization should be implemented. In the seventh step, the alternative network designs will be evaluated. In the last and the final step, the reconfiguration costs for the network will be analyzed. Part C: Specifically, what data would you need? The data that will be required for this design network is as follows: 1Â · A list of all the products of the company. 2Â · The location of the customers. 3Â · Warehousing cost and transportation cost. 4Â · Demands of the customer for each product. 5Â · Size of shipment by product. 6Â · Cost of processing the order. 7Â · Patterns of the orders by size, content and frequency. Part D: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the newly suggested distribution strategy relative to the existing distribution strategy? The newly suggested strategy will help the company in a number of ways. It will help in speeding up the production activities of the company. It will reduce the facility cost of the company. The safety stock required in centralized system is also less. It will also reduce the inbound transportation costs. The disadvantages of such a system are that the lead time will increase and it will become difficult for all the customers to easily approach a single warehouse. The activities will become complex and the outbound transportation cost will increase. 2. As the Purchasing Manager in a manufacturing firm, you would be expected to identify and know various aspects related to transportation/traffic in order to effectively perform your job. Today, during the staff meeting, your boss asked you for advice on two aspects of transportations: (20 points) a. What are the major considerations when handling materials? i. Discuss the following: 1. Load Unitization, 2. Space Layout, 3. Storage Equipment Choices, and 4. Movement Equipment Choices. There are various considerations while handling the materials and care should be taken, while working over this activity. The following things need to be considered: Load Unitization: This is an important factor of consideration for material handling. Load unitization is the packaging and arranging of the item or items in a particular manner that can be handled as a unit. It should be considered that the items are banded in a securable manner. In this, the physical packaging of the product needs to be considered for its protective packaging. Overhang pallets for packaging should not be used as they can damage the product (Lock, 1998). Space Layout: It is also an important point of consideration in material handling. The space layout should be such so that the materials can be handled in an easy and comfortable manner. The space layout should be according to the products and for the ease of the workers. Storage Equipment Choices: It is to be considered as it is the greatest factor that contributes to the storage cost. The storage equipment choices include automated storage and retrieval systems, carousel storage and retrieval system, automated guided vehicle system and power & free conveyors. These equipment choices need to be considered to check the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the logistics network. Movement Equipment Choices: it is also an important consideration in the material handling and it will help in allocating the movement of the materials for transport. The equipment choices help in managing the movement of the equipment for storage and transport. b. What legal forms of transportation are available to the company? ii. Identify the legal forms of transportation. iii. Discuss the legal forms of transportation. iv. Provide one example for each legal form of transportation. There are various forms of legal transportation which involves regulation of the operating rights. The forms of legal transportation are common carriers, contract carriers, exempt carriers and private carriers. Common carriers provide services under closed regulation, as per the published tariff. They operate in a particular geographical area and for a specific commodity. Example of common carrier can be ‘highway transportation’. Contract carriers provide services at individually negotiated rates and operate under a regulatory authority. They have pricing freedom and have no service compulsion. They operate on the guidelines that there should be no rate discrimination between the customers. Example of contract carrier is ‘rail transportation’. Exempt carriers are those which are not liable for taxation and free from obligations. These are used for agricultural commodities in the United States. Example of exempt carriers is water transportation. Private carriers look after their own goods transportation. They are not governed by cost and service regulations. They cannot carry the goods of others, although many regulations have now permitted to do so. Example of private carrier is air transport. 3. Consider the supply chain for breakfast cereal. Discuss the competing objectives of the farmers who make the raw materials, the manufacturing division of the company that makes the cereal, the logistics division of the company that makes the cereal, the marketing division of the company that make the cereal, the distribution arm of the grocery chain that sells the cereal, and the manager of the individual grocery store that sells the cereal. (20 points) In the supply chain for breakfast cereals, everyone has its own competing objectives which inspire them to produce the product by giving his best possible effort. In the supply chain, the objectives of the farmers are to produce the best quality raw materials and earn maximum profit for him and his family. He wants to sell it at the best possible price and puts all his efforts to produce the cereals. The competing objectives of the manufacturing division of the company are that they should produce the quality and type of product that is demanded by the customer. Its main aim is to acquire efficiency in production and to produce better than its competitors. The logistics division of the company also has certain competing objectives. It works with the objective of managing all the materials and manpower related activities. It handles the storage of materials in an efficient manner. The management of transportation, purchasing of raw materials, storage and supply of finished products are the main aim of the logistics division. The objectives of the marketing division of the company will be to market the product in an attractive and effective manner. The packaging should be attractive and should display the special qualities of the products. It also has the objective of deciding the pricing and promotional activities of the product. The objective of the distribution arm of the grocery chain is to distribute maximum quantity of the product to the retailers and cover more targets as compared to their competitors. The objective of the grocery store that sells the cereal will be to sell the best quality products to the customers. They also serve the customers and fulfill their requirements. 4. You have been called in as a consultant to a large drugstore chain which has 24,000 inventory line items. Explain how inventory classification could help this company to better control its inventory. (20 points) Inventory classification is very helpful for controlling the inventory when a company has such a wide variety of inventory line items. There are basically five different types of inventories that are fluctuating inventories, anticipation inventories, cycle inventories, transportation inventories and decoupling inventories. Fluctuating inventory will help in managing the irregular demand of the products. Anticipated inventory helps in managing the unpredictable demand of the product. Cycle inventory helps in equating the consumption and production of the products. Transportation inventories are managed, where the time taken to transport a product is more and so meet the demands, it is maintained. Decoupling inventory is maintained to cover up the increasing demand of the product or the increasing purchases of the product. Inventory classification will help the company in inventory control, as, it will help in proper planning of the production system as materials will be available wherever and whenever required. It will also help in satisfying the orders of the customers as per the commuted date. It can also help in solving the problem of rush order inventory. It will also help in timely management of the inventory. 5. Discuss how each of the following helps to alleviate the bullwhip effect: (20 points) c. E-Commerce and the Internet d. Express Delivery e. Collaborative forecasts f. Everyday low pricing g. Vendor-managed inventory Bullwhip effect is the enlargement of the demand fluctuations i.e. increases and decreases in demand. This is often caused by price fluctuations, rationing, misperceptions of feedbacks, ordering panics, forecasting errors etc. It can be alleviated with the help of various tools like internet, express delivery, collaborative forecasts etc. Internet and e-commerce helps in giving more accurate information to the suppliers about the demand of a product. It helps in prevention of deformation and wrong communication of the demand related information. It also assists in reducing the lead time, as; it eases the order processing activity. Express delivery helps in reducing the demand variance and also reduces the lead time. It refers to timely and very fast delivery of the products to the wholesalers and to the ultimate customers. In collaborative forecasts procurement, product management and sales participate. Collaborative forecasts help the stakeholders in arriving at a particular demand forecast and alleviate the bullwhip effect. Everyday pricing also alleviates the bullwhip effect. There are certain demand hikes, which are created by periodic promotions and this leads to increase in demand fluctuations. Everyday pricing helps in preventing the increasing demand fluctuations and alleviates the bullwhip effect. Vendor managed inventory is helpful for the supplier as, it assists in monitoring the downstream demand. With this, the supplier can make a good and effective decision related to various activities like what quantity should be shipped for the customers and what quantity should be kept on hand. So, with the help of vendor managed inventory, the supplier does not have to depend upon the order data. Thus, the supplier does not have to rely on order data for demand estimation and alleviates the bullwhip effect.