Rapid, volatile and discontinuous change Essay

Brief Overview To compare with last decade, all industries or organizations have dramatic changed in today’s global market, no matter in social, political, technological and economic areas. Base on that, all industries have to make appropriate respond to these changes. However, the continuous change is no longer appropriate to the newest business model, but that rather, a range of discontinuous changes have become our new experience (Handy,1990) Today’s external environment has rapid, volatile and discontinuous change, which is the newest challenge of strategic management in an industry. 1. Introduction This essay is going to explore the concept of rapid, volatile and discontinuous change with undertaking wide range of academic journal articles, which in order to make sure that has a deeper understanding of its nature, impact or implications for an organization. In addition, according to the real situation of today’s global and industrial market, only those companies who can coordinate their strategic management to follow up the changes in the market can gather long life and profit. Therefore, this essay will discuss an example to see how those companies manage their business to fit in today’s external environment changes and how those change situations are connected to strategic management process making, and they influence the organizations. Also, the essay will engage theories and models to assess and evaluate the impacts of rapid, volatile, and discontinuous change based on the sample case. Finally, CEOs play significant role in strategic management process, and they should have abilities to solve the puzzles when facing the rapid change. Therefore, this essay will finally use particular cases to address how CEOs respond appropriately to discontinuous change, and what if they respond inappropriate respond. 2. Body The concept of rapid, volatile, discontinuous change All industries are getting involved in a business world that has occurred frequent changes nowadays. Those changes can come from anywhere; they can be small or massive. Handy (1990) indicate that the continuous change is no longer exist, we cannot predict the future from the past, and change is  unexpected and it can happen at any time. In other words, we are experiencing the discontinuous change epoch. For example, in 2008, plenty of large financial institutions had shut down in terms of the global financial crisis. The crisis resulted that the ‘Great Recession’ of economic happened and many bankrupts appeared. The housing market also suffered and the numbers of unemployment increased. Viljoen and Dann pointed that â€Å"a degree of turbulence will exist in all organizational environments (2003). Because of the turbulence in that time, all industries had to face the influences following such changes. In terms of that, successful companies have to operate an efficient and appropriate management strategy to respond the changes of external environment. On the other hand, we can see the light of those changes. According Viljoen and Dann reported that, the more change the greater turbulence and then more opportunities appeared in the uncertainty external environment. Under the financial crisis, there were some companies survive and even gather large profits from the crisis. For example, Morgan Stanley is a financial services company who survived in financial crisis because of its long term preparation of strategic management. The 2008 crisis eliminated its two largest competitors – Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns Cos., but had kept it stayed, which means that the survivors who made appropriate management strategies can win the market battle (Malhotra, 2009). All in all, th e opportunities in degree of change will be offered for those organizations with appropriate strategic management. Where this concept fits within the Strategic Management process In an organization, there is no doubt that one of significant part of operating business is strategic management planning. Strategic management planning has supported the organization in a long term running and has offered a direction to manage unexpected change of external environment. One thing can be sure that rapid, volatile and discontinuous change is focusing on strategic management process operation. However, it is difficult to predict accurate future development (Thompson & Martin, 2010). Because every company has their own situation, so that managers have to consider the change occurring in the external political, economic, social and technological environment and do internal and external analysis according to the particular situation. Some models can be applied by managers to assess their  companies’ external environment to improve the current business strategies, and then have more fit in the global market changes. When the companies fail to respond efficient strategic management, they also fail to facing the threats from external environment changes. Moreover, under the rapid, volatile and discontinuous change global environment, strategic management was built and developed in different way comparing with the last decades. For instance, to manage the complexity, dynamism and unpredictability environment is the topic in strategic management (Ambrosini, 2009). Additionally, analysis of SWOT had been combined into the operating strategic management because of the discontinuous change occurring in the world. Models for assessing the impacts and implications of rapid, volatile and discontinuous change In order to better assess and understand the rapid, volatile and discontinuous change, a variety of business models are using by industries operation. Those models can improve the strategy management process as well as evaluate the implications of rapid, volatile and discontinuous change. First of all, the turbulence model is one of the models that indicate degree of change within a specific environment or industry. The criteria of it are complexity, dynamism and unpredictability (Viljoen & Dann, 2003). Base on this model, managers would consider the turbulence in a particular environment is not only bringing the threats to the company, but also bringing the opportunities. During that period, companies have opportunities to beat their competitors by using appropriate strategic planning. The case of Morgan Stanley is an excellent example while it owns remarkable strategy and management charac teristics. Secondly, Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model is another powerful analysis tool to help managers identify the competitiveness of outside environment. This model was made in Michael Porter in early 1980s; it indicates that bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, threat of new entrants and substitutes, these five forces will impact industries profit potential in the final. They have power to analyze the competitive environment effectively and have been used for the analysis of competitive strategy. This model produces far-reaching impact on global business strategy formulation. To propose a viable strategy should include these five forces to identify and evaluate the  characteristics of different industries and companies. Besides, the Strategic Alignment Model can also be applied to exam the business strategy systems. This model refers to the value of intangible assets in a company, and it helps companies to achieve the coordination of operational strategy and information technology. For example, an excellent IT system is an indispensable part of operating strategy (Lerina, 2012). In addition, Business Rules Group model also can be applied to making efficiency business strategies (David, 2010). Under the business perspective, Business Rules model refers to in a particular activity; there is an obligation to take care conduct, action, practice and procedure. It offers managers to better understand their business strategies’ suitability. The response of the CEOs to this kind of change The response of the CEO to today discontinuous change would affect whether the company can sustain its competitiveness in the changing world market or lose its seat. Research shows that in ‘Great Recession’ time, those companies which can introduce and conduct the most efficient strategy can survive to the last. For example, Morgan Stanley survived in 2008 financial crisis because of its operating and strategy characteristic. It converted from an investment bank to a financial bank during the height of financial crisis. As a depository institution, it can acquire fund through deposits by the general public. To compare its competitors, even though it is not quite unscathed, Morgan Stanley has survived. Therefore, it is clear that CEOs should use different business models which can suit for their own company to analysis about the changing environment, specially the potential threats, new entrants and substitutes. Furthermore, dynamic learning is a useful approach to mainta in the competitive advantage, which is based on four activities: scanning, monitoring, forecasting, and assessing (Trkman, 2010). Morgan Stanley’s CEO used dynamic learning to contribute the capabilities of this company and then to face the business challenges. Also, the CEO has done sufficient research about the potential capabilities when he wanted to invest in new field projects, therefore, Morgan Stanley can extend its line of credit to depository institutions such as credit unions, savings and loan associations. For more cases like Samsung Electrics group, has set up an efficient strategy to face its major competitor – Apple. Since in early  1980s, Apple’s smartphone has started to dominate the cell phone market with its creative features and unique system. Due to the change in global market and development of Apple, Samsung industry created a new line smartphone – Galaxy S with some new features in order to compete Apple iPhone’s line. That is an effective change and creating in management strategy made by Samsung industry, which can keep customers eyes on its new products and its development in the world area. Samsung industry have done an excellent job to respond the discontinuous changing market, which has brought it large scale of profits and also become one of the dominate smartphone industry in the global market. However, some CEOs make an appropriate respond while others do not respond to the volatile change of external environment appropriately. For example, Blackberry smartphone industry has made inappropriate strategies when facing discontinuous change in global market. Blackberry smartphone has maintained its stiff features and cannot get used to today’s technological change and customer’s demands. Therefore, the industry ends up experiencing a dramatic decrease in sales and customer loyalty. 3. Conclusion In conclusion, under the economic development and the rapid, volatile and discontinuous changes in global market, all industries are facing huge challenges to maintain their business. CEOs have responsibilities to upgrade their companies’ management strategies in order to adapt the changing of global business environment. However, there are large scale of uncertainties in today’s market and plenty of risky consequences, CEOs have to introduce and implement the most efficient strategy to keep the company staying in the competitive market. Also, as the dominate roles in organizations, they have to adopt appropriate business models to support the strategic management process. Furthermore, they should have abilities to see the company’s trends, strength, weakness and opportunities as well as analyze their competitors’ strength and weakness, in order to better cope with the external environment dramatic change. Finally, they should gather the lessons from those companies who fail to adopt efficient strategies and could not survive in the changing global market.

A Rose for Emily & the Lottery

Thuan Nguyen Dr. Robert Janusko English II 2/17/13 A Rose for Emily & The Lottery Many short stories use a technique where they conceal the ending of the story while preparing the reader for the ending. In order to do that, the author uses methods of point of view and foreshadowing. In â€Å"A rose for Emily† written by William Faulkner and â€Å"The Lottery â€Å"written by Shirley Jackson, the authors use both methods. The point of view used by William Faulkner in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is in 1st person narration where the narrator is the observer of the protagonist.In Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† she uses 3rd person point of view in which the narrator is not involved in the story. Like most stories, â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and â€Å"The Lottery† both use a literary device known as foreshadowing in which both of the authors give clues and hints throughout the story that lead the reader to upcoming happenings in the story and prep are the reader for the ending. In â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, the narrator is the observer of Emily Grierson who is the protagonist of the story.Narration in 1st person point of view keeps the reader wondering what is going to happen next because it controls the perspective which allows for more surprises. The author also uses foreshadowing in which hints and clues are given throughout the story to prepare the reader for expectations in the story. An example used in the story is how Emily Grierson was in denial and refused to admit that her father is dead. The story also says how Emily’s father was really protective of her and didn’t allow Emily Grierson to date any men because no one was good enough for her.Another example given was that the person that Emily Grierson has been dating, Homer Barron was a Northerner and Emily Grierson knew that her family would not approve of her dating a northerner. Both of these examples gives the reader the hint that the reason E mily Grierson had killed Homer Barron was because she needed a male in the house with her to protect her which is why she did not give up her father for three days. Also, the fact that she loved Homer Barron but felt guilty that he was a northerner because her family would not approve of her dating a northerner.The author also concealed the ending when he threw the reader off by telling the reader that while Homer is out of town Emily bought a poison known as Arsenic. This caused the reader to expect that she was going to kill herself because Homer Barron left her even though he was only going out of town for a few days. Then the narrator went on to tell the reader how Emily bought men’s items and a toilet set with Homer Barron’s initial on it to distract the reader away from the poison. This distraction was the author’s method of trying to conceal the ending while preparing the reader for the ending.The story also hint how there is a smell of decay in and aroun d her house which usually means a dead corpse. At the end of the story Emily Grierson dies and up in the locked up second floor was a skeleton which was Homer Barron’s body. Next to Homer’s Body was a pillow with an indentation of a head and a strain of Emily’s hair. It was obvious that Emily had killed Homer Barron because Arsenic, which Emily purchased earlier, has side effects of edema. In â€Å"The Lottery†, Shirley Jackson writes the story in a 3rd person point of view which allows the reader to understand the situation from all sides.Since the story was in 3rd person point of view not all of the villagers thoughts were not revealed, which the reader eventually learns from the villagers’ argument that this is not something the people of the village would want to win. If the story were in 1st point of view from Mr. Hutchinson’s perspective then the narrator would have to explain how Mr. Hutchinson felt about the lottery, easily giving aw ay the ending that someone was going to get stoned. Third person point of view allows the narrator to give bits of information though the actions and discussions of the villagers and not give away the ending.An example of this is when the narrator said â€Å"Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones†. The information given could most likely mean anything or just something meaningless. They could be playing a game with the rocks that he stuffed in his pockets. The story then reveals that the rocks were used to stone someone to death at the end. Some other clues and hints given in the stories was the saying by Old man Warner â€Å"Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon† and the story also mentions a ritual. The saying â€Å"Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon† is saying that population control is needed because Old an Warner also mentioned how there would be trouble if this tradition stopped due to lack of supplies. The term â€Å"Ritual† usu ally could mean death. The story was then easily given away that someone was going to be stoned when Tessie Hutchinson argued against her own husband for winning the lottery. It wouldn’t make sense to argue with your own spouse if they would win the lottery. Again, the story keeps you wondering what is going to happen next when they had to redraw the card and ends with Tessie Hutchinson being stoned to death.In conclusion, the authors used different points of views and also foreshadowing to conceal the ending while preparing the reader for the ending. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† used 1st person point of view effectively and only allowed the reader to be the observer of Emily Grierson instead of being in her point of view which helped conceal the ending of the story. â€Å"The Lottery† used 3rd person point of view effectively and concealed the ending by not revealing the villager’s thoughts.

How the Ends Justify the Means Essay

Everyone has goals. Some people believe in order to attain a certain goal that it is acceptable to do things that are immoral. This may cause one to wonder if the actions taken to reach such a goal will be worth it. I am going to discuss some different situations that may or may not have a worthy ending, including any means it might take to reach goals such as gaining power, maintaining authority and gaining a title. I’ll also go over what some of the difficulties are in using tactics that may be categorized as unfair or even bad. Are immoral actions ever an acceptable way to achieve a goal? Machiavelli insists that it is not only acceptable, but a necessary means of gaining and maintaining power if that were the goal one wished to achieve. I do believe, however, that doing so may prove to be more difficult than imagined. I say this because anyone who is trying to create or keep an image would want to appear moral even through actions that when looked at separately may not see m so. One cannot, in my opinion, be greedy while simultaneously appearing generous. There must be a middle ground; a place that is at either one absolute or the other, but rather a balance of the two extremes.[1] For example, Machiavelli states â€Å"With time he will come to be considered more generous once it is evident that, as a result of his parsimony, his income is sufficient† (43). Therefore, one may seem generous without actually giving up anything, as long as nothing is being taken. There is no need to give up all to be generous. Nor is there a need to take all from others to maintain wealth. Is the perception of being cruel to be preferred over that of being merciful? Yes, with cruelty comes fear of consequences. Those who are afraid of repercussions are less likely to rebel. Just like Scipio, who was overthrown in Spain just because he showed too much compassion (Machiavelli 47). Too much mercy or compassion is likely to do nothing more than put a figurative target on one ’s back. To avoid being overthrown, Scipio should have instilled a certain level of fear in those who lacked discipline. Those under him had no fear in acting upon the envy they had for such power. The fear and discipline needed is comparable to modern day prisons. For instance, if Jack the prison guard acted as though he was more of a friend to the prisoners, they would not fear him and would be constantly looking for ways to undermine his authority. On the contrary, if Jack were throwing prisoners into segregation for small things such as not having their beds made, the prisoners would have a greater fear of the consequences for other offenses.[2] This also may be a difficult medium to attain because one wouldn’t want to take the authority aspect to a level where it would only create anger and resentment rather than the desired fear and respect. Straying from a promise is another thing that is perceived to be immoral, but is sometimes necessary gain a desired title. It is necessary to know how to disguise the human nature of being a hypocrite and a liar because the people that are being lied to will be so wrapped up in themselves that they will actually allow themselves to be deceived and not even realize what’s happening (Machiavelli 48). Just as in politics today, there are always promises being made and not followed through on. It seems as though this is how things have always been. And yet, the people to whom these politicians give their speeches, seem to believe that one party or the other speaks the truth, and then go back on those original beliefs after that party has come into office, and speak of what a liar he or she has turned out to be. Politicians in my opinion have yet to master the art of disguising their deception for any longer than it takes to gain a title. I do believe the middle ground for lying, is that it should only be done with good intention behind it. In conclusion, I find myself agreeing with the many statements given by Machiavelli in that it is very necessary to act in some ways that could be viewed as immoral in order to reach a goal. They seem to hold an especially helpful curve if that goal is to gain power, maintain order or create an image for one’s self. But, I also believe that in order for such strategies to be effective, a middle ground has to be reached. These cannot be seen in an all or nothing sense. They each have difficulties and they each have proven to be effective when that middle ground is reached. Works Cited Machiavelli, Niccolo. â€Å"The Qualities of the Prince.† World of Ideas Boston, Bedford/St.Martin’s 2010 ———————– [1] Definition: Middle Ground [2] Hypothetical Example

Wrting assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wrting - Assignment Example As per the China Daily report, for the same period, the nominal GDP was $1.87 trillion and PPP GDP was $5.07 trillion for India, another emerging economic power from Asia (â€Å"Top 10 countries..†). As per the report of Institute for Economic Competitiveness, the world’s largest economy United States posted a nominal GDP of $16.8 trillion in 2013, but the country’s GDP growth was only 2.3% for the first quarter of 2014. Official government data also indicate that the Chinese economy’s GDP per capita (nominal $6,747 and PPP $9,844) for 2013 assisted the country to strengthen its economic position in the global economy (â€Å"China GDP..†). China is a communist country, and hence it follows the communist principle of equal distribution of wealth and money among the people. As a result, income inequality is not a big problem in China as compared to capitalist countries like the United States and United Kingdom. However, some recent reports indicate that income inequality is turning out to be a growing concern in the current Chinese market economy despite the country’s status as a communist economic system (Lecture notes, ‘Education’). The Asian Development Bank Institute indicates that implementation of reform and open door policies in China in 1978 significantly contributed to the emergence of income inequality issues in the country. The Economist reported that the China’s official Gini coefficient was 0.474 as of 2012, but many economists argue that the country’s real inequality is far greater (â€Å"Inequality. Gini out of the bottle†). China, officially People’s Republic of China, is a communist country or single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. Key positions in the state structure and military are occupied by the members of Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party is controlled

Television Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Television - Case Study Example Virgin Media, the Cable Company in which Sir Richard Branson's empire is a major shareholder accused Sky of using its dominant position in Pay-TV to stifle competition. According to Sky, the row between the companies started because of the Virgin's refusal to pay the asking price. Virgin says that Sky is trying to dominate the market by asking 'more than double' charges for its channels with a view to 'coerce' virgin customers to switch to new providers by denying access to basic channels. Sky maintains that the price it wants is 'reasonable' taking into account the benefits it provides to the Virgin customers. It also says that it has adopted a 'product differentiation' along with the 'price increase' by offering new 'high definition' service, where the quality of the broadcasting will be better. "It denies allegations by Virgin that it is demanding "more than double" the amount currently paid." (BBC News 2007) According to Richard and Mark (2007) "Sky added that its offer of 3p per Virgin Media customer per day is still on the table should the cable group wish to return. Sky added that it is still willing to supply its channels directly to cable households." Marketing The strategy behind the move of Sky is to reposition its channel Sky one by revamping it to include live football and UK TV premieres of big US films giving Sky One a content which is being currently offered under Sky's premium sports and movie channels. Couple with this Sky is providing programmes in High Definition (HD), which it claims as a key selling point. With this differentiation and improvements in the products Sky demanded higher charges from Virgin. Virgin Media's View Point: Virgin Media implies that Sky is using its dominance in the market to its advantage. Steve Burch, the Chief Executive of Virgin says "we will not allow Virgin Media or our customers to be the victim of Sky's market power." Virgin says that it cannot afford to pay the charges being demanded by Sky since as per the costing calculations virgin would end up in paying Sky 1.23 per month per subscriber that is more than one third of the 90p cost outlined by Sky. Moreover Sky is also demanding a 'minimum guaranteed payment' that is twice the current annual payment being made by Virgin to Sky. "Virgin has closed the gap with Sky to some extent by signing deals with major content owners to offer programmes on demand - though these do not include US drama 24 and mainly cover older series" (Chris Tryhorn 2007) Strategy of Virgin Media: To combat the pressure from Sky Virgin had already signed deals with some content owners to provide programs on demand. Virgin Media would continue to charge the customers at the same level without any reduction for the loss of Sky channels. Virgin says it would compensate the viewers with 2700 hours of on-demand viewing. Effect on the Customers of Virgin: With the Sky basic channels going off the cable, the viewers would end up paying more for lesser channels, although Virgin says it will compensate the customers with more hours on-demand viewing. Around 3.3 million subscribers of Virgin would loose channels like Sky One, Sky Travel, Sky News and Sky Sports News. They will not get the value for the money they pay to Virgin. This would result in the subscribers switching over to other providers where they may get full value for their money. Effect of BSkyB and Virgin

Flesh Eating Bacteria Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Flesh Eating Bacteria - Research Paper Example Apparently, the name flesh eating bacteria is linked to the idea that infected parts of a human body looks like gnawed. Streptococcus pyogenes' also known as group A -hemolytic streptococcus, GAS, and Strep A exoenzymes or endotoxins cause the disease or illness known as necrotizing fasciitis. Fasciitis is characterized by the swelling of the fascia (Stoppler, 2009; Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). Fascias are the dense fibrous connective tissues that wrap the human body below the layers of cells that compose the skin. Fascias are also the tissues that enfold individual muscle fiber and envelope together individual muscles to form bundles. Similar dense fibrous connective tissues form tendons that attach muscles to bones, attach bones to bones, hold organs in place, and bind the different organs to form a stable system (Miller and Levine, 2003). The exoenzymes which are termed poisonous and lethal compounds are the primary complexes that cause the necrosis or death of vulnerable dense fibrous connective cells and tissues. One identified exoenzymes causing cell death are the proteases (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). The dense fibrous connective cells and tissues are basically protein, so the cells and tissues are composed of individual units called amino acids joined together by peptide bonds. The exoenzymes as well are basically proteins. However, exoenzymes as enzymes are catalysts (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007; Mader, 2001). The exoenzymes which are protease catalyses the breakdown of peptide bonds that joins the amino acids of the protein component of dense fibrous connective cells and tissues (Mosby's Pocket Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Allied Health, 2002). This collapse of peptide bonds results to the disintegration of the basic units of the cells and tissues which means death of the cells and tissues. So, the layer of cells and tissues below the skin called fascia as well as those in the other locations of the body die the same way when there is enough exoenzymes produced by the Streptococcus pyogenes' that can be circulated by the blood throughout the entire human body. Apparently, the amino acids are utilized by the microorganisms for their sustenance, multiplication, growth, and development as facultative intracellular pathogens (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007).Contaminated people are the most probable reservoirs of the microorganisms which may transmit the same to other people by direct or indirect contacts or through respiratory droplet infection. At present, S. pyrogenes has been found to be sensitive to bacitracin (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007, DHHSCDCP, 2009). Necrotizing fasciitis symptoms: tumor, fever, cellulites, swelling, pain, soft tissues, black and dry skin, foul-smelling-thick-gray drippings (Smith, 2002). Treatment: removal of dead tissues, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole, adequate IV fluids, sterile operating room, local anesthetic, surgery if not flushing the area with copious amounts of sterile irrigating fluid (Smith, 2002). Conversely, Staphylococcus aureus produce exoenzymes or exotoxin or epidermolytic toxins called catalase causing the

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

Introduction to Management Accounting - Essay Example Theories on motivation – presentation and analysis In order to understand the potential use of motivational theories in management accounting it would be necessary to refer to the context of ‘motive’, as the basis for the development of motivation, a process causing the willingness of individuals to be engaged or not in a particular activity or to put all their efforts in the achievement of a specific target. In accordance with Singla motive is ‘the latent power in a person which impels him to do a work’. Different approaches have been developed in literature regarding the explanation of motivation, as a factor influencing the performance of employees in businesses of different characteristics. In accordance with the reinforcement theory, each human is likely to decide considering the consequences of his behaviour. Knowing the results (outcomes) of his behaviour in advance, an individual can plan his behaviour accordingly so that the negative consequences are avoided and, if possible, the expected benefits are achieved. (Gitman et al. 2008). In the context of business environment, the reinforcement theory could have the following explanation: employees are promised specific rewards if they reach a particular level of performance; from a similar point of view, employees may be given a warning that if they fail to reach a minimum level of performance, they will be punished by a decrease in their payment or the deduction of certain of their common benefits – for instance, the mont hly subscription to leisure activities and so on. The punishment when used as a threat for pressuring employees to reach a particular level of performance is a policy based on the reinforcement theory, as explained above. In the study of McKenna (2000) reference is made to the theory of McFarlin and Sweeney (1992) on human motivation; in accordance with the above researchers, within modern businesses the motivation of individuals is depended on the following two factors: the distributive justice and the procedural justice; the former is reflected in the payment of equal salaries of employees reaching the same level of performance within the same organization; the latter means that within each organization the measures taken for the rewarding of employees in all departments are similar (McKenna 2000). The existence of distributive just

Personal Consulting Capacity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Personal Consulting Capacity - Essay Example The researcher states that planning for future is very important as it defines our mindset. By setting goals we plan for our future. Goals can be defined as: basically tools that give scope to an activity and direct achievement-related behaviors. Goals can be prioritized to short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals heighten the chances of success as they may be challenging but are quite close to the current capacity level of a person. However, it is the long-term goals that are required to achieve permanent success in future endeavors. The researcher splits his future objectives into two categories i.e. Short-term and Long-term goals. Short-term goals include the skills he would acquire by the end of this year while long-term goals are elaborate planning of the next five years of his professional life. Short term goals: to accomplish the researcher’s degree with good grade points and to enhance skill based expertise relevant to his field before gaining entry into a repu ted public sector organization. His key focus would be on the consulting capabilities so as to give a wider scope to his objectives. Long term goals: in a span of five years the researcher plans to elevate himself to the managerial level. He also wants to gain comprehensive growth by lending his consultancy skills to the company in order to solve the core problems. In future the author of this paper would also like to pursue his career as a Human Resource Consultant.... Short-term goals include the skills I would acquire by the end of this year while long-term goals are elaborate planning of the next five years of my professional life. SHORT TERM GOALS To accomplish my degree with good grade points and to enhance skill based expertise relevant to my field before gaining entry into a reputed public sector organization. My key focus would be on my consulting capabilities so as to give a wider scope to my objectives. LONG TERM GOALS In a span of five years I plan to elevate myself to the managerial level. I also want to gain comprehensive growth by lending my consultancy skills to the company in order to solve the core problems. In future I would also like to pursue my career as a Human Resource Consultant. ACHIEVING GOALS A step wise planning is required to achieve my goals. I need to determine the factors and the barriers which are going to influence my action plan. As I plan to enter a public sector organization therefore, my core focus would be on gaining skills that are relevant to the field. SECTOR IN FOCUS: PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS After the accomplishment of my professional degree I am keen to join a public sector organization as it offers a wide range of careers as well as provided the opportunity to make decisions with the potential to have immediate impact on the wellbeing of citizens. Moreover, public sector organizations are considered to be stable and secure as compared to private sector. Another positive aspect is regular coaching and mentoring and comprehensive trainings being offered time to time. Public sector organizations have clear policies and procedures that must be adhered to by all levels. FUNCTIONAL AREA IN FOCUS: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEment Human resource management being the area of my

Language Development and Reading Disabilities Research Paper

Language Development and Reading Disabilities - Research Paper Example According to the research findings, many people believe that socioeconomic status is one of the determinants of language development. This is a claim supported by various researchers after conducting and sampling language proficiency reports on both children of the lower socioeconomic families and those in the advantage families. Based on their report, it is evident that children of lower-SES have smaller or shallow vocabularies as compared to those in the High-SES. This new research was aimed at explaining the reasons behind the SES language disparities. Adriana Weisleder who is a lead researcher disputed the recent efforts of determining the impact of directed speech in children. This was an arrangement that involved mother-child interaction in a span of one hour. Actually, Adriana claimed that the artificial setup ignored the basic concepts ideal in child development. Anne Fernald and Adriana, both Stanford University professors, suggested a daily recording of children activities in the home environment to achieve good and ideal result on children behavior and language development. This suggestion was in the bid of modifying the previous child-mother interaction research setup. In the research suggested by Adriana, more than 29 children were enrolled in the observation program and each fitted with a special shirt that contained an audio recorder. The children ages ranged between 16 to 19 months though from the different socioeconomic setup. After a long period of observation, the two researchers who were the pioneers of this arrangement claimed the results were ideal because they gave natural occurrences or experience with the language. The recordings showed that child-directed speech helped in building children’s language vocabulary. After viewing all, the reactions and analyzing the outcome of this research, Adriana and his fellow researcher came to a conclusion that anybody can have a great interpretation of words as he or she continues to learn th e language.

This is am african history class, you can choose the topic Research Paper

This is am african history class, you can choose the topic - Research Paper Example They are responsible for leading scientific and intellectual breakthroughs in history. The world, in general, owes the Islam community a debt. In terms of industrialisation, the Islam played an intricate role in the process. They also had a central position to play in the evolution of the philosophical enterprise in the world. This paper will explain how these revolutions shaped the world. In the past, it was easy for scholars, mathematicians, economists, and researchers to draw their inspiration from Islam (Huff 73). Islam worked to open up the minds and hearts of everyone in the world. In thought and study, many scholars can attribute their success to the Islam faith and its growth and spread. It is believed that the Islam community in the late seventeenth century drew their philosophical strength from the Greek. This means that, the introduction of many inventions, for example, the telescope led to the growth of the Western curiosity on the influence of Greco-Islam revolutions. Th e West had a number of inventions and scientific breakthroughs. However, they did not draw their inspiration from anywhere as many civilisations did. Many individuals around the world believe that there was no scientific or intellectual breakthrough in the Islamic world. This is because, most of them believe that all that is Islam developed as a result of the Greek heritage. Without it, many believe that Islam would not have an avenue to exist on its own. Others also believe that, the Arabs cold not identify what the ancient hieroglyphics in their presence meant. This is not until the coming of a European who explored the ancient language and drew conclusions from his research (Abu-Rabi 145). The introduction of foreigners makes the issue of Muslims being intellectually capable of making strides in the world debatable. What these critics do not seem to comprehend is the fact that, every civilisation brings forth diverse worldviews on diverse matters. In the field of optics, the Musl im and Arab community have made significant strides (Huff 79). The most revered thing about the Muslim faith is the belief they exhibit the necessary aspects of knowledge and wisdom in life. This makes them refuse the influence brought on by many education and religious influences from around the world. The fear of foreign influences pushes them to create their own understanding on issues, which pertain to many aspects of life. Islam focuses on regulating the philosophical attitude of the world. This is by overarching the philosophy of embracing mankind regardless of their faith and cultural background. No faith in the world claims that taking another life in the name of religion is justified, and Islam is not the first. Islam embraced the power of science, even when Christianity shunned and condemned the likes of Galileo for the assumptions he made about the earth. This laid the basis for the growth and development of philosophy and science among the Islam community (Huff 81). In A frica, intellectual revolution opened doors for the much needed economic change. Islam can be the perfect ground to lay this intellectual foundation. With the political changes, it is possible to have many channels created by the Western world in the third world countries. In Africa, for instance, the introduction of madrasa ensured that children learned the importance of the different fields in the world. The European and African enlightenment was brought on by the light that Islam shone

The Definition Of The Word 'Spirit' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Definition Of The Word 'Spirit' - Essay Example The American heritage dictionary (2009) defines spirit as ‘The vital principle or animating force within living beings’. Spirit is somewhat similar to but not the same as ‘soul’ considered departing the human body at the time of death. The term spirit took its present form during the middle stages of evolution in the English language. The term was derived from the French word ‘espirit’, which in turn was derived from Latin word ‘spiritus’, meaning breathes (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2009). Spirit has no solid or physical form. The only form it takes is when it combines with matter, and that is the form of a living being. Consciousness cannot pertain to a spirit unless through the means of matter (Theosophy, 1966). In the metaphysical context, the spirit is considered to be a form of energy, which is non-quantifiable and is present in all beings that are living. Life stems from spirit, without spirit, all matter is lifeless ( Wikipedia, 2009). The word spirit may also sometimes refer to a supernatural existence, like a demon, angel or a fairy (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2009). The other meaning of the word spirit is that used in medicine and health. In general medicine, the spirit is a volatile chemical that is used as a disinfectant for bruises and cuts. Methylated spirit, commonly known as ‘spirit’ is denatured alcohol. It is undrinkable and poisonous (Boggan, 2003). Chemically, the Methylated spirit is also known as ethanol. It is medicinally used as an antiseptic and disinfectant. It is also used for removal of fungus from the skin. Spirit also has a lot of uses outside medicine. It is used as a cleaning agent in housekeeping, as fuel, for killing bugs, for maintenance of wicks and as a sanding aid (Boggan, 2003). Yet another sense in which the word is used is that of alcoholic beverages. Spirit is defined as any unsweetened, alcohol-based, distilled beverage, which has at least 2 0% alcohol by volume in it (Alexis, 1987). There are many forms of liquors that fall under the umbrella of ‘spirit’. Spirits may include wine, beer sake of whiskey. Spirits can be prepared based on different criteria. The preparation of a spirit may depend on serving size, the volume of alcohol, strength or power of alcohol, flavor, and flammability (Alexis, 1987). The use of the word spirit in the context of alcohol is therefore very common especially at places where alcohol is sold. For example, on may use the word spirit as: ‘Do you sell spirits?’ or ‘I am not into spirits’ etc. Different philosophical and religious schools of thought have a different concept regarding ‘spirit’. In ancient Greek philosophy, a popular concept was that God sends guardian spirits for His people, to protect them from all evil. This idea later refined into the concept of guardian angels. Angels are defined as spirits that do not have any form and are made of energy. All spirits are believed to exist in the cosmos, at a plane different from ours. Most of the philosophers believe that spirit alone is formless. According to the Buddhist concept, where there is form, there is the reason for suffering. So it is believed that when the body of the man, the objective man is annihilated, the spirit is liberated and reaches bliss. The subjective life of man is the spirit which cannot be corrupted and is immortal. The spirit does not die (Theosophy, 1966).

Ipremier and Denial of Service Attack †Case Study Essay Example for Free

Ipremier and Denial of Service Attack – Case Study Essay In a recent Information Management lecture we went through the case of iPremier (read the full case) which is a popular case study from Harvard Business School. It was a made up case but the recent high profile hacking stories (such as Gawker) show that companies are not taking security seriously. The background is that iPremier suffered a DOS attack in the middle of the night which caused chaos in the company. After an hour the attack stopped and the company went back to business as normal. Two weeks later another DOS attack was spawned from the company’s server directed at a competitor which proved that their server had been compromised. The FBI became involved, the competitor threatened to sue and the city analysts were thinking of downgrading the stock. Our role was to come up with recommendations as to how the processes and plans could be improved for the future. Keeping in mind that the security is about more than just technology we needed to brainstorm around people and processes as well. 1. People and processes Develop a business continuity plan (test it end to end including suppliers and keep it updated) Develop an IT governance framework that includes security in its remit Develop clear reporting lines Better training for emergencies Trust your technical leaders and make sure they have the resources to lead in a crisis Make security part of strategy Hire an independent audit team who report into the board Hire a security and risk expert Develop a better relationship with your hosting provider 2. Technology Avoid single points of failure. Separate the server stack so that database, web and file servers are not on the same network Use a reputable hosting provider with a world class infrastructure and support Make sure all your software is up to date Use a combination of hardware and or software firewalls Backup and redundancy planning and testing Active monitoring Strong one-way encryption of passwords Use open auth systems such as Facebook connect

Maglev Wind Turbine and Solar Panel for Streetlight

Maglev Wind Turbine and Solar Panel for Streetlight Abstract:  This work describes the implementation of VAWT and solar panel for electricity generation from renewable energy sources that are wind energy and solar energy respectively. The VAWT worked on electromagnetism principle has suspension system of permanent magnets instead of ball bearing used in conventional wind turbines. The electrical energy generated by this hybrid system is then used for streetlight purpose. Keywords: Wind energy, Solar energy, Magnetic Levitation, VAWT, Savonius Turbine, Solar panel 1. INTRODUCTION The primary factor for survival of human beings is the energy. Everything what happens in the world is the expression of flow of energy from one form to another. Electric power is not available in many rural areas due to high cost of generation and distribution to small dispersed users. For electricity generation we have to greatly depend upon hydraulic and nuclear power plants. But due to their certain disadvantages like area compensation, high initial cost, availability of resources and also the pollution, there is need to rethink on some another renewable energy resources. Solar energy and wind energy are available abundantly all over the world with free of cost. These energies are harnessed by human beings for a long time and with the advanced technologies we can take their advantage to generate electricity. The potential of solar energy is 178 billion MW which is about 20000 times the worlds demand and the potential of wind energy is 1.6ÃÆ'-107 MW equal to magnitude of present energy consumption on the earth. The solar energy can be converted to electrical energy by photovoltaic cells. The kinetic energy of wind can be converted to electrical energy by wind turbine. As conventional wind turbine has certain disadvantages; vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) are the alternate solution. The merits of VAWT are low initial and running cost, easy installation, less space acquired, capability to capture wind from any direction and elimination of ball bearings by the use of magnetic levitation technique. The advantage of these two renewable energy resources can be taken by making a hybrid system so we do not required depending on availability of any single resource. The electricity required for domestic purpose can be generated by unique combination of solar system and wind system. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Solar power The solar power where sun hits atmosphere is 1017 watts, whereas the solar power on earths surface is 1016 watts. The total world-wide power demand of all needs of civilization is 1013 watts. Therefore, the sun gives us 1000 times more power than we need. If we can use 5% of this energy, it will be 50 times what the world will require. 2.2 Principle of working of photovoltaic cell Electricity can be produced from the solar energy by photovoltaic solar cells. When photons from the sun are absorbed in a semi-conductor, they create free electrons with higher energies than the electrons which provide the bonding in the base crystal. Once these free electrons are created, there must be an electric field to induce these higher energy electrons to flow out of the semi-conductor to do useful work. The electric field in most solar cells is provided by a junction of materials which have different electrical properties. The photovoltaic effect can be easily described easily for p-n junction in semi-conductor materials of solar cells which are silicon, cadmium, sulphide/copper sulphide , gallium arsenite. Fig-1 Working principle of photovoltaic cell 2.3 Various type of solar cell Thecomparison of various types of pv-cell is Price Efficiency 1 W size Current production Single crystal High 10-17% 1 About 30% Polcrystalline Medium 10-13% 1.3 About 60% Amorphous Low 7-10% 1.7 About 10% 2.4 Wind energy Wind energy is an indirect source of solar energy. Factors responsible for wind are- 1. Heating and cooling of the atmosphere which generates convection currents. Heating is caused by the absorption of solar energy on the earths surface and in the atmosphere. 2. The rotation of earth with respect to atmosphere, and its motion around the sun. 2.5 Wind power Three factors determine the output from wind energy converter- 1. The wind speed 2. The cross section of wind swept by rotor, and 3. The overall conversion efficiency of rotor, transmission system and generator or pump. No device, however well designed, can extract all of the winds energy because the wind would have to be brought to a halt and this would prevent the passage of more air through the rotor. The most that is possible is for the rotor to decelerate the whole horizontal column of intercepted air to about one-third of its free velocity. A 100% efficient aerogenerator would therefore only be able to convert upto a maximum of around 60% of the available energy in wind into mechanical energy. Well-designed blades will typically extract 70% of the theoretical maximum, but losses incurred in the gear box, transmission system and generator or pump could decrease overall wind turbine efficiency to 35% or less. The wind mill works on the principle of converting kinetic energy of wind to mechanical energy. The mass of wind is- à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. (1) Kinetic energy of wind is- Watts à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (2) But, the power is nothing but kinetic energy of wind. Hence, available wind power- Watts Watts à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. (3) Where, A= area swept by the blades, m2 V= velocity of wind, m/s à ªÃ‚ Ã‚ ¬= air density (1.225 kg/m3 at sea level) 2.5 Types of VAWT 1. Savonius rotor Characteristics of Savonius rotor Self-starting Low speed Low efficiency. Advantages: The machine performs at low wind velocity ranges. It has simple construction, hence easy to manufacture. Cost of VAWT may be significantly lower than that of standard wind turbine. Ground level mounting. Overall weight of the turbine may be substantially less than of conventional system. Disadvantages: This type of machine is too solid, having so much metal It is not useful for a very tall installation because a long drive shaft problems. 2. Darrieus rotor Characteristics of Darrieus rotor Not self-starting High speed High efficiency Potentially low capital cost Advantages: Rotor blades can accept the wind from any direction Ground level mounting Eliminate yaw control mechanism Less airfoil fabrication cost Disadvantages: It requires external mechanical source for start up At low height, it experiences a lower wind velocity compare to conventional turbines 3. MAGNETIC LEVITATION 3.1 Principle As we know that, when two like poles of magnet are bring together, they get repels from each other. This characteristic of magnet is used for the suspension purpose in vertical axis wind turbine. Due to the absence of physical contact between magnetic bearings, there is benefit of no friction and hence no wear. Also the no need of lubrication, no power loss and the absence of noise generation. Fig-2 Principle of Magnetic Levitation 3.2 Magnet Selection The strength of magnet to get attract or repels is depend on its material configuration. There are basically four categories of magnet that are alnico, ceramic, samarium cobalt and neodymium iron boron (Nd-Fe-B). Nd-Fe-B is the newest invention out of these which exhibits strongest magnetic properties. This magnet is used for the suspension purpose in VAWT. The repelling force exerted by these magnets holds the weight as well as force exerted by wind turbine. Fig-3 B-H curve of different magnets [1] From figure B-H curve depicts attractive magnetic characteristics of Nd-Fe-B offering high flux density with the ability of resisting the property of demagnetization. The permanent magnets selected were N-42 grade Nd-fe-B having ring shape which consist of nickel plating for strengthening and protecting the magnet. 3.3 Magnet placement To obtain thenecessary suspension for wind turbine, two ring shaped Nd-Fe-B magnets are arranged at the middle of the shaft. Magnetic suspension leads to frictionless, noiseless, maintenance less and power loss less rotations of rotor over stator. The similar 8 number of Nd-Fe-B disc shaped magnets are located around the bottom side periphery of wooden disc at above the top magnet. The flux generated by these disc shaped magnets is used for power generation with the help of the generator. Fig-4 Placement of ring magnet on turbine shaft Fig-5 Placement of disc magnets on rotor 4. COIL DESIGN AND ITS ARRANGEMENT To design the definite number of turns per coil is difficult. If the more turns are wound it increase the emf generated from each coil but increase the size of the every coil. For minimizing the size, wire having higher gauge can be used. If the diameter of wire is small low amount of current will flow leading to heating ofwire because of the increased resistance of wire which is another difficult task. Field density is the problem attached with large size coil for designing the generator for given application. Increase in gap between two magnets by increasing height of coil results in reduction of magnetic flux. Hence necessary voltage and current must be balanced. Fig-7 Coil arrangement on stator 5 HYBRID SYSTEM Sometimes due to unavailability of any single resource that is either solar energy or wind energy, there is effect on efficiency of such system. Also to decrease the load on single system, we can interconnect the solar system and wind system together. The output of solar system is DC and that of wind system is AC. So by the use of rectifier AC can be converted to DC and finally this combined DC is given to battery for storage purpose. Fig-8 Hybrid system 6. ENERGY STORAGE When there is no need of generated electrical energy or when the generated energy is excess than demand for application, there is need to store electrical energy. Therefore a 12V battery is used for storage purpose. The electrical energy is stored in the battery in the form of chemical energy when not to used and get convert from chemical energy to electrical energy When required to be used. 7. CONCLUSION The efficiency and effectiveness of VAWT increases due to the use of magnetic levitation principle. For domestic application it is convenient to use Maglev turbine than to use conventional turbine as it requires less space and also low initial and maintenance cost. Maglev turbine with large capacity gives more power than conventional horizontal axis turbine. To decrease the load on any single system, the concept of interconnection of solar and wind is very helpful. This hybrid system along with streetlight application can be used for several domestic applications like mobile and laptop charging, CCTV, to enlighten the single room etc. Use of renewable energy sources with initial investment can make the user free from electricity bill. 8. REFERENCES [1] Harshal V. and Kharat R. K, Power generation using Maglev Windmill International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology (IJRET) Volume: 05 Issue: 06 June: 2016 [2] Ashvin P. Joseph Review paper on Wind Turbine using Magnetic Levitation International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology (IJRMET) Volume: 6 Issue:1 Nov 2015-April 2016 [3] G. D. Rai, Non-conventional energy sources Khanna publishers, fourth edition, 2008 [4] B. Bittumon Design and analysis of Maglev Vertical Axis Wind Turbine International journal of emerging technology and advanced engineering (IJETAE) Volume: 4 Issue: 4 April 2014

A Chinese Multinational Computer Hardware Marketing Essay

A Chinese Multinational Computer Hardware Marketing Essay Lenovo Group Limited is a Chinese multinational computer hardware and electronics company with its operational headquarters in Morrisville, North Carolina, United States and its registered office in Hong Kong. Its products include personal computers,  tablet computers,  mobile phones, workstations,  servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software and  smart televisions (Wikipedia, 2012). Lenovo is the dominant supplier of computers in Mainland China; however,  current economic system is transferred to be more globalised, integrated and interdependent. Thus for many enterprises or just like Lenovo, to have a plan on the international expansion strategies is of the essence. This report will analyse Lenovo PC businesss marketing mix and marketing strategy through environment, target market, positioning, and 4P. Brand History and Evironment 1.1 Brand History In 1984, with an initial capital outlay of only RMB200,000, (US$25,000) Lenovos founding chairman Liu Chuanzhi, together with 10 like-minded colleagues, launches the New Technology Developer Inc which was named Legend at that time (Lenovo Company History, n.d.). By 1989, now known as Hong Kong Legend has branded out into motherboard manufacturer and it has changed its name to Lenovo and launched itself on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1994 (Malone, 2004). In 1996, Legend became the market share leader in China for the first time and introduced the first Legend brand laptop to consumers. In 2005, Lenovo completes the acquisition of IBMs Personal Computing Division, making it a new international IT competitor and the third-largest personal computer company in the world (Lenovo Company History, n.d.). According to the data, Lenovo has become the worlds second largest supplier of  personal computers  during the third quarter of 2011, which held around 13.5% of the worldwide compute r market as of October 2011 (Conn, 2011). Today, Lenovo is a global corporation with significant operations on six continents and operating in more than 60 countries and selling products in 160 countries (wikipedia, 2012). 1.2 Internal Environment Figure 1 Marketing Environment Competitive Economic Macro-environment Micro-enviroment Political-Legal Technological Social-Culture Competitors Customers General Public Distributors Suppliers Internal environment Men Money Machinery Materials Minutes Started from a square room, only 11 individuals Lenovo Group, currently has more than 10,000 employees. Facing with rapid development of the internet, April 2000, Lenovo Group restructured the whole company, from the division as the core system to a subsidiary of the core change in the system. Today, Lenovo has the most advanced technology in China, the high-level professionals, and abundant capital support, for example, its gross profit margin improved 11.7 percent in 2011 (Lenovo, 2011). Meanwhile, the Lenovo Groups management level has been committed to developing the development strategy, implementing the management philosophy, maintaining and carrying forward the corporate culture, in order to make the Lenovo to become a long-term, large scale high-tech enterprise. 1.3 Micro-Environment 1.3.1 Bargaining power of suppliers PC belongs to sophisticated instrument; therefore, the worldwide major CPU vendors are only two: AMD and INTEL. So the CPU suppliers has a strong bargaining power. On the other hand, there are many hardware providers in Chinese mainland, so for Chinese PC market, the local brand Lenovo has obvious advantages. 1.3.2 Bargaining power of buyers Because more and more PC brands can be chosen by consumers in global market, consumers have the ability to replace a companys products with the goods or services from a competing firm. 1.3.3 Potential new entrants and Threat of substitute products Because the cost of entering the PC market is high and the PC industry require the patent as a basis to develop the company, the threat of new entrants can be moderate. Additionally, the product like smart mobile phone may become substantial product for PC. It has many functions like PC which bring the large value to the customer. However, in the short term, it has little impact on Lenovos marketing strategies. 1.3.4 Rivalry among competitors In Chinas PC market, Lenovo is the number one PC vendor, which occupies the largest proportion of Chinas PC market share. Overall, rivalry is moderate in China. However, facing with HP, Dell, and Acer etc. in global market, Lenovo has to enhance the function of its PC products and the quality of sevices in order to gain competitive edges in some specific markets. Figure 2 illustrates the market share in U.S. PC market during the third quarter in 2012. Figure 2 Preliminary U.S. PC Q3 2012 Market Share by Vendor Chart by  The Mac Observer  from IDC data 1.4 Macro-Environment 1.4.1 Political-Legal environment In the 1980s, Chinese Academy of Sciences invested a lot of money when Lenovo needed financial support to develop itself. Indeed, Lenovo has a strong political background in China and it has been regarded as the birthplace of Chinas computer technology. Additionally, as a global company, Lenovo has to comply with unfamiliar laws and regulations. 1.4.2 Economic Environment Firgure 3 Lenovo RD Center in ShenZhenWith the increase income of Chinese consumers, people increasingly like to put money in hi-tech products, such as laptop, digital camera, and smart mobile phone. However, in global market, with the deepening of European debt crisis, the global economic are facing deflation and the unemployment rate are shotting up. Consumers wil be more prudent to make decision in purchasing. 1.4.3 Technological Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences which has 1,800 talents in From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediathe field of computer technology can povides efficient and effective support to Lenovo during RD process (Wikipedia, 2012). A prevalent trend that some hi-tech companies have cooperated with PC firms, such as HuaWei and Cisco, improving the existing products and offering better customer service challenges the PC leader of Chinas market. 1.4.4 Social-Cultural Environment To remain competitive, Lenovo must be sensitive to societys demographic shifts and changing values. However, in the global PC market, because the characteristics of the population, values and attitudes of consumers, and lifestyle are various, it is difficult to satisfy every consumer. Additionally, raising the awareness of consumerism is important to current companies. 1.4.5 Competitive Environment The competition of hi-tech products is very fierce in global market. Lenove are facing with some outstanding company, such as Apple, HP, and Dell. The products from different companies with various distinguishing features attract consumers to buy, which increase the level of competition. Furthermore, the indirect competition also has an impact on this market, such as smart mobile phone and iPad, because Wi-Fi makes the Internet available via radio waves and can be accessed at any number of public hot spots. Target Market and Positioning 2.1 Target Market Market segmentation is an inevitable trend in a mature market. The target market for a product is the specific segment of consumers most likely to purchase a particular product. Marketers should try to isolate the traits that distinguish a certain group of consumers from the overall market, in order to serve consumers and maximize the profit. 2.1.1 Geographic Segmentation From 2009 to 2012, Lenovo divided the overall market based on mature market and emerging market. However, from January 2012 onward, Lenovo gave up this method of market segmentation, while Lenovo divided the global market into four parts: Chinese market, North American market, EMEA market (Europe, Middle East and Africa market) and Asia Pacific Latin American market. In this four parts, Chinese market has a large number of population, which means great potential for profit growth. In contrast, North American market is relatively difficult to enter, because it is a mature market and consumers are loyal to former brands, such as Dell and HP. Overall, Lenovo combine its marketing efforts for countries and regions that share similar population and product-use patterns instead of treating each country or region as an independent segment. 2.1.2 Demographic Segmentation Gender: the purchasing habit of women can not be overlooked in PC market, because most woman buyers focus the stylish appearance and lightweight portable design rather than the computer performance, such as software and hardware. Age: tweens and teens usually use their computer for study and online game, while Generation X use their computer for work and social contact. Lenovos two main PC products ThinkPad and IdeaPad are different. Specifically, The IdeaPad design marked a deviation from the business-oriented  ThinkPad  laptops, towards a more consumer-focused look and feel (Jackson, 2008). Income and Expenditure patterns: because the income directly determine the purchasing power of consumer, Lenovo PC products are distributed across low end market, mid-range market and high end market. Figure 4 ThinkPad logo and IdeaPad logo From Lenovo official website 2.1.3 Psychographic and Behavioural segmentation Lenovos marketers quantify aspects of consumers personalities and lifestyles to create goods and services for a target market. For example, Lenovo products advertisements are different in Mainland China and America. Because consumers in China focus on the performance of the product while American consumers focus on the spirit that the product convey. Furthermore, most Chinese PC consumers like comparing goods before taking money form their wallet, while European consumers prefer to pursue high-quality product and to make decision quickly. 2.2 Positioning From the view of laptop market structure, business market account for the largest proportion of laptop market share, especially in government, manufactoring industry, school and university, and financial industry. From the view of sales, mid-range market is the most important part while the sales in low end market increase rapidly. The target market selection of Lenovo PCs is based on market size, development prospects, business goals and competitive advantages. To maintain the leading position in the Chinese market, Lenovo PCs must be on the market for comprehensive coverage. Specifically, Idea-branded focus on individual and family consumer market with low price and stylish design, which targets to low end market. While Think-branded focus on medium and small business, not-for-profit organizations, which is committed to provide a stable, safe, and high-quality computer product. Furthermore, because of the acquisition of IBMs personal computer business, Lenovo have the ability to en ter the high end business market. IBM PCs regard the high end of key account market as the target market. The distinct level of Lenovos marketing positioning helps distinguish its products from those of competitors and provides a basis for marketing communications. Marketing Mix Variables 3.1 Product Strategy Lenovo targets clearly its product strategy at the diversification development in such a new information era. Lenovo leads the PC industry in product innovation and it mainly focuses on PC business. Therefore, we divide products of Lenovo into two parts: laptop and desktop. 3.1.1 ThinkPad IdeaPad ThinkPad were originally an IBM product, which is line of business-oriented laptop computers known for their boxy black design (Wikipedia, 2012). ThinkPad series is made up of T series, X series, L series, W series, and ThinkPad Edge and each of them has their own feature. Specifically, T series is the most popular ThinkPad because of its performance and portability; X series is the thinnest and lightest with the longest battery life; L series is the green choice for professionals; W series is defined as a portable workstation. The IdeaPad line of consumer-oriented  laptop computers  was introduced in January 2008. The IdeaPad is the result of Lenovos own research and development (Wikipedia 2012). IdeaPad consist of U series, Y series, Z series. Specifically, U series is a stylish choice for everyday use; Y series design for gamers, movie buffs and audiophiles; Z series has a balance of price and multimedia features. 3.1.2 ThinkCentre IdeaCentre There are two series of ThinkCentre: ThinkCentre Edge Series (stylish, business-class) and ThinkCentre M series (sophisticated space-savers, dependable business partners). ThinkCentre is a system that combines reliability with ease of use. The marketing concept of ThinkCentre is You name the challenge, well bring the solution. IdeaCentre were described by HotHardware as being uniquely designed, with users needing to gaze on each one to see which design would look best in your place.(Willington, 2011). Indeed, IdeaCentre desktops come in all shapes and sizes.   Theres the skinny all-in-one that hides its working bits, the tiny nettop no larger than a book, and the regular desktop that traditionalists will view with satisfaction. Figure 5 Lenovo IdeaCentre 3.1.3 Service and Warranty From hothardware.comLenovo services is various depending on different kinds of customers. For example, Lenovo offers a comprehensive portfolio of value-added services that support the full lifecycle of Lenovo assets to large enterprises while Lenovo offers warranty support services and accidental damage protection to personal and home. 3.2 Promotion Strategy Lenovos prior goal is to create a new and successful international brand by the advantageous promotion of IBM; therefore, advertisement is the best option for this goal. Then promotional activities are also in effective and direct ways. 3.2.1 Advertising Lenovos personal computer mainly targets some individual clients made up of personal and home groups, and some small-and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore, the advertisement should be designed differently according to different segments. However, IBM aims at high-level computer market oriented to large organization for commercial functions. Therefore, advertisement strategies for ThinkPad are designed in an orientation of commercial application. Because consumers in China focus on the performance of the product while American consumers focus on the spirit that the product convey, the style of Lenovo advertisement is different globally. 3.2.2 Personal Selling The marketing strategies for individual users and large enterprises are different in requirements to sales person. As for individual users, what sales person need are a full set of materials of new products, like specific introductions, on-site demonstration disc, some certifications, and some samples. In addition, the training offered to salesperson is necessary including sales technologies, products knowledge, and companys regulation. In contrast, for the large enterprises, Lenovos salespersons play pivotal roles in promotion. Because they do not only promote products, but also perform necessarily in public relations, sales, training, commerce and customer services. 3.2.3 Sales Promotion Public Relation Because of two different product orientations, they will be differentiated in promotional activities. Personal and home groups consumers will mostly buy from stores or agents, and their purchasing behaviors are readily influenced by promotional activities. Therefore, users promotional activities are more effective for this type of users. However, ThinkPad goes oppositely since its users are mostly large enterprises commercially, and they unlikely go into some stores to buy a ThinkPad. Therefore, promotional activities will not work the same effectively as individual users do. Thus some special activities will introduced, such as inviting them to products exhibition or new products training, trial for new products for VIP clients, or organizing some member club to promote new products by conference, traveling, or sightseeing to enhance brand images and improve the knowledge or ThinkPad products. It is worthy mentioning that Lenovo was an official computer sponsor of the  2006 Winter Olympics  in  Turin,  Italy, and the  2008 Summer Olympics  inBeijing. In July of 2012, Lenovo and the National Football League (NFL) announced that Lenovo had become the NFLs Official Laptop, Desktop and Workstation Sponsor. 3.3 Pricing Strategy The objective of Lenovo is to capture a substantial market share and attract more and more buyers to buy its products. Lenovo pricing stratrgy is based on offering the consumers high quality at low price as well as competitor pricing. Lenovo has always maintained a product mix such as bread and butter products like 3000H series and high end products like ThinkPad and ThinkCentre, which helps Lenovo develop a vast range in its prices. The pricing of some models in America market are as follows: Lenovo  Y Series Laptops are priced  from $600- 1000 Lenovo U  Series  Laptops  are  Priced from  $500- 800 ThinkPad XZ series are priced from  $1000- 2000. Obviously, the laptop price is so competitive in current commercial situation that it should be considered at the first place of production based on a short lifecycle in high-technology industry. Therefore, perception value pricing of Lenovo is adapted to gain an acceptable profit. The middle and high-level Lenovo products are priced to compete in market, therefore, the price of these products should be referred to competitive products. Indeed, For comparable products, Lenovo priced its products at about two-thirds of foreign-made PCs (Xie, 2004, p. 412). In order to maintain the largest share and leader position in Mainland China and remain competitive in global market, Lenovo is a market follower after Dell and HP and this pricing strategy can allow them to ensure values as well as the optimal price of the products. Additionally, Lenovo constantly offers discounts on its  products through its showrooms and online purchases which are often in the range of  25-30%. Also there are many coupon codes and promotional codes available on all product models which add to the total discount. 3.4 Place Strategy 3.4.1 RD Center and Marketing Center Because HongKong is a global center of intermediary trade, it has a more perfect and more complete market in information channel than Chinese mainland. So Lenovo established the RD center and marketing center in Hongkong, in order to acquire the timely market information and technology information and thus shorten the product development cycle and closely follow the international trend. 3.4.2 Wide Coverage A direct marketing strategy is implemented to target the new industry and new big organization. However, the combined channel modes of retailors and agents are basically applied in individual buyers. The market Lenovo targets is not only China, but also other countries. The scope and extension it covers is featured to be in large quantity, wide distribution, and diversity of channels. Therefore, Lenovo choose intermediate channels like provincial retailors or regional wholesales in order to occupy a greater market. 3.4.3 Outlets and Sales Channel Most PC buyers purchase their products through retailer. Lenovo find that Internet buying is convenient for customers to compare products, specifications, prices and after-sales services. Some loyal customers like to buy products in Lenovo specialty shops. Today, Lenovo has the excellent distribution channel consist of 6,000 retail outlets in China that nearly impossible for foreign and even most domestic competitors to replicate. Figure 6 lenovo specialty shop From File Photo/ China Times 3.4.5 Transportation and Stock Level Modern logistics is important to Lenovo, that is say, Lenovo transportation is based on customer needs, carrying the products form supplier to demand side with the most economical cost. From 1995, Lenovo began to implement SCM system (Supply China Management). In 2004, Lenovo carried out VMI mode (Vendor Managed Inventory), thus almost 90% inventory were outsourced to Third-party logistics firms. 4. Cohesive Marketing Mix The 4Ps strategies of Lenovo forms a cohesive marketing mix in an effective and innovated way. Lenovo is transcendent in a vision of its market orientation and products innovation. It develops a systematic strategy with a good combination of two different brands in different levels. By definition, Lenovo improves its products designs and quality to reach an international level in order to meet the requirements of PC users all around the world. Regarding to its market orientation, Lenovo covers low level, medium level, and high-level products, targeting various users ranging from individuals to large enterprises. The pricing is also tactically different in different levels, so that Lenovo products can reach different users from personal utility to commercial application. In addition, it also optimizes different distribution channels and lowers the cost of producing by different segmentations of personal computer users by an application of direct market penetration to individuals and c ombined marketing channels to those large enterprises. Therefore, the promotion should also be designed in a different ways, from advertisement to salesperson training. The market mix of Lenovo successfully integrates product, price, place and promotion strategies in its market orientation and its maximum profits. Only in this way, can such a growing Chinese brand enter an international market to compete with its innovation and creation. 5. Target Market and Marketing Mix Variable There are many methods to segment the overall market. After that, the company will choose the appropriate market as their target market. As to Lenovo, from 2009 to 2012, Lenovo divided the overall market based on mature market and emerging market. However, from January 2012 onward, Lenovo divided the global market into four parts: Chinese market, North American market, EMEA market (Europe, Middle East and Africa market) and Asia Pacific Latin American market. Specifically, in mature market like North America, Lenovo covers low level, medium level, and high-level products, targeting various users ranging from individuals to large enterprises. Additionally, Lenovo is a market follower after Dell and HP and this pricing strategy can allow them to ensure values as well as the optimal price of the products in North American market. In contrast, Lenovo attack emerging market, such as Kenyan market, with cheap PCs, and the product range is fewer than American market. Furthermore, The Group s PC business across the mature markets are facing challenges in the retail channel due to significant slowdown in consumer demand. On the other hand, Lenovo begin to set up more specialty shops in Africa and Latin America, because people there dont adapt to online shopping and the demand from enterprise and government is low. Overall, Lenoovos target market will be considered when making decision about the four marketing mix variables. 6. Positioning Strategy Facing the volatile market and ever-shifting needs of customers, Yang Quanqing (2001), Chief Executive Officer, said that Our Protect and Attack strategy is working and will continue to guide our execution. Lenovo aims to extend the leadership position and increase profitability in China and relationship business in mature markets. In contrast, in emerging markets and transactional sales in mature markets, Lenovos focus will be on capturing growth. Although in recent years, Lenovo aims to extend the business beyond the traditional PC arena and to capture opportunities globally in the rapidly growing areas including mobile internet, smart TV, etc., the PC business remains as the Lenovos core business and Lenovo consistently accelerate the growth and expand market share by delivering quality products to customers around the world. Lenovo outgrew the worldwide PC market in unit shipments, and gained market share across all geographies, products and customer segments, making it the worlds fastest growing PC company. Lenovo divides its PC brand into two parts: Idea-branded and Think-branded. Specifically, Idea-branded focus on individual and family consumer market with low price and stylish design, which targets to low end market. While Think-branded focus on medium and small business, not-for-profit organizations, which is committed to provide a stable, safe, and high-quality computer product. The positioning strategy of Lenovo PC business is very effective. The company saw a record high in sales and market share despite an ongoing downturn for the overall PC industry. Based on data from IDC, Lenovo held  15.7 percent of the global PC market by November 2012, its highest market share ever. 7. SWOT Analysis 7.1 Strengths Lenovo is the leader in chinese PC market, accouting for over 30 percent market share. Under the support and protection of government policies, Lenovo can focus on product research and marketing. There are about 6,000 Lenovo retail outlets in China that nearly impossible for foreign and even most domestic competitors to replicate. Globally, after the acquisition of IBM PC division, Lenovo brand image has been enhanced. More and more overseas customers are willing to purchase Lenovo PC products. Lenovo has the excellent distribution channel not only in china but also all over the world. 7.2 Weaknesses Globally, the single marketing channel leads the products and services mainly sold by monopolized stores. Lenovo does not has its own core technology and it has to follow Intel trend. Too many staffs lead to the overstaffed orginizational structures. The human resource, technology, and capital need to be intergrated after the acquisition of IBM PC division. 7.3 Opportunities PC market is dynamic. prompt response to market changes and solid execution with a clear vision are crucial to continued growth of Lenovo. There is a potential for great development in Chinese market and other emerging markets. 7.4 Threats Acer, Dell and HP are the main competitors in global PC market. Today, there are too many cheap PC products appearing in the world and the market protect in some countries is strong. In addition, some smart mobile phones like iPhone can become the substitute. 8. Conclusion 8.1 What Is the Company Doing Well Liu Chuanzhi (2011), the chairman of the board, stated that we will continue to invest in innovation, marketing, and branding to protect our core business and drive growth through attacking. Four parts have been considerated in making decision in Lenovo: credibility, differentiation, product life-cycle, and evolution. Specifically, first of all, Lenovo is the leader in Chinese PC market, and the brand recognition and traditional reputation of Lenovo are very good in China. In global market, from 2005 to 2010, the Group used IBM logo optimally to build brand Lenovo, which led Lenovo to be known by overseas customers. Second, the differentiation of PC products in performance, style, and services make Lenovo have the ability to deliver the high quality, reliability and durability to meet various of customers demand. Third, every product has its own lifecycle. Facing with this problem, Lenovo delicates some new product strategies in light of the lifecycle as follow: improve products desi gn and products innovation, decrease of product costs and optimize the distribution, and integrate service system and develop the service quality. At last, The PC market is expected to experience more and rapid evolutions in the future. Lenovo continues to leverage spirit of innovation and history of technological breakthroughs to into new product categories and drive future growth. In addition, Lenovo actively took step in asserting its position as a global leader by launching its new global branding campaign. Known as Lenovo: For Those Who Do, the campaign captures the essence of who we are as a company, and the customers we serve. Lenovo does more than just build technology; it creates engines for the worlds doers and the mind-blowing things they create. The Groups breakthrough products are made to serve people on the quest to build whats next. 8.2 Suggestion Lenovo do not have its own core technology in PC business, which means Lenovo have to highly rely on CPU vendors like Intel and AMD. Therefore, in oreder to maintain market share and competitive advantages in global market, Lenovo should allocate more money to technological innovation and product upgrade. Other than that, Lenovo can copy Dell success model, which Lenovo can invest in special computer for certain industry, such as financial industry, education industry, in order to expand the coverage of the products. Lenovo pricing stratrgy is based on offering the consumers high quality at low price as well as competitor pricing. However, in recent years, more and more individual and family buyers reflect that there is price discrimination existing between Chinese market and North American market. Chinese market is Lenovos test bed. Most new products will be evaluated in Chinese market before selling abroad. However, Lenovo can not use its leadership in PC market to make money, regardless of consumers profit. In mature market, the Groups PC business are facing challenges in the retail channel due to significant slowdown in consumer demand; therefore, Lenovo should set up online-sale network and develop and maintain the relationship with the suppliers,distributors, and large enterprises. Although the brand image has been enhanced in recent years, especially after the acquisition of IBM PC division, Lenovo should continue to emphasize the global concept of product design and implement Protect and Attack strategy which protects the core business in China and relationship business in mature markets while attacking high-growth opportunities in emerging markets.

Lunar Eclipse Lab :: essays research papers

Title: Phases and Eclipses of the Moon Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate the different phases of the moon during its revolution around the earth and also to display solar and lunar eclipses. Hypothesis: I think that by following the procedure, I will successfully complete this lab in showing the phases of the moon throughout its revolution and the solar and lunar eclipses because I am moving the moon correctly. Independent variable: Movement of the moon Dependent variable: Phases of the moon and the lunar and solar eclipses Materials: 1. Tape 2. Scissors 3. Model Earth 4. Ruler 5. Pen/marker 6. Piece of string cut to 80 in. long and marked every 10 inches 7. Light equip with working bulb (acts as the Sun) 8. Model of the Moon 9. 3 people all together to demonstrate moon phases and eclipses Procedure (Phases of the Moon): 1. Gather materials. 2. Take the string and fold it in half so that it equals 160 inches. 3. Mark the string every 20 inches (this should equal to 8 marks around the strings). 4. Place the string on the floor with tape making a circle. 5. Choose 3 people to represent the Earth, Sun and Moon. 6. Place the person representing the Earth on the outside of the circle, the person holding the Moon on the circle (making sure they are holding the moon in their arm, away from their body), and the person representing the Sun on the other side (approximately 3 feet) of the string. When finished the persons should be in the following order: 1. Sun 2. Moon 3. Earth. 7. Turn the light on making sure it is facing the Moon and the Earth. 8. The person holding the Moon should begin at the first point marked on the circle and continue to, (with their arm), move the Moon around the Earth completely around the circle. 9. Observe the phases of the Moon. Procedure (Solar Eclipse): 1.The 3rd person is now needed to hold up the Moon in between the Earth and the sun (making sure they, as a body, are not blocking the "sun's" light).

Sustainable Design and Construction Essay -- Green Building, Sustainab

Our world faces energy concerns, global warming, climate change, water shortages, soaring housing costs, economic instability, and dwindling natural resources. In addition, an inordinate amount of construction waste is produced each day. It is essential to begin taking steps to prevent this pattern from continuing to take us down the road t environmental destruction. The engineers, architects and developers of today, more than ever, share an obligation to create new and innovative structures to turn this cycle around. Buildings and development have an enormous impact on our quality of life and the quality of our environment, both in construction and in operations. Buildings expend 40% of the world’s energy, 25% of its wood harvest and account for 16% of its water consumption 1, all resources we cannot afford to waste. Buildings of the future need to take the step beyond shelter and work places and perform as efficient, economic, environmentally sound spaces in which we can thrive and endure. It is our responsibility to utilize our knowledge and scientific research to move forward in the realm of design. Sustainable design, or â€Å"green building,† looks to create high performance buildings that improve our health as well as the health of the environment we live in. What is Green Building? According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), â€Å"Green or sustainable building is the practice of creating healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance, and demolition.†2 Among the many constituents of sustainable design are improvements in water usage, waste reduction, use of recycled materials, reduced energy consumption, and an aesthetically pleasing environment for inhabitants... ...02.pdf. United States Green Building Council, Meet the USGBC, 2003, USGBC, 27 Feb. 2004, http://www.usgbc.org/AboutUs/mission_facts.asp. Ian Barbour, Ethics in an Age of Technology: The Gifford Lectures, Volume two (New York: HarperCollins, 1993) 34. The Engineering Handbook, Chapter Six: Ethics, Santa Clara University School of Engineering, 27 Feb. 2004, http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/ENGR019_301Winter2004/EngrHandbook_Ethics.pdf. James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 4th ed. (San Francisco: McGraw Hill, 2003) 128. The Engineering Handbook, http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/ENGR019_301Winter2004/EngrHandbook_Ethics.pdf. Barbour, 57. Thomas Shanks, S.J., Ph.D., How Did I Live Today?, 2003, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, 27 February 2004, http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/today.html.

Alex Cross Book Review Essay

How would you react if you found out that a mass murderer you have been trying to capture and arrest for over a few months was hiding in your cellar waiting for the perfect time to crawl out and kill you? In the book Cat & Mouse by James Patterson, these are the type of people Homicide Detective Alex Cross has to deal with on a daily basis. Alex Cross, who lives in Washington D.C. and works for the FBI, is going throughout his daily life of solving small murder cases and living with his family. When Gary Soneji, one of the men he got convicted to jail for kidnapping a few years back, is released, Soneji seeks out revenge of Alex. Soneji pulls off a brutal string of murders leaving behind small clues for Alex to find and use to figure out Soneji’s ultimate plan. Soneji isn’t the only one carrying out murders at the time, though. All over Europe, a man known as Mr. Smith has been abducting citizens of several countries and mutilating the bodies. Now not only does Alex have to figure out what Soneji plans to do, but he also has an extremely brutal man on the loose in Europe he has to catch before his rampage goes on any longer. Remarkably, even through all of these murders and investigations Alex is able to pursue his love interest and the outcome of the story is one you won’t ever expect. Will Alex catch the two murderers or will he end up as one of their victims? You’ll have to read to find out. I recommend this book to anyone he enjoys a suspenseful, thrilling, and overall interesting book. It didn’t take too long to read and it was really hard to put the book down once you get reading. There was, however, some tough dialogue in the book.

Development of English Weapons Essay

Back in history, human beings used hunting by products such as craws, horns and animal teeth as weapon. As human being developed, he started to use axes made of stone as a weapon both for personal protection and for hunting. More development and civilization led to the development of weapons such as the wooden clubs, unshaped stones for throwing at the enemies and spears for both hunting and fighting. By then, human beings used to make wooden spears for hunting and for attacking any possible human enemy. With time the fire hardened spear points were replaced with stone sharp ones which were more effective than they precedents. Further development and civilization saw the development of bows and arrows to hunt and to counter attack an enemy (Davies, 1990, 67). By 400 B. C, evolution of what can be termed as earlier technology had enabled humans to develop a four wheeled ballista which was drawn by armored horses and more effective while it came to making attacks or counter attacking an enemy than the primitive weapons previously used. However, ancient weapons to be used by human being in their activities were qualitative improvement of the primitive weapons. In this context, revolution in military technology arose as a result of improvement in techniques and materials used in creating prehistoric weapons. As technology began to improve, weapons used in wars also started to improve. For example, with the discovery of the spooked wheel chariots drawn by horses became possible and useful for transporting soldiers to and fro the battle field. Around 1300BC, use of spoke wheel chariots had heightened but ceased later in the 4th century BC as humans began breeding horses that supported human weight and as cavalry replaced the military force that was used in fighting from chariots. In western world, the medieval period was highly characterized by knights and rudimentary siege artillery with their purpose inclusive of negating the increased use of castles which proliferated most of Europe and the neighboring East. The knights made use of various weapons such as the knifes, the bow and the sword. First, the knife which came in various designs was used highly by the knights to thrust into the weak sports of an enemy’s armor, to slit their throats when using stealth or to slash those enemies that came to the battle field un-armored. In essence, the knife could be single edged but many of them were usually double edged and unserrated. Today, knifes continue to be a major weapon used by soldiers both for fighting and other purposes. However, as opposed to knifes in the earlier times, most of knifes used by soldiers today are serrated. In particular, a knife forms one of the basic equipments for soldiers during any warfare. Secondly, the knights made use of swords which like knifes were designed either single edged or double edged. They also came in different sizes with some built heavy enough to be carried by only the strong men in the army. They were used in slashing the enemy or even killing them (http://atschool. eduweb. co. uk/sirrobhitch. suffolk/Portland%20State%20University%20Greek%20Civilization%20Home%20Page%20v2/DOCS/10/seanh1. htm. The design with which swords were supplied depended on the way in which they were intended to counter and kill the enemy. Some were long and others short while others were broad enough to accommodate both hands and could penetrate virtually any type of armor. For example, the bastard was a long or broad sword with normal types of blades but with a heavy pommel or ball at the bottom that was helpful for balancing purposes and as a mace for bashing the head of an enemy. Further, the saber was useful for slashing and employed by cavalry to kill the enemy and in this case could penetrate the armor of an enemy while riding a horse at a high speed. Other weapons commonly used by the knights and the cavalry include the pole arms, spears and lances, axe and other blunt objects such as a hammer and a mace. For one, the mace came as a metal or wood stick about twelve inches long and with a leather loop to prevent it from frying of the wrist while being used. The part used in striking the enemy was usually a sphere with spikes or angled blades designed to inflict injury on the enemy. Spears were simple weapons used for piercing the enemy both at close range or long range. They could have metal or wood heads and was useful while aiming at the weaker spots of the armor. It could also penetrate through the shields or mail given its length and sharpness (Boardman, 1998, 45). Further, the handle of the spear was commonly designed to break off once it hit the target to prevent the enemy from throwing it back. Pole arms came in different sizes and designs. They were used in piercing the armor of the enemy besides slicing or chopping through the enemy given its sharp and curved edges. It was useful while in a cavalry battle field due to the fact that it could be used in chopping off the feet of a horse rode by an enemy thus temporary incapacitating him. While many of this weapons such as the mace and the hammer did not see the light of modern usage, they still presented a good and viable starting point for the development of more sophisticated weapons used by armies all over the world. In regard to the armor used during the medieval times, leather formed the first form of armor to be worn and used by human beings in the battle field. As weapons developed and with the discovery of metal, leather started to become obsolete and was replaced by plate and mail. These two were worn on various parts of the body to prevent a soldier from being slashed by the enemy in the battle field (http://www. angelfire. com/wy/svenskildbiter/siege. html). As enlightenment hit the world, armors began to be worn together with undergarments and actually to be tailored like suits so that a knight could be hit but be on his feet within seconds having sustained no injury. Today, the plates and the mails have been discarded paving way for bullet proof armors and other forms of discovery. For example, the tanks used by armies around the world and in Europe in particular are heavily armored vehicles used for transporting weapons and soldiers to the battle field as well as launching missiles from the safety of highly armored walls. Despite this, the same metals used in designing and producing plates and mails are the ones used in producing today’s armored vehicles (U. S. Congress, 1995, 35). The knights developed from the earlier Calvary. On the other hand, siege artillery which were by then been used to breach the walls of the castles led to many revolutionary advances including the use of gun powder and cannon use. It was not until the Renaissance period that the western world and most parts of the rest of the world started to use firearms in warfare. Human powered weapons were finally exiting battle fields and being replaced with more powerful mechanically powered weapons. This is commonly referred to as the age of riffles as riffles begun to be commonly used in the battle fields. Firearms were developed in large numbers and cannons to support them. Motor vehicles replaced the use of horses in the battlefield and escalation technology which involves the use of armed aircrafts and armored vehicles developed. Firearms and cannons were designed to be fitted on these vehicles and aircrafts and were useful in attacking using long range missiles as is the case today. This saw the introduction of guns and rockets for use in the battle field. Guns and rockets were more efficient than their predecessors by the virtue of their design to store energy in a combustible propellant like gun powder as opposed to springs and weight. They increasingly started to be used in 16th century and with progressive ignition mechanisms remain in use to date. Based on these new developments, new technologies have such as machine guns have risen over the years (http://www. angelfire. com/wy/svenskildbiter/siege. html). Later in the 19th century, fossil fuel powered steam engines replaced sail power warship propulsion. In earlier times, bayonets were developed and which were used both as a pole-arm and as a knife but were later discarded with the discovery of rifled artillery which was by then being used in destroying masonry fortress. In essence, this discovery caused a huge revolution in the field of military and continues to affect today’s weaponry development and war strategies (Blair, 1997, 56). Further, the era of World War II marked a major revolution in military technology with more sophisticated weapons been developed in line with the emerging technologies. New concepts and designs of weapons were developed in massive numbers and the existing technology improved to march with the military needs. For example, atomic bomb was developed around this period. In essence, the end of World War II saw the institutionalization of weapons development as institutions and countries competed to develop unique weapons and counter weapons. In the western world, this constant development of weapons still continues to date (Collins, 1997, 87). In conclusion, despite the fact that weapons used during the medieval times have changed increasingly as compared to those used in recent times, these weapons formed the basis for developments of today world. The strategies employed during the medieval times were highly dependent on the kind of weapons in use. For example, the use of anchors to attack the enemy was dependent on the use of bows and arrows. Still, with the discovery of gunpowder, use of cannons became prominent in blasting the walls of castles and in sinking the ships of the enemy. Today’s weapons and strategies have their roots in the weapons and strategies employed during the earlier times with technology improvements and discoveries increasing the effectiveness of weapons being produced.For example, computer guided weaponry and nuclear weapons have developed over recent years though the later is useless for small wars. Work Cited: Blair Claude. European Armor c1066 to c1700. London: Batsford Publishers, 1997, pp. 56 Boardman Andrew. The Medieval Soldier in the Wars of the Roses. London: Alan Sutton,1998, pp, 45 Collins McNamee. The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Irelan. , London: East Linton, 1997, pp. 87 Davies R. Domination and Conquest: The Experience of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 67 Organized Infantry. Retrieved on 2nd January 2009 from http://atschool. eduweb. co. uk/sirrobhitch. suffolk/Portland%20State%20University%20Greek%20Civilization%20Home%20Page%20v2/DOCS/10/seanh1. htm U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Improving the prospects for future international peace operations: workshop proceedings, Washington DC, US Government Printing Office, 1995, pp. 35 Wyley Stephen, Siege Warfare. The Art of Offense and Defense, 1989. Retrieved on 2nd January 2009 from http://www. angelfire. com/wy/svenskildbiter/siege. html