Energy from Sunlight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Energy from Sunlight - Essay Example Countries which receive a lot of sunlight in a year are in an advantageous position than the countries in the far north who do not receive sufficient sunlight. The term used for the incoming solar radiation striking a surface at a particular time is insolation. According to Solar Energy International, on a clear day, the total insolation striking the earth is around 1000 watts per square meter. (Solar Energy International) One of the ways to make use of solar energy is to use photovoltaic cells. The PV modules using arrays of PV cells is used to power a house. ". The PV modules should point towards the true south in the northern hemisphere. They should be inclined at an angle equal to the latitude of the place., so that they absorb the maximum energy throughout the year".(Hestnes, 27) According to TERI, an organization working for environmental concerns in India," :Solar energy can also be used to meet our electricity requirements. Through Solar Photovoltaic (SVP) cells, solar radiation gets converted into DC electricity directly. This electricity can either be used as it is or can be stored in the battery. This stored electrical energy then can be used at night."(TERI) The uses of the stored electricity generated using solar energy are many. Since it is stored, it can be used at night too. According to TERI, the stored solar energy can be used for "a.) domestic lighting. ,b.)street lighting, c)village electrification, d)water pumping, e)desalination of salty water, f) powering of remote telecommunications repeat stations and g)railway signals." (TERI) If energy is to be stored, then batteries would have to be used. Since the life of batteries are much shorter than the PV modules, it is better to... According to TERI, an organization working for environmental concerns in India,† :Solar energy can also be used to meet our electricity requirements. Through Solar Photovoltaic (SVP) cells, solar radiation gets converted into DC electricity directly. This electricity can either be used as it is or can be stored in the battery. This stored electrical energy then can be used at night.†(TERI)  The uses of the stored electricity generated using solar energy are many. Since it is stored, it can be used at night too. According to TERI, the stored solar energy can be used for â€Å"a.) domestic lighting. ,b.)street lighting, c)village electrification, d)water pumping, e)desalination of salty water, f) powering of remote telecommunications repeat stations and g)railway signals.† (TERI)  If energy is to be stored, then batteries would have to be used. Since the life of batteries are much shorter than the PV modules, it is better to get connected to a grid. Power can be sold   when it is in   excess and bought from the grid when   extra energy is needed .It must be remembered that   the selling rate is always less than the buying rate. Wherever batteries are used, they must be maintained.   Many countries have started using solar energy to augment their energy needs. According to a report in The Chronicle Herald of November 29, 2008, a town is Spain is making use of the space available in the cemetery to set up solar panels , because flat , open sun-drenched land is hard t come by in Santa Coloma de Gramenet.  

The Good and Evil Desire of Macbeth Essay Example for Free

The Good and Evil Desire of Macbeth Essay Desire in itself is a powerful force. In fact, almost every action we take, good or evil, is prompted by desire. Success and advancement is also something we all seem to want. It is something people spend hours, days, and years of their life either preparing for, or chasing after. It is a desire that we are often striving for, and the things acquired or accomplished along the way are how we define our lives. Ultimately, at one’s funeral people will remember a person by how their lives summed up in the good or the bad that has been contributed, and the actions took in doing so. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, depicts the story of an individual’s desire for success and advancement. In this case, a heroic man’s desire becomes something evil that causes tragic events, including murderous acts committed by Macbeth in a bloody rise to power and eventually leads to his complete and utter destruction. In considering any moral question one must use rational thinking to come to a logical conclusion of what is right verse wrong, or good verse evil. In Macbeth’s case, his lack of using rationality, common sense and logic caused a normally healthy emotion of desire for success and advancement into a self destructive one because, it continually led him to make terrible decision. American writer and philosopher Aryn Rand asserts, â€Å"Man must obtain his knowledge and choose his actions by a process of thinking† otherwise, â€Å"Man has the power to act as his own destroyer† (534). Taking into consideration Rand’s moral philosophy of ethical egoism, a person ought to do what is in his or her own best interest further proves that Macbeth desire became evil or was wrong because it led to his death. While Rand’s quote in itself is rational and quite fitting considering Macbeth’s died due to his actions, on the other hand, moral questions cannot be decided alone by appealing to moral authority. For example, take into consideration, German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche. According to Oscar Levy, desire for success and advancement can relate to how â€Å"Nietzsche believes that the fundamental creative force that motivates all creation is the will to power. We all seek to affirm ourselves, to flourish and dominate. † (122). Many people in today’s society can also agree with that belief and how it relates to the story of Macbeth. A person in today’s society could measure their success and accomplishments in a job title, valuable contributions on projects and the feelings of joy from recognition or respect from peers thus leading to a promotion to a higher position, monetary raises, and authority over others. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis. This social title indicates him as a baron. This is a position in the upper class of aristocracy that includes owning a castle and lands. In addition, his valuable and heroic contribution as a valiant soldier in a recent battle has given him respect and recognition among his peers. This furthers his advancement and success by King Duncan, thus granting him an additional title, Thane of Cawdor. However, the problem with Nietzsche’s belief, no matter how fitting, is that it is an unsound argument because it is a hasty generalization. Not â€Å"all creation† seeks to â€Å"affirm ourselves, to flourish and dominate† (122). For example, take a person in today’s society who is offered a promotion. This promotion comes with a more responsibilities such as, managing a department of people. It is quite possible that this person is currently happy with their position and does not wish to have the extra responsibilities of exercising control over other staff members. Therefore, in Nietzsche terms they do not want to â€Å"dominate† other people. It is an illogical statement to include all creation in the premise. Another problem in appealing to Nietzsche’s moral authority is that a person could simple disagree with his reasoning of good and bad. According to Nietzsche in Goodness and the Will To Power, Good is â€Å"all that heightens the feeling of power, the Will To Power, and the power itself in a man,† bad is â€Å" all that proceeds as weakness,† and happiness is â€Å"the feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome† (134). In Macbeth’s case, his desire for the crown and to remain in power led to him committing regicide, killing the groomsman, hiring murderers to kill his friend Banquo, and ordering the death of Macduff’s wife and children. While Nietzsche would agree that all of those actions are good, society would not look too kindly upon the act of murdering innocents. Even if a person has the credentials to be an authority of a subject, there should be ways of testing the truth or reasonableness of moral judgments. As a matter of fact, Macbeth would fail any test of happiness because he consistently had what Nietzsche considered as bad or weak reactions. For example, instead of being happy that his power was growing after killing King Duncan, Macbeth stated he was, â€Å"afraid to think what I have done† (2. 2. 64). His bloody rise to power to gain and secure the crown may of produced a brief flicker of pleasure but resulted in the enormous price of his conscious destroying him. This included insanity in where his guilt and paranoia led to hallucinations in such as severe nature that he couldn’t distinguish reality from fantasy. As I previously stated, people will remember a person at their funeral by how their lives summed up in the good or the bad that they contributed, and the actions took in doing so. Ultimately, Macbeth will be remembered as a man who committed regicide and a murderer of a woman, children, and his kinsmen. His lack of using rationality, common sense and logic led him to make terrible decision and began a vicious circle causing a chain reaction of horrendous acts and consequences resulting in the suicide of his wife and ultimately his own death. Overall, Macbeth’s desire for success and advancement became truly evil that had severe consequences on not just himself and his wife but of innocents. Works Cited Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil. The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature. Ed. Louis Pojman and Lewis Vaughn. 4th. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. 121-134. Print. Rand, Ayn. In Defense of Ethical Egoism. The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature. Ed. Louis Pojman and Lewis Vaughn. 4th. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. 531-541. Print. Shakespeare, William. â€Å"The tragedy of Macbeth. † Ed. Paul Werstine and Barbara A. Mowat. New York: Simon Schuster Paperbacks, 1992. Print.

Impact of Urban Living on Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Impact of Urban Living on Biodiversity and Ecosystems It is estimated that almost more than one half of the worlds population is presently living in urban areas (Sakieh et al. 2016; Weigi et al. 2014). In many parts of the world, increasing urban lands has caused changing land use and land cover (LULC) (Wu 2014). Biodiversity, ecosystem processes and functions and human habitants in an urban environment are influenced by the speed and spatiotemporal pattern of urbanization (Wu et al. 2011; Asgarian et al. 2015; Sangani et al. 2015; Wu 2014; Jaafari et al. 2015). Landscape beauty is being affected by LULC changes and urbanization has led to the destruction of aesthetic values in many parts of the world. Scenic landscapes, as one of the ecosystem services, are elements of the environment with the potential for human enjoyment and in some cases they are considered as valuable parameters for nature conservation and management (Bishop and Hulse 1994). The landscape is continually changing due to human activities but its aesthetics usually su ffers from poor quantification and inclusion in management plans. According to Naveh (1995), scenic landscapes are products of interactivity between humans and natural systems where natural landscapes become inhabited, influenced or altered by mutual relationships between ecological and socioeconomic processes. Such interrelated feedbacks can lead to physical modifications of the environment that ultimately can be seen, so landscape aesthetic assessment seem to be essential in land use planning. Understanding, analysis, monitoring and modeling of urban growth is crucial for the management of current urban systems as well as for the planning of future growth (Zhou et al. 2014). Geospatial predictive models and change detection methods can provide a further level of understanding of the causes and impacts of urban growth mechanisms (Sakieh et al. 2014a). In the process of decision making, land managers need to examine the consequences of the urban development process. Regarding the progress in computing power, easy access to spatial data sets and development of functional computer-based models, now there is a possibility in which land use managers and decision makers can evaluate the outcome of their decisions under different alternatives and at the minimum possible cost (Sakieh et al. 2014b). Inclusion of new methodologies such as spatial multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) can further improve representation and modelling of urban growth patterns, which finally provide spatial d ecision support systems (SDSS) for better planning and management of urban areas (Dai et al. 2001; Jie et al. 2010; Youssef et al. 2011; Xu et al. 2011; Pourebrahim et al. 2011; Yuechen et al. 2011; Bagheri et al. 2013; Bathrellos et al. 2012; Sheng et al. 2012; Jeong et al. 2013, Sakieh et al. 2014b). Since 2000, there have been noticeable efforts for developing microsimulation LULC change methods such as cellular automata (CA) and agent-based models (Goodarzi et al.2016). CA-based models have a natural compatibility to raster geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) data and are appropriate for detail resolution modeling and simulating dynamic spatial processes (Sullivan and Torrens 2000). In recent years, there have been developed some CA-based models such as SLEUTH (Slope, Landuse, Exclusion, Urban, Transportation, and Hillshade) (Clarke et al. 1997), CLUE-S (the Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent) (Verburg et al. 2002), iCity (Stevens et al. 2007) and DINAMICA (Soares-Filho et al. 2002). Compared with the above mentioned spatial models, the SLEUTH model requires fewer input layers and also offers various alternatives for future urban growth prediction (Norman et al. 2012). These characteristics of SLEUTH model have made it as one of the most-implemented and popular methods for land use simulation at different scales (e.g. regional, national, and even binational) (Maithani 2010; Norman et al. 2012; Chaudhuri and Clarke 2013). However, there are a number of limitations with SLEUTH. The first of these is that it is computationally expensive. It requires a high number of model runs using a multi-stage calibration process to narrow down the coefficient value for each input parameter (Goldstein 2003). The second drawback is related to non-linearity of the model for the combination of the coefficients. The Brute Force method[1] which is used in this paper for calibrating the SLEUTH can fall in local maxima and may miss the better coefficient set (Goldstein 2003, Jafarnejad et al. 2015). Urban expansion is a complicated event which mainly occurs because of increasing population and the need for more construction. Consequently, vast lands of valuable ecosystems such as agricultural lands, forests and pastures are consumed and converted to urban areas (Sakieh et al. 2014b). Therefore it is essential to understand and recognize this process in order to implement effective management and avoid reducing the aesthetic value of landscapes. To achieve this goal, areas with high aesthetic value should be recognized at the first step. In this regard, there are various approaches to determine the aesthetic impacts on different areas of the city including expert-based methods such as Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE), statistical approaches such Logistic Regression (LR) and Artificial Intelligence-based methods such as Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) Neural Networks (Riveira and Maseda 2006). These methods are repeatedly being implemented for suitability mapping of utilities such as urbanization (Pijanowski et al. 2002; Hu and Lo 2007; Pao 2008; Mahiny and Clarke 2012; Sakieh et al. 2015), environmental conservation (Singh and Kushwaha 2011; Mehri et al. 2014; Sakieh et al. 2015) and agricultural activities (Mozumder and Tripathi 2014; Bodaghabadi et al. 2015) but are less implemented for mapping aesthetic values. The MLP neural network approach has a remarkable ability to derive meaning from complicated or imprecise data and detect trends that are too complex for either humans or other computer techniques. MLP is a more accurate modelling method compared to the others (Saeidi and Salmanmahiny 2014) and has been used in this research. Accordingly, creating a suitable model to predict the landscape scenic value could provide a basis for explicit, quick and accurate integration of aesthetic evaluation into land-use planning efforts. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the landscape aesthetic suitability and predict the spatial patterns of u rbanized lands in an effort to preserve landscapes of high aesthetic value. The following section describes how a directed modeling framework can be employed to introduce urban growth scenarios with regarding landscape aesthetic suitability, and finally to develop a city without considerable impact on its aesthetic suitability. Materials and methods Study area Gorgan is one of the cities in the northeast of Iran and the capital of Golestan province, located in 36 °, 49 ´ N and 54 °, 24 ´ E (Fig. 1). Gorgan has a mild and humid climate though summers are very hot and humid. The regional topography is very diverse and includes mountains, forests and grasslands, steppes and plains, desert and barren, rivers, wetlands and agricultural lands. Lush Hyrcanian temperate forests are located in the south, while flat areas with farmlands and rangelands make the main structure of the landscape in the north part of the case study. the region is also a destination for about two millions of tourists each year because of its aesthetic values and touristic environment, (Mehrnews 2015).Regarding the nomination of the area as a new province of Iran, rapid population growth has occurred that caused the increasing of built-up surfaces and consequently has made a series of conflicts between land developers and conservation agencies. These disagreements emphasise the importance of LULC planning in this area (Sakieh et al. 2016 b). Figure (1) Scenario based urban growth modelling In this research the SLEUTH cellular automata urban growth model was used to predict dynamics of Gorgan City developing under three different scenarios including historical, managed and aesthetically sound urban growth up to year 2030. The Historical Urban Growth (HUG) scenario assumes that the present pattern of urban growth will be maintained in the future. At the Managed Urban Growth (MUG) scenario, we tried to dictate an infill form of urban development with the aim of protecting the immediate environment of the city against urbanization. In the Aesthetically sound Urban Growth (AUG) scenario, an aesthetic suitability layer was used as the extra excluded layer in SLEUTH model to protect patches of high scenic value. Fig. 2 depicts a research flowchart of the study. The procedure for determining the aesthetic suitability map which was used as the excluded layer is explained in the following section. Figure (2) Aesthetic suitability mapping using MLP MLP is a feed forward artificial neural network model that maps different sets of input data toward a set of applicable and meaningful outputs (Rumelhart 1986). In a feed forward neural network, the information moves only in forward direction, from the input nodes, over the hidden nodes and to the output nodes. A node is considered to be a connection point that can receive, create, store or send data along distributed network routes (Ciresan et al. 2012). Exclusive of the input nodes, each node is a neuron or processing element with a nonlinear transfer function (Fig. 3). There are no cycles or loops in the network. MLP utilizes a supervised learning technique called back propagation for training the network (Rosenblatt et al. 1961; Rumelhart 1986). Learning process conducts in the perceptron by changing the connection weights after the processing of each part of data. Figure (3) Back propagation includes two main stages, forward and backward propagation, to achieve its modification of the neural status. During model training, each sample (e.g. a feature vector related to a single pixel) is entered into the input layer and the receiving node sums the weighted signals from all nodes to which it is connected in the former layer. In this regard, the input to a single node is weighted based on the following equation: Eq. (1) given: wij indicates the weight between node i and node j and o is the output from node i. The result from a given node is j is then computed from: Eq. (2) Function f is often a non-linear sigmoidal transformation that is used to weight the sum of inputs before it sends a signal to the next node. When the forward pass is finished, the performance of the resultant nodes are compared with their corresponding expected values. When a pattern is given to the network, each output node will differ from the preferred results, the difference is linked to the error in the network as well. This error is then propagated backward with weights for corresponding connections modified using a relation known as the delta rule: Eq. (3) Given: ÃŽÂ · is the learning rate of the model; ÃŽÂ ´ is the computed error; and ÃŽÂ ± is the momentum factor. This factor intends to avoid oscillation problems during the search for the minimum value on the error surface and is used to speed up the convergence procedure (Richards et al. 1999). The forward and backward passes continue until the network is properly trained for the characteristics of the targeted utility which in this research is the scenic beauty. Model training is aimed to retrieve the correct weights both for the connections between the input and hidden layers, and between the hidden and the output layer for the categorization of the unknown pixels. The input pattern is categorized to a class that possesses the node with the greatest activation level. The two training elements, automatic training and dynamic, can be employed to automatically execute the MLP. If one or both are used, the training procedure automatically restarts when the algorithm is highly oscillated or become trapped in a local minimum error surface. For each automatic restart of the model training procedure, one of the following items occurs to either learning rate or the sample used in the training procedure, or both. If only automatic training is selected and the first occurrence that the training procedure restarts, the starting weights are randomized. Through the next restarts, the weights are randomized and the learning rate is halved. If both automatic training and dynamic learning rate are chosen and the training restarts automatically, new samples are selected, the weights are randomized, and the learning rate splits in half. If only dynamic rate is chosen, and the learning rate is progressively lowered based on the number of iterations assigned and the start and end learning rates. For instance, if 10,000 iterations are specified and the model is configured with start rate of 0.1 and end rate of 0.001, it will divide 0.009 by 10,000 and lower the learning rate by the result at each iteration (Civco 1993). The acceptable error rate is related to the learning of the network and it is assessed based on the Root Mean Square (RMS error). Lower values of RMS error and higher values of total r2 shows the better fit of model. The MLP algorithm can produce both a hard and soft classifier. The hard classification output generates a discrete layer in which each cell belongs to a definitive category. Activation level maps, however, unlike the output of the hard classifier, are a series of images depicting a degree of membership for each pixel to each possible category. The output is set of images (one per class). Unlike the probability map, the sum of values for any location will not necessarily sum to 1. This is because the results from the neural network are acquired through standardizing the signal values in the range of 0-1 with the activation equation. Larger values imply a higher membership degree of the membership belonging to that corresponding category. The computation of the hard classification result is on the basis of the activation level maps. Data used for aesthetic suitability modelling through MLP method In the MLP analysis of the targeted area, multiple of factors were considered as input layers. Due to the characteristics of Gorgan City, a set of urban and natural criteria was used to model its landscape aesthetic values. These criteria were outlined during previous studies performed in our research area included gardens and agricultural lands (Othman et al, 2015; Mobargheie and Torbati 2014), tree type diversity, vegetation density (Aminzadeh et al, 2014; Weiqi et al, 2014; Chen et al, 2014; Kremer et al, 2016; Martina et al, 2016), topographic diversity (Arrowsmith 2001), buildings height and density (Weiqi et al. 2014; Chen et al. 2014), forest and urban parks (Ayad 2005; Weiqi et al. 2014), ancient sites and squares, refuges and boulevards (Bahrainy 1999; Aminzadeh et al. 2014). The GIS layers of gardens and agricultural lands, parks, squares, boulevards and refuges were obtained from the land use map maintained by the Gorgan municipality. The values of cells within these layers, together with ancient sites, were standardized using a user-defined function and based on the experts opinions. Whereas the relationship between the map value and fuzzy membership did not follow a certain function (e.g. linear, J-shaped or Sigmoidal), the user-defined function was the most applicable function and the user could reclass the map in the standard range. The ancient sites layer was obtained from Department of Cultural Heritage, Crafts and Tourism of Golestan province. The tree type for the study area consisted of six categories of tree communities (scale 1:25,000). Pattern analysis (with window size of 3 ÃÆ'- 3 pixels = 8100 m2) was applied as a filter to count the number of various classes inner a square vicinity of the central cell. Those pixels with three or more different categories in their vicinity were chosen to represent the diversity of a given location for its tree types. By using a Landsat TM image for the study area for 2012, vegetation density was calculated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) formula: Eq (4) NDVI is a widely used graphical indicator that can be used for detecting vegetative land cover. This index can be calculated based on red and near-infra-red (Xred, Xnir) spectral bands of Landsat image as equation 4 (McFeeters 1996). The layer was standardized using a symmetrical linear function having inflection values as: a=2879, b=5795, c=7595 and d=9545 (Fig. 4). Figure.(4) As the graph shows, by increasing the vegetation density (that is increasing NDVI values) to the point b, scenic value of landscape increases, then in a specific area remains constant (point c) then over increasing of the vegetation density due to restrictions in visibility detracts from scenic value of landscape. The building height and density layer was produced using the current status map of building density provided by the Gorgan municipality. Using a monotonically decreasing linear function in order to determine classification, this layer was standardized. The landscape aesthetic value was therefore decreased by increasing the building height and density, due to the viewshed being blocked. In the spatial input factors, a topographic diversity layer was also included. To determine this layer, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the research area was acquired from National Cartographic Centre of Iran. A surface shape categorisation was performed on a DEM layer, which consisted of multiple topographic features: peak, flat, ravine, pit, ridge, saddle, slope hillside, saddle hillside, convex hillside, concave hillside and inflection hillside. The categorized layer was then analysed using a mode filter (window size of 3 ÃÆ'- 3 pixels) to specify a new score to the central cell based on most frequent values within the window. Then, a filter size of 7 ÃÆ'- 7 pixels was used to count the number of various categories within the neighbourhood of a central pixel to achieve the final map. This layer demonstrates the most diversified locations in terms of topographic features. The layer was standardized using a monotonically increasing linear function, whereby categories with highe r diversity got the higher score in the standardised value. Fig. 5 portrays factor layers used for aesthetic suitability mapping in this study. Figure (5) After preparing required inputs, the MLP model was configured according to the following data: Input variables: number of input variables = 8 (standardized factor maps) Input specifications: training points file = a raster map of 164 points, which retains the location of 164 attractive (99) and non-attractive (65) spots | maximum training pixels used = 200 | maximum testing pixels used = 200 Network topology: input layer nodes: 8 (equals to the number of input data) | output layer nodes = 1 (continuous surface of aesthetic suitability) | hidden layers =1 | hidden layer nodes = 16 Training parameters: the dynamic learning rate was employed | start learning rate = 0.01 | end learning rate = 0.001 | Momentum factor = 0. 5 | sigmoid constant a = 1.0 Stopping criteria: root mean square (RMS) error = 0.01 | iterations = 10,000 Output function = sigmoidal Once the model was trained, its performance was evaluated by plotting training RMS versus testing RMS during 10,000 model iterations. Lower values for testing error during iterations indicates proper training of the model, and therefore, it can be used to produce aesthetic suitability surface. Data processing for SLEUTH modeling For the SLEUTH modeling undertaken in this study, four urban extent years depicting the distribution of manmade features over time, two layers of the transportation network for two different time periods, one excluded aesthetics layer from urbanization, slope and hillshade layers were used. These input data layers were prepared by the integrated application of geographic information systems and remote sensing. As a model requirement, all binary urban/non-urban layers were stretched linearly and converted into a GIF format. The urban and transportation layers were created based on Landsat MSS and TM images for the years 1987, 1992, 2000 and 2010. These were then used to predict the expansion of Gorgan in 2030. Using a 30-m digital elevation model (DEM), slope percent and hillshade layers were derived. For the first and second modeled scenarios, hydrographical networks (rivers, dams and wetlands), dense forests and roads were used as excluded layers from urban growth. For the third sce nario, the aesthetic layer was added as an exclusory layer. These are shown in Fig. 6. Figure (6) Model calibration SLEUTH is a CA-based model in which five coefficients (diffusion, breed, spread, slope and road gravity) control four types of growth rules including new spreading center growth, spontaneous growth, edge growth and road gravity growth (Jantz et al. 2014). In addition, the straightforward calibration method applied by SLEUTH makes it adaptable to any particular geographic area over time (Clarke et al. 1996). In order to show the relative importance, each coefficient has a dimensionless value ranging between 0 (least important) to 100 (most important). During the calibration process, the form of urban expansion was detected via the four growth rules. The prediction of the model was based on the best range of refined coefficients derived from the calibration step. Table (1) shows the relationships between growth types and growth coefficients. Table (1) The main assumption of the SLEUTH model is based on the inherent pattern of urban dynamics whereby the city will witness the same growth in the future based on its historical trend in the past (Clarke et al. 1997). During the calibration process, the model seeks to derive the best range for each coefficient to enable better simulation based on local historical data (Silva and Clarke 2002). SLEUTH model benefits from a stochastic computation algorithm known as the Monte Carlo method. The model utilizes Monte Carlo iterations stochastically to generate multiple simulations of urban growth so parameters are standardized in a range between 0 and 100. These inputs reflect the relative contribution of each parameter to the dynamics of urban growth in the study area (Sakieh et al. 2014b). Finally, by using the best set of derived coefficients from three steps (coarse, fine and final) of calibration, the model was executed for the simulation of the historical data set. The number of Monte Ca rlo iterations support the robustness of final coefficients to run the prediction part of the model (Candau 2002; Jantz et al. 2004; Sakieh et al. 2014b). For the coarse calibration step, the default parameter values from the sample calibration scenario were employed. Five Monte Carlo iterations were specified for the coarse calibration phase, and growth parameters were set at their widest range of 0 25 100 as START, STEP and STOP values, respectively. A goodness of fit metric, known as the Optimal SLEUTH Metric (OSM) will provide the most robust results for SLEUTH calibration. The OSM is the product of the compare, population, edges, clusters, slope, X-mean, and Y-mean metrics (Dietzel and Clarke 2007). These seven metrics range between 0 and 1 and are multiplied together to calculate the OSM. The iterations are then sorted based on this metric and the best ranges of performing coefficients are chosen for the subsequent calibration stage. Applying the OSM metrics of the best perf orming iterations, the five multipliers were refined and reduced for use in the fine calibration step. The fine calibration step was executed through full resolution input layers in eight Monte Carlo iterations. Based on OSM values, the ranges for the five growth parameters in SLEUTH were further narrowed for the final phase of the calibration mode, which used 10 Monte Carlo iterations. Finally, the ranges for averaging values of the five coefficients of urban development in SLEUTH were set and the averaging was run for 100 Monte Carlo iterations. Model prediction After the calibration and performance validation of the model, the prediction step was executed using the entire data coverage and 100 Monte Carlo iterations. Prediction of the model was based on the initial seed year of the current urban pattern, using those refined values of coefficients. The output of the SLEUTH model is a continues surface in which each cell has a probability value to become an urbanized space in the future. This map is produced for every year including the first year (1987) to the last year (2030). There are three different methods used to simulate the expansion of urban area under different scenarios in the SLEUTH model. In the first method, best-à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ t multipliers derived from the calibration phases can be altered (Leao et al. 2004; Rafiee et al. 2009) and consequently the growth rules will change. In the second method, the excluded layer is weighted through a continuous range of resistance values against urbanization to show that even cells within the excluded layer have the potential to be urbanized under different probabilities (Oguz et al. 2007; Jantz et al. 2010; Mahiny and Clarke 2012, 2013). In the third method, the constraints of self-organization can be modià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ed (Yang and Lo 2003; Xi et al. 2009). In this study, the first and the second methods were applied for two scenarios. The coefficients were altered in the MUG and AUG scenarios and an aesthetic suitability map of the study area was also used as an extra excluded layer in the AUG scenario. In th is case, the historical trend of the urban growth and two different scenarios were forecasted (Table 2). The adopted scenarios in this study used additional information regarding the study area and its development in the past. In addition, it was acknowledged that land use plans are mostly controlled by master plans for cities derived from regional land use planning (Makhdoum 2001; Dezhkam et al. 2014). The adopted scenarios were set up according to assumptions of uncontrolled and controlled growth, which allows decision makers to construct a quantitative comparative basis for evaluation of different growth alternatives. After calibration of the model, scenarios were introduced to model urban growth to the year 2030 by using two methods of parameter modification and the inclusion of the hydrology, dense forest and transportation exclusion layers in the first two scenarios as well as aesthetic exclusion layers in the third scenario. Table (2) The first scenario assumed that the present pattern of urban growth will be maintained in the future, and therefore, the originally derived parameters were used. The first exclusion layer including hydrographical networks, dense forests and roads were used for this. The prediction was conducted by means of the same resolution data and 100 Monte Carlos iterations. The second scenario used the same exclusion layer as the HUG scenario, but spread and breed coefficients were reduced (from 30 and 59 to 20 and 40 respectively) to dictate an infill urban development with the aim of protecting the immediate environment of the city against urbanization. The slope resistance coefficient was decreased to one-half of its original value, to reflect the current status of urbanization in Gorgan City which shows increasing development on steeper slopes. The third scenario (AUG) used the same coefficient values as those used for the MUG simulation, but the aesthetic suitability layer was used as an extra excluded layer to protect areas of high aesthetic value. The output from the SLEUTH model is a probability map, which shows the probability of each single pixel becoming urbanized. In order to produce a clear map that indicates future urbanized areas, a 90 % value was taken as a threshold to depict those cells which were considered most probable ones to become urbanized by 2030. [1] Brute Force refers to any of several problem-solving methods involving the evaluation of multiple possible answers (urban growth patterns) for model fitness.

essay on beowulf :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

In Beowulf, both pagan and Christian elements are present which add religious contrast to the poem. The poem begins with the king, Hrothgar, taking the throne of the Danes. During his reign, one of Hrothgars’ accomplishments included the building of the great Mead hall which served as a place of relaxation for his troops. Years passed and an evil monster came and terrorized the Hall. Then the great warrior, Beowulf, a foreigner offered to help rid the town of the monster. In the end, good triumphed over evil as he defeated the monster and returned the city to it’s people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Present in this poem are certain forms of evil. The greatest of these is the descendent of Cain’s evil against his brother Abel. After Cain killed Abel God punished him by exiling him from the kingdom of God. From Cain’s soul came evil monsters, one in particular, Grendel. He was a demon; a fiend who haunted the moors, the wild marshes and made his home in â€Å"hell† (actually earth). King Hrothgar finished a great mead hall for his warriors to relax and reside in when away from war. Grendel, amused by the sound of drunkenness coming from the hall, kills all who reside there. This punishment and evil went on for twelve years. The people turned to the worship of pagan Gods, hoping they would take the demon back to the pits from whence it derived.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the failure of paganism Hrothgar searched for warriors that could defeat the beast. A decorated warrior, Beowulf, sailed from the land of the Geats to help. This shows how God works in mysterious ways. Grendel keeps on attacking the great mead hall but refuses to go after the king’s throne. God protected the throne. This is saying that God will defeat any evil that stands in his path. An example that God controls life and death is the line â€Å"God must decide who will be given to death’s cold grip†. Death is not the last part of life. The mead hall’s gargantuan size symbolizes the people’s desire to be closer to God. It’s reason for construction, so the people could reach the heavens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the poem good clashes with evil. One example would be Grendel taking over the Mead hall. In this instance the mead hall would symbolize safeness and good harmony. One major important clash was when the townspeople gave up on Christianity and went back to paganism to get rid of the monster.

Sunni Islam

Sunnis Several years after Muhammad's death, the various factions of the Islamic faith were formed. Many of Muhammad's relatives and companions were involved in the power struggle, and the war finally stabilized when Mu'awiyya, the governor of  Syria, took control of the Caliphate. This marked the rise of the  Umayyad dynasty  which ruled Islam for quite some time. Although the Qur’an ordains that the division of Muslims into different sections is forbidden, three sects of Islam developed and emerged at the conclusion of the  Islamic Civil War.These include the Sunni, Shiite, Ahmadiyya and Karijite. Of these four, the Sunni denomination is by far the largest, comprising of 90% of the world Muslim population, with Shi’a comprising of the second largest percentage. The literal translation of the word Sunni is â€Å"habit† or usual practice. My assumption is that the habit or practice refers to the actions of Muhammad. So anyone claiming to follow the Sunnah , which are the actions of Muhammad and can show that they believe the Hadith, which are narrations of the actions of Muhammad, can consider him or herself to be a  Sunni  Muslim.People of Sunni orientation believe that Muhammad had never chosen a successor before his death and therefore nobody can really properly succeed him or become the succeeding leader of the Caliphate other than his closest companions, or Shahaba. Sunnis belive that only the the first four caliphs should be regarded as the properly led caliphs. They include Abu Bakr, Umar al-Khattab, Uthman Affan, and Ali Talib. Actually why there has not been one widely known caliph since 1923 for the entire Islamic religion is due to the fact that Islam is divided into these three sections metioned earlier.Although Sunnis accept hadith narrated by the first four caliphs, they regard one collection of hadith to be the most authentic. This is called the Sahih al Bukhari. The literal translation of sahih is â€Å"authentic †. The Sunni branch of Islam has four legal schools of thought or  madh'hab, through which Sunnis practice religious jurisprudence, or religious philosophy. There was only one madh-hab during the time of the â€Å"rightly-guided† Caliphs but after the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, things changed. The Umayyad caliphs did not have the same religious authority as the previous ones.After the Umayyad Dynasty, there was the Abbasid Dynasty. In comparison to the Umayyads, they were more supportive of Islamic law. The crystallization of four major Sunni madh’hab of Islamic fiqh came about by the third century of Hijra. These four include the Hanafi, which was founded by Abu Hanifah and is the dominant school of Muslims in the United Kingdom and Germany, and also followed by Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The Maliki school, founded by a Hanifa’s eldest student named Malik ibn Anas and is the dominant school of Muslims in Morocco, Alg eria, Libiya, Nigeria, Sudan Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait.The Shafi’i school founded by a student of Malik named Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i and is the dominant school of Muslims in Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Kenya, Somalia, Kenya Tanzania, Jordan, India, Syria and Lebanon. The Hanbali school founded by a student of al-Shafi’i named Ahmad bin Hanbal, and is the dominant school of Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula, to name the most predominant ones. The followers of these four schools follow the same basic beliefs but differ from one another in terms of practice and execution of rituals, and in interpretation of Shari’a.So rather than again dividing themselves up into different schools of law, Sunnis rather prefer to just combine and call themselves all Sunnis. The  religious text of Islam, the Qur'an  was compiled by Muhammad’s closest companions and regarded as authentic my all Muslims. There are many aspects of daily life, ho wever that are not mentioned in the Qur’an but they were observed and passed down through generations. These oral account are called hadith. Sunnis regard only certain collections of hadith to be authentic and those are compiled by six specific recorders named Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’ii, Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Majah.The history of the Sunni–Shia conflict originates in the  split  that occurred when  Muhammad  died in the 632 which led to a dispute over  who should succeed him as  caliph  of the Islamic community. This led to the battle of Siffin. For a long time, Sunni Islam was differentiated from Shi'i Islam by its adherence to the  Caliph  as the leader of the Muslims. However, Sunni and Shi'i Islam are the same in that they share important taught principles: the wholeness of  God, the belief in the revelations of Muhammad, and the belief in resurrection on the Day of Judgment.Even though the main split in Islamic practice is between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, there are several disagreements within the Sunni community. Almost like how Americans have different views, there are some liberal and more secular movements in Sunni Islam that say that Shari'a is interpreted on an individual basis, and that reject any  fatwa  or religious edict by religious Muslim authority figures. There are also several movements in Sunni Islam, which reject and sometimes persecute liberal Muslims for attempting to compromise certain Muslim traditions.

Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurant?

Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurant for obesity? Although throughout the years many people have claimed that obesity is a genetic disorder for the most part; results of recent studies strongly indicate that lifestyles rather than genetics are what are causing an obese society, because people choose to not exercise, not watch their diet, and eat fast food. For the past few decades, food companies had aimed their marketing at single meals, pushing to inflate portion sizes. That initiative was wildly successful.As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported, the average restaurant meal in the United States is now an unfathomable four times larger than it was in 1950(Health). That has translated into â€Å"Americans now consume 2,700 calories a day, about 500 calories more than 40 years ago,† according to The Atlantic Monthly. One predictable result of this trend is an obesity rate that's poised to top 40 percent and that already costs the nation hundreds of billions of dollars in additional health care expenditures.The other result is that the supersize campaign has become a victim of its own success. Indeed, food companies are coming to realize that, in terms of per-meal product sales, they are quickly approaching the point where the human body simply cannot — or will not — accommodate any more calories in a single sitting. That has left Big Food fretting about a profit-making path forward, and that's where the innovators at Yum Brands come in.Known for ignoring public health concerns and pioneering weapons-grade junk food, this conglomerate's subsidiaries have most recently given us the cheeseburger-stuffed pizza (Pizza Hut), the Doritos-shelled taco (Taco Bell), and the â€Å"Double Down† (KFC) — a bacon-and-cheese sandwich that replaces bread with slabs of deep-fried chicken. So it should come as no surprise that with the three meals hitting their caloric max-out point, Yum Brands has been leading the effort to add a whole new gorging session to America's daily schedule.The campaign is called â€Å"fourth meal† and was originally launched in a series of Taco Bell spots telling kids that â€Å"everyone is a fourth mealier — some just don't know it yet. † Now, new â€Å"fourth meal† ads are once again popping up all over television, insisting that â€Å"sometimes the best dinner is after dinner(Dhar Tirtha). † The ads are backed by an eponymous website and a â€Å"cravinator† Smartphone app that helps binge eaters select their junk food of choice.Though the â€Å"fourth meal† campaign has been ongoing since 2006, it is particularly notable today because it proves that such marketing will persist even as the obesity epidemic becomes a full-fledged, headline-grabbing emergency. And it persists, of course, because these kinds of ads are wholly unregulated and tend to deliver for the food industry. A staggering 66% of p eople in America are considered obese. Studies suggest that fast-food consumption has increased fivefold among since 1970(Health). The fact of the matter is that obesity is spreading exponentially as well as fast food chains across the nation.Several different components attribute to these high numbers of obesity. When these components are combined, the likelihood of obesity increased as well. The three major components that are the catalyst to obesity in our nation are food choices, society, and lifestyle. Obesity is an end result of the intricate interactions of behavior, and environment. Recent hypotheses in the scientific community suggest the current obesity epidemic is being driven largely by environmental factors (e. g. , high energy/high fat foods, fast food consumption, television watching, â€Å"super-sized† portions, etc. rather than biological ones. Individuals are bombarded with images and offers of high fat, high calorie, highly palatable, convenient, and inexpe nsive foods. These foods are packaged in portion sizes that far exceed federal recommendations. Furthermore, the physical demands of our society have changed resulting in an imbalance in energy intake and expenditure. Today's stressful lifestyles compound the effects of environmental factors by impairing weight loss efforts and by promoting fat storage.Combating the obesity epidemic demands environmental and social policy changes, particularly in the areas of portion size, availability of healthful foods, and promotion of physical activity. Food choices are often made without thinking. The fact of the matter is that many Americans do not have time to sit down and have a home cooked meal. This is unfortunate, because our society is always on the run. Many turn to fast food as a quick and easy option. What they fail to realize is that the choices they make are more harming then effective. Bibliography Dhar Tirtha, amd Kathy Baylis. fast food consumption and the ban on advertising targ eting children. † The Quebec experience (2011): 799-813. This article talk about amid growing concerns about childhood obesity and the associated health risks, several countries are considering banning fast food advertising targeting children. In this article, the authors study the effect of such a ban in the Canadian province of Quebec. Using household expenditure survey data from 1984 to 1992, authors examine whether expenditure on fast food is lower in those groups affected by the ban than in those that are not.The authors use a novel triple difference-in-difference methodology by appropriately defining treatment and control groups and find that the ban’s effectiveness is not a result of the decrease in fast food expenditures per week but rather of the decrease in purchase propensity by 13% per week. Overall, the authors estimate that the ban reduced fast food consumption by US$88 million per year. The study suggests that advertising bans can be effective provided me dia markets do not overlap. Health, BMC Public. â€Å"Neighborhood fast food restuarant and fast food consumption. BMC Public Health (2011): 543-550. The article presents a study conducted to estimate the effect of neighborhood fast food availability on frequency of fast food consumption in a national sample of young adults in the U. S. , a population at high risk for obesity. The study found that there are chances that policies aiming to reduce neighborhood availability as a means to reduce fast food consumption among young adults will not be successful. The future research needs to consider individual lifestyle attitudes among other things. Hung- Hao, Chang and Rodofo M. Nayga Jr. Childhood obesity and unhappiness: The influence of soft drinks and fast food consumption. † Journal of Happiness Studies (2010): 261-275. Hung-Hao explains the growing body of literature has examined the determinants of childhood obesity, but little is known about children’s subjective wel lbeing. To fulfill this gap, this paper examines the effects of fast food and soft drink consumption on children’s overweight and unhappiness. Using a nationwide survey data in Taiwan and estimating a simultaneous mixed equation system, our results generally suggest a tradeoff in policy implication.Fast food and soft drink consumption tend to be positively associated with children’s increased risk of being overweight but they are also negatively associated with their degree of unhappiness. Current and future policy/program interventions that aim to decrease fast food and soft drinks consumption of children to reduce childhood obesity may be more effective if these interventions also focus on ways that could compensate the increase in degree of unhappiness among children. Settler, Nicolas. Fast Food Marketing and children's fast food consumption:Exploring Parents Influences in an Ethically Diverse sample. † Public Policy & Marketing (2007): 221-235. Settler shows how fast-food marketing to children is considered a contributor to childhood obesity. Effects of marketing on parents may also contribute to childhood obesity. The authors explore relevant hypotheses with data from caregivers of 2- to 12-year-old children in medically underserved communities. The results have implications for obesity-related public policies and social marketing strategies.

One Word Can Mar Your Meaning

One Word Can Mar Your Meaning One Word Can Mar Your Meaning One Word Can Mar Your Meaning By Mark Nichol Each of the three sentences shown below contains a minor error that nevertheless muddles the intended meaning. The discussion following each example identifies the problem and sets up a resolving revision. 1. â€Å"Instead of focusing on rebuilding the Republican Party, she said that party leaders should focus on rebuilding the middle class.† This sentence implies that the person referred to opted to make the recommendation to party leaders in lieu of focusing on rebuilding the party; the action of focusing is erroneously assigned to her. What the writer meant to write is that the subject recommended that party leaders rebuild the middle class rather than the party. Omission of that after the attribution â€Å"she said† clarifies this meaning: â€Å"Instead of focusing on rebuilding the Republican Party, she said, party leaders should focus on rebuilding the middle class.† 2. â€Å"The project would cost $250 million to $300 million to build and receive a $400 million endowment upon opening.† According to this sentence, the project’s $250–$300 million budget would be used to build and receive an endowment. But two distinct facts are mentioned about the project: It would require $250–$300 million to build, and it would receive an additional $400 million as an endowment after completion of the building. To clearly state this meaning, the sentence’s parallel structure must be bolstered with a second use of would, between the conjunction and and the verb in the second clause: â€Å"The project would cost $250 million to $300 million to build and would receive a $400 million endowment upon opening.† 3. â€Å"If you’re interested in learning more about her work, the scholar who has delved most deeply into it is John Smith.† OK, this revision involves swapping in two words for one, but the mistake is as small and as easy to overlook as those in the examples above. This statement illustrates a subtle error known as a false conditional: The sentence is structured so that the identity of the most deeply delving scholar is contingent on your interest in learning more about someone else’s work; if you’re not interested, apparently, John Smith loses that distinction. By changing the way the sentence refers to your potential interest, this logical fallacy is erased: â€Å"In case you’re interested in learning more about her work, the scholar who has delved most deeply into it is John Smith.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Grammar Test 1225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire YouWhat Is a Doctor?

Tawa - Facts and Figures

Tawa - Facts and Figures Name: Tawa (Pueblo Indian name for a sun god); pronounced TAH-wah Habitat: Woodlands of North and South America Historical Period: Middle Triassic (215 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 7 feet long and 25 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; bipedal posture About Tawa Although its evolutionary relationship to Tyrannosaurus Rex is a bit overstatedafter all, it lived about 150 million years before its more famous descendantthe early theropod Tawa still counts as a major discovery. This small, bipedal dinosaur lived 215 million years ago on the supercontinent of Pangaea, which later split into North America, South America and Africa. Based on an analysis of its remains, Tawa appears to have originated in South America, though its bones were found farther north, near the famous Ghost Ranch cite in New Mexico thats yielded countless Coelophysis skeletons. Will Tawa really cause paleontologists to rewrite the book of dinosaur evolution, as some breathless accounts surmise? Well, its not as if bipedal, South American, meat-eating dinosaurs were rare on the groundwitness, for example, Herrerasaurus, which we already know lay at the root of the dinosaur family tree, not to mention those numerous (though native to North America) Coelophysis specimens. Like the Asian Raptorex, another recent discovery, Tawa is being described as a miniature T. Rex, though this seems to be a gross oversimplification. Over and above its presumed resemblance to T. Rex, whats important about Tawa is that it helps to clear up the evolutionary relationships, and ultimate origins, of the earliest theropods. With this missing piece of the fossil puzzle in place, the discoverers of Tawa have concluded that the very first dinosaurs evolved in South America in the early to middle Triassic period, then radiated out worldwide over the ensuing tens of millions of years.

Biotech benifits drought and salinity resistant crops

Biotech benifits drought and salinity resistant crops A study released March 14 concluded that more than 500,000 people could die due to the effects of climate change on food production. And it isn’t the first warning. This headline comes after a 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture saying that climate change could devastate agriculture. The warming climate, the report explained, could lead to dramatic increases in weeds, pests, and diseases. Other scientists have said the change in frequency and severity of extreme weather events (like heat waves, droughts, and floods) could lead to lower yields.â€Å"we’re going to end up in a situation where we have a multitude of things happening that are going to negatively impact crop production†, said Jerry Hatfield, a USDA plant physiologist. At the same time our climate is changing, our population is growing quickly: We’ll need to feed an estimated 9.7 billion people by 2050.Biotech crops, designed to withstand the effects of climate change, are one tool that could help us meet the challenge of feeding more people in a changing world. Here’s how: Drought-tolerant corn: This corn variety, available in the United States, was specifically designed for dry, drought-like conditions. These plants still need water, but they have been engineered to protect farmer’s yields in moderate drought years. A public-private partnership in Africa is now working to develop a drought-tolerant variety specifically designed for the continent. It’s estimated that better corn varieties could increase yields by 20 to 35 percent in food-insecure communities. Hyper-efficient, drought-resistant rice: Scientists in the UK are using genetic engineering to change the photosynthesis process in rice. The new variety could double water efficiency and increase tolerance to warmer temperatures. It could increase productivity up to 50 percent, and it has been called â€Å"one of humanity’s best chances for ending world hunger.†Salinity-tolerant crops: Climate change is expected to make river water (which is used for irrigation) saltie r. Scientists are experimenting with genetically modified wheat and barley that will be able to withstand higher levels of salt in water. In addition to allowing farmers to grow food in changing conditions, these varieties would free up more fresh water for drinking. Biotech crops won’t just help with climate change adaptation in the future; they’re also helping to mitigate climate change right now. Biotech crops make it easier for farmers to practice no-till farming. It’s a way of farming without plowing the soil. This means carbon stays in the soil and is not released into the atmosphere. Insect-resistant crops need fewer pesticide sprays, leading to less use of tractors and the fuel they need. In 2010, the use of biotech crops helped remove 19.4 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, almost the same as taking 8.6 million cars off the road for a year. So while climate change certainly poses a threat to agriculture, we have an important tool to mitigate and adapt. Biotech is part of the solution. Specially designed crops will be one more tool in the toolkit for feeding a hungry, growing population in warming world.

INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CULTURE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CULTURE - Essay Example They attempt to suppress his invention, an incredibly strong textile fiber which repels dirt and never wears out, plus the suit made out of it is brilliantly white. Professional and personal traits: Sidney Stratton is seen as a genius, brilliant but very eccentric scientist. He is an entrepreneurial, visionary research chemist. He is a former Cambridge Scholarship recipient, who has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills because of his demands for expensive facilities and his obsession with inventing an everlasting fabric. He is a People’s man, who dreams of a common man’s ease of buying a suit that will never wear out, repel dirt and is extremely luminous giving it a new look no matter how many times it is worn. Sidney also sees this invention as his ticket to fame and wants the world to know about it. He is heroic and does not get disappointed in the failure of his fabric but is shown working instantly to correct the error. He is a continuous innovator and a diligent researcher. He possesses traits of creative people like attraction to complexity, high levels of energy, independence, strong self-confidence. Type of engineering and technology used: The engineering material used in his textile fiber is a mixture of natural, synthetic fiber, polymer fiber and silicon fiber. His methods also emphasize on automation of the whole textile process. Since natural fibers are biodegradable over time, Sidney uses other fibers to increase its lifetime and give the fiber interesting properties such as being stain-free, dirt free and does not wear out. Polymer fibers are a subset of man-made fibers, which are based on synthetic chemicals rather than arising from natural materials by a purely physical process. These are long chain molecules which undergo a chemical reaction with synthetic materials and silica. The researcher also mixes radioactive materials which gives striking properties to the fiber. Creativity: Sidney’s ability to generate new ideas in an existing fabric is displayed vividly in his innovation of the textile fabric. The final outcome of Sidney’s research is unbelievable dirt-free fiber, fabric of which gives off everlasting cleanliness because the fiber does not become dirty. It is not degradable over time which keeps it stain free and stays new every time it is worn. Due to radioactive materials used in the fiber, the fabric cannot absorb any dye and is also slightly luminous, thus, a suit made out of it is brilliantly white. Success of outcomes: Sidney’s research blooms fruitful and give him success in creation of a fabric that will make consumers life very happy. This innovation is Sidney’s ticket to fame, money and recognition in the textile world. It will also open up new ventures as the fiber might be used in other manufacturing materials. This will increase Sidney’s success in not only textile industry but other sectors as well. The common man will highly appreciate t he outcome of this research and Sidney’s real success lies in decreasing the need to purchase a new fabric each time the old one wears out. Acquisition and use of knowledge: Sidney is sabotaged by labor unions and mill owners when they find out about his invention of the fabric. The lunch mob of bosses and workers hunt Sidney down through dark, narrow streets to acquire his invention or the formula. The company through hostile take-over tries to force Guinness to sign over the invention to them

Preliminary Analysis of Cost and Budgetary Information Systems Essay - 1

Preliminary Analysis of Cost and Budgetary Information Systems - Essay Example More than often, organizations ensure that an analysis of varied product cost and budgetary control methodologies and systems are carried out. This is because, the introduction of a suitable cost and budgetary information systems allows for effective planning for the future, controlling of present activities, and an evaluation of the past performance within an organization. Considerably, the choice of a suitable cost and budgetary information systems allows for planned action, coordination, and optimum use of resources as it defines responsibilities. †¢ Product costs include the cost estimates that are based on material, labor and machine process that influence decisions made by management. It is either based on activity-based costing or traditional based costing (Kaplan & Anderson, 2007). †¢ Activity-based costing is adopted from the conventional costing system and it assumes that activities act as fundamental cost objects because cause costs and cost objects are known to create demand for activities. †¢ Traditional based costing utilizes costs based on a single, volume-based cost driver, it assumes that product causes cost because; it assigns the overhead costs to products based on relative usage of direct labor. †¢ It is recommendable for the management of Worplestrop Partnership to adopt the activity-based costing control method because it ensures efficient maximization of profits as it allocates costs to key cost drives (Kaplan & Anderson, 2007). †¢ It is also decisive for the management to prepare budgetary control tools ranging from long-term to short-term, all functional budget estimates and both functional and flexible budget to control costs used in products (Weygandt, Kimmel & Kieso, 2009). More than often, the levels of decision-making are classified as operational, tactical and strategic levels. Nonetheless, decisions made at each level play an important role in product costing and budgetary control, as relevant information is transmitted in order to make an organization successful.  

Financial Statement Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Statement Analysis - Coursework Example It can also be defined as a strategy by which a firm buys its own shares, with an aim of reducing outstanding shares (Baker, 2009 p. 268). Firms issue stock repurchases due to the following reasons. It leads to increase in earnings per share, earning per share can be defined as the proportion of firms profits allocated to every outstanding share. The reasoning behind it is that when the number of outstanding shares decreases the earnings per share increase. When a company earnings increase it builds a positive image of the firm and financial stability of the is also boosted. It elevates the value of remaining ordinary shares, the value of the remaining shares increases. When a company repurchases shares, the remaining shares gain value as dilution decreases. This makes a company to boost its financial stability, in a means that does not affect the company adversely, because there is no additional debt (Baker, 2009 p. 174). It’s also a method to earn more returns, the management of the company may decide to buy their own company shares when they are undervalued, and sell them when their prices increases in order to reflect the true value of the company. This helps a firm from takeovers or be acquired by other firms. It leads to investing the excess cash the company has on its own stock. The management makes use of the companys excess cash by investing in their own stock. This is because the management believes that the cash invested in their own company is less risky and have higher return compared to other investments. It leads to lower taxes, when a firm uses excess cash to buy back stock instead of paying dividends, the shareholders are in a position to defer capital gains and taxes especially when there is an increase in stock prices. Dividends declared to shareholders are regarded as income and therefore taxable as ordinary income. Therefore, shareholders are advantaged. Earnings per share can be defined as a measure of

Cathay Pacific Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cathay Pacific Analysis - Essay Example ines industry, with heavy commercial business in terms of passengers and cargo movements along the globe, and conversely, economic slowdowns and recession casts its gloom over the airlines industry in terms of empty seats and unused cargo capacities. This is precisely what has happened in the case of Cathay Pacific which was a victim of the East Asian Crisis way back in 1997, which resulted in massive falls in local currencies as against the harder ones. Thus the depreciation in currencies caused heavier debts in terms of reeling fuel costs, interest payment and debt repayments, that provided acceleration of crisis that left many airlines in virtual doldrums and staggering losses. 2. Stiff competition offered by smaller, no frills airlines, which are alarmingly lower on ticket fares and yet maintain excellent levels of service, causing high levels of passenger migration. Larger airlines, with heavy overheads, operating costs and bureaucratic attitudes, cannot match these smaller airlines in terms of fares and benefits offered. 3. In the case of Cathay Pacific, it is seen that they have not been able to successfully hedge fuel costs, as a result of which, their woes are compounded. With oil prices fluctuated from $140/barrel at one point of time to just $45/barrel at another time, it became increasingly difficult for airlines to reasonably predict and hedge fuel prices, resulting in heavy losses. â€Å"The fall in fuel prices, though welcome, caused unrealised mark to market losses of HK$7.6 billion on our fuel hedging contracts for the period 2009-2011 which were entered into in order to give a degree of certainty as to future fuel prices and protection against price increases.† (Cathay Pacific Airways Limited. 2008). 4. During the Asian currency crisis sparked off by the fall in the Thai baht during 1997, the tourist traffic in this part of East Asia virtually collapsed. Nearly 85% of tour bookings were cancelled or postponed, and nearly 40% fall in tourism

Biotechnology in healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Biotechnology in healthcare - Essay Example Biotechnology has been around in some form for a very long time, but in the last few decades it has changed drastically to become a modern science that is crucial to the determination of the molecular mechanisms behind disease. Early biotechnology included baking bread and making such fermented food products as beer, wine, cheese, and yoghurt; all of these processes could be considered biotechnology as they require the use of bacterial enzymes to complete. However, this is not what most scientists today consider to be biotechnology, and the first modern use of the term ‘biotechnology’ was in a 1919 publication by Karl Ereky. Ereky was a Hungarian engineer and economist. In his paper on biotechnology, he predicted an â€Å"age of biochemistry† which would rival previous technological periods in human history (Bruggemeier 2006). Given the current state of modern medicine and pharmacology, it seems that Ereky's prediction is correct; biochemistry and its brain child, biotechnology, are the way of the future. Modern medicine would be nearly impossible without the many almost miraculous discoveries of biotechnology. Biotechnology has infiltrated medical practice at all levels, from basic preventative care by family doctors and general practitioners all the way to specialized diagnostic techniques and highly individualized and effective treatments. The article seeks to provide basic and applied information on how biotechnology has been useful in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Prevention: Preventive medicine is the prospective treatment of disease, an attempt to stop an illness from occurring before it starts and to keep patients in an overall healthy state. Prevention of the disease and/or illness is the objective. This is done through screening patient populations for high-risk groups and providing education and early interventions to those patients, and by providing general prophylactic care such as vaccination or vitamins. Biotechnology in preventative care is best exemplified through the recent advantages of vaccination. A classic example is the vaccination of humans with attenuated bacteria in order to control diseases caused by such bacteria. This type of vaccination with attenuated bacterial vaccines or its modified derivatives to express antigens from the pathogens has the merit of inducing protective immunity to those pathogens (Curtiss, 2002). Furthermore, vaccination with live recombinant attenuated bacterial antigen affords the in vivo production of the antigen in immunized individual long after immunization. This is an effective yet inexpensive vaccination approach. Vaccination is not restricted to the bacteria. Other pathogenic organism, such as viruses, fungi, etc can be use. For instance, a live, oral attenuated vaccine developed from the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) has been shown in a trial study conducted in Finland and the United States to prevent 98% of severe rotavirus diarrh ea (Patel et al. 2009). As shown in Table 1, an association did exist between the rotavirus vaccine and the rotavirus disease (Patel et al. 2009). Table 1. Association between Rotavirus Vaccination and Rotavirus Disease Requiring Hospital Admission or Intravenous Hydration adapted from Patel et al. 2009. The ability to sequence viral genomes offers another vaccination approach that applied biotechnology fundamentals. Understanding the genome of a virus means researchers

Financial Statement Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Statement Analysis - Coursework Example It can also be defined as a strategy by which a firm buys its own shares, with an aim of reducing outstanding shares (Baker, 2009 p. 268). Firms issue stock repurchases due to the following reasons. It leads to increase in earnings per share, earning per share can be defined as the proportion of firms profits allocated to every outstanding share. The reasoning behind it is that when the number of outstanding shares decreases the earnings per share increase. When a company earnings increase it builds a positive image of the firm and financial stability of the is also boosted. It elevates the value of remaining ordinary shares, the value of the remaining shares increases. When a company repurchases shares, the remaining shares gain value as dilution decreases. This makes a company to boost its financial stability, in a means that does not affect the company adversely, because there is no additional debt (Baker, 2009 p. 174). It’s also a method to earn more returns, the management of the company may decide to buy their own company shares when they are undervalued, and sell them when their prices increases in order to reflect the true value of the company. This helps a firm from takeovers or be acquired by other firms. It leads to investing the excess cash the company has on its own stock. The management makes use of the companys excess cash by investing in their own stock. This is because the management believes that the cash invested in their own company is less risky and have higher return compared to other investments. It leads to lower taxes, when a firm uses excess cash to buy back stock instead of paying dividends, the shareholders are in a position to defer capital gains and taxes especially when there is an increase in stock prices. Dividends declared to shareholders are regarded as income and therefore taxable as ordinary income. Therefore, shareholders are advantaged. Earnings per share can be defined as a measure of

Biotechnology in healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Biotechnology in healthcare - Essay Example Biotechnology has been around in some form for a very long time, but in the last few decades it has changed drastically to become a modern science that is crucial to the determination of the molecular mechanisms behind disease. Early biotechnology included baking bread and making such fermented food products as beer, wine, cheese, and yoghurt; all of these processes could be considered biotechnology as they require the use of bacterial enzymes to complete. However, this is not what most scientists today consider to be biotechnology, and the first modern use of the term ‘biotechnology’ was in a 1919 publication by Karl Ereky. Ereky was a Hungarian engineer and economist. In his paper on biotechnology, he predicted an â€Å"age of biochemistry† which would rival previous technological periods in human history (Bruggemeier 2006). Given the current state of modern medicine and pharmacology, it seems that Ereky's prediction is correct; biochemistry and its brain child, biotechnology, are the way of the future. Modern medicine would be nearly impossible without the many almost miraculous discoveries of biotechnology. Biotechnology has infiltrated medical practice at all levels, from basic preventative care by family doctors and general practitioners all the way to specialized diagnostic techniques and highly individualized and effective treatments. The article seeks to provide basic and applied information on how biotechnology has been useful in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Prevention: Preventive medicine is the prospective treatment of disease, an attempt to stop an illness from occurring before it starts and to keep patients in an overall healthy state. Prevention of the disease and/or illness is the objective. This is done through screening patient populations for high-risk groups and providing education and early interventions to those patients, and by providing general prophylactic care such as vaccination or vitamins. Biotechnology in preventative care is best exemplified through the recent advantages of vaccination. A classic example is the vaccination of humans with attenuated bacteria in order to control diseases caused by such bacteria. This type of vaccination with attenuated bacterial vaccines or its modified derivatives to express antigens from the pathogens has the merit of inducing protective immunity to those pathogens (Curtiss, 2002). Furthermore, vaccination with live recombinant attenuated bacterial antigen affords the in vivo production of the antigen in immunized individual long after immunization. This is an effective yet inexpensive vaccination approach. Vaccination is not restricted to the bacteria. Other pathogenic organism, such as viruses, fungi, etc can be use. For instance, a live, oral attenuated vaccine developed from the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) has been shown in a trial study conducted in Finland and the United States to prevent 98% of severe rotavirus diarrh ea (Patel et al. 2009). As shown in Table 1, an association did exist between the rotavirus vaccine and the rotavirus disease (Patel et al. 2009). Table 1. Association between Rotavirus Vaccination and Rotavirus Disease Requiring Hospital Admission or Intravenous Hydration adapted from Patel et al. 2009. The ability to sequence viral genomes offers another vaccination approach that applied biotechnology fundamentals. Understanding the genome of a virus means researchers

Private University In Sylhet, Bangladesh Essay Example for Free

Private University In Sylhet, Bangladesh Essay At first I want to give thanks to the almighty ALLAH for helping me to make this assignment. I also want to give thanks my course instructor Mr. Zubayer Al Mahmood sir for offering me to make such an interesting assignment for giving me valuable instruction to fulfill the assignment. I tried to put my best effort for making the assignment successful. By facing some obstacle such as, lack of information, lack of knowledge, lack of depth understanding about the Tourist places in Sylhet I have made this assignment. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ My selected presentation topic is â€Å"private university’s in Sylhet† Basically private universities founded by some private person who try to establish a higher education system for the students. All we are know that Private universities always play very important role in education sector. Very Huge number of students they study on private university. Every year private universities student’s r badly increased day bay day. There is some reason for this increasing. 1st of all private universities have some advantage and beside limited site number of public university’s and limited sit number. Besides there are other way to get higher education which is on national university’s and study abroad. Both of these systems have some disadvantage. That’s why Private University’s demand encasing day by day. Now let’s see about private universities of Sylhet. All we are know that there are 3 private University in Sylhet. Which is? ? Leading University ? Metropolitan University ? Sylhet International University Note: But good news is that some more private universities are waiting for government approved. They will start their academic curriculum soon. Northeast University Bangladesh is one of them. Northeast University gate Well, Leading University is the 1st government approved private university in Sylhet Division. Leading University started their academic curriculum on 2001 with the few number of student and few numbers of departments. It’s situated in â€Å"Modhubon Supermarket† in Bonder Bazar, which is the heart of Sylhet district. Now they have huge number of students and enough departments as well. Currently about 5000 students are studying here and also have 9 departments at Leading University. And 9 departments are given. below as a list. Library Room *And 9 departments are given below as a list. 1. Department of Business Administration 2. Department of Architecture 3. Department of Civil Engineering 4. Department of Computer Science Engineering 5. Department of Electrical Electronics Engineering 6. Department of English 7. Department of Law the University offers the following undergraduate programs: 8. Master of Business Administration 9. Master of Computer Science Engineering. University facilities: Mosque Well, This University provides huge number of facility’s for their student. The University follows the American system, with all its peculiarities, semester, credit, letter grades, credit transfer, a system tester and so on. Leading University provides activities designed by its own particular club, such as Debating Club, Sports Club, mosque, Cultural Activities Club, Social Service Club and Computer Club, BNCC, Sports club, And a Big Library. Computer Lab Now let’s know about Teacher Student Relationship: I can simply express this relation by using very well. Yes teacher Student Relation is very good. A relationship with your students that enables you to firstly be their mentor but also secondly to be their friend is a key aspect to becoming a successful teacher. We as teachers are the role models for the students. Having a trusting relationship with the students allows us to promote the best learning possible. Teacher is very helpful for the student especially for the wicked students. If any student get heard then teachers are try to convince them. Cultural Program Problems: There is some problem in Leading University. Some as there have no hostel facilities, small campus, no own playground etc Sylhet Metropolitan University is the second largest university in Sylhet. It’s situated in 7th to 8th floor Al Hamra Shopping Center in Zindabazar. The campus of this university is really nice, small and well decorated. There is also having sufficient students. Lot of department facility’s in here. In front of campus University facilities: Sylhet Metropolitan University provides lot of facility’s for their students. Such as digital class room ,nice Cantina facility’s, Debating Club, Sports Club, Cultural Activities Club, Social Service Club and Computer Club, BNCC, Sports club, And a Big. Library Room Library facilities. One special facility of this university’s is that have several Hostel’s facility. There have little number of students which is extra advantage of Sylhet Metropolitan University. Cultural Program Teacher Student Relationship: There also have nice teacher student relationship. Students are very interested to learn there lesion and teacher are also helpful. Sometimes teacher take extra classes if he get late to complete their syllabus. A relationship with your students that enables you to firstly be their mentor  but also secondly to be their friend is a key aspect to becoming a successful teacher. We as teachers are the role models for the students. Having a trusting relationship with the students allows us to promote the best learning possible. Canteen Problems: Every university has some problems. The main problems of Sylhet Metropolitan University’s is Small campus, no own campus, no big playground limited classroom, insufficient teachers etc. Sylhet International University is one of the private universities in Sylhet. The Sylhet International University a privately funded institution of higher learning and research is dedicated to providing quality education commensurate with investment. This is one of the largest universities in Sylhet. There have also huge number of students. It’s situated in Shamimabad Sylhet which is some of outside in main urban of Sylhet city. The principal aim of the Sylhet International University is to provide high quality education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels relevant to the needs of a dynamic society. University facilities: Sylhet International University also provides lot facility’s fore there students. Such as digital class room facility ,Cantina facility, Debating Club facility, Sports Club facility, Cultural Activities Club facility, Social Service Club facility and Computer Club facility, BNCC facility, Sports club facility, And a Big Library facility. One special facility of this university’s is that they have own campus and several hostel facility. Gate Teacher Student Relationship: Teacher and student relationship of this university’s is not so well. A relationship with your students that enables you to firstly be their mentor  but also secondly to be their friend is a key aspect to becoming a successful teacher. We as teachers are the role models for the students. Having a trusting relationship with the students allows us to promote the best learning possible. But one this is true that maximum student of this university they are addicted in politics and that is why teacher not interested to convince them. Campus Class Room Problems: Lots of problems are in these private universities; such as Political violation, small campus, and small class room, insufficient skilled teacher etc.

Yahoo Company: Strategic Analysis

Yahoo Company: Strategic Analysis How can issues facing Yahoo! Be described as strategic? To understand and do differentiate strategy from other issues facing Yahoo! We need to look at what Strategy is? What defines as strategy? Strategy is set of actions that managers take to increase their companys performance relative to rivals. However in the view to access Yahoo! a fuller definition would be helpful. Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations. We have to identify if issues facing Yahoo! Is Yahoo! Concerned with the long-term direction of the company? What we clearly see is that Yahoo! Is lacking in a clear vision for the future, unfocused they have drifted way form what they are, no clear ownership and lack of accountability is eminent in the organization. Yahoos chief executive Terry Semel has said, Yahoo needs to refocus in order to maintain a leadership position in the face of strong challenges. Brad Garlinghouse mentions radical restructuring, which cannot be implemented over night it would take a considerable period of time, they need to achieve this in baby steps indicate that Yahoo is looking at long term, long term direction. Is Yahoo! Concerned with the scope of its operations? The issue of scope of activity is fundamental to strategy. This is about is Yahoo! Concentrate on one area of business activity, or they want to be in many. Currently its doing everything and be everything to everyone Brad Garlinghouse plans suggest to exit non-core business and eliminate duplicative projects and business, which is to concentrate on Yahoos strategic decision to few core activities. Compressing of the scope of activity is clearly a fundamental aspect of Yahoos plan. Is Yahoo! Trying to achieve some competitive advantage? Its about finding the competitive edge. Yahoo! Has a large audience, the company has a great customer loyalty. Brand has created instant attraction in the click market. But overlapping responsibilities coupled with trying to do too many things have increased Yahoos operating and maintaining cost is disadvantages for competitive advantage. Yahoo! Was forced to delay the introduction of a key upgrade to the technology in turn forcing it to lower revenue forecast. Is resource allocation one of the issues facing Yahoo!? Spreading peanut butter across myriad opportunity a clear strategic decision facing Yahoo! Its about company is not utilizing its massive resources financial, human and other assets. Careening into wide variety of new business ventures have left Yahoo! Unable to, compete effectively. Duplicating activities and giving different silo like Flicker and Yahoo Photos, 360 group and social group have being costly duplicating initiatives created unexpected cannibalization (eating its own market share). Are they trying to find a strategic fit with the environment? Strategy can be seen as the search for strategic fit with the business environment. Yahoo! Is looking for a stronger faster company, which means that the current over bureaucratic structure doesnt fit/match the quick changing highly competitive web market environment. Are they building on resources and competences? Its about exploiting the strategic capabilities, in terms of unique resources and core competences, to provide competitive advantage or to gain new opportunities. Yahoo! Is in the view to turn smoothly spread butter into a deliberately sculpted strategy, which indicated they want to take all the resources and competencies and concentrate and focus on few key business units. Is Yahoo! Concerned about stakeholder values and expectations? Strategy of an organization is affected by those who have the power in and around the organization, there values and attitudes influences strategy. Unclear ownership, argue and fight over ownership will have a negative impact on Yahoo! Intern will result in investors and employees values and expectations. Massive redundancies will alter employee expectations. Is there a transformational change? Delayer of Yahoo! To be efficient with, fewer people. Radical reductions in the head count by 15%-20% show that Yahoo! Is in for a transformational change. Therefore, as I have outlined above under each of the characteristics of a strategy and applied to Yahoo! Its clear that what Yahoo! Is facing is a strategic decision. A corporate strategic decision, which is concerned with the overall purpose of Yahoo and adding value to different part of the business. Which will impact Yahoos success or failure unlike with operational and tactical decisions the effects of which sometimes provide immediate feedback, likely results of corporate strategic decisions may not be evident for many years but, when felt could result in the failure of the entire business. The strategic decision to shift from advertisement income to charging users directly for personalized services like audio subscription and web page by Yahoo! Resulted in loss of revenue and plummeting of the share price. Strategy is a game about the future in which the whole company is at stake and which the possibilities for regretting a move or getting back are often not realistic or very costly. Therefore, strategy and strategy planning is the perhaps the most difficult but perhaps also the most important management tasks Yahoo is facing. (Exploring Corporate Strategy seventh edition page 7-9, by Jonson, Scholes and Whittington) To what extent do they differ from strategic issues facing your own organization? Strategic issues encountered by Yahoo more or less relevant to most organizations. However, it is likely that different strategic decision characteristic will be more important in some contexts and in some organizations than the other. Yahoo! Needs to be a stronger and faster company a company with clearer vision and clearer ownership and clearer accountability, it will need to understand the rapid development of technology, needs to continuously update and improve its search engine features and exploit new market opportunities. It gives a different emphasis for my company that of full service Hair salon providing haircuts, facial treatments and nail services to the needs of a local community. Hair Salon is operating in a single market, a small local community with a single or very limited product and services. Where as Yahoo! A global diverse company has its presence in all over the world. Its diverse not only with product and services but also with the geographical market. Therefore, the scope of the operation in my hair salon likely to be less of a strategic issue than of what Yahoo has to content with. The local community that I operate knows how I am and my service. I have created a great customer loyalty through experienced staff that I have carefully hired and try to expand my market share through word of mouth. A part from that I am the only salon in the 25-mile radius, which has given a great competitive advantage. Even though Yahoo! Has created a brand loyalty sustaining the competitive advantage and the market share would be very challenging with massive competitive nature of the market it operates in. Therefore, the ways in which the salon and Yahoo! Handle competitive advantage will differ in making a strategic decision. I started my business with the capital that I gained for sale of my property and bank debt that I still pay. I have utilized the capital and my exceptional talent in haircutting fully. I want to expand my business to include a tanning spa but my ability to raise capital has stopped me. Whereas if Yahoo! Is in hold of massive assets in terms of financial and human but the unfocused nature and lack of a cohesive vision have created problems to Yahoo! Therefore, the ability and allocation of resources are issues facing both companies but to what extent and access to capital will differ in terms of strategic decision. Yahoo! Is facing issues with values and expectations of the stakeholders due to unclear ownership. For a private enterprise like Yahoo the ultimate success criteria is value of the company to the owners: the stakeholder value. Therefore, in Yahoo stakeholder value is mother of strategic goals. I have to deal only to my customers and my self. As you can see even though values and expectations exist in both organizations to what extent it affects my salon and Yahoo! Makes a difference in the strategic context. Therefore, strategic issues facing Yahoo! Compared to my hair salon tend to be complex due to wide geographical scope and the wide range of products and services it has to offer to the differentiated market. The pace of change in the environment as well as competition yahoo is facing needs it to be fast, adaptive and customer responsive to the uncertainty. Strategic issues need to be integrated through out the value chain, a decision to decentralized managers have to cross functional and operational boundaries to deal with all over Yahoo! Critically examine how strategic issues differ between profit making and a non-profit oriented organization? There are similarities between for-profit and non-profit organizations. First and foremost, both types of organizations begin with a solid mission statement and a vision statement that drive the strategic planning process and remind all the members of the organization of their foundation. Both are organizations where assets are held and business transacted in the name of the corporation rather than the individuals occupied. To survive and grow, both need to create or bring in more revenue than they consume on operations. Both are involved in producing a good or service for customers. And, of course, both are managed and run by the people who are employed by the organization. We always hear about for profit companies, such as Yahoo! And the strategies they have developed. Even though, non-for profit organizations are not concerned with profit maximization they act to uplift the culture quality of life of the region they operate in, they too benefit from following good strategies since they need generate profits to survive and grow. However, it is the distribution of the remainder of the profits that is one of the differentiating characteristics between for profit and non-profit organizations. Therefore, the key strategic issues facing a, for profit company and non-for profit will differ. In a for profit organization the profits that are not re-invested in the organization are distributed to the owners of the company as cash. (If they do its to gain more return for the investment). The point is that the profits of a non-profit organization constantly go toward sustaining some cause that society deems as good and helpful and not into the pockets of the investors. We have to look at the values and expectations; values will be of central strategic significance and plays an important part in the development of strategy. Non-profit organizations charities, churches etc. the sources of funds will be linked to different objectives and expectations of the funder. The mere existence of the non-for profit lies in the hands of the funder or the funding body hence the long-term direction is depended. Therefore, funders are likely to have a stronger influence on the decision making process. These are mission-driven organizations working to increase the quality of life for a specific community or society Where, as a private company are looking at profit maximization working to the best interest of their stakeholders ROCI. There is no real measure of efficiency other than to carry out its mission and achieve its set out objectives within the money contribution it has raised or received. In contract profit organization are in inconstant need of achieving high efficiency and productivity to deal the customer expectations as well as maximizing in return on capital invested. A profit company is created when investors collectively transfer assets and talent to start the company. The company, which is in fact a fictitious individual in the eyes of the law, takes title and ownership of the assets, etc. and gives, in exchange for the assets, ownership shares in the company to those who contributed the assets. However, with a non-profit, individuals come together and provide assets and talent to start the corporation. But, these people who create the corporation do not receive any legal ownership in the corporation and, further, have no guarantee that they will be able to retain control of the corporation once formed. All of the assets are now to be used to advance that cause or provide the service for which the non-profit business was created Some characteristics are found in profit and no profit organizations but the frequency of strong impact is much higher on a no profit organization. Hence, the strategic decision that profit and no profit company makes will differ. We are reactive instead of charting an unwavering course tactics Critically analyze the accuracy of the statement that formal planning systems are irrelevant for firms. This is about strategy development process. Through which strategies actually develop in an organization. This process can be grouped into two main types. First is the notion of strategy development as deliberate management intent, which has been planned, that is formally created ahead of events. This is the concept of intended strategy. It is literally strategy as design. Second is emphasized on the emergence of strategy from internal and external factors existing in and around the organization. Where strategy emerge from day to day decisions and activities. This is the concept of emergent strategy. Quinn has termed it as logical incremental. Both approaches must be examined within the context of an increasingly dynamic, highly competitive and global business environment. The statement We are reactive suggest that Yahoo! Is following a planned or intended strategy. Being reactive is a characteristic of planned strategy. Which follows systematic process where analysis of organizations internal performance and external environment will result in long term plan. Senior management is in charge of defining the final objectives and the plan is then put into action. With logical and analytical analysis will allow organizations to formulate strategies to meet new opportunities and barriers. This approach will enable organizations to manage and organize complex activities on different business units quite effectively and efficiently. Intended strategic formulation is based on existing strengths and capabilities of an organization to optimize its growth. On the contrary, in times of rapid change and turbulence it fails to find alternatives and adapt that Yahoo! Is facing. Unplanned changers are a shock, so the strategy doesnt have a logical answer it tends to be reactive to change and the reaction this might not be timely as in the case of Yahoo! Or the result might be no action at all. The fact that logical approach implies that strategy development is always deliberate and everything strategy will be realized according to plan. Besides, perspective indented strategy formulations consist assumptions that are unsustainable to todays changing business world. Unpredictable acts of events will regularly force originally strategy of its course. Additionally, this method doesnt allow organizations to absorb any learned element to strategy so can limit organizations ability to response flexibly in todays changing environment. Further, this model fails to complement the modern team culture where everybody is part of a team and everyone can participate in the strategy building decisions that might result in dissatisfaction and low motivation. Charting an unwavering course implies that Yahoo! Need to follow a more emergent approach to strategy. Instead of meeting a premeditated plan; strategy evolves through a process of learning, adjustment and experimentation. An emergent approach leads to more creative and responsive strategy making which is well suited to the hyper-competitive and unpredictable environments of today this is what Brad Garlinghouse mentions in charting an unwavering course thats dealing with constantly changing market. In contrast with the prescriptive approach which focuses on creating a fit between established strengths and new opportunities, the emergent approach intentionally creating a misfit between these factors. Hence, its more suited to transformational change in organizations as well as managing helping to reduce resistance to change among employees. On the other side of the coin, when planning and implementation two simultaneous strategic process are taking place it runs the risk of confusion and being too slow. These mean valuable opportunities might be lost. Additionally, without analytical analysis objectives lack clarity and a basis of evaluating performance. Also conflicting strategic choices by different groups might hinder strategic development. Emergent strategies do not mean that management is out of control it is just more open, flexible, responsive and willing to learn. This is an important strategy in a complex, uncertain and changing environment. It best case scenario, it enables management to act before everything is fully understood. Nonetheless, such a strategy has the risk of lack of direction. A greater use of strategic planning tools for internal and external analysis would certainly facilitate improved organizational learning and enhance strategic thinking even while following an emergent approach. Deliberate strategies help to manage, to impose intentions on the organization and to provide a sense of direction. The prescriptive and emergent processes, rather than being mutually exclusive, can be complementary to each other. All in all, most viable strategies in todays business world should have customized elements of prescriptive and emergent characteristics in order to manage the complexities of their business. Analyze your own organizations approach to its strategic planning process. There are many different ways in which strategy could be understood, developed and implemented. All of these views have there own merit. Using analytical tools such an internal and external environment, research data like competitor analysis and planning systems like cash flow and budgeting will be useful to create design strategies. Which Yahoo! No doubt have used when developing its strategy. However, its critical to understand how experience and culture influences an organization. Like for my salon founder a naturally talented and creative individual is still a dominant influence on strategy. Strategy by idea is another concept, where a new idea might emerge through the organization from the variety of experience and behaviors that are found across the organization. Our salon, strategies are based on following of past strategies which has being influenced by the founder through his experience and the vast expertise, more of the same, we are in the view why fix when it isnt broken. We are driven by taken for granted assumption and the ways of doing things embedded in the culture of our salon. The best that can be expected is what Herbert Simon termed bounded rationality which results in managers satisficing rather than optimizing; they do the best they can within the limits of their circumstances, knowledge and experience. (Exploring corporate strategy seventh edition page 45) the strategies are developed as the outcome of the founder and his experience, which influence strategic decision. In order to grow and thrive in the future there has to be strategic planning with all aspects of people and salon management. Salons can often survive; certainly do well for periods of time in conditions of relative stability, low environmental turbulence and little competition. However, virtually none of these conditions prevail in the current world for great lengths of time. Investment in a process that leads to a well developed strategic plan will mean the difference between retaining your best clients and your best stylists and will mean the difference between successful profitable growth and steady decline. Therefore, we need to reassess our strategic thinking; we address our problems in much the same way as we dealt with a previous issue seen as similar. For example the recent profit downturn was interpreted, as decline in overall market condition where as the true fact being no new trend setting by our stylist. We lack hair-cutting techniques that are required by the Young Urban Professionals. It is therefore helps to understand of where innovative strategies come from and how organizations cope with dynamic environments. It also poses question about whether the top management really have control over strategic direction. Discuss ways in which the planning process could be improved? Whether you are a fan of Porters five forces or the concept of Blue oceans strategy or other relevant tools of analysis, a strategy process has simple logical sequence, like A comes before B, B before C. before you look for the blue ocean and sail out on it, its wise to know your limitations of your boat, and also practical to be able to navigate and know about the water you are about to experience. (Something about strategic panning by Bjarn Nielsen 2006) Systematic strategic assessment helps to find, and decide, the handful of really big issues facing the salon. It is the size and impact of these strategic issues that gives rise to the importance of the strategic plan and to improve their performance. Performance is about creating value for the main beneficiaries of the company. Strategic thinking and planning can help to keep the focus on value creation, and not on management tools or practices for their own sake. For example, a SWOT Analysis is a useful tool in one of the essential improving the salons planning processes. Our planning process has to follow, formal, well documented, clearly communicated, and simple procedures. 1. Commitment from people who will be affected by the plan This is the start and to ensure support for planning, and the implementation of the plan. Example stylist, the purchasing manger. 2. Long term strategic objectives to improve service of the salon These objectives should clearly promote the enduring purpose of the company. This means knowing and identifying for whom the salon exists, (the target market) and what services we seeks to provide. The intended clients must be defined in segments group. The services offered must also be client oriented. By creating a mission, vision statement to the salon. 3. Creating strategic options Analysis of key strategic issues and short-listing, according to worth and creating of alternative strategies. By examining alternatives, it is likely that the salon will find alternatives that are superior to the current approach. Our expert stylist spend to much time on washing client hair, we can analysis few alternative approaches to dealing either tell your clients to wash there hair and come, hire a new hair stylist, hire a trainee or cut the price and offer haircuts without wash. The business will encounter environmental changes; if Alternative, contingency, plans have been considered for these changes, the organization can respond more effectively. 4. Evaluate and Decide on strategies Effective formal planning uses systematic methods for evaluating the various alternatives. Evaluate to ensure that they do not go against any objectives. Ensure that all major strategic issues are addressed. 5. Monitoring of the strategies against the long-term objectives. Need a method of running the plans as it gets executed. The plan should provide for customer feedback. To allow for corrective action, the monitoring system should address the same objectives and factors determined as significant through the planning process. Too often there is a disconnection between the plan and its reality. Put simply find and decide what to do about the handful of really big issues facing the business. The strategic planning process and tools, such as SWOT analysis, will find the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, threats. These approaches, with their value-based management focus, will ensure that our business will have long run superior performance, and we will also be at less risk of failure.