Push and Pull Factors of Immigration

One country’s flaw could attract a person to another country, people tend to look for certain characteristics in one country that theirs does not comprise of, and one country’s push factor can be another country’s pull factor. Emigration is a personal choice, but defiantly there are reasons for everything, they could be as simple as wanting to experience something new, or they could be more complex such as living the life that one wanted but couldn’t have in their homeland or previous country, due to politics, religion, education or work.Push and pull factors are liable to overlap, the stronger factors that help make the choice for the majority of the people to migrate from one country to another are the political differences, religious freedom, education and the future, as well as labor. For example during the first half of the twentieth century Canada was the most preferable places to migrate to because it evoked more freedom, and opportunity to those wi th a poor life. Very similar to today people leave their homeland for a better life, the conditions in their country could be very pitiful, their present and future are being destroyed, and their life becomes cautious.A push factor which most choices revolve around is the political factor, because politics is the most powerful characteristic about a country, and it controls how we live, people just can’t handle their lives with appalling politics so they are rather being pushed away by it, and another country with a more preferred political view is pulling us. Dictatorship is probably the most controlling type of government, where the population does not play an important role, and have no say in political choices. The country as whole is controlled by one group with fixed power.A simple definition of this political government is Dictatorship is a government that can be defined as those countries prohibited by authoritative, absolute leaders. Some countries with that type of government are North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Cuba, and Iran, just to name a few. So there is this population of people whose voice cannot be heard, especially a country like Korea where there is a population of approximately twenty-three million people, and they do not possess the freedom of speech, instead this massive population is controlled by Kim-Il Sung and his son Kim Jong-il.What happens is that the population, does not like having the same ruler for all their life, they do not like a dictatorship government, where they carry no voice, they are basically a mass of people with very little importance to the government. People living in a country like this date it, they prefer to make a choice on government and give a voice that would count to something, and in a dictatorship country that becomes impossible. So these people start to migrate to much freer countries, countries where their voice be heard such as Canada, the United States, countries that are democratic.Anyone w ould prefer living in a country where they can choose the life which they want, rather than living in a country where you are forced to live a certain life, and so the push and pull factor regarding government becomes very clear. A push factor is a dictatorship where one is being controlled mentally, while a pull factor is democracy where you choose your path, you choose a better life. Another big issue that affects people’s lives majority is war, whether it is genocide, or revolutionary, people have that fear in them.Wars often scare people off to another country, because they start thinking twice about their safety, and the future of the country. It is the weaker countries which we see today such as Afghanistan and Iraq who are being thrown into war, or being attacked, these countries are not attacking back, they do not hold the power to attack the country, or defend their own. People are kind of rushed away from political problems like this, people tend to ask for peace, a nd unfortunately for some they do not achieve that peace.A population would not want their children growing up or exposed to such violence. War plays a big part in a push factor, because after a while the population would start to think about their own future, the future of the country, and how could there be a personal future if the future of a country is destroyed? A country’s leader would typically try to put all the pieces back together after the attack is done and the other country has withdrew from the attack, but it would take a lot of patience to wait for those pieces to be put back nd readjust. People find it much easier to try to adjust to a different country with a hopeful future, which insures safety for their kids. A pull factor regarding politics is with a nation which holds peace or a special relationship with other countries, and does not hold many political problems and disagreements. Countries like that are once again Canada, Australia, alongside some other countries in Northern Europe such as Sweden, Holland or Denmark, where we see are already favorable for people who are looking to migrate.Finally the last effective push factor which kind of comes into play as a force of immigration is persecution. Political persecution would go hand in hand with religious persecution. First off persecution is â€Å"a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion, race, or beliefs† for example â€Å"the persecutions of Christians by the Romans. † So this is more of a force, and the people are not given the choice.We saw in the past that Muslims were killed by the Christians during the crusades. This factor is more of a threat, people of certain religions could be offended in other countries, where people do not believe in the religion in which some would like to practice, and torture would come into play. So people are feared of this act. Instead they are pulled to countries that are mo re accepting of all types of religions, where equality is a factor.Freedom to practice your own religion is very important to those who are religious, and even for people who are considered to be atheist, or do not follow a certain religious path or believes, immigration is a big choice for them, and it comes to a sense where people are now free to start over, and live the life which they wanted, but could not have because they were threatened. So as stated above in some cases immigration is a choice, but where it is a choice or a force, there are push and pull factors that go along with it, in this case political reasoning is the most effective to people’s choice.And because of politics, people have felt threatened, and scared to stay in their own country, and they looked for a more clear path. We live to pursue our dreams, the future, and fortunately for most of us we have been taught to go after what we want, and that could mean escaping many obstacles and challenging ours elves to go from a place where our dreams and preferences were hopeless to a place where our dreams seem to shine bright.Without push and pull factors we there would be no reason to escape one country to go live in another. Politics, types of government, war, genocide, are all push and pull factors and with out them people would not realize why they are immigrating, and if there were no push factors, people are most likely to stay in their homeland and stick with their own culture and beliefs, and have the life they always dreamed of.

Experiences as a part of life Essay

Experiences are a part of life which makes man more confident, strengthen its capabilities and polish him like a diamond. Same thing happened to me when I took admission in university . After leaving college life entering in university life is a different experience for me where everything is change from environment to studies. The first day of university life was quite different than the rest of the days. Have you ever been so excited that your heart can’t stop beating? That’s how I was my first day at the university. I was very excited, but also I was frightened. I was about to meet the people who were going to be with me for four years. I kept asking myself; â€Å"would they be nice? Can I meet some good friends here? † That morning I woke up too early and arrived at the university early. When I got there, I just sat on the Philosophy Department stairs waiting for someone else to arrive. The minutes passed and nobody arrived†¦ 5, 7, 10 minutes and nothing. â€Å"Soon it’s going to be the meeting time and nobody else is here† I thought. When it was time and nobody appeared, I began to change my excite for fright and anguish. The time kept passing and nothing†¦ All of the new students were supposed to meet at 8 o’clock, and when I looked at my watch, it was 8:30 so I started to think that I was in the wrong place. Because I was waiting for so long, nobody arrived yet, and there wasn’t anybody whom I could ask where the right place was, I didn’t know what I should do, and I began to feel scared. Suddenly, a guy appeared and sat behind me. I saw him, and I wanted to ask if he knew something about the meeting, but he looked as lost as I was. After a few minutes, Mauricio, the guy sitting behind me, asked me â€Å"Excuse me, what time is it? † So I looked at my watch, and I realized that it was 8:45 already. â€Å"What am I going to do? † I thought, â€Å"I have to find the meeting place. † Soon another guy named Wilson arrived and before we could realize that he was there, he started to talk to us. After a short talk, he told us that he knew the university and that he could guide us to a place where the meeting probably was. So the three of us decided to go to another building and check if the meeting was there. As we all miss school life when we enter to college life in the similar manner we miss both college and school life when entering to university life because there is no comparison of college and school life with university. My first day at university was exciting one while entering through the gate I am wearing casual outfit and no uniform!!. I remember my college days when I entered to college I used to rush towards assembly area to attend assembly but there is no concept of assembly at university. When I enter to the class there are new faces over there (same situation as in college). During break I interact with my classmates and ask their names. When I was sitting in cafeteria five senior came and welcomed me in there own style (i. e. ragging). After this I had a lunch with some money left . when my class was over I realize that college and school days are the golden days of one’s life. You cannot compare the college days with university days. My first day at university has large impact on me because I realize that professional studies are much difficult and requires great dedication whereas school and college studies if you prepare for exam just one month before you can easily pass the exam. After the first day at university I feel that now I am grown up and now I can polish whatever the skills I possess . first day at university taught me the experience of life that in life you always find new faces, new environments and new challenges. If you are the able person these challenges doesn’t affect you. First day at university is a very delightful experience. When we arrived at the other building, all of the new students were in groups. The university had prepared some activities for integrating the Humanity Faculty’s new students, and all of the groups were already made. I felt lost, and suddenly Mauricio and Wilson, the only guys that I knew, disappeared. They went to their groups. â€Å"Which one is my group,† I thought with fear. After a long search I could find my group, and I joined. When I was in my group, I started to do the activities that they were doing from the early morning. There were five more people in my group, but none of them were going to be philosophy students, so no one in my group would actually be my classmate. There were two future sociology students and three future psychology students, but no future philosophy students. At lunch time, I met Mauricio again and he told me that he had met some future philosophy students. When the group activities ended, I met Mauricio, and we went out with some of our new classmates. That day we had the chance to meet each other and to make a nice group. Since that time we became very good friends. During my entire career, they were my friends. I had fun with them, and I also shared my sadness with them. They’re still my friends, and I know that they will be there when I need them, and I will be there for them whenever they need me.

A Night at the Opera

A Night at the Opera Analysis Paper A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring the Marx brothers. Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx. The Marx brothers influence on comedy can still be seen in todays films. There is very few comedians that have ever had as long a lasting influence or been as well-known as they are. It is absolutely astonishing that after over seventy years, it still portrays the same amount of enjoyment and laughter in modern viewers as it did when the film was first distributed. The language of their comedy has not dulled over time, aspects of Marx brother humor can be found throughout sit-coms, movies, comedic acts and especially cartoons. I have been a huge fan of the show called I Love Lucy since I was about 7 years old, but I never knew that the Marx brothers had such an influence on the show and that they based a lot of there comedy scenes from the Marx brothers, and Harpo had actually starred in one of their episodes as well. In the film A Night at the Opera they have a singer names Ricardo Baroni, and in the set of I Love Lucy her husbans name is Ricky Ricardo. I feel as if since A Night at the Opera played such a big influence on their show that maybe they were trying to place that name in there as some type of contribute to them and their film. I also have seen many scenes in the cartoon Tom and Jerry that tie in together from the Marx brothers. This is just proof that from Grouchos wisecracking word play, Chico conning every person he can when he has the chance, to the way Harpos doesnt speak and frankly comes off really dumb founded. There sense of humor is timeless and forever will be a true classic.

Music Therapy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Music Therapy - Research Paper Example This help can be obtained in various ways that may include medication and use of music therapy. Music therapy is a common, cost effective way of dealing with such cases, and the therapists provide an excellent treatment through the use of music. Music Therapy Music is a universal language which for a long time has been present in initiating rites of passage as a way of expanding consciousness and healing. Music is a therapy used to an individual’s listening pleasure to relax the body and mind. For quite a long time, man has been using music as a form of healing and well being. A large number of people use music as a therapy to reduce stress and help them relax. Not all kinds of music can be used for healing, because certain types of music are believed to have a negative connotation. For instance, sensual music has been found to be a threat to the stability of the nation, while loud music can cause depression because of too much noise. Therefore, the choice of music during heal ing is very significant because it influences emotions, affects health, and can be used to enhance meditation and deep relaxation. Doctors and therapists have proposed music as an intervention in therapy for stress and stress related disorders. This is because some of the disorder have no clear, organic origin, and may be as a result of stressful life situations or significant events in a person’s life. In this case, music therapy can stimulate positive emotions, enhance a coping mechanism and enable recovery through the use of music. Music can also be used to restore, maintain and improve emotional and psychological wellbeing. In some other cases, music can influence physical behaviors and affect psychological response. It affects the mood of a person and the affective responses in individuals. One of the effective ways of making the most out of music therapy is by coming up with one’s own playlist. Since the playlist has songs that an individual love, they can work w ell especially when one feels the need to unwind from a stressful day. Music also works to affect the mood, and if one gets to listen to his or her favorite playlist, anger may dissolve and disappear arousing a happy mood. Music has proven effective especially in reaching people who are unreachable as some of the songs embody life experiences and may bring memories of courtship, weddings, or wartime among others. Creative music Therapy Creative music therapy is insistent on the use of little verbalization during therapy. When it was first developed, creative music therapy was aimed for children who were autistic, mentally and emotionally handicapped, emotionally and behaviorally disturbed and for those with learning disabilities (Wigram, Pederson & Bonde 126). It continues to emphasize on the improviser's skill to create potentials and possibilities within the patients by enabling them to play music and feel a sense of exploration in what they are doing. Analytical Music therapy Ana lytical music therapy involves a creative process in music making in order to draw unconscious experiences and feelings from clients in therapy, and treat them through an analytical model of work. One of the characteristics of analytical music therapy is that symbolic use of improvised music played either together by the music therapist and the patient or played by the patient alone. Mozart Effects Music of all styles is available to

Fredrickson's Various Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fredrickson's Various Models - Essay Example Sherman Alexie’s assimilation story revolves around an Indian woman named Mary Lynn. She is married to a white man, Jeremiah, and they are blessed with three children. Due to conflicting cultures, she finds herself at a cross-road since she cannot find her own identity (McClinton-Temple & Velie 44). Her husband is such a racist man who even extends his hatred of other ethnic groups onto his own sons. He only loves his daughter who looks more like him. In addition, he does not just associate with all the whites, but with a subset of people, most of them being educated and affluent whites. He, however, successfully manages to get rid of some social burdens in one way or the other. Lynn spent most of her free time listening to Indian songs. This means that she could not let her culture go off her. Jeremiah believes that his wife can be fully assimilated into the white culture, if only she changes her behaviors and attitudes (McClinton-Temple & Velie 44). Ethnic Hierarchy  The a ncient American society categorized ethnic groups into different levels and classes. There was the predominant group, the whites, who are perceived as superior to other ethnic groups. The whites claimed that other ethnic groups were unfit and unready to acquire equal rights and full citizenship (Frederickson 633). Frederick’s hierarchical model can be traced back to the colonial period when blacks were enslaved and Indians were conquered. From Alexie’s assimilation story, it is obvious that all the problems that existed.... Lynn spent most of her free time listening to Indian songs. This means that she could not let her culture go off her. Jeremiah believes that his wife can be fully assimilated into the white culture, if only she changes her behaviors and attitudes (McClinton-Temple & Velie 44). Ethnic Hierarchy The ancient American society categorized ethnic groups into different levels and classes. There was the predominant group, the whites, who are perceived as superior to other ethnic groups. The whites claimed that other ethnic groups were unfit and unready to acquire equal rights and full citizenship (Frederickson 633). Frederick’s hierarchical model can be traced back to the colonial period when blacks were enslaved and Indians were conquered. From Alexie’s assimilation story, it is obvious that all the problems that existed between Jeremiah and Lynn were triggered by their cultural and religious differences. None of them was willing to abandon his or her culture and adopt other p eople’s culture. This is the reason why Lynn cheated on her husband with a fellow Indian man (McClinton-Temple & Velie 44). In the early 20th century, Americans of English ancestry, the dominant group, were not simply whites but Anglo-Saxon White Protestants. Mary Lynn found it difficult to accept and adopt Anglo-Saxon’s culture her husband belongs to; because she believes she does not qualify to join the dominant group. Jeremiah, on the other hand, believes that her wife can get fully assimilated into their culture if she changes her behaviors (McClinton-Temple & Velie 44). In the contemporary American society, the presence of socially deprived, physically unsafe and improvised barrios, ghettos and Indian reservations, indicate that

An analysis of Edgar Allan Poes Annabel Lee Research Paper

An analysis of Edgar Allan Poes Annabel Lee - Research Paper Example This all-encompassing love filled Annabel Lee’s mind when she was still alive as stated in the line, â€Å"And this maiden she lived with no other thought/ Than to love and be loved by me† (Poe, â€Å"Annabel Lee,† lines 5-6). The line clearly states that there was nothing else that Annabel Lee thought of other than this love the author had for her. Although this may simply be a mere exaggeration on the part of the poet, still the line emphasizes the greatness of such a love and the idea that this love probably inspired most of Annabel Lee’s daily life prior to her death. Furthermore, this love shared by Annabel Lee and the poet when the former was still alive was one shared mutually. All that Annabel Lee thought of was â€Å"to love and be loved† by the poet (6), which means that she did want to show him her love but at the same time, she expected him to do the same to her. In short, this love was not one of a sacrifice where only one would love th e other. Moreover, Poe affirms this mutual love when he says, â€Å"But we loved with a love that was more than love† (9). The first mention of the word â€Å"love† was the great love the author believed he and Annabel Lee shared while the second mention of the word â€Å"love† was somehow the kind of mediocre love he believed was shared by other people. Although, in the second stanza, there was a hint of childishness in the love that the poet shared with Annabel Lee for â€Å"I was a child and she was a child† (7), Poe assures the reader that this is nothing childish. He specifically counters this argument regarding childish love in the fifth stanza as he says, â€Å"But our love was stronger by far than the love/ Of those who were older than we-/ of many far wiser than we-† (27-28). From this line, the reader is made to believe that both the poet and Annabel Lee could love better and so much more than even the old and the wise. Furthermore, it wa s to be proven later on in the poem that indeed this love is something extraordinary and greater than death. This great, all-encompassing love is indeed put to the test when â€Å"A wind blew out of a cloud,/ [and chilled] my beautiful Annabel Lee† (15-16). The death is the test of their love, but far from this idea of a test, the poet believes that this is more of a result of envy on the part of fate, represented by the angels: â€Å"The angels, not half so happy in heaven,/ Went envying her and me-† (21-22). The envy must have been caused by the great pride both the poet and Annabel Lee shared when it came to their love when the latter was still alive. Nevertheless, although the reader may not be able to distinguish whether the poet’s love for the dead Annabel Lee is one brought about by pride or true love, it remains clear that his love for someone dead is just all the same as the one when she was still alive. Although there is no more clue as to whether this love is still mutually shared by the poet and the dead Annabel Lee, this love remains to be strong. Poe proves this by stating his convictions in the line, â€Å"And neither the angels in heaven above,/ Nor the demons down under the sea,/ Can ever dissever my soul from the soul/ Of the beautiful Annabel Lee† (30-33). The mention of the word â€Å"soul† may suggest suicide on the part of the poet but it may

Finance is an important sector in the business environment Essay

Finance is an important sector in the business environment - Essay Example Limits to arbitrage A limit of arbitrage is the maintenance of price at non-equilibrium for a certain period due to the restriction of funds. The market sets prices for given products which when they go low due to mispricing traders experience a low-risk profit assumes that whenever the mispricing of the public stocks. Rational firms work with professional money management firms to ensure the proper management of other people’s money. The low risk profit generates from rational traders if the equilibrium. If firms engage in arbitrage in a reaction bid, it leads to a stock mispricing extending for a period. Clients withdraw from investing as they anticipate a loss by investing. To ensure the funds are delivered on time, a manager must anticipate a loss while stabilizing a sale. A threat of this action on the corporate society works with the finance industry to supply the stock, development, manufacture, and distribution. Corporate and shareholders work together to form an ancil lary business help in different stages in the supply. The finance industry deals with health hence it is about people. The industry is beneficial to the public hence remains important to the public. Products and services have saved millions of lives over the years. The profit expectancy increases with lowered losses by situations such as market fluctuations and poor investment planning (Davidson, Goldstein and Kenney 56). 2.1. Market efficiency Money put in the stock market is supposed to generate return on the capital invested. Investors try to make a profit while ensuring that they outperform the current market. Market efficiency comes with formulating efficient market efficiency. Market controls the new entrants in terms of products and services. Introduction of new products gives the option to people to live better lives enjoying a longer life. In developed countries, marketing has enhanced the spread of marketing methods such as sales people, and print advertising, which domina ted the advertising industry decades ago. The success of marketing growth attributes to the investments put into the industry. Businesses work with investment industry to offer investments care to clients. This is under the law as it involves business remains responsible for the stock market provided to the public. Segmentation of the drug market rates using geography and demography also assists individuals to reach available stock for sale. The profiles of markets in developing and developed countries offer a difference in the methods of analysis. Non-communicable products form a segment for businesses to invest in. investing in the medical areas brings a safe haven for patients. For instance, products in the medical industry such as diabetes, obesity and respiratory products, and cardiovascular products have different markets compared to other products including marketing and efficiency (Francis 117). 2.2. Theory The theory of efficient marketing in behavioral finance changes the thinking methodology towards investment. The studies affect the cognitive, emotional and social economic decisions made by individuals. Rationality and equilibrium in neoclassical economics is a vast understanding of both micro and macroeconomics. The reaction of individual and firms towards purchase highly depends on the capability to provide vast information on the given trends. The paper will give a detailed study on

Cleaning up oil spills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cleaning up oil spills - Research Paper Example The most famous method is to use chemical treating agents like dispersants, surface washing agents, and bioremediation agents (â€Å"Chemical Treating Agents† par. 1). Dispersants are basically mixture of chemicals, made up mostly of surfactants and other additives. The surfactant molecules are amphiphilic in nature which can be both soluble in protic (i.e. water) and aprotic (i.e. oil) solvents. During oil spills in bodies of water, surfactants combined into aggregates called micelles which consist of hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tails. The heads are attached to the water molecules by hydrogen bonding and the tails to the oil molecules which lessens the interfacial tensions between oil-water molecules. Due to the mechanical action in the ocean, the oil molecules especially below the surface of the water break apart into smaller molecules which can stay suspended to be washed by current (Renee and Lee par. 5). The use of surface washing agents or commonly known as degreaser are usually used for surfaces or structures that have been oiled and are usually sprayed on the surface. This chemical promotes emulsification of oil and the instability causes it to flocculate and coalesce in the surface for physical recovery. The actions of the two mentioned chemical agents are usually followed either by natural means or induced biological actions. The natural means can include microbial degradation and photo-oxidation. The latter method proceeds under sunlight where the natural targets are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of the oils. The process (also known as photolysis), degrades the PAHs in the form that can be available for microbial degradation (The American Academy of Microbiology 4). In addition, bioremediation is also an effective way to clean up oil spills. The use of bioremediation  agents  includes microbiological cultures, enzyme additives or nutrient additives which can significantly increase the rate

Module 2 (SLP) Nature of Health Information Essay

Module 2 (SLP) Nature of Health Information - Essay Example The system produces the output once the throughputs are processed. Output can be in the form of services, goods that the system gives out (Hayajneh, 2012). A data warehouse is where the data in the health informatics system is housed. The warehouse is a combination of databases that are used to store information. The warehouse allows an access of the information by many users. The access of the data by many users opens room for advancement on analysis that is based on analysis. The data and information warehouse are stored in qualitative, analog, and quantitative facts. The format or the stored data vary in storeroom such that it stores electronic patient charts to insurance and accounting records (Curry 2000). The public health information specialists enter data that are used in various applications in the health informatics system. Information specialists are professional specializing in information handling. They enter data and manage the information in the health informatics system. The integrity of the information stores in the health informatics system is important. To protect health data and information, many medical organizations and hospitals may use verification procedures that are the use of keys, passwords, and other automatic identifiers. These techniques will help to protect the integrity of the patient data (Buckovich

Principles of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Principles of Finance - Essay Example Together, they help promote stability and balance in the behavior of governments and financial institutions through surveillance, financial, and technical assistance. Based on the summary in Table 1, $282.978 trillion was raised in Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. from 2001 to 2006 from IPOs, debt offerings, and mergers and acquisition activities throughout the world. Of this, the U.S. accounted for 26%, while the U.K. had 9.7% and Japan only 2.3%. The declines from 2001 to 2003 resulted from the dotcom bubble explosion and corporate scandals in the late 1990s until 2001, affecting investor confidence and the ability of firms to raise funds. However, the increasing amounts since then signify a steady recovery that continues to hold. The U.K. issues more equity than either the U.S. or Japan, the U.S. issues more debt securities than the other two countries and that in these three countries debt issues are greater than equity issues by an overwhelming factor of almost 280-to-1. What could explain these findings Figures 1 and 2 (IMF, 2006; BIS, 2006) show that most debt issues are from corporations, and that Japanese (101.7% debt-to-equity) and European (69.6% debt-to-equity) corporations have more debt than U.S. companies (43.1% debt-to-equity). This explains why Japan and the U.K. issued lower amounts of debt compared to the U.S. during the period. Second, debt yields are lower in Japan compared to the U.S. and the U.K., and while equity yields are higher in the U.S. than in the U.K. and Japan, debt returns (5 to 11%) are higher than equity returns (-33% to almost 0%) in all three countries, and interest rates are declining. This means debt is more attractive to issuers and investors than equities. For investors, debt returns are higher, so they would rather lend their funds. For companies, debt is also cheaper since the trend for interest rates is flat to declining. Therefore, investors and corporations both prefer debt over equity. Q2: Vodafone plc Case Analysis Vodafone plc (2006: 2-3) is a London-based telecommunications company with total turnover of 29.4 billion, assets of 127 billion, and over 170 million customers worldwide, making it the biggest telecoms firm in the world. With debt of 20.1 billion and stockholders' equity of 86.9 billion, it has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23%. Net debt is 17.3 billion after taking out cash and cash equivalents. Vodafone raises funds in various currencies by issuing debt securities because it has a good financial network in London, the world's financial center. The company's policy (Vodafone, 2006: 41) is to maintain the currency of debt and interest charges in proportion with expected future principal multi-currency cashflows, which explains why 113% of its net debt is in currencies other than sterling: 73% of debt is in Euro, 21% in Yen, 14% in US Dollars, and 5% in other

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism Essay Example for Free

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism Essay Abstract: This study is based on the belief that economic organization is shaped by transaction cost economizing decisions. It sets out the basic principles of transaction cost economics, applies the basic arguments to economic institutions, and develops public policy implications. Any issue that arises, or can be recast as a matter of contracting, is usefully examined in terms of transaction costs. Transaction cost economics maintains that governance of contractual relations is mainly achieved through institutions of private ordering instead of legal centralism. This approach is based on behavioral assumptions of bounded rationalism and opportunism, which reflect actual human nature. These assumptions underlie the problem of economic organization: to create contract and governance structures that economize on bounded rationality while safeguarding transactions against the hazards of opportunism. The book first summarizes the transaction cost economics approach to the study of economic organization. It develops the underlying behavioral assumptions and the types of transactions; alternative approaches to the world of contracts are presented. Assuming that firms are best regarded as a governance structure, a comparative institutional approach to the governance of contractual relations is set out. The evidence, theory, and policy of vertical integration are discussed, on the basis that the decision to integrate is paradigmatic to transaction cost analysis. The incentives and bureaucratic limits of internal organization are presented, including the dilemma of why a large firm cant do everything a collection of small firms can do. The economics of organization in presented in terms of transaction costs, showing that hierarchy also serves efficiency and permits a variety of predictions about the organization of work. Efficient labor organization is explored; on the assumption that an authority relation prevails between workers and managers, what governance structure supports will be made in response to various types of job attributes are discussed, and implications for union organization are developed. Considering antitrust ramifications of transaction cost economics, the book summarizes transaction cost issues that arise in the context of contracting, merger, and strategic behavior, and challenges earlier antitrust preoccupation with monopoly. URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1496720 The Economic System of Socialism Socialism—defined as a centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production—was the tragic failure of the twentieth century. Born of a commitment to remedy the economic and moral defects of capitalism, it has far surpassed capitalism in both economic malfunction and moral cruelty. Yet the idea and the ideal of socialism linger on. Whether socialism in some form will eventually return as a major organizing force in human affairs is unknown, but no one can accurately appraise its prospects who has not taken into account the dramatic story of its rise and fall. The Birth of Socialist Planning It is often thought that the idea of socialism derives from the work of Karl Marx. In fact, Marx wrote only a few pages about socialism, as either a moral or a practical blueprint for society. The true architect of a socialist order was Lenin, who first faced the practical difficulties of organizing an economic system without the driving incentives of profit seeking or the self-generating constraints of competition. Lenin began from the long-standing delusion that economic organization would become less complex once the profit drive and the market mechanism had been dispensed with—â€Å"as self-evident,† he wrote, as â€Å"the extraordinarily simple operations of watching, recording, and issuing receipts, within the reach of anybody who can read and write and knows the first four rules of arithmetic.† In fact, economic life pursued under these first four rules rapidly became so disorganized that within four years of the 1917 revolution, Soviet production had fallen to 14 percent of its prerevolutionary level. By 1921 Lenin was forced to institute the New Economic Policy (NEP), a partial return to the market incentives of capitalism. This brief mixture of socialism and capitalism came to an end in 1927 after Stalin instituted the process of forced collectivization that was to mobilize Russian resources for its leap into industrial power. The system that evolved under Stalin and his successors took the form of a pyramid of command. At its apex was Gosplan, the highest state planning agency, which established such general directives for the economy as the target rate of growth and the allocation of effort between military and civilian outputs, between heavy and light industry, and among various regions. Gosplan transmitted the general directives to successive ministries of industrial and regional planning, whose technical advisers broke down the overall national plan into directives assigned to particular factories, industrial power centers, collective farms, and so on. These thousands of individual subplans were finally scrutinized by the factory managers and engineers who would eventually have to implement them. Thereafter, the blueprint for production reascended the pyramid, together with the suggestions, emendations, and pleas of those who had seen it. Ultimately, a completed plan would be reached by negotiation, voted on by the Supreme Soviet, and passed into law. Thus, the final plan resembled an immense order book, specifying the nuts and bolts, steel girders, grain outputs, tractors, cotton, cardboard, and coal that, in their entirety, constituted the national output. In theory such an order book should enable planners to reconstitute a working economy each year—provided, of course, that the nuts fitted the bolts; the girders were of the right dimensions; the grain output was properly stored; the tractors were operable; and the cotton, cardboard, and coal were of the kinds needed for their manifold uses. But there was a vast and widening gap between theory and practice. Problems Emerge The gap did not appear immediately. In retrospect, we can see that the task facing Lenin and Stalin in the early years was not so much economic as quasi military—mobilizing a peasantry into a workforce to build roads and rail lines, dams and electric grids, steel complexes and tractor factories. This was a formidable assignment, but far less formidable than what would confront socialism fifty years later, when the task was not so much to create enormous undertakings as to create relatively self-contained ones, and to fit all the outputs into a dovetailing whole. Through the 1960s the Soviet economy continued to report strong overall growth—roughly twice that of the United States—but observers began to spot signs of impending trouble. One was the difficulty of specifying outputs in terms that would maximize the well-being of everyone in the economy, not merely the bonuses earned by individual factory managers for â€Å"overfulfilling† their assigned objecti ves. The problem was that the plan specified outputs in physical terms. One consequence was that managers maximized yardages or tonnages of output, not its quality. A famous cartoon in the satirical magazine Krokodil showed a factory manager proudly displaying his record output, a single gigantic nail suspended from a crane. As the economic flow became increasingly clogged and clotted, production took the form of â€Å"stormings† at the end of each quarter or year, when every resource was pressed into use to meet preassigned targets. The same rigid system soon produced expediters, or tolkachi, to arrange shipments to harassed managers who needed unplanned—and therefore unobtainable—inputs to achieve their production goals. Worse, lacking the right to buy their own supplies or to hire or fire their own workers, factories set up fabricating shops, then commissaries, and finally their own worker housing to maintain control over their own small bailiwicks. It is not surprising that this increasingly Byzantine system began to create serious dysfunctions beneath the overall statistics of growth. During the 1960s the Soviet Union became the first industrial country in history to suffer a prolonged peacetime fall in average life expectancy, a symptom of its disastrous misallocation of resources. Military research facilities could get whatever they needed, but hospitals were low on the priority list. By the 1970s the figures clearly indicated a slowing of overall production. By the 1980s the Soviet Union officially acknowledged a near end to growth that was, in reality, an unofficial decline. In 1987 the first official law embodying perestroika—restructuring—was put into effect. President Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intention to revamp the economy from top to bottom by introducing the market, reestablishing private ownership, and opening the system to free economic interchange with the West. Seventy years of socialist rise had come to an end. Socialist Planning in Western Eyes Understanding of the difficulties of central planning was slow to emerge. In the mid-1930s, while the Russian industrialization drive was at full tilt, few raised their voices about its problems. Among those few were ludwig von mises, an articulate and exceedingly argumentative free-market economist, and friedrich hayek, of much more contemplative temperament, later to be awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in monetary theory. Together, Mises and Hayek launched an attack on the feasibility of socialism that seemed at the time unconvincing in its argument as to the functional problems of a planned economy. Mises in particular contended that a socialist system was impossible because there was no way for the planners to acquire the information (see Information and Prices)—â€Å"produce this, not that†Ã¢â‚¬â€needed for a coherent economy. This information, Hayek emphasized, emerged spontaneously in a market system from the rise and fall of prices. A planning system was bound to fail precisely because it lacked such a signaling mechanism. The Mises-Hayek argument met its most formidable counterargument in two brilliant articles by Oskar Lange, a young economist who would become Poland’s first ambassador to the United States after World War II. Lange set out to show that the planners would, in fact, have precisely the same information as that which guided a market economy. The information would be revealed as inventories of goods rose and fell, signaling either that supply was greater than demand or demand was greater than supply. Thus, as planners watched inventory levels, they were also learning which of their administered (i.e., state-dictated) prices were too high and which too low. It only remained, therefore, to adjust prices so that supply and demand balanced, exactly as in the marketplace. Lange’s answer was so simple and clear that many believed the Mises-Hayek argument had been demolished. In fact, we now know that their argument was all too prescient. Ironically, though, Mises and Hayek were right for a reason they did not foresee as clearly as Lange himself. â€Å"The real danger of socialism,† Lange wrote, in italics, â€Å"is that of a bureaucratization of economic life.† But he took away the force of the remark by adding, without italics, â€Å"Unfortunately, we do not see how the same or even greater danger can be averted under monopolistic capitalism† (Lange and Taylor 1938, pp. 109–110). The effects of the â€Å"bureaucratization of economic life† are dramatically related in The Turning Point, a scathing attack on the realities of socialist economic planning by two Soviet economists, Nikolai Smelev and Vladimir Popov, that gives examples of the planning process in actual operation. In 1982, to stimulate the production of gloves from moleskins, the Soviet government raised the price it was willing to pay for moleskins from twenty to fifty kopecks per pelt. Smelev and Popov noted: State purchases increased, and now all the distribution centers are filled with these pelts. Industry is unable to use them all, and they often rot in warehouses before they can be processed. The Ministry of Light Industry has already requested Goskomtsen [the State Committee on Prices] twice to lower prices, but â€Å"the question has not been decided† yet. This is not surprising. Its members are too busy to decide. They have no time: besides setting prices on these pelts, they have to keep track of another 24 million prices. And how can they possibly know how much to lower the price today, so they won’t have to raise it tomorrow? This story speaks volumes about the problem of a centrally planned system. The crucial missing element is not so much â€Å"information,† as Mises and Hayek argued, as it is the motivation to act on information. After all, the inventories of moleskins did tell the planners that their production was at first too low and then too high. What was missing was the willingness—better yet, the necessity—to respond to the signals of changing inventories. A capitalist firm responds to changing prices because failure to do so will cause it to lose money. A socialist ministry ignores changing inventories because bureaucrats learn that doing something is more likely to get them in trouble than doing nothing, unless doing nothing results in absolute disaster. In the late 1980s, absolute economic disaster arrived in the Soviet Union and its Eastern former satellites, and those countries are still trying to construct some form of economic structure that will no longer display the deadly inertia and indifference that have come to be the hallmarks of soc ialism. It is too early to predict whether these efforts will succeed. The main obstacle to real perestroika is the impossibility of creating a working market system without a firm basis of private ownership, and it is clear that the creation of such a basis encounters the opposition of the former state bureaucracy and the hostility of ordinary people who have long been trained to be suspicious of the pursuit of wealth. In the face of such uncertainties, all predictions are foolhardy save one: no quick or easy transition from socialism to some form of nonsocialism is possible. Transformations of such magnitude are historic convulsions, not mere changes in policy. Their completion must be measured in decades or generations, not years. URL: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Socialism.html The Economy System of Mixed Economy A mixed economy has many of the characteristics of market, command and traditional economies. The United States is a mixed economy because its Constitution protects many of the characteristics of a market economy, including ownership of private property, limitations on government interference, and promoting innovation. However, the Constitution also encourages the government to promote the general welfare. This allows many aspects of a command economy, where needed. In addition, many American traditions still guide economic policy. A mixed economy seeks to have all the advantages of a market, command and traditional economy with little of the disadvantages. Therefore, most mixed economies have three of the six characteristics of the market economy: private property, pricing and individual self-interest. Mixed economies also have a command economy in certain areas. Most allow government to have a command role in areas that safeguard the people and the market itself. This usually inclu des the military, international trade, and national transportation. An increased governmental role depends on the priorities of the people. Many mixed economies also allow centralized planning and even government ownership of key industries, such as aerospace, energy production and even banking. Some mixed economies encourage the government to centrally manage health care, welfare, and retirement programs. In addition, most mixed economies follow traditions that have been so ingrained that they may not even be aware of it. For example, many mixed economies still fund and give some power to royalty or emperors. Most of the worlds major economies are now mixed economies. It would be difficult to avoid, thanks to globalization. A countrys people are best served through international trade oil from Saudi Arabia, consumer products from China, and food from the U.S. As soon as businesses within a country are allowed or even encouraged to export, the government must give up some control to free market forces. Second, the global economy is primarily free-market based. There is very little government control, although some regulations and agreements have been put into place. However, there is no world government today that has the power to override a countrys sovereignty and create a global command economy. URL: http://useconomy.about.com/od/US-Economy-Theory/tp/Mixed-Economy.htm The Economy System of Islamic Economics The way of defining Islamic Economics is to qualify the term modern or conventional economics with Islam. Islam is a religion from Allah SWT through prophet Muhammad SAW to mankind which means the total way of Man kind’s life, that is what ever man does or is going to do must be abided by the Islamic norms and values as well as laws and other rules and regulations(shariah). And conventional economics has best been defined by robbins as science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have an alternative uses. Based on the definitions of the two concepts above, many scholars defined Islamic economics according to their understanding of the concepts. The following are the various definition of Islamic economics from different scholars: 1)Ahmad (1981) defined Islamic economics as a study of human behaviour in their attempts to satisfy needs from the abundant resources whose ultimate aim is to maximise benefit of self and society both in this world and the hereafter. 2)Akram(1983) sees Islamic economics as aims at the study human falah achieved by organising the resources of earth on the basis of cooperation and participation. 3)Hasnuzzaman(1984) defined Islamic economics as the knowledge and application of injunctions and rules of shariah that prevent injustice in the acquisition and disposal of material resources in order to provide satisfaction to human beings and enable them to perform their obligations to Allah and the society. 4)Mannan (1986) defines as studies of a social science in the economic problems of people to fill with the values of Islam. 5)S.M Ghazali Wafa et al (2002) defines as all human activities to use the sources which follow the law to perform their obligations to Allah. Observing the above definitions Islamic economics is the some part of conventional economics plus morals, norms and values of Islam, it covers a lot of micro and macro concepts of conventional economics like ownerships, rights to produce or create, what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce, others include equity, returns on investments, development projects, stability in the value of money, broad base economic well being with full employment, optimum rate of economic growth, joint ventures, fiscaland monetary policies, etc . However Islamic economics ejected injustice, enforced the prohibition of interest (riba), hoarding etc. And also promote the determination of the level of individual liberty, recognition the right of property, controlling the economic inequality within the natural limits, maintaining the equality of social life, and social security. It however prohibits the wider circulation of wealth, and recognizes social and individual welfare. In conclusion, Islamic economics is designed for economy to contribute richly on the achievement of the major socio-economic goals of the society. Prof. Tariq is very talented and eloquent lecturer, in this lecture he pinpoint the following: 1.Muslims are of full of potentials 2.Universality in time and space in Islam 3.Changes and faithful 4.Things we shouldn’t confused: a)Relationship between text and context b)Difference between principles and models c)Rules and ways d)Rules and meaning. 5.Difference between adaptation and transformation vision beyond reality. 6.Dealing with rejection and projection 7.Thinking of what to produce and how to produce of halal goods to match the competition with western products. The above are the lessons we learnt from the lecture, therefore those points are what I am going use and see how Islamic economics can be developed. Firstly, the muslims are of full potentials this so because muslims economics thinkers and economist tried and developed the Islamic economics concept and its now a discipline accepted worldwide, so the other muslim economist should start striving and explore their potentials in developing Islamic economics worldwide. Secondly universality in time and space in Islam, this means mind should be active to make changes in diversity, that is Islamic economic thinkers should have active mind and develop as many theories and models as they can in the time of the their life and places they are living , their universality of Islam should be use to manage diversities, manage changeable dimensions and new challenges with the view of developing Islamic economics. Thirdly those things that we shouldn’t confused in the improvement of Islamic economics development is text and context should be clearly differentiated ,that is the context in the text of Quran, hadith and fiqh are vividly understood before applying it into the economic theory or model. The difference between principles and models should be understood by Islamic economics ulamas, where principles are universal in nature and models are historical in nature we shouldn’t confused those in developing anything in Islamic economics. The next is the rules and ways, in Islam rules are in Quran and Sunnah (shariah) then the interpretation of ulamas on some concept and issues that are not clearly interpreted in the Quran and hadith and ways are how those rules are being followed with a light of vision, those must be considered and improvement in Islamic economics will be achieved. The last one is different between rules and meanings, dealing with rules will come to a point where rules forget the meanings so this must be taken into consideration for improvement of Islamic economics. Fourthly is the difference between adaptation and transformation that is transformation is the visionary change beyond reality in a society and adaptation is transferring the idea of other society into the society, Islamic economics should be a transformation of conventional economics not adaptation. Lastly is the thinking of what to produce and how to produce of consumable goods(halal) to match the competition with western products, professionals in Islamic economics should continue with the introduction of products which will substitute haram goods and services that muslims are always consuming , this will tremendously improve Islamic economics development.

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay Example for Free

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay 1.1 Description of the Area of Research Title of the Study: Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School. Phonics is letter-sound correspondences. The units of sound can be syllables, onsets rimes, or phonemes (EdResearch.info). Phonics Primer is a way of learning the sounds of the alphabet in order to decode the English language. It is recognized by a quick pace of teaching letter and the sound or grapheme and phoneme matches and immediately getting students to use this knowledge to read and spell regular words. Words are read by using the phonological skill of blending the sounds together synthesis (hence the term synthetic phonics). Words are spelled by using the phonological skill of hearing the sounds in words (segmentation) by means of which words are segmented into their constituent phonemes (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Research Questions 1. What is the strategy in teaching synthetic phonics? 2. Can the method be successfully taught in shorter periods? 3. Can the 44 sounds of Phonics Primer help in teaching non-English speakers who have other sounds that is found in English? 4. Can Phonics Primer be used to teach cohorts in higher levels with reading difficulties? Research Variables The instruments that I will use in my research will be: 1. Questionnaires 2. Interviews 3. Classroom Observation Checklist 4. Tests 5. Document Reviews Gay and Airasian (20030 defined population as â€Å"The population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the results of the study will ideally generalized†. The respondents of the research will be for remedial students from the outskirt of Sarikei in Sarawak. The majority of the students will be of the Iban race. The research will be conducted on two groups of selected students. One group will be used for study, called the experimental group. Another group would be the controlled group and they will be taught with the conventional teaching procedure during English lessons. Both groups will be cohorts who will need assistant in reading. About six students will be involved in this study. They will be remedial students from the cohort of year five students who are in the remedial class. The respected students and school will be chosen simply to fulfill the requirements of the research that will use the Primers phonics approach to teach reading for remedia l students. 1.2 Theoretical Framework Often we find that in schools, there are always students who are very poor in reading English. It is even worst when the students cannot read in a language that is very similar to theirs. This means that the students are having problems in basic reading. We can say that these students are too slow in picking up during their reading lessons in English. In classes where we have been teaching, oftentimes we see that students cannot recognize words and even there are some who cannot read. The students in rural Sarikei, in Sarawak, specifically are mostly Ibans. They are non-English speakers. They only encounter the language when they come to school. English therefore is very unfamiliar to them. Many English sounds don’t even exist in their mother tongue. Synthetic phonics has all the 44 sounds of the English Language. It is a very systematic way to teach basic reading in English. By using the method of teaching, students can read faster and easier. The method of teaching and the instruments used in teaching it can enable the remedial students of the primary schools to remember the sounds made by the letters and enable them to read. Research instrument are devices to measure the objects of the study. Instruments come in multiple forms. For this research, the researcher will be using multiple forms like questionnaires, observation forms, interview forms and tests to get information. The questionnaires and interviews will be used to get information about experiences, suggestions and ideas related to the study. The observation forms will be used to make observations during the study. From observation forms, the researcher will be able to see weaknesses and strengths during the teaching of Phonics Primer and also the current teaching method used by the school to make comparisons. The tests which will be given before and after teaching Phonics Primer will help the researcher to find out if the case study that they are doing is suitable and good for teaching remedial students. Questionnaires Questionnaires are familiar to most people (Berdie, Anderson, and Niebuhr, 1986).It is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some subject or subjects, consisting of a set of questions to be submitted to one or more persons (Your Dictionary.Com) It is a communication method of designing questionnaires to collect the requisite information. It is a list of questions framed to get facts. A questionnaire is defined as a group of printed questions used to elicit information from subjects by means of self report. Questionnaires will be distributed to both experimental and controlled group. Teacher Questionnaires. A teacher questionnaire is designed to gather information administered to English teachers in school. The questionnaire will be done two times, that is before the start of the Phonics Programme. A second questionnaire will follow at the end of the programme. This is to find out the status of remedial reading before and after the programme. If there are any differences before and after the programme, it will be noted down for analysis in the research later. Students’ Questionnaires Students’ questionnaire will also be done. It will be done with students who are involved with the study. They are the experimental group of students and also the controlled group of students for comparison later. Questionnaires can help the researcher discover the experiences, knowledge and backgrounds of the students and the school which is related to the case study that is going to be done. These information will help the researcher to know more and understand more about the stand of the students involved in the study. The questionnaire is also important in helping the researcher to make conclusion and give suggestions for future study of similar case. Interview The interview is a dialogue between the teachers with the researcher. The most commonly accepted objective of the interview is to determine whether there is a match between the candidates education, experience, interest and goals and the goals of the researcher related to the study for which the researcher is interviewing. In this study, the researcher conducts the interview with the remedial students’ teacher. This interview is designed to elicit data using a set of predetermined questions that are expected to elicit the subjects thoughts, opinions and attitudes regarding the teaching of reading to remedial students. Group Interviews with Teachers. To identify the major issues surrounding the planning and implementation of reading instruction in schools of a rural school, group interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers. An interview will be used to facilitate discussion. Responses to the uniform standard questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Individual Interviews with Teachers. To investigate all of the major research questions. presented earlier, interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers in the selected schools. An interview will be used to facilitate information gathering. Responses to the questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Observation Instruments Observation is a technique of gathering data through direct contact with the subjects. In this study, the researcher will observe two classes. The researcher will observe ongoing class using Primer Phonics and the normal teaching of remedial students in the school. Observation instrument is necessary to detect any strength and weaknesses for both types of methodology in teaching remedial students. The detections will be noted down in the researcher’s note book for making analysis, conclusion and suggestions for future researches. Classroom Observation Classroom observation will be done to make sure that Primer Phonics is taught accordingly. A checklist will be used. Classroom observations will also be done for the normal teaching of remedial students in the same school. The need for making observation for the normal method of teaching is to enable comparison among the two types of methodology later. Additional data collection and review will occur during the observations. Researchers summarized notes after each observation. Test The researcher will conduct two types of tests, the Pre test and the Post test, for two groups of students from the remedial class only. The students will be divided into the experimental and controlled group. A Pre test will be used to see the students’ ability to read before teaching using the Primers Phonic Method. The Post test will be used to see the achievements made after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. Both the experimental and the controlled groups will take the tests so the researcher can compare if there will be any differences in the achievements after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method for the experimental group. The Controlled group will be taught by their own remedial teachers using the usual syllabus in the school. In the tests, subjects are to read a short text of about 150 words. These tests aims to see how good the students can or cannot read before and after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. To assess the students reading, 5 criteria will be ticked accordingly. Students who gets two out of five ‘Yes’ are considered to have pass the Pre Test or the Post test Document Review Document review will inform the research process to varying degrees. Among the documents analyzed were student work samples, report cards, forms, letters to parents, lesson plans, lists of reading books, and other relevant documents pertinent to current reading instruction. The Theoretical Framework Diagram 1: The Diagram depicts the theoretical framework. 1.3 Review of Related Literature The literature reviews forwarded here will help us to understand more about the case study that will be done. A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge and or methodological approaches on a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not report any new or original experimental work. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as theses, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. A well-structured literature review is characterized by a logical flow of ideas; current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic I would like to make a review of related literature which is in my area of research, Instruction, Development, and Achievement of Struggling Primary Grade Readers by Elizabeth Campbell Rightmyer, Ellen McIntyre, and Joseph M Petrosko. Reading Research and Instruction. Coral Gables: Spring 2006. Their study examined the phonics and reading achievement of 117 primary grade students in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Students received instruction in one of six different reading programs or models based upon the school they attended. Through qualitative data collection and analysis of specific instructional practices, they determined that no model or program proved more effective for the learning of phonics in the first grade after one year of instruction. Purpose The purpose of their study was to examine the phonics and reading achievement of primary grade students receiving instruction in six different instructional programs or models (referred to as models in reference to their study). Then, through a qualitative analysis of the specific instructional practices within these models and their understanding of young childrens literacy development, they explain the relative differences in achievement gains of these primary grade struggling readers. Method They examined the instructional practices and achievement of low performing students in first through third grade classrooms in which teachers used one of the following reading models: Breakthrough to Literacy (www.btl.com); Early Success (Cooper, et al., 1997); Early Intervention (Taylor, Medo, Strait, 1995); Four Blocks (Cunningham, Hall, DeFee, 1991); SRA Reading Mastery (Engelmann Bruner, 1997); or Together We Can, a locally developed model based on small group guided reading and explicit teaching of reading strategies and skills. Participants The study included 117 struggling primary-grade readers in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Schools that had recently received a state grant to implement one of the reading models were invited to participate. They then contacted the principals, asking them to recommend teachers who were particularly successful at implementing the instructional model for at least one year; they believed that principals would avoid selecting teachers who were struggling with the model, classroom management, student diversity, or any of the myriad complexities that teachers face daily. Independently, they checked the teachers credentials by using a state-developed data base and found that the majority of them held advanced rank in the profession; 73% had earned at least 30 credit hours beyond the bachelors degree. They also found that 84% of the teachers had taught in their current state of employment for more than five years. The principals distributed consent forms to interested teachers, and when they were returned, the researchers explained to each teacher that the children they wanted to study were those struggling with reading or learning to read. They had no control of the models that were proposed or the schools that were selected to receive the grants. Like many states under accountability mandates, their state is becoming heavily invested in direct instruction models of reading and mathematics, and this predilection was seen in the numbers of students who received scripted early intervention in reading. They asked that by October 1 of the first year of the study, the teachers identify the lowest achieving 20% in their classes. Again, they did not control for socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity of the identified children or in any way second-guess the teachers selection. Consenting students became the targeted group of children the researchers tested on the phonics application and reading tasks. There were two to five children in each of the classrooms, although due to attrition and a few flawed tests, this number was reduced in some classrooms. Researchers studied one group of children from the beginning of first grade through the end of second grade, documenting growth in phonics for one year. These children are hereafter referred to as first graders, even though they followed them through the end of second grade. The children in this group were all served by a single reading model one of the five models that appear in Appendix A across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in second grade). The study followed a second group from the beginning of second grade through the end of third grade, also documenting growth after two years. These children are hereafter referred to as second graders, even though they followed them through the end of third grade. Like the first graders, the children in this group were served by the same reading model across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in third grade). Table 1 lists the participants by model. Procedures for Data Collection and Analysis of Student Achievement Instruments The researcher pre- and post-tested first grade children on clays Hearing Sounds in Words Test (1993), a phonics application task that included encoding a sentence. This measure was conducted only with first graders, as this was the norming sample. It will hereafter be referred to as the phonics measure or phonics achievement. On the clay test, the examiner reads two sentences to the child, The bus is coming fast. It will stop here to let me get on. Then the sentences are read again, word by word, and children encode the sentence as the researcher dictates. The children are encouraged to do the best they can with the spelling and use the sounds of words to write as much as you can. The children score a point for each letter or group of letters they write that correctly correspond to the sounds in the words. Children can score from O to 37 on this test. The researchers selected this test because they believed it to be a more authentic assessment of phonics understanding and use than phonological tests on which children call out letter sounds they see or sound out semantically disconnected word lists. Data collection Researchers were trained using each of the testing instruments given. The training involved an explanation and demonstration of the testing procedures and observation of videotapes of the project director testing various children. The researchers scored those children, discussed results, and adjusted their expectations through more explanation and demonstration by the director. Children were pre-tested during the months of September and post-tested during the month of May during each of the two years of the study. Children were tested in one-on-one situations in quiet places, arranged by the classroom teacher or grant administrator for periods of no more than 30 minutes at a time. While the pre-testing took approximately 30 minutes per child, the post-testing took 60-90 minutes per child for most children, thus each child was met two or three times. The researchers attempted to make the children comfortable and rewarded them afterwards with stickers. All reading passages were tape-recorded. Quantitative analysis of achievement data For ease in comparing achievement, the researchers used the benchmarks provided by each of the tests. Clays Hearing Sounds in Words phonics test has a range of 1-37, with intervals of 1. Two trained researchers individually scored every Clay test, and these scores were compared against one another for accuracy. Where there was discrepancy in scoring, a third researcher also reviewed the data, and the group negotiated the final score. Scores were entered into a data base, and two team members reviewed each of them for accuracy in data entry. In this study, test score data were statistically analyzed in two ways. First, pretest scores were subtracted from posttest scores. The resulting gain scores were used as dependent variables in a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the reading models as the independent variables. Test 1 was a comparison of phonics achievement of students in the different reading models (one-year gain). For each test, students achievement in only five models was compared. Importantly, due to the unequal number of students in each of the comparison groups, and the small numbers of participants in some of the models, the interpretations about the findings of these tests are made with caution and based on trends in the data. Data Collection and Analysis of Instructional Practices The researchers collected data on the instructional models in three ways: a) by observing the teachers and taking field notes, b) by interviewing the teachers about their practices, and c) by completing an observation instrument after leaving the site (which required reflection and quantification of what was observed). For this analysis, they specifically gathered data on: 1) the focus of instruction, 2) the primary literacy activities conducted, and 3) the length of time children spent reading connected text. Other salient characteristics of the models, such as whether the model was considered an intervention for struggling readers or a whole class model, are also described. Observations and interviews Schools were contacted and arrangements were made to observe the teachers who had been previously identified as fully implementing the instructional model adopted through the state program. The researchers visited each teacher four times and observed between 90-180 minutes during each visit, depending on how long literacy instruction was conducted in that classroom. Researchers sat in the room and recorded what the teacher said and did in the form of field notes. One important feature in our field notes was the regular marking of time. In an effort to understand how teachers distributed their instructional time for various activities, they recorded the time in the margins of their field notes approximately every five minutes. After each visit, the researchers interviewed the classroom teacher the same day the observations were made. Among the questions they asked were about how typical the observed instruction was and how the children were selected for testing to ensure that they ind eed were studying the bottom 20%. Observation instrument After exiting the field site, the researcher used the field notes and interview to complete an observation instrument that summarized and quantified instructional patterns. A small section of instrument was used to help determine the teachers focus of instruction. The instrument, the field notes, and the interview made a data set for analysis. Analysis of instruction In the first phase of analysis, researchers gathered to examine the data sets. Using a form created by the project director, the researchers summarized what happened during each of the visits. From these summaries of the field notes and interviews, the project director created a set of codes that reflected much of the data, a content analysis of sorts (Miles Huberman, 1994). Then, the research team partitioned the field notes into activity settings (Tharp Gallimore, 1988) in order to create smaller, bounded units of analysis. This meant that whenever there was a change in activity (the people, place, or product of instruction), the ensuing activity was considered a unit of analysis and coded separately. The Researcher did not consider as change in setting instances in which children had to leave a group early or if a lesson was interrupted. Thus, the lessons were coded holistically by setting. Settings lasted from five to 45 minutes. For example, one setting for analysis might be a 10-minute whole class lesson on which the teacher guided the children to correct a message she had written without punctuation. When the same teacher signaled to the children it was time to work in learning centers, a new unit of analysis was begun. Sometimes there were multiple simultaneous activity settings, and the researcher usually made the decision to follow the teacher. For each activity setting, they coded the teachers primary activity, followed by what researchers interpreted, from both observations and interviews, was the teachers focus for the activity-either to help students develop phonologically (ACTIV-phon), or to help students learn something else (ACTIV-other). The primary instructional activities observed in each class were listed on the summary sheet. Finally, to determine the time children spent reading connected text, they used an earlier analysis of these data (Authors, 2005). They first defined connected text as texts of meaningful sentences or longer; that is, more than one connected sentence; although, in this study, connected text was usually an entire story. Then, they clarified activities that comprised examples of opportunities to read connected text. The following practices were categorized as such: choral reading; echo reading (even though technically the teacher was doing half of the reading); guided silent reading; guided oral reading; and established periods for independent reading. Activities not included as opportunities for reading connected text included read aloud story time, times when the teacher was directly teaching something, times when students completed worksheets that included only words or unrelated sentences, drill of individual words, or time on non-print responses to literature. Then, the researchers highlighted in field notes when students were provided opportunities to read connected text. They calculated the percentage of time in such activity against the total time designated for language arts instruction. They examined all four observations of each teacher together as a unit because they knew they were going to categorize them. Using group consensus, they defined classrooms as having much opportunity to read connected text during all four observations, a moderate amount of time, or little time. After each data set was analyzed and each teacher categorized, they compared instructional foci and practices across models. They listed all the teachers in a given model together, and looked across these data sets for patterns.

Input Output And Storage Devices Computer Science Essay

Input Output And Storage Devices Computer Science Essay To interact with a computer we use external devices called input-output or peripheral devices, this is the way a computer has to receive and give information to the user, and without it a computer is practically useless, so the need of input and output devices are the first path to computer organization. First is the input, input device was there for humans to communicate the data to the computer in various ways and therefor give a task to be processed into output. After, when the input of data is done the computer need to store it to be able to process it into output, because of the less amount of storage capacity of the CPU (Central Processing Unit), storage devices was there for the purpose of storing a large amount of data so that the CPU can access these data easily and faster. Output is the final step, the result of input-storage-process-output is given through output devices and before that the computer also need to re-store it in the storage device. We will see in details, what are the main uses of these devices? And the way it operates with human and computer. Input Devices: Definition: An input device is a peripheral or hardware device, generally external, that is connected or remotely connected to the computer or information appliance. Input devices are used to provide input which can be understood by the computer such as: raw data, information, command, order, signalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ To process input, computer absolutely need an input device, it is the most important part of computers. Categories: Input device can be categories into four categories: Typing devices Pointing devices Optical devices Audio devices These categories represent the way to communicate with computers and the first path to the input-process-output phase. Typing Devices: Typing devices are essentially keyboard, used to insert text or command via button. They are the most effective way to input data to the computer. it use the method of binaries code to input data. Typing devices are very reliable for text and numbers data input. But they can be ergonomically unsafe if not properly used, inaccurate and difficult for bad typist or paralysis and handicapped users Basically all computers possess keyboard so it is the primary input of computer system. Pointing Devices: Pointing devices are used to input data by movement, here are some example of pointing devices: mouse, joystick, stylus, touch screen. They are usually used to operate with screen or movement based information, all of them are manually used so easy to manipulate due to simple movement, like the mouse who just consist of pointing and clicking. One of the main disadvantages is that they are limited in task, mouse and joystick means that you are limited in your work, and touch screen can be less responsive compared to keyboard. Optical Devices: Optical devices are mostly used in recognition or video and image capture, in the field of recognition there is the OMR (optical mark recognition) and the OCR (optical character recognition), and many others optical devices like: barcode reader, scanner, handheld scanner, digital camera, webcamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The OMR reader is used in barcode reader, it scan a mark which indicate the data or information input that is send to the computer to be processed, it is also used in face recognition, finger print scanner, retina scanner and so on. The OCR is for text and character recognition when scanning a text document. Basically, optical devices are faster than other devices because of a high-speed reading, and are more used by security mean due to their accuracy and reliability. The disadvantage lies in the raw data, for instance if there is a single change in it, the optical devices may not recognize and therefor give a wrong output to its user Audio Devices: Audio devices like his name indicate, is mainly to input an audio data. The devices are: microphone, headset, MIDI keyboardà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ its process is analogue to digital data convertor. It allows a user to send audio signals to a computer for processing, recording, or carrying out commands, sometimes the main purpose is to transfer input audio to output audio. The disadvantage is if the source of audio have a bad signals then all the process are wrong. Output Devices: Definition: Like the input, the output device is also a peripheral and hardware device used to receive the result of the processing date that comes from its input. All computer or information system absolutely need output devices. Output devices are also known as the way that the computer communicates with human. Types of Output: There are three principal types of output devices based on the way they deliver the output data: Display output Physical output Audio output Display Output: They are commonly monitors, screen or light based devices called Visual Display Unit (VDU). It is the primary output devices and it can also be used as a input device, the computer will display the contents of the information on the screen to permit the users read or see what are the processes done to the input data, that is called soft copy which mean temporary data copy. Display output devices is also the wall between computer-language and human-language, without it human cant understand what the computer try to communicate. Usually, display outputs are called video displays or 2 dimensional displays, like: Television sets Computer monitors Head mounted display But there are also called segments displays, composed of several segments that switch on and off to give appearance of desired output, they are display that can only show numeric numbers or alphanumeric character, like calculators or digital watch and so on. The advantages of display device is that you can see the output of a computer program and also use your computer easily by giving it commands from a Command Line Interface or use your Pointing device such as Mouse to point and click to do a task from a Graphical User Interface (GUI). It is fast to acquire, more economical and easily transmittable. In another hand, disadvantages are that the output is temporary because of the need of power supply and can cause visual problem for users. Physical Output: Physical output or hard copy is the permanent output; the most common way to get it is the printer. There are two type of printer: Impact printer: use the typewriter approach, impact of between the ink ribbon and the paper. E.g. dot-matrix printers. Non-impact printers: use electro-static chemicals and ink-jet technologies, can produce colour printing. E.g. laser printer, ink-jet printer So, printer is the principal output devices in terms of physical output; it can produce high-quality printing, can produce a large amount in short time. The disadvantages are the cost; printing is expensive due to its hard copies compared to soft copies that just need to be displayed. Audio Output: Audio output devices refer to any devices that are attaches to a computer for the purpose of playing sound, such as speech or music. It can also refer to the sound of a computer sound card. Here are some examples of audio output devices with their uses: Speakers: it is the most common type of audio output device; they can be attached to a computer using variety of audio plugs. It requires a separate energy supply to be operational. Headphones: they are another type of audio output device. Variations on the headphone concept include ear buds, which fit inside the ear, and headsets, which include both headphones and a microphone. It doesnt requires a separate power supply. Sound card: it is a computer component that converts information from digital audio files into electronic sound signals. These signals are then passed on to an audio output device, such as speakers or headphones. Although sound cards do not themselves play sound, they do output audio signals. For this reason, they can be considered audio output devices. Without an audio output device, you will miss audio cues from the computer such as error beeps and other important system messages alerting you to system problems. This keeps you in sync with your computer, allowing you to more effectively recognize and identify issues. There are no real disadvantages for audio output devices, just it need some additional hardware such as sound card and additional power supply, and the possibility of making noise. Storage Devices: There are primarily three types of storage a computer possess, first the primary storage, which is more popularly called simply memory; the secondary storage, which is more popularly referred to as simply storage, and finally the offline storage referred as movable storage. Primary Storage: Primary storage is where a computer stores data on a temporary basis so it can process the data. Think of primary storage as short term memory. Primary storage is a type of memory that is directly accessible to a computer processor and it is volatile because it is temporary in nature and is erased when the power is turned off. The main primary storages are: RAM (Random Access Memory) ROM (Read Only Memory) Data the computer is currently processing or data which the computer knows it is about to need for processing is stored in primary storage. Memory in primary storage can be accessed quickly by the CPU. Its storage capacity, however, is much smaller than what can be stored in secondary or tertiary storage. Computers need just enough primary storage to function and temporarily hold anticipated amounts of data for processing. Secondary Storage: Secondary storage is where a computer stores data it is not currently processing but which it may need at some later time. Secondary storage can be thought of as long term memory, or storage, and it is non-volatile in nature because data remains intact even when power to a computer is turned off. Operating systems, documents, music files and so on are typically stored in a secondary storage device. They can also be external for movement and transport. The main device for secondary storage is the hard disk drive (HDD). The computers largest secondary storage location is its hard disk drive, or just hard drive. Hard drives are platters like dishes which are stacked top, middle, and bottom to make one unit. Hard drives are mechanical devices which store data magnetically. They are considered permanent storage. Among the advantages of a hard disk drive is its storage capability, from Megabyte to Terabyte. Hard disk drives are durable, with metal casings built around their inner components. Hard disk drives are read/write. They can be read over and over and they can be modified, or written to, over and over. Offline storage: Offline storage is storage media which can be inserted into the computer and used but which can then be removed from the computer and stored elsewhere. It can also be external sources which are connected to the computer and then disconnected, like floppy drives, CD drives, DVD drives, USB flash drive, and Blu-ray drives. Floppy drive is an old form of storage, its capacity is very few up to 1 or 2 Megabytes so it isnt used nowadays, but it is categorised as offline storage because they are non-volatile and be able to read or written to over and over again. CD drive (Compact Disk) and DVD drive (Digital Video Disc) store data on shiny discs, the capacity of CD drive is up to 700 Megabytes and the DVD drive is 4.7 Gigabytes and 8.5 Gigabytes on a double layer DVD, they are very compact and portable storage with a good amount of storage, so it is the primary commercial storage device, used for video, audio, software, games and so on. But the disadvantages are that it can be infected by virus if used with bad intention, also if the layer of the disk gets damaged like scratch the computer will not be able to read anymore so a loss of data. USB flash drive, which is the most portable storage device with a great amount of storage, they can support 128 Megabytes to 256 Gigabytes, and it is the easiest way to carry data from place to place due to its connectivity via USB port. Unfortunately, USB flash drive is very fragile, easily breakable, and can be easily get corrupted or infected by viruses, so basically used for a short amount of time before it is useless. Conclusion: After describing and explaining input, output, and storage devices, we can see that the utilisation of computer in operations, functions, and processes are based within these devices, without just one of them work cant be done. These are all interaction between computers and humans that are necessary to achieve the perfect use of computer, it is studied in a field called human-computer interaction. Nowadays these interactions are appearing more and more frequent in daily life, with better speed and accuracy due to the evolution of technologies, and human are becoming more reliable in computers than before.

Republican Plan Should be Vetoed :: Economy Economics Papers

Republican Plan Should be Vetoed I believe that the Republican plan should be vetoed. I am against the resolution for the following reasons. One, the debt is too high as is, and cuts in smaller programs will not dent this tremendous debt. Also, I believe that it is a concern to the economy. In the following paragraphs, I will elaborate. The national debt was 4.9 trillion dollars. This is definitely an unimaginable number for anyone to fathom. To add to this, it was recently passed to raise the limit of the debt to 4.967 trillion dollars, just so the government would have enough to stay in operation. This country is not in constant threat of wars anymore, therefore, I don't see the reason why the national defense should remain high. To my recollection, the U.S. spends more on defense, than anything else. This should be the program to get cut, and not a program beneficial to society such as Medicare or welfare. We need to turn away from funding the nuclear missile to save this country some money One last point on this section, education does NOT need to be touchedby federal cuts, unless the republicans enjoy being the least educated developed country in the world. The reason I believe that the debt is an issue to the economy is as follows. It's the word called inflation. As the debt increses, inflation increases as well. Plus, with the raise on the debt limit, I fear there will be yet another increase in inflation. Cutting the small programs would decrease inflation, but it would happen at a slow rate. At the beginning after all the cuts take place, people would fear spending and would increase savings. All, this would do is to stop the program of decreasing the debt. If, on the other hand. defense was cut, and money programs for Medicare, welfare and education were left alone, I believe that people would increase their spending to a point of slightly decreasing inflation as well, thus stimulating the

Electronic Product Code Project Essay -- Business Management Marketing

Electronic Product Code Project Table of Contents Executive Overview†¦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‚¬ ¦3 Stage 1: Determination of Scope and Objectives†¦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‚¬ ¦....4 Stage 2 – Systems Investigation and Feasibility†¦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‚¬ ¦.4 Stage 3 – Systems Analysis†¦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‚¬ ¦.7 UPC DFD (Legacy System)†¦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‚¬ ¦....9 Stage 4 – System Design†¦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‚¬ ¦.9 Stage 5 – Detail System Design†¦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‚¬ ¦.10 EPC DFD (New System)†¦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‚¬ ¦14 Stage 6 – Implementation†¦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‚¬ ¦.. 14 Stage 7 – Changeover†¦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‚¬ ¦.15 Stage 8 – Evaluation and Maintenance†¦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‚¬ ¦...17 Appendix A – Cost Benefit Analysis Chart†¦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‚¬ ¦19 References†¦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‚¬ ¦...................23 Executive Overview: As a small grocery chain we are currently struggling to maintain our revenue stream and profitability against the competitive threats of the global warehouse chains (Costco, Wal-Mart, etc). We continue to find ourselves behind the curve in this competitive situation. These larger retailers have been able to use their greater resources and economies of scale to not only beat us on cost but also industry innovation. According to the electronic periodical Baseline, â€Å"Several dozen retailers and suppliers, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, and Wal-Mart have signed on to the next generation UPC called the Electronic Product Code (EPC)†, (Mullin, 2002). With the implementation of this technology a customer will be able to virtually walk through a store, collect all their groceries, and walk out without ever having to stop for a cashier or checkout procedure. The electronic retail chain Best Buy, which sells electronic devices along with household appliances, implemente d this technology in many of its stores and has increased revenue, along with customer satisfaction due to always having proper stock on hand. We believe that this innovation will have a profound effect on our customer base, especially the highly desired, short attention span, and technically astute demographic of the 20-45 year olds. There are many other large retailers looking at this technology for the same reason (increased revenue) and studies show that smaller retailers would be willing to implement this same technology if initial installation costs decreased (2002). Our groc... ...illion USD 0.002 USD Reduction in Unsaleables 3.0 million USD 0.001 USD Reduction in Out-of-Stock 4.2 million USD 0.002 USD Point of Sale Efficiency 7.5 million USD 0.003 USD Total savings at outlets 46.9 million USD 0.022 USD Estimated Costs: Annual Costs: 9.7 million USD Tag Costs: 0.0 million USD One-time Costs: 96.6 million USD Integration Cost: 7.8 million USD Reader Costs (including installation): 88.7 million USD It is assumed that all tags costs are carried by your supply chain partners References Mullin, Eileen; (September 5, 2002). Electronic Product Code, Baseline, Retrieved February, 17th 2004 from http://www.baselinemag.com EPC Global Website: http://archive.epcglobalinc.org/aboutthetech.asp AARFID Incorporated Website: http://www.aarfid.com/middleware.html RFID News Website: http://www.rfidnews.org/ RFID Journal Website: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/archive/9?topics=9&imageField2.x=11&imageField2.y=5 RFID Online Source Book: http://www.frontlinemagazine.com/rfidonline/