Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essays

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essays Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essay Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Essay Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley ActThis article reappraisal is on the article written by David S. Addington called â€Å"Congress Should Repeal or Fix Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to Help Create Jobs. † The Heritage Foundation published the article on September 30 2013. In the article. the writer addresses concerns among companies remaining in conformity with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The writer indicates that subdivision 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act has caused a fiscal load on companies. Companies spend a big sum of money to remain in conformity with the ordinances on subdivision 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Furthermore. companies could utilize the money spent on scrutinizing fiscal records to put in more concern lines and make more occupations ( Additon. 2011 ) . Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires companies to include a statement of the duty of the company direction for â€Å"establishing and keeping an equal internal control construction and processs for fiscal reporting† along with their study filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) . The one-year study must include an appraisal of the effectivity of the company’s internal control construction and processs for fiscal coverage. followed by holding a registered public accounting house â€Å"attest on. and study on the appraisal made by the direction. † This facet of the statute law requires companies to document of import fiscal paperss along with the reappraisal from the certified public accounting house ; it requires enormous attempt and big sums of money for companies to follow with this facet of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ( Additon. 2011 ) . The writer indicates that companies can utilize the money spent by companies to remain in conformity o n other concerns lines ; making more occupation chances and profiting the economic system. The writer demands that Congress should analyze whether subdivision 404 is needed. and if so. how to cut its dearly-won load on concerns. Modifying or revoking subdivision 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act can liberate concerns to excite the economic system ( Additon. 2011 ) . Businesses must remain in conformity with the jurisprudence to run expeditiously at all times. Companies should remain in conformity to acquire the assurance and trust from investors. The 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey listed where companies stand on reexamining cost. clip. attempts. processes to remain in conformity with the ordinances. Approximately 35 % of midsize organisations spend from $ 100. 000 to $ 500. 000 yearly. and about 80 % spend $ 1 million or less. By twelvemonth four of Sarbanes-Oxley conformity. most organisation are passing $ 100. 000 to $ 500. 000 yearly ( 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey ) ; this is comparatively a little sum of money compared the entire sum the company really makes. The Sarbanes-Oxley act protects the populace from unethical behaviour by companies. If the authorities does non keep companies accountable for their funding. it will take to unconfident investors in the market ; if the populace is non puting in concerns the economic system will non be better. The award the company pays to remain in conformity with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is at the right monetary value. accomplishing trust. and assurance from the popula ce. MentionsDavid S. Addington â€Å"Congress Should Repeal or Fix Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to Help Create Jobs. † The Heritage Foundation. September 30. 2011. Web. Retrieved from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. heritage. org/research/reports/2011/09/congress-should-repeal-or-fix-section-404-of-the-sarbanes-oxley-act-to-help-create-jobs 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey. Retrieved from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. protiviti. com/en-US/Documents/Surveys/2012-SOX-Compliance-Survey-Protiviti. pdf

How to Graduate With a Bachelors Degree Faster

How to Graduate With a Bachelor's Degree Faster Many people choose distance learning for its convenience and speed. Online students are able to work at their own pace and often finish faster than traditional students. But, with all the demands of daily life, many students  search for ways to complete their degrees in even less time. Having a degree sooner may mean making a larger salary, finding new career opportunities, and having more time to do what you want. If speed is what you’re looking for, check out these six tips to earning your degree as quickly as possible. Plan Your Work. Work Your Plan Most students take at least one class that they don’t need for graduation. Taking classes unrelated to your major field of study can be an excellent way to expand your horizons. But, if you’re looking for speed, avoid taking classes that aren’t required for graduation. Double-check your required classes and put together a personalized study plan. Staying in contact with your academic advisor each semester can help you stick to your plan and stay on track. Insist on Transfer Equivalencies Don’t let work you’ve done at other colleges go to waste; ask your current college to give you transfer equivalencies. Even after your college has decided what classes to give you credit for, check to see if any of the classes you have already completed could be counted to fill another graduation requirement. Your school will probably have an office that reviews transfer credit petitions on a weekly basis. Ask for that department’s policies on transfer credits and put together a petition. Include a thorough explanation of the class you have completed and why it should be counted as an equivalency. If you include course descriptions from your previous and current schools’ course handbooks as evidence, chances are you’ll get the credits. Test, Test, Test You can earn instant credits and reduce your schedule by proving your knowledge through testing. Many colleges offer students the opportunity to take the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams in various subject matters for college credit. Additionally, schools often offer their own exams in subjects such as foreign language. Testing fees can be pricey  but are almost always significantly lower than tuition for the courses they replace. Skip the Minor Not all schools require students to declare a minor and, truth be told, most people won’t make too much of a mention of their minor during the life of their career. Dropping all minor classes could save you an entire semester (or more) of work. So, unless your minor is critical to your field of study or would bring you foreseeable benefits, consider eliminating these classes from your plan of action. Put Together a Portfolio Depending on your school, you may be able to get credit for your life experience. Some schools will give students limited credit based on the presentation of a portfolio that proves specific knowledge and skills. Possible sources of life experience include  previous jobs, volunteerism, leadership activities, community participation, accomplishments, etc. Do Double Duty If you have to work anyway, why not get credit for it? Many schools offer students college credits for participating in an internship or work-study experience that relates to their major – even if it’s a paid job. You may be able to get your degree faster by earning credits for what you already do. Check with your school counselor to see what opportunities are available to you.

Kellogg Briand Pact and the Ethiopian Invasion of Italy Research Paper

Kellogg Briand Pact and the Ethiopian Invasion of Italy - Research Paper Example The pact was proposed in 1927 by Aristide Briand the then foreign minister of France. Briand proposed to the government of the US the establishment of a treaty prohibition war between the two nations (Special Cable 1935, 1). The US Secretary of State Franc Kellogg agreed to Briand’s proposal and proposed that the pact encompasses other nations in the deterrence of war among nations. After intense negotiations, the Kellogg-Briand pact encompassed 15 nations including among others Italy, New Zealand, Britain, the US, Germany and South Africa. Parties that accepted the contract agreed that, despite the origin and nature of conflicts among the contracting parties, neither party would use war as a medium of national policy. While up to 62 states eventually ratified the pact, the effectiveness of the Kellogg-Briand was eventually impaired by its inability to provide guidelines of enforcement. In addition, many nations gave the pact a rather unenthusiastic reception because most stat es recognized war as the sole solution to conflict resolution. It is essential to, however, note that while the Kellogg-Briand pact did not advocate resolution to war, the pact acknowledged the right of states to defend their integrity when under attack. The ineffectiveness of the Kellogg-Briand pact is also apparent because no nation or entity was given the authority to ensure all parties abide by the provisions of the pact. Apparently, the pact did not make any substantive contributions to ensuring international order in most cases. However, in 1929, the pact was invoked rather successfully when the USSR and China arrived at a tense moment regarding possession of the Chinese Eastern RR located in Manchuria (George 1969, 308). However, the Kellogg-Briand pact proved to carrying no significant weight, especially because of the practice of engaging in undeclared wars during the 1930s. Such undeclared wars include the 1931 invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese, German’s 1938 oc cupancy of Austria and Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. This section of the paper will examine Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in the year 1935, and discuss the effects of the Kellogg-Briand pact, if any. The war between Italy and Ethiopia, or the Second Italo-Abyssinian War as it is often referred occurred in 1935 between Fascist Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia. The war between the two nations is notable because of Italy’s use of underhanded strategies against Ethiopia (Mark 2001, 239). For instance, Italy’s illegal utilization of mustard gas clearly contravened the Kellogg-Briand pact. Italy, being a signatory of the pact had contravened the essence of the pact by engaging in undeclared and unwarranted warfare against Ethiopia because of Italy’s desire to annex Ethiopia, which was still uncolonized at the time. Perhaps the reason why Italy sought to annex Ethiopia was its inability to do so in the 19th century. When Italy acquired nations such as Eritrea and Somaliland, it was unable to annex Ethiopia. Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia exposed the inherent limitations of the League of Nations because the league was unable to protect Ethiopia or control Italy. This was despite the fact that both nations were its members and Italy was a

Assign 1) Chpt 6 & 7 Assign 2) Soci DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assign 1) Chpt 6 & 7 Assign 2) Soci DB - Essay Example In the turn of old age or physical weakness, the spouse must be able to take hold of that responsibility of taking care of his or her partner, and it is only in that way that they can justify what long-term relationship means. Commitment has a particular role to play in long-term relationships. In an episode about marriage in the Oprah Show, there was one thing that she told her guests that really struck me. Oprah said that you will not be in love everyday in the entire course of your marriage and it takes your choice and effort to be in love. This is true about intimacy in long term relationships. This kind is not limited to heterogeneous relationships, because human emotions do not know any gender. What the heart feels is just the way it is, but the relationship existing between the couple, whatever their genders are, is universal. Long term relationships cannot stand with love alone, as love has the tendency to outgrow and consequently ending the emotion. Whereas if a long term-re lationship would rest in commitment, responsibility, acceptance, and respect, there is more chance for love to grow.

Summary of the Lesson Essay Example for Free

Summary of the Lesson Essay Introduction Class 2a is a mixed year group, with 13, more able, year one pupils and 16, less able, year two pupils. The differentiation by the classroom teacher tends to centre around ability grouping with a total of four grouped sets, two for each year group within the class. The lesson to be described took place on Wednesday 22 October by which time the class had been together for just six weeks. I had received a total of eight hours contact time with the children prior to the implementation of the lesson. The class dynamics were such that the majority of year two pupils appeared less focused and more disruptive than the children from year one, who generally, exhibited better levels of concentration. Summary of the Lesson The lesson was to be on forces and movement, for reasons to be explained following this summary the activity was to involve children experimenting with a variety of artificial surfaces that were to be placed on a board and raised by means of wooden blocks. A toy car was then to be placed on the ramp and the number of blocks noted down when the toy car rolled down the ramp to the bottom. The lesson was to begin with a discussion in which children were encouraged to inform me of their previous experience of using ramps as well as their own experience outside of school, riding a bike or other vehicle down a hill. Questions about riding bikes, skateboards etc on grass or on roads were also raised. Some different material was then to be introduced and passed around for the children to touch and comment on. The proposed surfaces included sandpaper, underlay (which was to be used upside down), woollen carpet, corrugated cardboard and bubble-wrap. A question about how builders decide what to make the road with was put to children who were there guided towards the word testing. Children were then told that we were to find out the best surfaces with which to build a new road, but we were only allowed to use the materials they had just been shown. The children were then to propose which surface might suit our needs best (predict) before been guided towards proposing an investigation. At the end of the lesson the children were to feedback their results (one response in particular was very interesting, details to follow) and to say if and why their predictions differed form their findings. Rationale Areas to be addressed when planning a Science Lesson. Having agreed to teach the whole class a science lesson it was then suggested that any activity I do, should link to the current topic of Forces and movement. Planning began by looking at the existing medium term planning. Appendix ii. In addition to the existing planning, the structure of the lesson was also guided by theories of child development. Learning theory Wittrocks view of learning as discussed in Learning in Science by Osborn and Freyberg (1985) proposes that to learn with understanding learners must themselves actively construct, or generate, meaning from sensory input While Piaget, as discussed in Gill Nicholls book, Learning to Teach observed that children learn faster when they co-operate with others; this co-operation develops and improves their formal thinking (page 41) On the basis of Wittrocks views I wanted the children of class 2A to perform an investigation for themselves, with as little adult intervention as possible. It was important that I accommodated Piagets observation, ensuring that the children work in groups to generate elements of co-operative working. This in turn raised additional issues of inclusion, which I will address later. Questioning The importance of teacher and pupils asking questions became increasingly obvious the teacher must accept all answers and questions as valuable and treat them seriously. Therefore a conscious effort was made to incorporate different types of questions to aid understanding and in turn to encourage children to raise their own questions. Childrens questions are important to their learning because it is often through asking questions that they make the link between one experience and another Making Progress in Primary Science, Harlen et al, RoutledgeFalmer, London (2003) Page 28 I planned to ask closed questions for the less able pupils (appendix ii) Which surface did our investigation show to be the best surface? How many blocks did we use before the car started to move when we used the sandpaper? Through to questions that require a greater level of thinking: Can you tell me why the results differed between groups even though we used the same types of cars? Knowledge, Skills and Understanding The National Curriculum specifies that in addition to being taught about scientific knowledge and understanding they should also be taught how to use the process skills that are important to scientific investigation. Not only are these skills useful in the context of a scientific investigation the skills can also be important in other subjects in the National Curriculum, history being the most obvious. In addition to this the development of scientific skills are needed for making sense of new experiences in the future and for learning throughout life. Teaching of science in primary schools, Harlen, W, Page 56 These process skills include: observing (using senses to collect evidence, quantifying) raising questions (asking questions that can be scientifically investigated) hypothesising (offering possible reasons) predicting (using knowledge or available evidence to predict a likely outcome) interpreting (draw a conclusion based on evidence generated) communicating (presenting results, discussing conclusion) adapted from Teaching of science in primary schools, Harlen, W, Page 18 The National Curriculum recognises the skills required in science. SC1, Scientific Enquiry, page 78, lists the skills that children should have developed by the end of year 2. They evaluate evidence and consider whether tests or comparisons are fair. The concept of a fair test was an area that I planned to highlight during the period of the lesson when the children would be guided towards suggesting an investigation. (appendix ii) Children to be asked about where to place the car? Why do we place the car in the same place each time? Summary of Rationale The elements of a lesson that a trainee teacher, as well as a qualified teacher, must consider while planning a lesson are numerous. During this initial discussion I have touched on a number of them including child development, teacher questioning, pupil questioning and development of process skills. These four elements influenced the planning of the lesson more than any others. However the area that facilitates inclusive teaching also has very important implications on many areas of teaching, organisations and childrens learning including: presentation (techniques can be more attractive to some learners than others) grouping (mixed sex sets, mixed abilities, risk of children dominating) differentiation (providing for the various ability levels) recording methods (how are children to record the findings) It is this area and its influence on planning that I will now explore. Learning styles and the presentation of the lesson. The range of teaching methods employed will have different appeals to the different type of learning, these being: Visual (written word, pictures, videos, wall charts) Auditory (spoken word, discussion) Kinesthetic (movement, hands on activity, role play, drama) Adapted from Shaw Hawes, Effective teaching and learning in the primary classroom (page 53) While all children and adult are capable of learning through anyone of these senses many find that they have a preference. The nature of scientific enquiry will tend to be one of a practical activity. Consequently there is a danger of excluding 50% of the classroom, as research has shown that boys tend to prefer this type of learning: boys generally prefer to engage in noisy, physical competitive games that involve them in manipulating or throwing objects. In contrast, girl generally prefer quieter and more cooperative activities, often involving role-play and verbal interaction. Shaw Hawes, Effective teaching and learning in the primary classroom (page 65) In order not to disassociate the children that dont learn in a manipulative, kinesthetic, activity, I decided to build in a co-operative element within the activity. As discussed in the lesson plan, part one (see appendix ii); children will be required to pass the duties around the whole of the group. This also meant that children were always participating or about to participate in the activity, the effect of this was to ensure that all the children stayed on task throughout the investigation. Grouping Children were to be grouped in their registration sets. This provided each of the four groups with mixed sex groups. As a consequence the children were then with other children from the same age group, preventing the possibility that the older children with pourer concentration did not take over the activity, allowing the year one pupils to work at their own pace. Allowing me to differentiate my questioning during the activity. Recording Methods Two work sheets were devised allowing for differentiation in task, with more able pupils being required to write a little more and select their own material to investigate. At the teachers recommendations the additional worksheet and the requirement of children to select their own surfaces to investigate were omitted. It was suggested that this would only confuse the children. Instead I was asked to be more prescriptive. I believe my original lesson showed a higher level of expectation and was uneasy with the changes to be made. However, I felt it better to respect the class teachers experience and follow her recommendations, not least because I had only been with the class for a short period and did not know them very well. Assessment of Childrens Learning The children successfully identified and applied the principles of fair test (appendix i) the assessment of this was done during the lesson through questioning, observation and listening. They discussed their finding both immediately after the activity and also the following morning, during an oral mental starter in numeracy. Using the table of results to help understanding ordinal value. Fair test was again raised and more children offered answers than on the previous day. The children made their own predictions using both the sense of touch and sight. Through discussions during the lesson and in the plenary I was able to question the children about their predictions and whether or not the evidence would support their view or cause them to change their mind. (see appendices for observation notes of children questioned). During the plenary the children identified the winner of the test. Many of the children identified why the sand paper was the more appropriate of the surfaces to use, some of the children describing the surface as smooth which initially confused me but in the context of the other surfaces used seemed acceptable for key stage one. for opportunities for assessment have to be seized as part of the normal everyday teaching process, rendering assessment as close as possible to a natural teaching situation. A guide to teaching practice, Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2003) Assessment for assessments sack however is not acceptable. Findings should be fed back into the planning process. For example if assessment shows that children do not understand a small concept or continue to hold misconceptions then there is little or no reason for moving the learning on. Planning needs to provide both feedback and feedforward, showing what children have achieved and how this will enable them to move on. Jones D, (2000) Where am I going?: planning and assessing progress in literacy. In Fisher and Williams (Eds.) Unlocking Literacy, a guide for teachers, David Fulton (page 95). Conclusion Timing Had I followed my planning and allowed the children to use elastic bands to add an extra dimension to the lesson, the effect would have been to double the activity time. The guidance of the class teachers saved me from running over time. Timing is an area that I must develop. Initially by drawing further on the experience of qualified teachers and eventually through trial and error. Questioning, scaffolding learning Children provided the ideas for the investigation. Although I deliberately gave them all the clues, such as talking about ramps, showing them surfaces and giving them a context in which they were to work. Use of language in creating misconceptions Scientific language carries specific meaning. Children will often have experience of words outside of their scientific meaning. For example; That isnt a plant. Its a weed! Self Assessment Even after careful planning of questions, I found myself using language that children would be unlikely to understand. This is an area that I struggled with and must work on. The classroom teacher also pointed this out to me as an area that I will develop in time. It is important that I level my questioning and phrasing appropriately to the children I am to teach if I am not to lose their interest. While the class teacher agreed with many of my observations and assessments of her class, the subjective nature of this type of assessment did not sit comfortably with me. This again is an area I must develop my confidence in. The structured nature of the task led to a positive learning environment. All the children took part in the activity and the majority of the class answered questions through out the session. The children worked co-operatively and showed an understanding an ability to apply the principle of fair test. Bibliography Harlen W, Macro C, Reed K and Schilling M, (2003), Making Progress in Primary Science, RoutledgeFalmer. Harlen, W, (2003) The teaching of science in Primary Schools, David Fulton Cohen L, Manion L, Morrison K,(2002), A Guide To Teaching Practice, RoutledgeFalmer Osborne R, Freyberg P, (1989), Learning in Science, The implications of childrens science, Heinemann Education National Curriculum, (1999), Dfes Nicholls G, Learning To Teach, (1999), A handbook for primary and secondary school teachers, Kogan Page Dean, Joan, (2000) Improving Childrens Learning, Effective teaching in the primary school, Routledge Edited by Craft A, (1996) Primary Education, assessing and planning learning, Open University Shaw S and Hawes T, (1998), Effective teaching and learning in the primary classroom, The Services Limited. Jones D, (2000) Where am I going?: planning and assessing progress in literacy. In Fisher and Williams (Eds.) Unlocking Literacy, a guide for teachers, David Fulton (page 95).

Bram Stokers Dracula :: Bram Stoker Dracula Essays

Bram Stoker's Dracula In act 2 scene 6 and act 3 scene 6 of the play ‘Dracula’, the playwrite creates impressive tension by using spine-chilling, ghostly settings, and slyly showing us situations in which characters such as vampires, prey on vulnerable characters such as Mina. Also, he uses soliloquies to give the opposing character no power. Also, by using soliloquies in these scenes he gives the point of view from the weak characters’ eyes. Firstly, the playwrite creates impressive tension by using shadowy, ghostly settings. This is shown in the line â€Å"she took me through the abbey and into the churchyard†, from act 2 scene 6. Act 2 scene 6 is set in the graveyard. Lucy is at home in the graveyard when she says â€Å"I like it here, don’t you ? Among the dead. It’s so peaceful†. This creates a creepy atmosphere as at night time humans avoid visiting graveyards. Also, in this scene the child is shown to be scared by saying, â€Å"It’s dark† and â€Å"I ought to go home now.† The setting could be improved by adding tomb-stones and mysterious dark shapes in the background. Act 3 scene 6 is set in Jonathan’s bedroom at night. Mina says in the play â€Å"flowers of garlic were hung from the window frames†, which suggests she was scared of Dracula. She also has a crucifix on the table. Mina says â€Å"the night air touched my face†, setting a ghostly scene. The setting could be improved by having Dracula bursting his way in through a locked door. This would cause shock and increase the feeling of tension. Secondly, the playwrite creates tension by showing us situations in which characters prey on other characters. In act 2 scene 6 Lucy is preying on a child. She talks sympathetically in the line â€Å"Do you want to go for a walk?† The child has not really been given any choice by Lucy, but to accompany her. She then takes him to the graveyard and sits him on a bench and lulls him to sleep. When the child is asleep, Lucy bends over him and intends to do some harm. Luckily Seward and Van Helsing are there to stop her. You could improve this scene by making the child more reluctant to go with Lucy, thus creating more tension. In act 3 scene 6 Dracula preys on Mina, who is vulnerable and he thinks she will go with him easily. He uses persuasion at first in the quotes â€Å"No need to fear me, it is our destiny to walk together† and â€Å"I bring you life†. It does not work

Post Colonial Perception on the Grass Is Singing Essay

The Grass Is Singing, first published in 1950, was an international success. The story focuses on Mary Turner, the wife of a farmer, who is found murdered on the porch of her home. After her body is found, we are taken back to her younger days and slowly discover what happened to her. The background, location of this story is set in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in South Africa which has been drawn from Doris Lessing’s own childhood spent there. Her first hand knowledge of living on a farm in South Africa shines through in this book. The land, the characters, the farming are all vividly described. Both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Doris’s mother adapted to the rough life in the settlement, energetically trying to reproduce what was, in her view, a civilized, Edwardian life among savages; but her father did not, and the thousand-odd acres of bush he had bought failed to yield the promised wealth. Similar sequences are presented in the book. Doris Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in Persia (now Iran) on October 22, 1919. She is a great female British writer and in October 2007, became the eleventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in its 106-year history, and its oldest recipient ever. Lessing has written many novels, short stories and tales, drama, poetry and comics of which novels like The Grass Is Singing, The Golden Notebook are the most popular and her works continue to be reprinted. Lessing realized that she had quite an amazing life but didn’t know how to attack it when she started writing a book. She read a newspaper cutting about a white mistress murdered by her black cook, none knows why and he is waiting to be hanged. However, Doris knew perfectly well why he had committed this crime because of her upbringing. For example, there was a lady gossiped about in her neighborhood that she allowed her cook-boy to button up the back of her dress and brush her hair. It is appalling and awful, she says. It was a violation of the white behavior. But she didn’t behave like a white mistress. She had treated him like a friend and then started treating him like a servant. They were treated abominably. It was said that the white mistresses didn’t know how to treat their servants and obviously it was a sex thing. In African culture, for women to tell a man what to do was impossible. Yet, all these houses had men-servants and the white mistresses spoke to them in high, harassed, angry voice. They couldn’t talk to them like people. The author chooses to start this novel by the end. It begins with a brief newspaper clipping, suggesting the murder of Mary Turner under the headline ‘Murder Mystery’. However, it certainly is not a murder mystery as we are told the suspect has confessed the crime and there is no serious effort to unravel the crime. It is not who but why behind the murder. Lessing’s purpose is quite different. She wants to establish an end point in order to examine the extremely fl awed society in which it occurs. The author has given the reader a place, an event and a social problem all before her narrative begins. Lessing wrote two books, one of them at long-hand after returning home to the farm. The other one, in which she made fun of the white culture, was mannered. This helped her to write about the white culture in Southern Rhodesia in ‘The Grass Is Singing’. According to Ruth Whittaker, one of the readers of Lessing’s works, this novel is â€Å"an extraordinary first novel in its assured treatment of its unusual subject matter†¦ Doris Lessing questions the entire values of the Rhodesian white colonial society.† The novel reflects its author’s disapproval of sexual and political prejudices and colonialism in the Southern African setting through the life of Mary Turner and a fatal relationship with their black servant. On the surface, it seems a psychological and personal portrayal of a female protagonist from childhood to death but seen as a whole, it is the political exposure of the futility and fragility of the patriarchal and colonial society upon which the masculinity of imperialism has sustained itself. The whole novel can be seen as Mary’s struggle towards individuation to preserve her authenticity and sense of self but it fails because of the psychological and the political forces which furnish her little insight and threaten to crush her. I attempt to show how Lessing portrays Mary’s subjectivity as shaped and entangles within the ideological triangle of class, gender and race; and how the same sexual and ideological factors, rooted in family and culture, causes failure in Mary’s achieving her own sense of self and dooms her to death. Mary is fragmented between two contradictory statuses: on one hand she longs to be a subject of her life, to live in a way she desires, and on the other hand she unconsciously performs a role as an object of the white oppressive structure of a colonial society which extracts meaning of her personal self and imposes its values forcing, the individual to yield to the good of the collective. Mary’s subjectivity and behavioral pattern are shaped by the cross-hatched intersection of class, gender and race through the operation of sexual and political colonialism in the context of imperialism. Gender and Class: The early sketch of Mary’s characterization entails a subjectivity negotiating between gender and class positions. Mary’s early childhood is shaped under the influence of an oppressive father who wastes his money on drinks while his family lives in misery and poverty. Her mother, â€Å"a tall scrawny woman† who â€Å"made a confidante of Mary early†¦and used to cry over her sewing and Mary comforted her miserably†, is her first model of gender role: a passive and helpless woman, dominated by the overwhelming masculine patterns, nonetheless the complying of victim of poverty. Besides sharing the pains of poverty and living in â€Å"a little house that was like a small wooden box on slits† and the twelve month quarrel of her parents over money, Mary has been the witness of their sexuality and her mother’s body in the hands of a man who was simply not present for her. All her life, Mary tries to forget these memories but in fact she has just suppressed them with the fear of sexuality which comes up later nightmarishingly in her dreams. By seeing her mother as a feminine victim of a miserable marriage, she internalizes a negative image of feminity in the form of sexual repression, inheriting her mother’s arid feminism. Race and Gender: The narrator exposes that the Turners’ failure at farming and their poverty and reclusiveness have made them disliked in the district. The Turners’ primitive condition of life is irritating for other white settlers because they do not like the natives to see themselves live in the same manner as the whites, which would destroy that spirit de corps â€Å"which is the first rule of South African society†. This anxiety is more political than economic based on the opposition of white/black. ln this way, another complex clash of value system, besides gender and class, is added to the narrative structure of the novel and that is the matter of race. Colonialism is based on the white men’s spirit of venture for missionary and farm life through their settlement in the third world countries and harvesting their resources by establishing the imperial authority over the native people. The white men, by enslaving the native men on the lands they have in fact stolen fro m them and feminizing some others in their house chores, preserve their own position as masters in the center and the natives as â€Å"Others† in the margin. They use race and gender, two inseparable qualifiers, to access their privilege of power in the imperial hierarchy and legitimize their actions. Gender and race are components of this hierarchy by which the white settlers attempt to establish their own rules and security in the alien land. The binary of white/black reminds us of race difference which itself is linked and dependent on other differences, more importantly gender. White women are objectified as unattainable property of white men through stereotyping the native men as violent, savage and sexually threatening. These double strategies both take the individuality from white women and colonize them as sexual objects always in danger and in need of the heroic protection of their white men and help the white men overcome their fear and jealousy for the superior sexual potency of the black men. The dominant White culture projects â€Å"all of those qualities and characteristics which it most fears and hates within itself† on the natives which creates for the subordinate group â€Å"a wholly negative cultural identity†. Similarly Jan Mohamed notes that: â€Å"the native is cast as no more than a recipient of the negative elements of the self that the European projects onto him†. The patriarchal myth of white woman as white man‘s property and symbol of his power and the â€Å"forbidden fruit† for black man expels women from subjective roles by imposing on them the view that they are unable to handle the black laborers. Therefore the white women are convinced that they cannot share power with the white men especially in the farm life which is the current context of masculinity, tough work, action: challenge beyond domesticity. So they are confined in the domestic sphere and considered shiftless. Charlie Slatter, the most successful and powerful farmer of the district in this novel, makes a joke of it: â€Å"Needs a man to deal with niggers. Niggers don‘t understand women giving them orders. They keep their own women in their right places†. In such colonial discourse, the black natives, employed whether as domestic servants in feminine sphere or as impoverished agricultural workers, are represented as wild, violent, potential rapists, and threatening the white women who need the white men‘s protection against the natives. In this way, white patriarchy makes a heroic scenario for itself. During the first scene in which Moses touches Mary, she is alarmed at the sensation and feels certain that it is a prelude to rape. Instead, he pushes her gently on the bed, and covers her feet with her nightgown. Even in the later scene in which Moses is caught by the Englishman in a moment of scandalousl y inappropriate contact with Mary, he is caught pulling a dress over her head with â€Å"indulgent uxoriousness†. The insinuations of tenderness, indeed romance between Moses and Mary appear in this moment to offer a radical alternative to the prototypical script of rape applied to all relationships between white women and black men during the apartheid era. Any doubt as to Moses’s fundamentally violent nature is also eradicated in the final scenes in which he returns to batter Mary to death. In the sexual politics of the colonial myth, white women are victims as the native subjects are in the racial politics. A woman who is privileged racially can simultaneously experience gender limitations and class difference within her own category, like in the case of Mary Turner. Mary fails to preserve her individuality because she is not able to resist the strong master narratives of the false colonial and patriarchal myth of superiority of her culture through the discourse of gender and race which place her firmly in a predetermined position. Marginalization: Lessing has described the feelings of the characters, especially of Mary profoundly. The description of Mary, her wishes and her behavior, is done in a rather psychological way proving Mary Turner’s life tragic. She is effectively forced into marriage by the weight of social expectations and traditions. She never loves her husband, but she is, at least initially, glad to have one, as it makes her â€Å"normal†. From the moment she marries, she is engaged in a losing battle to hold on to her own identity and survive this marriage. We can distinguish Mary as a victim of marginalization. This is mainly because her needs for development are not considered by her husband and she plays no role in influencing decisions for their house. Since she is bewildered by Dick’s house which consists of a corrugated iron roof, zinc bath, skins of animals on red brick floor – all old and badly maintained, with her own saved money Mary brings flowered materials and cushions t o make curtains, a little linen, crockery and some dress lengths (61). Further she asks Dick for ceilings over corrugated iron roof but he refuses saying that it would cost too much and they may have it done next year if they do well (63). Dick is now instead investing in other things like setting up a grocery store, growing maize, harvesting beehives, pigs, turkeys, etc. that he thinks would help them grow rich less realizing his wife felt sick with the heat when she stayed in the house under the iron roof. Unfortunately, Dick keeps failing at every attempt of his to improve their condition. Mary is, all the time, counting money wasted on Dick’s various attempts at different jobs which could have improved the condition of their house. Here, Dick has never taken into account Mary’s guidance and excluded her from making or influencing his decisions before going on with these jobs. We can, hence, distinguish Mary as a victim of marginalization, the marginalized. Perhaps Mary’s tragedy is all the deeper on account of the fact that she never realizes that the native Africans who must work the farms of the white settlers are just as much tragic victims as she is. The natives are deprived of their own land and looked down with contempt. The black native men are made to serve the white colonies. Much of the discourse around the British colonies in postmodernism is centered on the exploitation of the resources and the people from the colonies, leading to a feeling of racial superiority on the part of the colonizer. This deep-seated racism is clearly evident in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing as none of the white colonials are sympathetic or even see the Zimbabweans as fully human. Mary too treats all her house boys dreadfully; she despises their carelessness, their laziness, and their failure to pander adequately to her. At one moment, when she replaces her sick husband in the fields, she is thoroughly brutal with the black farm hands. However, I feel that Lessing’s novel is less concerned about showing the misery felt by the Zimbabweans for the hand they were dealt by the colonial Empire and more about showing the toll colonialism has on those who do not belong there. What Lessing is really showing is how damaging the colonial psyche can be when one is not equipped for it. One is left with a sense that when prejudice and false ideas generated by self-interest become institutionalized, they cloud the perception of people so thoroughly that even the victims are capable of victimizing others. In spite of its formulaic narrative, The Grass Is Singing has nonetheless been read as a progressive critique of â€Å"injustice, racism, and sexual hypocrisy,† in part because of its open investigation of gender and sexuality. It is through Mary’s predicaments as a woman and in particular as a member of the working class that The Grass Is Singing opens up potentially radical grounds for sympathy. At first glance, Mary’s stereotypical obsession with domesticity combined with scorn for all her black servants recalls Ronald Hyam’s caricature of white women in the colonies as â€Å"[m]oping and sickly, narrowly intolerant, vindictive to the locals, despotic and abusive to their servants†. For some, however, Mary’s plight is a more realistic and â€Å"tragic example of how hardship and isolation can destroy even the most independent of women† (Fishburn 2). Indeed, her intolerance for her black servants becomes more complex when read as a displaced resistance against the patriarchal norms of her society. Mary’s belligerence is a clear projection of her anger against an unsatisfactory marriage and the oppressive, gendered social norms that led to its existence. Dick’s attitude towards her is never hostile or abusive, but she persistently resents him for things that she knows he is not able to help, such as his string of financial failures, the unbearable poverty, and the virtual absence of any company or entertainment at the farm. Even among other white people, such as the nearby Slatter family, Mary feels too much pride and humiliation to express the full depths of her loneliness and despair. It is only in the presence of her black servants that she feels able to release the full-blown rage and intolerance that have clearly erupted from elsewhere. What really killed Mary Turner? Various critics have expressed confusion over why the dialectic must necessarily be resolved by Moses’s murder of Mary. A reviewer in The Doris Lessing Newsletter asked, â€Å"Why does Moses murder Mary?† The TLS queried, â€Å"Why does he feel he has to kill her?† and The Listener demanded, â€Å"Is this the only possible outcome?† (11) Lessing leaves Moses’s inner states shrouded in mystery: after his act of murder, â€Å"what thoughts of regret, or pity, or perhaps even wounded human affection were compounded with the satisfaction of his completed revenge, it is impossible to say† (206). Equally cryptic is the fact that Mary herself becomes complicit in her own murder, to the extent that she runs toward Moses, sure of the fact that he should kill her. This desire to die is prefaced by an unbearable, tragicomic sense of her South African history. Shortly before her death, Mary peruses volumes of books celebrating the legacy of Cecil Rhodes, and she laughs long and bitterly, thinking absent-mindedly to herself, â€Å"But the young man [Moses] would save her† (199). As she lies down to sleep on the night of the murder, she â€Å"turned her face into the darkness of the pillows, but her eyes were alive with light, and against the light she saw a dark, waiting shape. †¦ Propelled by fear, but also by knowledge, she rose out of bed, not making a sound† (203). As Mary makes her way onto the veranda, â€Å"the trees stood still and waited† until finally Moses appears, and â€Å"at the sight of him, her emotions unexpectedly shifted, to create in her an extraordinary feeling of guilt, but towards him, to whom she had been disloyal, and at the bidding of the Englishman† (204). As she opens her mouth to apologize, Moses clasps one hand over her mouth to silence her and with the other hacks her head with a blunt instrument. â€Å"And then the bush avenged itself: that was her last thought†. Mary’s cognizance of the murder as one compounded by her own guilt and by vengeance, rather than unwarranted aggression, shows a strange ability to forgive her own murderer even as he performs the act that she knows he is compelled to do. Charles Sarvan argues that Mary’s death has religious and apocalyptic overtones in that she decides â€Å"to offer herself as a sacrifice which will both atone for past crimes and hasten the coming of the new order†. Well if it came down to forensics it would be clear that the killer was Moses. But Mary Turner was long gone before Moses took a machete to her. This begs the question then of what really killed Mary Turner? In my opinion, I would argue that the real killer was the African outback. Lessing’s protagonist Mary spent her whole life in the African colony, and yet she never seems to fully belong. She spends the first half of her life in the town where she is blissfully and naively happy. Yet, even in the town Mary remains an outsider. Mary belongs to an English community and therefore must conform to English standards for women. She loves England (despite never having been there) so she performs her civic duty and jumps into a marriage with a poor farmer living deep in the African outback. A marriage in town is nothing like a marriage in the country and Mary quickly realizes it. She is uprooted from the life she immensely enjoyed in town and is planted into a decrepit farm house that is falling apart around her. The misery she feels about her living conditions is no match for the true conditions of Africa she sees for the first time. In the outback, Mary is confronted with the reality of colonialism- the natives- and she can not mentally or physically stand it. When the natives are far away working for Dick, Mary can at least barely tolerate living on the farm. However, when confronted with the natives in her home she unravels. In the African outback this idea of British civilization falls to pieces because as Sarah De Mal says in her article â€Å"Doris Lessing, Feminism, and the Representation of Zimbabwe, â€Å"the omniscient narrator describes how the main protagonist feels displaced within colonial culture since her desires and dreams are at odds with the prevailing values and rules of this culture† (De Mal 36). What Mary dreams of is a life in town, away from the natives working as a typist in an ordinary office living with other white colonists. Her reality is far removed from this as she is living with the true colonials whom she resents and despises as being the â€Å"other†. And when this â€Å"other† characterized by Moses confronts her and invades her space, her mind and her body deteriorates rapidly until she resembles merely a shell of a human being. Moses is a direct confrontation of the fantasy Mary has. She envisions herself as an English rose whose purity must not be tainted by the black man. Yet when Moses physically touches her and confronts her about her attitude towards him, Mary falls apart. By these two acts, Moses has killed her fantasy by forcing her to see him as a human being. Mary can no longer pretend she has superiority over him as a white woman. It is this realization that kills her for after she submits the Moses’ humanity she loses all sanity. Moses only finished the process by ending her physical life. I believe all in all Moses was the end of Mary. However, it was not his machete that killed her. What killed her was his which is the reality of the colony and the people who lived there. Her fantasy of being a true and righteous English woman could not hold up against the vastness of Africa and this reality broke her spirit and left her as empty as she had envisioned the African outback to be. Conclusion Mary Turner is not able to grasp her own identity because her identity is compounded by the overpowering colonial and gender narratives in which she is knit. The colonial ruling power dictates that she as an individual has to behave according to the terms imposed by her imperial identity. Even her disintegration must be silenced because it threatens the whole authority of the dominant category. Mary fails in her journey of self-quest but she is the heroine of this novel because she reverses the social, racial and cultural orders of her society though unconsciously. As in Katherine Fishburn‘s words, she is as an â€Å"accidental rebel† who at least dissolves the dichotomous orders and consequently reveals for the reader the fear and falsity of the white civilization whose indictment is the division between privileged white and the dispossessed black. (Fishburn 4) Sima Aghazadeh quotes, â€Å"by her death, Mary paves the way for the native (Africa/Moses) to take a subject ive action†. She cannot guarantee her own identity since she does not have any antidote to loneliness, poverty and gender limitations, but she foreshadows a change in Imperial attitudes. The Grass is Singing, through its circular narration from a collective perspective of Mary’s murder to an individual account of her personal life, completes an indictment of its central character’s life in the center of a closed white colonial society in southern Africa in which the linked discourses of class, race, and gender bring her into exclusion, isolation, break down, and finally to death. Mary’s failure of individuation is the failure of patriarchy and colonial culture to satisfy its female member to find fulfillment within this status quo. References: * Fishburn, Katherine. â€Å"The Manichcan Allegories of Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing†, Research in Literature, Vol.25, No.4 Winter I994. * Wang, Joy. â€Å"White postcolonial guilt in Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing.† Research in African Literatures 40.3 (2009): 37+. Academic OneFile.Web. 15 Sep. 2012. * Fishburn, Katherine. â€Å"The Manichean Allegories of Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing.† Research in African Literatures 25.4 (1994): 1-15. * Postcolonial African Writers- A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook – Pushpa Naidu Parekh, Siga Fatima Jagne – Google Books * http://www.dorislessing.org/biography.html * Doris Lessing – Writer – -The Grass Is Singing- – Web of Stories – http://www.webofstories.com/play/53470?o=MS * The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing – http://www.dorislessing.org/the.html * The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing – Review – Life and death in South Africa – http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/printed-books/the-grass-is-singing-doris-

Clearwater Technologies

Clear Water Technologies : A Case Study QTX is a sales support server that allows multiple users to simultaneously maintain their sales account databases. These databases covers contact information, quote histories, copies of all communications, and links to the customer's corporate database for shipping records. The basic QTX package consists of a processor, chassis, hard drive, and network interface, with a manufacturing cost of $500. The package provided simultaneous access for 10 users to the system, referred to as 10 â€Å"seats. Each seat represented one accessing employee. The product line consisted of 10-, 20-, and 30-seat capacity QTX servers. Each incremental 10 seats required $200 of additional manufacturing cost. Yearly sales were at the rate of 4,000 units across all sizes. In initial sales, approximately 30 percent of customers bought the 30-seat unit, 40 percent bought the 20-seat unit, and 30 percent bought the 10-seat unit. Customers who needed more than 30 seats ty pically went to competitors servicing the medium-to-large company market segment.Clearwater set a per-seat manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) that decreased with higher quantity seat purchases, reflecting the customer perception of declining manufacturing cost per seat. Clearwater also saw this as advantageous because it encouraged customers to maximize their initial seat purchase. Clearwater typically sold its products through value-added resellers (VARs). A VAR was typically a small local firm that provided sales and support to end users.The value added by these resellers was that they provided a complete solution to the end user/customer from a single point of purchase and had multiple information technology products available from various vendors. Using VARs reduced Clearwater's sales and service expense significantly and increased its market coverage. These intermediaries operated in several steps. First, the VAR combined the QTX from Clearwater with database software from other suppliers to form a turnkey customer solution.Second, the VAR loaded the software with customer-specific information and linked it to the customer's existing sales history databases. Finally, the VAR installed the product at the customer's site and trained the customer on its use. Clearwater sold the QTX to resellers at a 50 percent discount from the MSRP, allowing the VARs to sell to the end user at or below the MSRP. The discount allowed the VARs room to negotiate with the customer and still achieve a profit. The Upgrade Initially, the expectation had been that the 30-seat unit would be the largest volume seller.In order to gain economies of scale in manufacturing, reduce inventory configurations, and reduce engineering design and testing expense to a single assembly, Clearwater decided to manufacture only the 30-seat server with the appropriate number of seats â€Å"enabled† for the buyer. Clearwater was effectively â€Å"giving away† extra memory and ab sorbing the higher cost rather than manufacturing the various sizes. If a customer wanted a 10-seat server, the company shipped a 30-seat capable unit, with only the requested 10 seats enabled through software configuration.The proposed upgrade was, in reality, allowing customers to access capability already built into the product. Clearwater knew that many original customers were ready to use the additional capacity in the QTX. Some customers had added seats by buying a second box, but because the original product contained the capability to expand by accessing the disabled seats, Clearwater saw an opportunity to expand the product line and increase sales to a captive customer base. Customers could double or triple their seat capacity by purchasing either a 10- or a 20-seat upgrade and getting an access code to enable the additional number of seats.No other competitor offered the possibility of an upgrade. To gain additional seats from the competitor, the customer purchased and ins talled an additional box. Because customers performed a significant amount of acceptance testing, which they would have to repeat before switching brands, the likelihood of changing brands to add capacity was low. The objective of this morning's meeting was to set the price for the two upgrades. As QTX product manager Rob Erickson stopped to collect his most recent notes from his desk, he reflected: What a way to start the week.Every time we have one of these meetings, senior management only looks at margins. I spent the whole weekend cranking numbers and I'm going in there using the highest margin we've got today. How can anybody say that's too low? He grabbed his notes, calculator, and coffee and headed down the hall. From the other wing of the building, financial analyst Hillary Hanson was crossing the lobby towards the conference room. She was thinking about the conversation she had late Number MSRP to VAR Unit Unit of Seats End User Price Cost* Margin** 10 $8,000 $4,000 $500 87 . 5% 20 $14,000 $7,000 $700 90. 0% 30 $17,250 $8,625 $900 89. % TABLE 1 *Unit cost reflects additional $200 for memory capability for each additional 10 seats. **Margin _ VAR Price _ Unit Cost VAR Price Number Original Original Actual Actual of Seats Unit Cost Unit Margin Unit Cost Unit Margin 10 $500 87. 5% $900 77. 5% 20 $700 90. 0% $900 87. 1% 30 $900 89. 6% $900 89. 6% TABLE 2 Friday afternoon with her boss, Alicia Fisher, Clearwater's CFO. They had been discussing this upcoming meeting and Alicia had given Hillary very clear instructions. I want you to go in and argue for the highest price possible. We should absolutely maximize the profitability on the upgrade.The customers are already committed to us and they have no alternative for an upgrade but with us. The switching costs to change at this point are too high since they've already been trained in our system and software. Let's go for it. Besides, we really need to show some serious revenue generation for the year-end repor t to the stockholders. Hillary had not actually finalized a number. She figured she could see what the others proposed and then argue for a significant premium over that. She had the CFO's backing so she could keep pushing for more. From the parking lot, Brian James, the district sales manager, headed for the rear entrance.He, too, was thinking about the upcoming meeting and anticipating a long morning. I wish marketing would realize that when they come up with some grandiose number for a new product, sales takes the hit in the field. It's a killer to have to explain to customers that they have to pay big bucks for something that's essentially built in. It's gonna be even tougher to justify on this upgrade. At least with the QTX, we have something the buyer can see. It's hardware. With the upgrade, there isn't even a physical product. We're just giving customers a code to access the capability that's already built into the machine.Telling customers that they have to pay several thou sand dollars never makes you popular. If you think about it, that's a lot of money for an access code, but you won't hear me say that out loud. Maybe I can get them to agree to something reasonable this time. I spent the weekend working this one out, and I think my logic is pretty solid. Price Proposals Once everyone was settled in the conference room, Rob spoke first: I know we have to come up with prices for both the 10-seat and 20-seat upgrades, but to keep things manageable, let's discuss the 20-seat price first.Once that number is set, the 10-seat price should be simple. Because the margin on the 30-seat unit is the highest in the line, I think we should use that as the basis to the price for the upgrade. He went to a whiteboard to show an example: If a customer is upgrading from a 10-seat unit to a 30-seat unit, they are adding two steps of capacity costing $200 each to us, or $400. $400 /1-0. 90 _ $4,000 to the reseller, and $8,000 to the end user. We keep the margin structur e in place at the highest point in the line. The customer gets additional capacity, and we keep our margins consistent.He sat down feeling pleased. He had fired the first shot, had been consistent with the existing margin structure, and had rounded up the highest margin point in the line. Brian looked at Rob's calculations and commented: I think that's going to be hard for the customer to see without us giving away information about our margins, and we don't want to do that, since they are pretty aggressive to begin with. However, I think I have solved this one for us. I've finally come up with a simple, fair solution to pricing the upgrade that works for us and the customers. He walked over to a whiteboard and grabbed a marker:If we assume an existing 10-seat customer has decided to upgrade to 30-seat capability, we should charge that customer the difference between what the buyer has already paid and the price of the new capacity. So . . . New 30-seat unit $17,250 Original 10-seat unit $8,000 Price for 20-seat upgrade $9,250 It's consistent with our current pricing for the QTX. It's fair to the customer. It's easy for the customer to understand and it still makes wads of money for us. It also is easy for the customer to see that we're being good to them. If they bought a 20-seat box in addition to the 10-seat box they already have, it would be costing them more.He wrote: New 20-seat unit $14,000 A new unit provides customers with redundancy by having two boxes, which they might want in the event of product failure, but the cost is pretty stiff. Upgrading becomes the logical and affordable option. Hillary looked at the numbers and knew just what she was going to do. That all looks very logical, but I don't see that either of you has the company's best interests at heart. Brian, you just want a simple sale that your sales people and the customers will buy into, and Rob, you are charging even less than Brian. We need to consider the revenue issue as well.These people have already bought from us; are trained on our hardware and software and don't want to have to repeat the process with someone else. It would take too long. They've got no desire to make a change and that means we've got them. The sky is really the limit on how much we can charge them because they have no real alternative. We should take this opportunity to really go for the gold, say $15,000 or even $20,000. We can and should be as aggressive as possible. All three continued to argue the relative merits of their pricing positions, without notable success.Jefferies listened to each of them and after they finished, he turned to a clean whiteboard and took the marker. I've done some more thinking on this. In order to meet the needs of all three departments, there are three very important points that the price structure for these upgrades must accomplish: 1. The pricing for the upgrades shouldn't undercut the existing pricing for the 30-seat QTX. 2. We want to motivate our buye rs to purchase the maximum number of seats at the initial purchase. A dollar now is better than a potential dollar later. We never know for sure that they will make that second purchase.If we don't do this right, we're going to encourage customers to reduce their initial purchase. They'll figure they can add capacity whenever, so why buy it if they don't need it. That would kill upfront sales of the QTX. 3. We don't want to leave any revenue on the table when buyers decide to buy more capacity. They are already committed to us and our technology and we should capitalize on that, without totally ripping them off. Therefore, while Hillary says â€Å"the sky's the limit,† I think there is a limit and we need to determine what it is and how close we can come to it.If we assume that those are the objectives, none of the prices you've put together thus far answers all three of those criteria. Some come close, but each one fails. See if you can put your heads together and come to a consensus price that satisfies all three objectives. OK? Heads nodded and with that, Jefferies left the conference room. The three remaining occupants looked at one another. Brian got up to wipe the previous numbers off the whiteboards and said: OK, one more time. If our numbers don't work, why not and what is the right price for the 20-seat upgrade?

Infotech is a publicly owned company that provides data processing, information and information technology services to customers The WritePass Journal

Infotech is a publicly owned company that provides data processing, information and information technology services to customers Introduction Infotech is a publicly owned company that provides data processing, information and information technology services to customers IntroductionINFOTECH’S MAIN KM STRENGH ANDWEAKNESSESCONLUSION  CONCLUSIONRelated Introduction INFOTECH is a publicly owned company that provides data processing, information, and information technology services to customers in the public and private sectors in South America. It is one the largest information technology services companies one of the top non-financial companies in the region. Its 1999 revenues were about $480 million. It operates as a private enterprise while proving critical services to national, state, and local government. This mandate means that Infotech must seek efficiency, effectiveness, and quality in the delivery of services to its mandated public customers. In addition to the data processing and infrastructure management services that it provides, Infotech was involved in the development for the national government, public key facilities for secure online commerce, and a secure online export sales portal. Infotech also has a latitude to develop revenue through delivery of products and services to a new customers. The company has to be proven adaptability and entrepreneurial in an environment of scarce financial resources. It has undergone significant downsizing in the last fifteen years, passing from 22,000 to 8,600 employees. To achieve greater customers’ responsiveness and increase added value, in 1995 infotech recognized into units dedicated to business management, infrastructure management, and corporate delivery process. Knowledge management practices are considered key to success delivery of the services, and infotech’s executives have given high visibility to Knowledge management. Infotech has sought to determine what it knows and what it needs to know, who process the knowledge and who is need to use it.and how the knowledge can be shared within the organization and with customers and suppliers. It has undertaken to map organizational knowledge and competences, identify best practices and communities of practice, and diffuse knowledge internally through teaching   and communication. The result of the practice has shown that Infotech has mastered several of the formal technology tools, discourse, and organizational features and processes of knowledge management, but it still faces challenges regarding the development of the supportive internal culture and internal business processes necessary to sustain the knowledge management capability or drive demonstrable benefits from it. Appraisal of Infotech’s main KM needs underlines the importance, to this organization, of development initiatives to institute cultural change within the organization, to improve the strategic planning and investment processes and asset valuation metrics, and to strengthen internal knowledge transfer processes, including those relating to knowledge management practices. INFOTECH’S MAIN KM STRENGH AND WEAKNESSES INFOTECH managers made a practice on the knowledge’s management capability,as seen by it’s managers. INFOTECH main KM strength, according to its managers, lie in its ability to â€Å"learn with the environment† (learn from interaction with custometrs and suppliers), as seen by these managers. Is also on the quality of the organization’s information infrastructure. Infotech’s managers consider that the firm’s KM shortcomings are areas having to do with culture, strategy, KM roles, HR management, and performance measurement. In the next part we have explained the INfotech main capabilities along each organization dimension of knowledge management. Below we explain a table in which there are six or seven statements representing the greatest strength and weaknesses as determined by the panels of Infotech managers. CHARLES H.DAVIS AND FERNANDO PACHEO STRENGHS: Table : average strength of infotech’s main KM capability in seven dimensions (3=strong, 2=medium, 1=weak Learning with the environment 2.3 Information systems 2.3 Management of human resource 1.9 Organizational structure and roles 1.9 Senior management vision and strategy 1.9 Organization cultures and values 1.8 Measuring results 1.8 Learning with the environment, as shown in the table, same wise the Infotech managers consider that it has developed strong competencies in using its upstream, downstream, and lateral relationships with customers, suppliers, and allienc partners to improve its value proposition. On the other hand there are clear limits to Infotech’s strategic positioning within its value network, Infotech appears not to work well with the competitors, nor does it learn from its employees ; non work-related activities, Moreover it does not seek out demanding customers, thereby depriving itself of learning opportunities. TABLE: Learning with the environment: Infotech’s main KM strengths and weaknesses (3=strong, 2=medium, 1=weak) We frequently partners with suppliers to improve the value we deliver to the customers 3.0 Our product development process explicitly includes our customers 3.0 We form alliance with organization that complement our skills sets as an alternative to doing everything 3.0 We view collaborating with competitors to grow the industry as a good thing. 1.6 We encourage the people to think about how their non-work activities could benefit the organization 1.2 We may refuse to work for people if doing the work does not build knowledge that we can use in other ways. 1.0 INFORMATION SYSTEM†¦..Infotech’s managers regard the organization’s IT infrastructure as a source of strength in knowledge management. Infotech information system’s mission, Infotech personal are positive about IT tools, however, Infotech’s informations system are largely unidirectional. They deliver information to the users, but it is awkward and inconvenient to make contributions to infotech’s repositories of knowledge content. Processes   for the contributing to the organizational stock of knowledge are not well defined and are not a part of the normal work routine. Established the routines involve unidirectional distribution from the central repository. Moreover, it is not clear who is responsible for maintain the distribution knowledge in Infotech or what the incentives for sharing knowledge might be. TABLE:3 Information system: Infotech’s main KM strength and weaknesses People in our organization can use the information they get to improve their work 3.0 We view the information technology as a tool to help us get our work done 3.0 We acknowledge the individual contribution to the organization’s repositories are seamlessly integrated into work 1.4 Processes for contribution knowledge to the organization linking it to the original author 1.4 Management of human resources, Infotech’s members, including it’s IT professionals are the member of it’s a collective bargaining unit. The firm has developed a very strong orientation towards deskilling and redeploying its employees before hiring new employees or downsizing its work force. These features of Infotech are regarded as a strength. However, Infotech has serious shortcomings when its come to fostering learning among the employees. The training that they offers is also a strength of it. A better information service is also a major strength of Infotech. TABLE:   WEAKNESSES When a new opportunities arises we first try to restore our existing skills before we hire a lot of new people 3.0 Before we terminate the people ,we try to determine if their skills and expertise can be used elsewhere. 3.0 we prefer to use the resources and likes we have in places when testing a new business situations. 3.0 We used the   work related games and simulation to think more clearly about our business situation 1.0 People who refused to share knowledge do not get certain organizational benefits 1.0 The performance appraisal system recognizes and rewards knowledge sharing behavior. 1.0 The organization has legitimate sharing knowledge by giving people time to do it. 1.0 Organization structure and roles: Infotech managers thinks that the firm is capable of targeting resources on groups of specialists as needed. It is also strong in moving people into face-to-face situations n order to transfer tactics knowledge and in general infotech’s employees finds its virtual offices capable of well developed. In other words they find it relatively easy to access the informations and documents that they need for their work, wherever they happen to be. On the other hand infotech need to expand service of delivery by its informations specialists, especially with respect to information that is outside the organization. The firm,s knowledge management roles need to be better artichecture. Meeting are regarded as too structured to permit creative problem solving. CONLUSION The challenge faced by the infotech is to define a number of KM initiatives that addresses identified shortcomings and visibly accumulate KM capability within   the firm. On the basis of rapid appraisal reported here, a short list of KM initiatives might include documentation and sharing’s, via face-to-face meetings and through an intranet, of effective, in-place KM practices and processes in some areas of importance to the firm =, such as business development, human resource management, or information management. Formal knowledge management roles might be established within the firm. This might involve appointment of the chief knowledge officer or the establishment of KM design and implementations team, each charted with mandates and deliverable. Finally, it seems advisable for Infotech to develop strategic learning initiatives on the pilot basis, with a view of making them models for later initiatives. These strategic learning initiatives, in addition to their substantive goals, should aim to address the cultural and organizational features that are deemed to be hinder development of knowledge management capabilities in Infotech, such as incentives for knowledge sharingand consequences of failure. More generally, infotech needs to address the issues of internal cultural change, and and explore the ways to create and sustain cultural values that are supportive of new knowledge management practices and processes. 1-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   INNOVATION MANAGEMENT    A simple definition of innovation â€Å"Bringing New Ideas to Life† In its simple definition, innovation is coming up with ideas and bringing them to life. Hatching ideas is the â€Å"creative† part, and it’s essential. After all, no ideas, no chance for innovation, often, in common parlance, the words creativity and innovation are used interchangeably. They shouldn’t be, because while creativity implies coming up with ideas, it’s the â€Å"bringing the ideas to life† piece of this simple definition that makes innovation the distinct undertaking it is. PURPOSE OF INNOVATION Create new customer-perceived value To drive growth via innovation required that your ideas do something be benefit customers: create new values. Value encompasses the equality and uniqueness of the product and service , and the degree to which it satisfied the customers need or problem. Value is also the customer service and add-service provided as part of the sale, together with the price of the offering or service. The purpose of innovation is to create new customers-perceived value. If customers perceived value in your new offering, they’ll pay you for it. This is the challenge companies face with the respect to innovation : how do we develop ideas that intended to create new value for our customers? Before we address that question, we need to further differentiate the types and degrees of innovation. THREE TYPES OF INNOVATION There are three types of innovation that are: product, process, and strategy. In the highly   competitive, rapidly evolving environment of the 21st century, achieving rates of growth that are uncommon in your industry means that you must be able to manage innovation in these this three distinct arenas. Each arena is critical, and being adopt in only one of them is likely not sufficient to achieve the growth payoff from innovation. Lets take a careful look at these arenas. TYPE 1: PRODUCT INNOVATION Products has been traditionally been defined as tangibles, physical or raw material ranging from tooth past to steel beams, to computers to industrial adhesives, from jet aircraft to automobile to soybeans. All the objects around you at this moments that were manufactured by a company constitute products. But to confuse a matter bit, in recent years, service sector firms (healthcare, insurance, services, financial services, professional services, to name of few) have been begun to refer to their offerings as â€Å"product† as well. When Merrill Lynch introduced its highly successful cash management account in the early 1980’s this â€Å"product† vaulted this service company to the top of its industry. Adding to the breakdown in traditional boundaries, product manufacturers increasingly surround their products with services, for instance, when car manufacturing agent offer emergency roadside assistance. General motors sells cars, but customer buy certain of its automobiles with services as part of the deal. Onstar, an onboard global positioning satellite-enabled communication channels, gives GM customers the ability to know exactly where on the Earth they are and to summon emergency help if they need it. Despite the recent trend of services firms and manufacturing alike to use the term products to described their offerings, services and service businesses â€Å"product† tend to be different. Foremost among them, they can often be intangible as opposed to tangible and physical (an insurance policy as opposed to a snowboard). They also be tend to produced and consumed at the same time and to involve a higher degree of human involvement in their delivery (think health-care and hospitality). And they tend to be difficult or impossible to stop imitation through the use of patents. While there are differences , products, and services have been common traits, especially when it comes to the subject of innovation. We offer or used the term product to described the offering of both types of firms. And now for this definition: product/service innovation is the result of bargaining to life a new way to solve the customers problem that benefit the both the customers and sponsoring company. TYPE 2: PROCESS INNOVATION Process innovations increases bottom-line profitability, reduce costs, raise productivity, and increase the employee job satisfaction. The customers also benefits from this type of innovation by virtue of   a stronger, more consistent product or service value delivery. The unique trait about process innovations is that they are most often out of view of the customers; they are â€Å"back office† only when a firm’s processes fail to enable the firm to deliver the product or service expected does the customer become the aware of the luck of effective process. For manufacturing companies, processes innovations include such things as integrating new productds manufacturing methods and technologies that lead to advantage in cost , quickly, cycle time, development time, speed of delivery, or ability to mass-customized products, and services that are sold with those products. Such a innovation is simply important and will continue to be. Process innovations enable service firms to introduce â€Å"front office† customer service improvements and add new services, as well as new â€Å"product† that are visible to the customer. When fed-axe introduced its unique tracking system in 1986, customers was only a tiny wand, used by drivers to scane the packages. Yet while the rest of this sophisticated system was invisible, customers could â€Å"see† immediately that they could track now their packaging at every point from sender to receiver, and this added the value to their services experience and gave Federal Express a temporary advantage. Process innovation will continue to be vitally important to company growth for the simple reason that without the process excellence, product or strategy innovation is impossible to implement. Indeed, while thousands of books have been written about varying methods of process improvements (read, innovation), the innovation process, unlike say the product development process, is untrammeled territory. That’s why the innovation process itself is, in essence, the subject of this whole topic. TYPE 3: STRATEGY INNOVATION Strategy innovation is all about changing the current industry methods of creating customer value in order to meet newly emerging customers need, add additional value, and create new markets and new customers groups for the sponsoring company. In contrast to the processes innovations, which are behind   the scenes and largely unseen by   the customers, strategy innovation directly touches the customers. Strategy innovation results in new approaches to marketing or advertising your offerings, in introducing new sales methods, and in new approaches or enhancements to customers service or market positioning. Strategy innovation results when your firm changes the customers groups it targets and how it does goes to the market,   meaning how it distributes its offerings to the end consumers. A key element of strategy innovation is occurs when a firm decides to markets its existing products, services, or expertise to its existing customers groups. That’s what defend contractors Hughes Electronics did when it began its DirectTV division in the early 1990,s using its expertise with the satellite began its beaming cable channels and movies to home satellite dishes. More over commonly, when a firm such as a traditional retailer decides to additionally sell its wares via the web, that’s strategy innovation. Much of the highly visible innovation occurring in business today is strategy innovation, and much, but no means all of it involve the exploitation of new technology. Dell Computers very business model is a prime example of strategy innovation because it represents a dramatically different way of manufacturing and selling personal computers. Dell chose not to distributes its products through the then-standard channel   to whole sellers or resellers its products through the then-standard channel who sold to the retailers, who then sold to the end consumers. Instead Dell sold directly to end-consumers. Other innovation rouding out Dells contrary business model were strategic in nature as well: from the beginning, Dell did not manufacturer a single computer till it received a customers order, rather than creating an inventory of standardized products to be stored until sold in one warehouse or another. Similarly, firms ranging from EBay to Amazon.com represent strategy innovation when compared to the way their respective industries traditionally did business. While these and many other strategy innovations relied on technology to change the game, not all strategy innovation is based on technology. Southwest Airline was a strategy innovator in the airline business. Its business model is based on offering customers low fares in exchange for their giving up such amenities as reassigned seating, other value-added services- all aspects of Southwest’s business model that different from competitors. Price club retailing, a strategy innovation . category pioneered ware-house club retailing, a strategy†¦.. Category killers with names like office depot, home depot, staples, borders, pets mart, IKEA, and compUSA, all pioneered new business models in their time traditional merchants were caught flat- footed in the 1980s when Wal-Mart pioneered a new business model and customers began   voting for what they perceived to be a superior value proposition, killing off traditional competitors. Wal-Mart   and other offered everyday low pricing to lure customers with a perception of greater value. As a result of their success, many traditional department stores and merchants were forced out of business. NOT ALL INNOVATIONS JUMPED-START GROWTH Not all innovations in these three arenas accelerated growth to the same extent. The degree to which an innovation adds value or creates new value for customers is the degree to which it adds to a company’s bottom line. What innovation-adept companies strive for, in addition to ongoing processes that keep the pipeline full, are high-potential ideas in each of these arenas. The ideas that changes the rules of competition. Ideas that moves the growth needle! Not all innovations, of course, have an equal impact on customers, and certainly not on a company’s rate of growth or wealth-creating ability. All products, processes, and strategy innovations can be categorized further into three basics degree: incremental, substantial, and breakthrough. INCREMENTAL INNOVATION While small or even insignificant in degree of financial impact to the firms bottom line, incremental improvements can engender greater customer satisfaction increase the product or service efficiency and otherwise have positive impact. Similarly, process innovation of incremental degree increase productivity and lower cost for the firm. Incremental innovations have this in customer in common: they seldom require more than required changes in the customers or company behavior to implement. 3M’s introduction of new color post-it.not qualifies as an incremental product innovation, while post-it notes represented a breakthrough product innovation. Implementing a suggestion program required employees to change behavior very little since submitting ideas is optional. In the service sector, incremental innovation occurs when a hotel simplifies its guest check in producer a supermarket chain makes check approval easier than summoning the manager’ a bank redecorates its lobby; a retirement home upgrades its first class cabin to include fully reclining sleeper seats. SUBSTANTIAL INNOVATION Substantial innovation are mid-level in significance both to customers who benefit from them and to the sponsoring company that believe that they will significantly help the firm to grow and create   new wealth. Substantial innovation of the product or service variety fall short of being breakthrough   but enable and ensure that the organization meets or exceeds its goals to grow the business, increase market shares and lower its costsof doing the business (substantial level process innovation). Substantial improvement in your existing products or services or introducing new-to-company products and services represents significant improvement for the both the service providing company and for the customers. BREAKTHROGH INNOVATION New products services or alteration of your strategy that yield a significant increase in revenues and net profits are breakthrough innovations. It is impossible to define in dollars and cents how much revenues an idea must bring to the top line to classify as a breakthrough because it depends on the size of your company and what it takes to significantly growth. So breakthrough must defined but need to be if you are serious about going after them. When we are at chemicals division of royal dutch/shell the answer was $100 million or more to the top line. Process improvement that generates a significant breakthrough in costs or an equivalent increase in product out put are also breakthrough. Breakthrough inventions can sometimes leads to breakthrough the level innovations for numerous companies. Breakthrough inventions are giant leaps forward for human kind that lack proprietary parents and may not provide â€Å"first move advantage† to a single company, but instead spawn an entire new industry. The automobile innovation of electricity, the discovery of penicillin, the internet, and the world wide web are all breakthrough inventions. While the automobile was a breakthrough in how   people transported themselves from place to place, no single company could claim to have benefited exclusive from having invented it or had the legally the protected right to the market. And it’s the same with the internet, television, and lots of other products. On the other hand, some of the products, services, processes and business models do have propriety parents and simultaneously give temporary monopoly to the sponsoring firm- it is this   type of innovation that focus on in this whole discussion. TWO BREAKTHROGH EXAMPLE When Gillette, facing intense competition from cheap disposable razors, decide to develop its sensors shaving in the early 1990s, the product became a breakthrough immediately. Radical innovation? Hardly. The market was familiar- men with whiskers. The product category was too familiar. The innovation came into the strategic decision to go-up-market and not compete on price. And it came into the superior   value it delivers to the users and difficult to copy and marketing campaign that was the result of a billion dollar investment.when Volkswagoen decided to lunch an updated, restyled the version of its beetle. That has been discontinued in North American markets due to an inability to meet strict emission standard in the 1970s, the results was an instant breakthrough for Volkswagen AG. Radical innovation? Hardly. Obvious moves for these two companies? Not at the   CONCLUSION Only companies that can constantly brings imaginative, value added new products, services and value propositions to the market will survive and grow in a rapid changing economy. Yet, most companied today are frustrated by their ability to turn ideas into profitable realities. Their â€Å"innovation† process is almost an oxymoron. In the reality it is ad hoc, piecemeal,seat of the pants and heavily reliance on happy accidents. This is decidedly not the case at a small but a rapidly-growing  Ã‚   of companies. In deriving the growth through innovation, acclaimed author and consultant Robert B.Truck takes you behind the scenes inside the 23 innovation vanguard companies to benchmark how they have revamped their innovation approaches for growth profit and competitive advantage. Driving Growth through innovation doesn’t just described their leading edge methods. it show you step-by-step, how to map out   and implement your own 21st century innovation .

Masters Dissertation Brief Overview

Masters Dissertation Brief Overview As compared to other graduate requirements writing a dissertation or thesis does not have any clearly defined limits, which generally means its content and scope are up to you. If you work systematically and really enjoy the topic, the results will be outstanding. What Is a Masters Dissertation A Masters dissertation is traditionally the final project a graduate student must undertake to complete requirements for earning a Masters degree. A formal document to be submitted to one’s professor, advisor or academic instructor, this kind of dissertation requires thorough research and following a rigid set of guidelines established by the academic institution that the student is attending.  As each academic program varies, so will each student’s topic, the research, and the style of Masters Dissertations vary. Since the main purpose of a  graduate school for a student is to become proficient in a given topic or subject, the Masters Dissertation has the student completing original research and projects that, by the time he has earned his Masters degree, will have made him a sort of an expert in the given field. DISSERTATION WRITING Completing one involves the student setting research objectives; it takes finding, organizing and analyzing pertinent primary and secondary data, as well as scholarly, credible literature written on the subject, while devising an appropriate research methodology and drawing on published literature on the field which the student is exploring; and, ultimately, using this information to draw his own conclusions. Writing a Masters Dissertation While a doctoral dissertation (see dissertation) requires a student to conduct research and contribute something new and undiscovered in one’s field, the Masters Dissertation has the Masters degree candidate performing research on a specific subject to demonstrate his in-depth knowledge and understanding of a certain subject. Usually, this subject is not broad, but the product of a concentrated effort with a specific, narrowed focus on an issue, or era, subject, topic or person, etc. The students can best understand the Masters Dissertation as an extensive research paper that is meant to incorporate all they have learned and mastered throughout their experience in the Masters program. It instructs the students to use the research of scholars on a subject to provide their own analysis on and discoveries of a topic, demonstrating to the instructor their vast assortment of intellectual, academic and real-world skills as well as their knowledge in organizing and conducting a thoroughly written and researched academic paper. Generally, to be a success and be accepted by the professor, a paper of this sort needs to have very specific components. Its chapters should consist of an introduction, a literature review, justification of the informative data incorporated into paper for analysis, research methodology, an analysis of the data and, lastly, a conclusive section drawing it all together.  Ultimately, a dissertation of this genre aims to bind together all the aforementioned elements to closely examine the bigger picture at hand; it has one seeking answers and their explanations  while finding comparisons to other notions and arriving at generalizations that could potentially be used to extend a theory. The Masters Dissertation Aims for the Student to: 1. Implement theories, concepts, and notions that one has learned while attending the program 2. Demonstrate one’s independent investigation of topic he/she has decided to study in depth 3. Blend previously understood and accepted theories and suggest alternatives to them 4. Prove the ability to define, design, produce and complete an academically rigorous research project 5. Understand and demonstrate the knowledge of the relationships between the theoretical concepts taught in the Masters-level course and their real-world applications 6. Demonstrate evidence of the critical and holistic knowledge and a thorough understanding of the chosen subject – one in which they are working to exceed 7. Prove he/she possesses the appropriate knowledge and understanding beyond the graduate level and has obtained a level of scope and depth beyond what he/she has been taught in the classroom; the Masters Dissertation should prove a student to be an expert in the given fields. DISSERTATION WRITING SERVICE If you are working on a masters dissertation and need help with it, or if you are just planning to start working on it and dont know how to do it,  we are happy to assist. We have provided academic assistance to hundreds of MA/MSc students and have developed expertise in effective dissertation writing. Our writers are experts in what they do. In addition, we will assign your task to the writers with respective background and experience. This will result in your masters dissertations proper language, formatting, recent literature and zero plagiarism. We guarantee that you will enjoy your customer experience at !