Saturday, August 31, 2019

Psychology of law

Even though psychological region is the primary cause of police-induced false confessions, individuals differ In their ability to withstand interrogation pressure and thus in their susceptibility to making false confessions. All other things being equal, those who are highly suggestible or compliant are more likely to confess falsely. Interrogative suggestibility tends to be heightened by sleep deprivation, fatigue, and drug or alcohol withdrawal. Individuals who are highly compliant tend to be conflict avoidance, acquiescent, and eager to please others, especially authority figures.With these coercive tactics, the police play on these weaknesses and pray on the Individuals. This is a problem even if the individual is in fact guilty but is much more of a problem when the individual is innocent and gives a false confession. Authorities. Researchers and the media have focused a growing awareness of incidences of coerced false confessions, as well as the associated personal and legal im plications involved. The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal clinic that assists those wrongfully convicted of crimes, claims that 8% of wrongful convictions are due o forced confessions prompted by police.Consequently, measures have been taken to try and reduce their frequency. There are many aspects in which coercive tactics are problematic but for the sake of this essay I will focus solely on its leading to false confessions. In the past two decades, hundreds of convicted prisoners have been exonerated by DNA and non-DNA evidence, revealing that police-induced false confessions are a leading cause of wrongful conviction of the innocent. Although the prevalence rate is unknown, recent analyses reveal that 20 to 25% of prisoners exonerated by DNA had confessed to police.In the Central Park Jogger case, for example, all five Juveniles falsely confessed after lengthy unrecorded Interrogations In which they were yelled at, lied to, threatened, and promised Immunity In exchange for t heir admissions to participating in the assault and rape. In 15 to 20 percent of the DNA cases, police-induced false confessions were the primary cause of the wrongful conviction. Once detectives misclassifying an innocent person as a guilty suspect, they often subject him to an customarily interrogation. Getting a confession becomes particularlyI OFF profile cases in which there is great pressure on police detectives to solve the crime, there is no other source of potential evidence to be discovered, and typically there is no credible evidence against an innocent but misclassified suspect. It is perhaps not surprising that most documented false confessions occur in homicides and high- profile cases. In these cases the police have the capability of being very coercive, which in turn can cause false confessions. Once the interrogation commences, the primary cause of police-induced false confession is psychologically coercive police ethos.Psychological coercion can be defined in two w ays: police use of interrogation techniques that are regarded as inherently coercive in psychology and law, or police use of interrogation techniques that, cumulatively, cause a suspect to perceive that he has no choice but to comply with the interrogators' demands. Usually these amount to the same thing. Psychologically coercive interrogation techniques include some examples, such as deprivations (of food, sleep, water, or access to bathroom facilities), incommunicado interrogation, and induction of extreme exhaustion and fatigue.In the modern era, however, these techniques are rare in domestic police interrogations. Instead, when today's police interrogators employ psychologically coercive techniques, they usually consist of (implicit or express) promises of leniency and threats of harsher treatment. As Offset and Leo have written, â€Å"the modern equivalent to the rubber hose is the indirect threat communicated through pragmatic implication†. Threats and promises can take a variety of forms, and they are usually repeated, developed, and elaborated over the ours of the interrogation.Most documented false confessions in recent decades have been directly caused by or have involved promises or threats. Another form of psychological coercion, causing a suspect to perceive that he has no choice but to comply with the wishes of the interrogator, is not specific to any one technique but may be the cumulative result of the interrogation methods as a whole. If one understands the psychological structure and logic of contemporary interrogation, it is not difficult to see how it can produce this effect.The custodial environment and hysterical confinement are intended to isolate and disembowel the suspect. Interrogation is designed to be stressful and unpleasant, and it is more stressful and unpleasant the more intense it becomes and the longer it lasts. Interrogation techniques are meant to cause the suspect to perceive that his guilt has been established beyon d any conceivable doubt, that no one will believe his claims of innocence, and that by continuing to deny the detectives' accusations he will only make his situation (and the ultimate outcome of the case against him) much worse.The suspect may perceive that he has no choice but to comply with the detectives' wishes, because he is fatigued, worn down, or simply sees no other way to escape an intolerably stressful experience. Some suspects come to believe that the only way they will be able to leave is if they do what the detectives say. Others comply because they are led to believe that it is the only way to avoid a feared outcome (e. G. , homosexual rape in prison). When a suspect perceives that he has no choice but to comply, his resultant compliance and confession are, by definition, involuntary and the product of coercion.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Six Sigma for Sustainability in Multinational Organizations

Six Sigma For Sustainability In Multinational Organizations Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Six Sigma For Sustainability In Multinational Organizations Abdullah AlSagheer, Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, Dubai UAE ABSTRACT The Six Sigma model provides various kinds of sustainability to companies in terms of quality enhancement, zero defect level, market share enhancement, optimal production level and financial returns. Multinational companies are more orientated toward impl ementation of Six Sigma than small scale locally held companies.Numerous larger companies have so far implemented Six Sigma including 3M, Caterpillar, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Amazon. com, DHL, SGL group, Dell, Ford Motor Company, DuPont, McGraw Hi ll Companies and HSBC group. Implementation of Six Sigma requires considerable cost and effort in terms of human resource training and reformulation of business processes. This study is an attempt to find what kind of sustainability motivates multinational companies to invest in Six Sigma. Sustainability identified includes social sustainability, environmental sustainability, and economic sustainability.With the aid of interviews, a constant comparison study is conducted in order to find the most preva lent type of sustainability offered by Six Sigma. A sample is drawn from multinational companies which have already implemented Six Sigma in their operations. The findings suggest that multinational companies implement Six Sigma in order to attain econom ic sustainability through various means such as market share, customer base, and social sustainability. Keywords: Six Sigma; sustainability; multinationals; economic sustainability; zero defect level; financial sustainabilityINTRODUCTION T he world is witnessing a reformed shape of business, an approach more focused on quality and customer care. The traditional concept of supplier orientation has shifted to customer orientation and traditional mean ing of quality has also changed. Quality management, total quality management, zero defect level, lean management, continuous improvement and Six Sigma have evolved over the period of time to meet quality requirements of customers. Each having a slighter different and updated focus of quality, Six S igma is the most advance approach.Six Sigma is a quality management initiative that takes the methodological approach based on data attempting to eliminate the defects to minimize standard deviation to desired level of quality (Six Sigma, 2010). The study is focused to find sustainability that Six Sigma brings in multinationals. Small businesses, due to their small scale and low organized processes confront difficulties while implementing six sigma processes. Present study finds the sustainability that six sigma provides to larger multinational organizations in terms of society, environment and financial return.Background Of Study Initiated by Motorola, Six Sigma has largely been adopted by number of multinational, larger scale companies. A few to mentioned includes 3M, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Amazon. com, DHL, SGL group, Dell, Ford Motor company, DuPont, McGraw Hill Companies, HSBC group, United States Army and many others (Gupta, 2005). It is pertinent to notice that mostly multinational an d larger companies have adopted Six Sigma (Wiele, Iwaarden and Power, 2010).Literature and actual implementation of Six Sigma largely reflects the fact that multinational companies are more inclined towards adoption of Six Sigma as it produces multifacete d sustainability. Core reasons of this adoption is that multinational afford higher cost of training, higher technical expertise requirement and more advance processes (Gupta, 2005).  © 2011 The Clute Institute 7 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Statement Of The Research ProblemMultinational organizations adopts six sigma as it offer them sustainability and diversity however , it is important to learn what type of sustainability does six sigma provide to the companies. The core research question to be addressed is what kind of sustainability is largely provided by S ix Sigma in multinational companies. The core question is supported by several secondary questions such as is it in terms of financial success, corporate social responsibility, market share or business? s repute for best practices? Does the core objective of Six Sigma is to bring financial success?How companies define sustainability and what do they want to achieve through Six Sigma? Purpose And Significance Of The Study The study is aimed to drill down into concept of sustainability provided by Six Sig ma. It is important to learn how quality management and advanced quality approaches are helping companies to improve their performance and efficiency. The study is a guideline for companies that have not ventured for Six Sigma. Many multinational companies such as IBM, Microsoft and Royal Dut ch Shell are using their customized quality approach (Schwandt and Marquardt, 2000).The study will ardently provide a basis of comparison between Six Sigma companies and customized quality approaches for future researc h. Moreover, it is significant from Six Sigma companies view point by looking into possible sustainability that Six Sigma can add to their businesses. Review Of The Literature A wide variety of literature is present which draws on Six Sigma, sustainabil ity and sustainability brought by Six Sigma in multinational companies in different perspectives. Six Sigma has a history of twenty four years and theorists have widely discussed its different aspects.The literature initially defines how Six Sigma works f or multinational companies and what the term sustainability ideally reflects. In later part, the literature reviews the sustainability actually brought by Six Sigma in companies and the core aim of adopting Six Sigma in different companies. Six Sigma For Quality Manag ement Six Sigma is highly effective implementation of proven quality principles and techniques. The approach works for virtually error free business performance. In Six Sigma, the company? s performance is measured by the sigma level of businesses process (Pyzdek and Keller, 2009).An approach focused on establishing world class performance bench marks provides road map for attaining zero error level. Apparently Six Sigma is associated with the enhancing quality of good and services, nevertheless, it brings efficiency and effectiveness in processes throughout the organization (Truscott, 2003). Six Sigma approach marvelously improves quality as it objectively looks into quality measurement. Henderson and Evans (2000) McCarty and Fisher (2007) stated that Six Sigma make measurement possible through its multi dimensional statistical model.The model is primarily focused on three aspects i -e sigma statistics, sigma measure and performance benchmark however no element specifically identif ies the le vel of sustainability (Truscott, 2009). Turscott (2009) further exemplifies the Six Sigma implementation by looking at following daily life examples: Process sigma value 2 3 4 5 6 Source: Truscott (2009) 8 Table 1: Six Sigma Implementation from Daily Life Expectation of Time without electricity 207 h 45 h 4h 9 min 8 sec Aircraft accidents 8 per 10 flights 24 per 100 flights 25 per 1000 flights 9 per 10,000 flights 12 per million flights 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Six Sigma works on principles of continuous improvement; Coronado and Antony (2002) resembles the Six Sigma as a loop which begins with defining the goals of improvement activity i -e benchmarking of quality services and leads to measuring of existing syste m. In Six Sigma, measuring the existing system is often termed as gap analysis (Antony, 2006). The next component of Six Sigma loop works with identifying the ways to remove the gap and i mproving the present system (Thareja, 2006).If Six Sigma loop stops at continuous improvement, it will more likely consider as total quality management (Khan, 2003). Sustainability The other core element of Six Sigma implementation is the sustainability which it brings to the organization. Generally understanding sustainability, sustainability is best defined by world commission on environment and development (1987) stating that sustainable development is development that meets the need of present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own n eeds.Fricker (1998) defined sustainability as vision of future that provides a road map while focusing on certain set of ethical and moral values which may guide the actions of an entity. Looking sustainability in details, it mainly focuses on three aspec ts i-e economic growth, social progress and environmental protection (Munier, 2006). Sustainability involves people, capital resources, natural resources, environme nt and institution. Fricker (1998) further added that sustainability is not merely an end result of processes rather it continuous seeking of quality behavior.An organization is said to be sustainable if its people are willing to bring a change and embrace the change ultimately leading toward sustainable organizational design (Shrivastava and Director, 1995). In an organizational perspective particularly, sustainability refers to the value addition from Six Sigma. The dimension of sustainability includes variation elimination, control on new processes, statistical controls, reduced complexity, precision, accuracy and effectiveness in business process (Giardina, 2006).An addition in traditional Six Sigma is lean Six Sigma which primarily focuses on improved process flow (Reiling, 2008). Due to difference of focus, the perspective for sustainability also varies. In Six Sigma, the sustainability refers to utmost standardization with zero defects whereas lean Six Sigma emphasize sustain ability as identification of value, defining value stream, determining flow, defining pull and improving process in every business function such as marketing, finance and management (Taghizadegan, 2006). Sustainability Achieved Through Six SigmaMultinational companies have adopted Six Sigma for variety of purposes however, the core goal was to attain financial sustainability through improved processes and better work flow (Poudlove, Moxham and Boaden, 2008) however, the financial success is achieved through multidimensional quality improvements (Mahadevan, 2010). General Motors reduced its disposal costs by $12 million through kanban system; an integral part of Six Sigma. Similar to this, Robins Air Force Base, C -130 paint shop reduced tools material and equipment by 39% and $373,800 in direct operating savings (Giardina, 2006). M was among few companies which initiated to adopt Six Sigma. 3M upgraded to lean Six Sigma and its purpose was to attain environmental stability. The comp any is pioneer in use of lean Six Sigma methods and tools to improve operations and quality. In first step, the company trained it s 100,000 employees for Six Sigma in order to attain the operational sustainability. 3M achieved multi facet results such as improvement in energy efficiency from 20% to 27% and reduction in waste index to net sales from 25% to 30%.All these achievements are aimed toward attaining environmental sustainability and operational sustainability. Till 2005, savings from the lean Six Sigma project was amounted to $1 billion which was made possible by reducing pollution, improving workflow, equipment redesign, process ramification and product reformulation (3M Lean Six-Sigma and Sustainability, 2010). Byrne (2007) also asserts that companies implement Six Sigma to drive the innovation. The first five years of lean Six Sigma helped many companies to improve their results such as attained by Caterpillar.Weber (2004) also quotes Caterpillar as achiever from Six Sig ma. In September 2004, Caterpillar was $20 billion Company and Caterpillar was aimed to increase the revenues by $10 billion in first decade of lean Six Sigma implementation. Weber (2004) contrasts with Byrne (2007) in the context that caterpillar wanted to attain the innovation  © 2011 The Clute Institute 9 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 sustainability. According to Weber (2004), caterpillar was focused on achieving financial stability. The company? top management has highlighted that Caterpillar management such as CEO has claimed that Six Sigma was the important contribution toward increase in sales of caterpillar. Six Sigma is also driving the continuous improvement culture in the company and business is gaining efficiency in all respects (Weber, 2004). Hilton (2008) identifies several companies such as Motorola, General Electric, Dell Computer, Dow Chemicals, Wal-Mart and Honeywell who implemented Six Sigma and attained measurable re sults. General electric saved $8 billion after mplementing Six Sigma in three years and Wall -Marts is looking for savings of $1 billion from lean Six Sigma (Leahy, 2000). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Study Design Decision to implement of Six Sigma comes from organizational leaders. Since every organization is unique and has its own requirements, therefore company? s internal management can determine the potential benefits to be achieved by the Six Sigma (Bertels, Rath & Strong, 2003). Defining objectives for the company and preparing employees to accept change occurred through Six Sigma is responsibility of top management and leaders.According to Pande (2003), Six Sigma lies in the vision of top management and only they can decide what sustainability they want from Six Sigma. On these grounds, the study seeks direct interaction with top management about sustainability desired from Six Sigma. The survey method provides researcher with an ease of open communication and allows sharing of idea s and thoughts. Surveys are considered best when opinion and ideas of people are important in shaping a conclusion (Groves, Fowler, Couper, Lepkowski and Eleanor, 2009). The study adopted cross section survey method as its core research methodology.In survey, interview tool was used to collect data directly from top management of multinational companies. Cross sectional survey are used to collect information at a single point in time and helps to establish the relationship between two entities (Babbie, 1990). Brief structured interviews were conduct ed to collect the data from participants. Participants Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Purposive sampling provides an opportunity to select participants on a specific criterion which fits to the purpose of study (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009).For present study, interviewees were selected on number of criteria such as listed below: ? ? ? The participants belong to a multinational company which has already implemented Six Sigma. The participant works on multinational on any key managerial position directly associated with decision making. Such participants include chief operating officers, chief executive officers, senior finance managers, chief information manager, information technology head, information technology specialist and senior management.Participant has been working in the organization before the Six Sigma was implemented in the company. Data Collection And Data Analysis Since it was difficult to visit such participants personally due to geographical constraints, int erviews were conducted on telephone where personal visit was not possible. After getting the list of multinational companies who have implemented the Six Sigma, the information tentative participants were collected using official websites and Chamber of Commerce websites. The contact information, permission and appointment for an interview were also obtained via telephone.The interviews could not be recorded as permission was not granted however; notes were taken during the interview and were later converted into text manually. The text was later analyzed using software Weft QDA and patterns were obtained. Constant comparison approach was used to compare the interview transcript and to obtain the patterns. According to Glaser and Strauss (1967), constant c omparison approach helps to develop a 10  © 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 theory about the phenomenon.The constant comparison is made through development of codes and subsequently, a theory is developed. The interviews were structured and comprised of 15 -20 twenty minute each. In all, forty two participants from different companies were interviewed. The participants includes senior finance managers, chief executive officers, IT managers, chief operating officers and in some cases directors of companies also. The participants companies include Maple Lead Foods, Pakistan Intern ational Airlines, Pakistan State Oil, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Deere and Company, Bank of Montreal, McGraw Hill Companies and Vodafone.Findings And Analysis Telephonic and face to face interviews were conducted to collect the data from participants. In all forty two participants were interviewed which included executives and managers. The stratification of participants on basis of their designation is provided below: Senior Finance Managers Chief Executive Officers IT Managers Chief Operating Officers Directors Total Table 2: Stratification of Participants on Designation Participants 12 7 14 5 4 42 %age Participation 29% 17% 33% 12% 10% 100% The interviews were brief and structured (Appendix A).Primarily the interviews were focused to know what type of sustainability motivates the multinational companies to invest in Six Sigma. Using the constant comparison approach, the interviews text was a nalyzed for patterns. Two level coding was performed using Weft QDA as the pu rpose was to find which type of sustainability is acquired through Six Sigma. Several codes were found which were emerged. Redundant codes were merged to derive constant flow of i nformation. Primary and secondary research questions are addressed through several themes discussed heere Core Objective Of Six SigmaSecondary research questions inquiring core objectives of Six Sigma were addressed through themes such as competition, zero defect level and financial success. As reflected by most of the, Six Sigma is implemented to stay competitive with other companies. Participants concluded that multinational companies needs to build corporate repute which increases their market share and Six Sigma is nowadays used as tool to reflect that company is taking endeavors for improving quality. This at first hands improves the competitive position of the company.Regional Finance Manager of Vodafone asserted that â€Å"The impacts of Six Sigma are long term and may be seen afterwards however; t he company instantly start attaining repute after implementation of advance quality model †. COO of Maple Lead Foods was also of the view that â€Å"To remain competitive in market, continuous improvement in every aspect is necessary. Six-Sigma is also aimed to help us in enhancement in our market image in eyes of competitors† Vice President (Finance) of Bank of Montreal endorsed the same by stating â€Å"Other larger banks have already implemented similar models which has raised customers’ expectation.We are aimed to attain better market position by implementing an optimal service quality model†. Second prevailing theme for core objectives of Six Sigma was quality improvement. â€Å" Six-Sigma really helps to improve quality, we can see the difference. Processes are now more efficient and speedy† stated by IT manager of Starwood Hotels. CEO of Pakistan International Airlines asserted that â€Å"The model has helped to stay efficient and had reduce d our effort in day to day activities. We are now more competent for offering quality solutions to our passengers and to our suppliers†.COO of Pakistan State Oil stated the fact â€Å"Six Sigma has reduce our effective time to market and we had a desire to attain so from this model implementa tion†.  © 2011 The Clute Institute 11 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Third objective as extracted from most of interviews was the ability of Six Sigma to improve financial position of the company. It is evolved from the interviews that almost all companies are highly profit oriented and Six Sigma is adopted as a tool to attain financial success. Most of the company? executives reflected that Six Sigma is not merely adopted for financial success however, the responses can be considered as attempt to act in socially desirable manner. Executives of large multinational companies may not always admit that their specific endeavor is merely fo r profits. Reflection about company? s high concern toward profits can harm its repute as socially responsible company (Stocke, 2003). CEO of Pakistan State Oil endorsed that † We understand Six-Sigma reduces material wastage and improves supply chain activities.Ultimately, it leads to overall cost reduction† . COO of Maple Leaf Foods also asserted that â€Å"Six-Sigma do cost to use however, we expect a positive return in terms of market repute ultimately translated in financial success†. Senior Vice President (Finance) of Deere and Company stated, â€Å"It is important to look all projects from financial perspective. We considered the cost and benefit analysis of Six Sigma as fundamental step for deciding on the project†. How Companies Understand Sustainability Secondary question pertaining to sustainability was explained with themes uch as financial stability, improvement in quality, optimal productivity, social responsibility, environmental protection a nd value addition to the company. The most prevalent theme emerged for sustainability is financial success and optimal productivity. As reflected by all participants, the primary meaning of sustainability is financial success and optimal produc tion with minimum defects. Multinational companies consider financial success as the foremost sustainability to be achieved through zero defect level.In opinion of CEO of Pakistan International Airline â€Å"A company can only be socially responsible when it is financial sustainable. For me, sustainability is the financial success which enables PIA to be sustainable in other areas too†. IT Manager of McGraw Hill Companies highlighted the fact that â€Å"when I think of sustainability, I think of higher financial return earned on investments of shareholders. Finance manger of John Deer and Company however, considered value addition as true sustainability by stating â€Å"We are sustainable when our products are able to generate value for our company†.Endorsed by director of Starwood Hotels, â€Å"We are sustainable when are able to offer highest with the lowest sources, this means Starwood is sustainable in terms of services and in its corporate framework†. The other prevalent theme about sustainability was environmental protection and corporate social responsibility. Director of Deere and Company defined sustainability as â€Å" We are sustainable when we are harmless to society and its stakeholders†. IT manager of Bank of Montreal highlighted the same fact â€Å"Sustainability is an attempt to be productive for the society and for its members†. Sustainability Attained Through Six SigmaThe literal meaning of sustainability identified by participants is different from the sustainability desired to be attained through Six Sigma. While analyzing the interviews, the most prevalent theme of sustainability attained through Six Sigma was zero defect level, optimal production and financial su ccess. The primary research questions of study i-e what kind of sustainability is largely provided by Six Sigma in multinational companies. The multinational companies mostly reflected that Six Sigma has helped them in improving production and services ultimately translated into financial success.The primary research question was aimed to find what kind of sustainability has actually been provided by implementing Six Sigma. This has further been identified by secondary research question about core aim of Six Sigma and understanding of sustainability by multinational companies. â€Å"Six Sigma has helped us achieve financial success† identified by CEO of Deere and Company. Further elaborated by CEO of Deere and Company, Six Sigma has helped us in improving human resource functions, customer services and low cost.Ultimately, all these types of sustainability are translated into financial success. â€Å"Our employee satisfaction has increases which have helped to reduce materia l wastage and become process efficient. Reduced employee turnover and reduced manufacturing cost. Due to Six -Sigma implementation has considerably helped out to increase financial viability†. Finance Manger of Vodafone highlights the sustainability achieved through implementation of Six Sigma â€Å"Vodafone market share has increased as well as its financial returns.Six-Sigma has offered us financial sustainability as well as market sustainability†. 12  © 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 As revealed in the present study, Six Sigma sustainability bears a multifaceted concept for organizations. Sustainability is primarily offered by Six Sigma however, every company takes the Six Sigma fr om a different perspective. It is not only the perspective which differs, rather the organizations adopts several ways to reach to a single sustainable point which is common in all organizations.Organizations? understan ding of sustainability is contrasting with the requirements of Commission on Environment and Development (1987) definition of sustainability. Multinational organizations are working for material sustainability instead of focusing on developing sustainability for creating conductive environment for future changes (Ethier, 1986). Sustainability as defined by Shrivastava and Director (1995) has not been addressed by multinational companies in its fullest. Multinational organizations? ore aim to adopt Six Sigma was either to remain competitive with the other companies or to attain zero defect level along with financial sustainability. In addition, the sustainability is taken by multinational companies in terms of effectiveness in business process which are capable enough to be translated into fi nancial success (Giardina, 2006). The concept of Giardina (2006) and Taghizadegan (2006) are closely aligned and both fit to the present understanding of organizational sustainability to be achi eved through Six Sigma.Sustainability as identified by organizations holds multiple meaning and multinational organization use Six Sigma to escalate from one sustainability to other such as optimal production to higher market share and ultimately into financial success (Muneir 2006). Actual sustainability as reflected by 3M experience and Robins Air Force Base attained financial sustainability through Six Sigma. 3M saved $1 billion by implementing Six Sigma by the way of product reformulation, process ramification and equipment redesign (Giardina, 2006).Amalgamating secondary and prime research question about sustainability provided by Six Sigma, it is evident from the study that multinational companies are more concerned with multidimensional sustainability however; the financial sustainability is mostly desired sustainability. Multinational companies are focused on achieving financial stability using different sustainability routes such as value addition, process improvement, huma n resource process improvement and market sustainability. The financial sustainabili ty is the ultimate goal however, achieved through various type of sustainability.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Six Sigma is a multidimensional approach for improving process efficiency and attaining sustainability. Six Sigma has traditionally been adopted by multinational companies due to several reasons such as higher concern for quality, higher availability to resources and competitive business environment. Initially Six Sigma was introduced by Motorola however; soon it became an advance model for improvi ng quality. Larger companies such as 3M, Deere and Company, Caterpillar, Bank of America and McGraw Hill Companies are already sustainability through Six Sigma.The study has an aim to find what kind of sustainability is being obtained by implementation of Six Sigma. Several theorists have identified several types of sustainability few including process improvement, financial sustainability, market shar e, value addition, corporate reputation – all broadly covered under social repute, environment protection and economic growth. The study directly interacts with participants and adopts qualitative research methodology to address the subject matter. Under qualitative study, survey design and interview tools are used for making constant comparison analysis of all interviews.With constant comparison, several themes were emerged to address the primary and secondary research question. Primarily, Six Sigma is multifaceted and holds several aspects variably been considered by multinational companies. Organizations are less concerned with environment protection, moderately concerned with social repute such as competitive position in eyes o f competitors and highly concerned with economic growth. The economic growth widely covers financial returns attained through different routes such as increase in market share, economies of scale production, minimum input cost and low employee turn over.Mu ltinational companies? ultimate objective is to increase financial returns by identifying market share increase, customer base enhancement, zero defect level and competition as secondary objectives. For multinational companies, aim and sustainability of Si x Sigma varies as most of companies considers Six Sigma as a way to meet competition however, sustainability is associated with financial success. The combination of sustainability and Six Sigma ultimately translated into sustainable financial return which helps the company to increase its market competitiveness.  © 2011 The Clute Institute 13Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Implications For Future Research Six Sigma is not a new issue nevertheless; the issue has mainly been addressed by developed counties. Mostly, the organizations that have implemented Six Sigma belong to developed nations. In few cases, companies of small underdeveloped countries have implemented Six Sigma and have reaped significant benefits from implementation of Six Sigma. The study identifies such companies and reflects on sustainability provided such as financial returns; markets share increase, environmental protection, zero defect level and o thers.In this way, it is a guide for small companies which have still not implemented Six Sigma considering it as an expensive way to quality. The study provides a guide to companies about the benefits attained through Six Sigma and serve as guidelines for companies who have not yet implemented Six Sigma. Present study is an initial research on sustainability provided to multinational companies. The study is under limited scope as it collects data from CEOs of only few companies. A large number of compa nies and their top executives are still untapped to describe several types of sustainability provided.In addition to this, sustainability with respect to industry and type of business can also be identified to customize the Six Sigma for speci fic businesses. The study is a subject measurement of sustainability generally drawn on all type nevertheless, leaving a significant margin to calculate financial sustainability provided to these companies. The study is a base for future studies as first step of id entification of top most sustainability provided by Six Sigma has been completed.The base study can be utilized for identification and statically measurement of market, financial, environmental and social sustainability provided. In addition, a comparison can be made between multinational and domestic or small vs. larger scale companies for the financial return improvement or customer base enhancement. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Dr. Abdullah AlSagheer is an Assistant Professor of Management at the e -School of Quality and Business Management at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University. He is teaching undergraduate courses level such as TQM Implementation, Capstone Project.In addition, he is teaching graduate courses level such as Strat egic Management of Innovation and Technological change. Dr. AlSagheer has PhD in Education and Human Resource Studies specialized in Interdisciplinary Studies (Industrial and Human Recourse Management Engineering) and M. Ed Education and Human Resource Studies specialized in Interdisciplinary Studies (Industrial and Human Recourse Management Engineering) from Colorado State University (CSU). He received Master of Science in Electrical Engineering specialized in Integrated Systems & Strategic Project Management.His undergraduate degrees wer e Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and a double major in Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Dr. AlSagheer research focuses in strategic management, capstone courses, entrepreneurship and leadership, total quality management, ergonomics and human factor engineering, curriculum development, human resource management, management training, teamwork, innovation strategies, engin eering management, and industrial engineering. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 14 3M Lean Six Sigma and Sustainability. 2010.United Stated Environmental Protection Agency. Available [Online] http://www. epa. gov/lean/studies/3m. htm [Accessed December 08, 2010]. Antony, J. 2006. „Six sigma for service processes? , Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 234 – 248 Babbie, E. 1990. Survey research methods. Wadsworth Pub. Co. Bertels, T. , Rath & Strong. 2003. Rath & Strong's six sigma leadership handbo ok. John Wiley and Sons. Byrne, G. , Lubowe, F. , and Blitz, A. 2007. „Using a Lean Six Sigma approach to drive innovation? , Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 5 – 10 Coronado, R. B. and Antony, J. 2002. Critical success factors for the successful im plementation of six sigma projects in organizations? , The TQM Magazine, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp 92 – 99 Ethier, W. 1986. „The Multinational Firm? , The Quarterly Journal of Economics , Vol 101 No. 4, pp- 805834  © 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. Volume 7, Number 3 Fricker, A. 1998. „Measuring up to sustainability? , Futures, Vol 30 No. 4. pp-367-3 Giardina, A. 2006. Sustainability and Lean Six Sigma. Available [Online] http://proceedings. dia. org/JSEM2006/Wednesday/Giardina. pdf [Accessed December 10, 2010]. Gupta, P. 2005. The Six Sigma performance handbook: a statistical guide to optimizing results, McGraw Hill Professional, pp- 15-19 Glaser, B. G. , & Strauss, A. L. 1967. The discovery of grounded th eory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Groves, R. , Fowler, F. , Couper, M. , Lepkowski, K. , and Singer, E. 2009. Survey methodology: Volume 561 of Wiley series in survey methodology. John Wiley and Sons. Henderson, K. H. and Evans, J. R. 2000, „Successful implementation of six s igma: benchmarking General Electric company? Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp 260– 281 Hilton, H. 2008. Managerial Accounting, 7th ed. Tata McGraw-Hil. Khan, J. 2003. „Impact of total quality management on productivity? , The TQM Magazine, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 374 – 380 Leahy, T. 2000. „In search of perfection with Six Sigma? , Business Finance, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp -72-74. Mahadevan, B. 2010. Operations Management: Theory and Practice. Pearson Ed ucation India. McCarty, T. , and Fisher, K. 2007. „Six sigma: it is not what you think? , Journal of Corporate Real Estate, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 187 – 196 Munier, N. 2006.Introduction to Sustainability: Road to a Better Future, Springer, pp -10-15 Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development. 1987. UN Documents. Available [Online] on http://www. un-documents. net/ocf-02. htm [Accessed Nove mber 28, 2010]. Pande, K. 2003. The Six Sigma Way. Tata McGraw-Hill. Proudlove, N. , Moxham, C. , and Boaden, R. 2008. „Lessons for Lean in Healthcare from Using Six Sigma in the NHS,? Public Money & Management, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 27-34, Pyzdek, T. , and Keller, P. 2009.The Six Sigma handbook: a complete guide for green belts, black belts, and managers at all levels, McGraw Hill Professional, pp -34-38 Reiling, J. 2008. Lean Versus Six Sigma: What's the Controversy? What the Differ ence? Available [Online] http://www. articlesbase. com/business-articles/lean-versus-six-sigma-whats-the-controversy-whatthe-difference-595677. html#ixzz17Y3zDWRW [Accessed December 20, 2010]. Schwandt, D. , and Marquardt, M. 2000. Organizational learning: from world -class theories to global best practices, St. Lucie Press, pp-120-31 Six Sigma. 2010 Available [Online] on http://www. managementhelp. rg/quality/sixsigma/six-sigma. htm [Accessed November 27, 2010]. Shrivastava, P. , and Director, S. 1 995. „Creating sustainable corporations? , Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp-154–165. Stocke, V. 2001. Socially desirable response behavior as rational choice: the case of attitudes towards foreigners. Sonderforschungsbereich. Taghizadegan, S. 2006. Essentials of lean Six Sigma. Butterworth -Heineman. Teddlie, C. , and Tashakkori, A. 2009. Foundations of mixed methods research: integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral scie nces. SAGE Publications Inc. Thareja P, 2006. A Total Quality Organization through People; Part 5, People as Change Agents? , Foundry, A Journal of Progressive Metal Casters, Vol. 18 No. 5, Sept/Oct. Truscott, W. 2003. Six sigma: continual improvement fo r business: a practical guide Referex Engineering, Butterworth-Heinemann, pp-15-35 Wiele, T. , Iwaarden, J. , and Power, D. 2010. „Six Sigma implementation in Ireland: the role of multinational firms? , International Journal of Qualit y & Reliability Management, Vol. 27 No. 9, pp- 1054 – 66.  © 2011 The Clute Institute 15 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 NOTES 16  © 2011 The Clute Institute

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Business Essays – Entrepreneurship Pancake Cereal

Business Essays Entrepreneurship Pancake Cereal Entrepreneurship Pancake Cereal Business Model / Mo’s Pancake and Cereal Bar Introduction Entrepreneurship is a thriving activity in the United States, as well as globally. Increasing numbers of people are deciding to implement their dreams of business ownership. There are between three and five million entrepreneurial business ventures undertaken annually within the United States. Eighty-four percent of those starting a new business venture are first-time entrepreneurs (Zimmerer however, 64% of small businesses fail within six years (Zimmerer and as a result, starting a new business is no longer perceived as particularly risky. In light of this favorable environment for entrepreneurial activity, the success of a new business venture, Mo’s Pancake and Cereal Bar (MPCB), located in the vibrant and historical downtown district of Grapevine, Texas, seems particularly promising. Elements of several relevant disciplines will play a vital role in the success or failure o f this particular venture. By taking advantage of the perspectives of these particular disciplines, it should be possible to integrate their insights in order to create a viable business plan that will result in the ultimate success of Mo’s Pancake and Cereal Bar (Repko, 2005). There are a wide range of disciplines that could contribute to the creation of a successful business plan for MPCB. Some of these disciplines include architecture, business administration, education, history, political science, sociology, and urban planning and development. Three disciplines have been identified as those making the greatest contribution: urban planning and development, architecture and the subfield of interior design, and business with an emphasis on small business management. An understanding of urban planning and development will be necessary to ensure a business plan that is that is in keeping with the overall goals and the long-term development plans of the city of Grapevine. Urban planning and development plays a key role in understanding patterns of growth and its resulting economic implications (McCarthy, 2007). The ownership and management of MPCB must understand the significance of community goals and the importance of these goals on the ultimate success of MPCB. As an organization, MPCB should develop strong ties with city government and take an active part in promoting its development. One way it can do this is by taking part in such activities as Main Street Days , Grapefest , and various holiday festivities held annually in the city of Grapevine.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Conformist,cinema paradise,life is beautiful,marriage italian Essay

The Conformist,cinema paradise,life is beautiful,marriage italian style - Essay Example In film, fantasy is very much difficult to define since fantasy is both broad enough to include any fictional films that may happen in real life and narrow enough to remove other works that may actually belong to the said genre (Walters 1). At any rate, fantasy is still any form of departure from an individual's reality or every day existence (Walters 1; Fowkes). Bulgarian philosopher, Tzvetan Todorov, says that fantasy films are simply any plot that goes from marvelous to uncanny to fantastic (Walters 9-11). Marvelous refers to the self-containment of the story wherein the viewer would not be questioning the reality of the film. Uncanny would be the ability of the plot to be explained psychologically despite being unreal and fantastic refers to the ability of a character or a viewer to experience hesitation when faced with an impossible situation. This essay focuses on the comparison of Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful and Guiseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso under the idea that both films can be considered as fantasy films. In line with this, Todorov's marvelous-to-uncanny-to-fantastic definition would be considered as the backbone of the comparison. Marvelous Basically, when it comes to questioning the reality of the story, Benigni's Life is Beautiful is quite difficult to ask. ... If one would think about it, how is it possible for anyone not to notice the stranger child on the table? Since these children are actually sons and daughters of important people in Germany, it would of course be obvious that they have dined together for more than one occasion. This would mean that they were actually familiar with one another. However, Guido's son still passed as one of them. Apparently, the story-telling and the idea of the film seem to be flawless making the viewers not question the events in the film. Therefore, by Todorov's definition, Benigni's Life is Beautiful has passed the first stage of a fantasy film—it is marvelous. On the other hand, Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso, is also quite similar to Benigni's film. Basically, in Cinema Paradiso, events such as the scene where the movie-house burned down may have left one thinking a to how such small fire glare in the entire room. Realistically, of course, movie films are known to catch fire very fast, making t he scene of real-standards. However, going back to the scene, the only movie film in the room was the one playing. It caught fire probably due to the overheating of the equipment. But, how it spread out would be a matter of question seeing that it did not actually touch anything that may cause the flames to emblazon. But, unlike Benigni's story-telling, this scene in Torante's film could easily be looked over since it is hidden by facts, making this film also marvelous. Comparing the two films under such definition, however, Torante's would be more marvelous compared to Benigni's. This is because, Torante's ability to tell the story is quite more convincing since the marvel of the audience would not be left hanging compared to Benigni's. In this sense, since Benigni's

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Opinion paper about the professional nurses role in the business of Research

Opinion about the professional nurses role in the business of health care - Research Paper Example Nurses having the financial information will mean that the patients will be able to be provided with the financial information directly. Nurses will be able to explain the cost of treatments to the patients before they chose the best treatment costs as well as enable them develop a payment plan for those in palliative care whose treatment costs are very expensive (Malloch & Porter-O’Grady, 2013). The hospital administrator is the one who receives all the information about the finances in the hospital from the finance department reports. The administrator is in charge of the staff and since he holds the report from the finance, he is in a better position to impart that knowledge to them which can then be transferred to the clients (Wolper, 2010). The administrator has the authority from the board to discipline any staff that does not follow the directives and the staff is aware of this and hence once they get the economic knowledge, they try all they can to provide the same to the clients without any

Monday, August 26, 2019

Overview of Second Century Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Overview of Second Century Christianity - Essay Example One of great import was the communicatio idiomatum. What were the scriptures and how were they to be interpreted and understood was such a vital question. Many solutions were being out forward and the church fathers of this period had had to propose and refute. The senses of scripture emerged and became part of interpretive strategy but not without their own specific problems. The influence of the Greek and platonic times were still evident in society and was making their impact felt even in the Christian faith. Gnosticism would emerge and be dealt with but never with complete success. The church continued to grow and with the passing of time the various councils began to play a critical role in the defense of authentic faith, and the role of liturgies would become invaluable. Christianity, which started as a first century Jewish cult spread rapidly over the Greco-Roman world. Its early period can be divided into two definite phases. First is the apostolic period. The Post Apostolic period stretched from the late first century until the Council of Nicaea in 325. The area of our focus namely the 2nd century fits into the Post Apostolic period. This was also known as the Ante Nicene period. ... Pauline Christianity and Gnostic Christianity flourished. This century presented challenges to the church fathers in terms of persecution, doctrinal conflicts other than the very challenge of authoritatively and resolutely continuing the great commission in the absence of the apostles. What was the need for communicatio idiomatum? One of the functions of Bishops during this period was to refute heresies. These heresies were largely Christological. They had a problem understanding the mystery of Christ being divine as well as human. For instance Docetism believed that Jesus’s humanity was an illusion, which was refuted by Ignatius of Antioch in AD 110. â€Å"Many groups were dualistic, maintaining that reality was composed into two radically opposing parts: matter, usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. Orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God and were therefore both good, and that this was represen ted in the unified divine and human natures of Christ.†1 These arose due to the mystery of Christ. Theologians assign the name mystery to revealed truths that are beyond the power of natural understanding. The earliest of Christians grappled with the mystery of the nature of Christ and the Gnostics of the 2nd century had a real issue with this. The fact that one person can have two natures is problematic. Terminology is a culprit. There is terminology for being divine and there is terminology for being human but no terminology for being both at the same time. Theological language of that day was insufficient for this purpose. The easiest of explanations is to say that he sometimes acted as a human and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Sustainable Marketing - A New Era in the Responsible Marketing Assignment

Sustainable Marketing - A New Era in the Responsible Marketing Development by Marek Seretny and Aleksandra Seretny - Assignment Example Sustainability of the product is no longer evaluated on the basis of demographic factor but it is ascertained on the parameters of feelings, values and emotions of the people and the consumers of the present decade expect the organizations to perform the function of both the society as well as the organization which will provide them solution in order to lead a proper and healthy life in the globalized society. The concept of marketing has been widely criticized on the basis of the high price that is charged to the customers and therefore the modern marketing has adopted the value based marketing in order to gain the trust of its consumers and it has also adopted the concept of corporate social responsibility. The concept of marketing has been widely criticized since the marketers are indulged in charging high price for their product and the reason for charging higher price from the customer is that they are engaged in various advertising activity in order to promote their product which increases there cost resulting in the increase in price of the product and they generally target the children mass since the children will nag their parents to buy those product even if it is not of their use and it is easy to convince and attract the attention of the children and the young mass. The marketing concept has become very profit oriented concept ignoring the value of the people. The prime aim or the objective of this article is the transformation that is needed in the concept of marketing since the concept of marketing is influenced by the profit motive and which has resulted in the increase in gap between the rich and the poor mass which has ignored the social responsibility and the value, feelings and emotions of the people and therefore the concept of marketing is to be modified in such a way that it provides a appropriate solution for understanding the market and the requirement of the business , organization and the

MIH548 - Theory Based Research - Mod 3 SLP Essay

MIH548 - Theory Based Research - Mod 3 SLP - Essay Example Also included are operational variables of BMI and waist circumference as well as physical activity and use of high energy foods (Pietilainany, Kapro, Rasomen, 2001). The variables that were operationalized were BMI, waist circumference, high energy food intake. They set an average BMI over the years of study per age group as well as waist circumference. The last studies of these groups of children were done when they reached the ages of 22-27 years old. Waist circumferences and high energy food intake were also defined along this continuum of study. One of the validity tests that they had to use here was the statistical conclusion validity and the reason for that is because there are many different variables being used. The most important variable to look at here is the use of twin to measure genetic effects on activity and obesity. All of the genetic backgrounds were traced and these twins did meet all of the criteria for a valid study showing that the statistical results were appropriate given the causal nature of the genetic part of the study (Burns & Grove, 2007). Internal validity is about whether this is real world testing and in this case it certainly is as there are definitely real world issues for twins like any other child as far as developing or not developing obesity. Extraneous validity is important also and these children were allowed to live their normal lives with each of the parameters that might affect them tracked and then checked again over the years. In other words it was not set up that one twin would be sedentary while the other was active leading to one that was obese and one that was not. They lived their usual lives and if one was obese, it was determined by the real lifestyle that child led. Mustelin L, Silventoinen K, Pietalainen K. (2009) Physical activity reduces the influence of genetic effects on BMI

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Digestion and Enzymes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Digestion and Enzymes - Assignment Example More protein is additionally required to match the active growth by rapidly dividing cells. At this stage also, there is need to provide sufficient vitamins in general, in order to build a strong immune system. Iron and zinc levels such as in legumes are important to lower risks of allergic reactions. Adolescents equally require more carbohydrates and proteins to match their rapid growth rates and active lifestyles. An increase of calcium and iron intake is recommended for the growing bones. For the females who have started going through their menses, additional iron and fluid intake is highly required to aid in replacement of blood lost during menstruation (Farrell & Nicoteri, 2007, 411). Pregnant women require more than usual iron for efficient oxygen transport in the body, both for the mother’s and baby’s nourishment. Increasing vitamin C intake helps iron absorption from foods. If planning for a pregnancy, 400 micrograms of folate per day is recommended. An increase of daily folate intake to 600 micrograms during actual pregnancy is advised to avoid neural tube defects (like spina bifida). Increase in iodine for normal growth and development of the baby during pregnancy is additionally stressed. For lactating women, an excess of 750-1000 ml a day of fluids is required to reduce the risk of dehydration and constipation as a result of breastfeeding. There basically is an observed increase in recommended nutrient intake for lactating women to provide the nutrients necessary both for the mother’s maintained health and for the optimum nourishment of the baby (Farrell & Nicoteri, 2007, 418). For majority of adults, growth is over as focus now shifts on maintaining good health and active lifestyles. This means low saturated fats, sugars and salts to minimize risks of developing age and weight related diseases such as cardiovascular

Friday, August 23, 2019

Fin hw1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fin hw1 - Assignment Example lobalization and International Business, Johan asserts that indeed, sweatshops are an essential stepping stone if a developing country is to achieve economic progression. I fully concur with the statement for several reasons. In the documentary, Taiwan is presented as one of the countries that has seen the fastest economic growth rate in the last four decades. The same thing has also been seen more recently with the adoption of sweatshops in Vietnam, another country showing signs of gradual economic progress. Looking at these two examples, it is easy to tell that the countries in question had to endure the awful working conditions that come with the sweatshops for a short time in order to gain the economic progression at the end of it. Countries such as Kenya which declined to open up to the foreign â€Å"exploitation† have been forced to lag behind economically since little foreign investment made way into the country due to its restrictions towards adopting the sweatshops. In conclusion, it is true that sweatshops do a substantial harm to a country in terms of environmental deterioration and advancement of poor working conditions. However, it is important to understand that in most cases, the conditions provided in these sweatshops could be even better than those currently in place in that country. The baseline of it all is that sweatshops are key in stimulating the growth of a country through the creation of jobs and provision of skills that ultimately form the basis of development after the short stint of

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Elizabeth Bishops poem The Fish Essay Example for Free

Elizabeth Bishops poem The Fish Essay * The Theme of True Beauty or Inner Beauty: Neither her battered boat nor the venerable old fish is beautiful in conventional terms. Their beauty lies in having survived, when the speaker realizes this, victory filled up / the little rented boat she understands that everything / was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! That is when she lets the fish return to his home in the water. The fish helps Bishop to notice true beauty: The fish is only ugly or grotesque to the untrained or unempathic eye (McCabe). The notion causes her to see other objects around her differently. Everything is a rainbow when she looks around. This feeling allows her to release the fish. The release, significant in its own sense, acknowledges Bishops respect for the fish. The poet, struck by the otherworldly beauty w/ which ordinary objects sometimes appear, as if cast in a color not their own, releases her concentrated gaze, gives up both the poem the fish. The composite image of the fishs essential beautyhis being aliveis developed further in the description of the 5 fishhooks that the captive, living fish carries in his lip. * The Theme of Respect Admiration: The admiration for the fish is ironic since he was detested when 1st caught. The relationship tween the fish Bishop becomes even closer when she notices his lip. These broken fishing lines are the turning point tween her the fish. Now, Bishop considers the catch an accomplishment. She sees evidence that 5 others have tried unsuccessfully to bring in this fish. The fish evolves into a majestic character She is able to use the description of the fishs lip to evoke the idea of respect. The fishs beard personifies him, characterizing him as intelligent. She values the fish because she realizes he has eluded other anglers. The ultimate respect is expressed w/ the fishs release. Bishop knows the fish cant be kept, but must be let go (McCabe). Bishop recognizes that she will be able to hold the moment closer as a memory than by keeping the fish as a trophy. The real theme of Bishops poem is that of humanitarianism respect for a fishs lifelong  will to survive.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Harry Potter Essay Example for Free

Harry Potter Essay Harry Potter is a series of seven novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books is the chronicle adventures of awizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School. The main story concerns Harrys quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal, conquer the wizarding world and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter. Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone on 30 June 1997 and the last on July 2007, the books have gained immense popularity, commercial success worldwide As of June 2011, the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the best-selling book series in history, and has been translated into 67 languages. The last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. Question 1: To what extent was the Harry Potter series simply a loss leader for the hypermarkets? Harry Potter simply a loss leader for the hypermarkets because it’s just a marketing strategy which was used to gain enormous market share of the Harry Potter books with the acceptance of millions dollars loss. Question 2: Should such price cutting be outlawed or regulated to protect smaller retailers? Price cutting should be regulated to not only protect smaller retailer but also prevent market from many consequences such as leading to loss profit and price war, cheapen a brand, etc when price cutting is not controlled. Question 3: Bookstores in Kuala Lumpur withdrew the book in protest. Was their reaction justified? The action of bookstore in Kuala Lumpur withdrawing seventh Harry Potter in protest is justified because it protects their own benefit from being loss and claiming their objection attitude toward the loss leader strategy of other giant retailer.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Role Of Intermediary Devices In Networks Information Technology Essay

The Role Of Intermediary Devices In Networks Information Technology Essay TCP/ IP model and OSI layers are the two network models used by the internet. In the OSI model, an Ethernet switch operates at the Data-Link layer to create a different collision domain for every single switch port. A multilayer switch though may work at more than one OSI layers, including physical, data link, network and even the transport layer. A router on the other hand is considered a layer 3- the Network layer of the TCP/IP model- device since it does most of its routing decisions according to information in the IP packet of layer 3. Role of Intermediary Devices in the network The switch, which is basically a modern and more efficient version of the outdated hub, is a network access device. The router is an internetworking device. They are both intermediary devices. The basic functionalities of the processes that run in them are to regenerate and re-transmit data, maintain information about the pathways that exist across the network and internet, inform other devices in case of errors and transmission failures, guide data along substitute pathways when there is a failure in the link, classify and direct messages according to Quality of Service (QoS) priorities and permit or deny data flow based on security settings. LANs AND WANs A Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network which typically covers one geographical area, delivering services and applications to those within a mutual organizational structure. A switch is used to connect these computers. Switches lack the capability of connecting multiple networks or distributing an internet connection. A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a network of computers covering a broad area and is used in interconnecting two or multiple Local Area Networks. It is usually built using leased lines. A router connects two or more logical subnets and thus is usually connected to two or more LANs or WANs or also a LAN and its Internet Service Provider (ISP). Routers are also used to link segments of a LAN that has been sub-netted into smaller segments. Routers are located at gateways, the meeting point of two or more networks (Ilascu, 2007) Address Table Packet-switched computer networks employ a forwarding technique called bridging. Bridging is dependent on flooding and source address examination in received packet headers to establish the address location of unknown devices. Switches maintain a table of Ethernet MAC addresses referred to as a CAM Table also known as Bridge forwarding table using a method called Transparent Bridging involving learning, flooding, filtering, forwarding and aging. The switch records the source addresses in entries in the table, while destination addresses are looked up in the table and matched to the proper segment to send the frame. The show mac-address-table command can be used to show this table on a Cisco switch. Source route bridging is another form of bridging that was developed for token ring networks. Routers direct packets according to information stored in the IP routing table. A router looks inside each TCP/IP packet it has received to identify the IP addresses of the source and target, sear ches its own routing table for the best match between the destination IP address of the network and addresses in the routing table packet then forwards the packets as desired to ensure that data reaches its destination. The show ip route command can be used to show the table on a Cisco router. (Cisco, 2009) Security Switches and routers are often ignored as security devices because they were originally made to enhance network connectivity rather than network security. Consequently, they are conceptually less secure. An attack on the edge router can cut off the entire network from its users. Weak passwords, unneeded services, protocol and IOS vulnerabilities and IOS configuration errors can cause security breaches. Most routers nowadays have a hardware firewall integrated in their systems thus this has made routers an important component in fostering network security. There are several technical terms about switches and routers that one would encounter: Ports and interfaces A port is a point of physical access or physical interface between a circuit and a device or system at which signals are injected or extracted. It can also be a logical connection, identified by a protocol address in a packet header, associated with TCP or UDP service. The IP address and the port number identify a socket. An interface physically and logically interconnects two other devices or systems Broadcast, unicast and multicast Multicast is a transmission mode in which a signal or packet is sent to multiple devices or computers, but not all on a network, unicast is where a single packet or signal is sent to a single device and broadcast is where it is sent to all stations on a network in order to update the routing table. Gateway This is where one network meets another, for example where a LAN and a WAN are joined by a router. Protocols These are rules and conventions used to exchange information between computers or across computer internetworks. Their two major functions are handshaking and line discipline. Encapsulation and Decapsulation Different types of information are added as data from the Application layer passes down the protocol stack. A new header in each level and a new name is given to the data enclosed. Decapsulation is the reverse. As data goes up the protocol stack, the Data link layer takes it from the physical medium, does a Cyclic Redundancy Check, strips off the respective headers and the rest of the data is passed to an upper layer till it reaches the application layer. Packet switching LAN switches depend on packet-switching. A connection between two segments is established long enough to direct out the current packet. Inbound packets are stored in a temporary memory area, buffer; MAC address in the header is read and compared to those in the switchs lookup table.   An Ethernet frame comprises a normal packet as the payload of the frame, which has a special header including the MAC address information. Traffic-routing in a switch Three methods are used by packet-based switches for traffic-routing. As soon as the packet is detected by the switch, Cut-through switches read the MAC address. The 6 bytes that contain the address information are stored and instantly forwarding the packet to the destination node starts as the rest of the packet comes into the switch. In store-and-forward, the entire packet is saved by the switch, checked for CRC inaccuracies or any other problems before sending. The packet is discarded if it contains errors. The least common method is fragment-free. Its working is like that of cut-through but the first 64 bytes of the packet are stored before sending. This is because most errors and all collisions take place during the first 64 bytes of a packet. Switch configurations The physical design of LAN switches differ. Shared memory is one of the three common configurations in use. This brand of switch stores all entering packets in a common buffer memory shared by all switch ports (for input and output connections), subsequently sending them out through the correct port for the required destination node. In Matrix type of switch, there is an internal grid with input ports crossing output ports. Once a packet is identified on an input port, the MAC address is matched to the lookup table to get the suitable output port. A connection on the grid  where these two ports intersect is then made by the switch. The third is Bus architecture, where instead of a grid; an internal transmission  path (common bus) is shared by all ports using TDMA. There is a dedicated memory buffer for each port in a switch based on this configuration, with an ASIC to control the internal bus access. Router interfaces A router typically has multiple interfaces, as its main purpose is to interconnect several networks and send packets from one network to another. Every interface is a member or host belonging to a different IP network. The routing table comprises of network addresses for a routers own interfaces, which are directly connected networks, and remote networks. Though routers make their major forwarding decisions at the Network layer, router interfaces do this in Layers 1, 2, and 3. IP packets at layer 1 are encapsulated into data link frame at layer 2 and encoded into bits at physical Layer 1. Router interfaces participate in processes associated with their encapsulation at layer 2. A router Ethernet interface, for example, takes part in the ARP process like other same LAN hosts. Router interfaces may vary, but Serial and FastEthernet interfaces are common. Static and Dynamic Routes Static routes are easily and manually configured. However, in large networks the manual operation can be quite cumbersome. Static routes have a default administrative distance of 1. If theres not a more specific match in the routing table, the default route, 0.0.0.0 network address and 0.0.0.0 subnet mask, is used to forward the packet to another router. Dynamic routing protocols require less administrative overhead. They do discovery of remote networks, maintaining up-to-date routing information, choosing the best path to destination networks and have ability to find a new best path if the current is no longer available or if there is a topology change. Static routing is still used nowadays, more often than not, in combination with dynamic routing. Conclusion As introduction of more industrial devices which have built-in Ethernet capabilities continues, networks keep becoming more complex and get crowded with signal traffic. This increases the necessity for Ethernet switches and routers with advanced technology which limits collisions, control bandwidth and have ability to craft virtual local area networks. Companies like Cisco, HP and IBM are racing to produce devices based on the new Energy Efficient Ethernet Standard (IEEE 802.3az). The announcement of CGR 2010 and CGS 2520 router and switch products by Cisco Systems recently designed to aid utility companies in supplying power to homes and businesses under the Smart grid project, a conglomeration of existing and technologies under development, hoped to ameliorate aging US power grid in the near future. As internet speeds get faster, through copper and fiber, switches and routers must possess features of high capacity and expandability. HOW THE INTERNET WORKS (incl. IPv4 and IPv6) Internet protocol suite It refers to a model architecture which divides methods into one layered system of protocols commonly known as TCP/IP, the two most important protocols in it. It is composed of the Link layer, Internet, Transport and Application layers. The link layer provides basic connectivity between computer networking hardware and associated interface-interface messaging management. The Internet layer facilitates interconnectivity between networks and has the Internet Protocol defining IPv4 and IPv6 used to locate hosts on the network. Transport layer provides a framework to convey data between hosts with the help of protocols like TCP and UDP. Application layer deals with application-based interaction between communicating Internet hosts on a process-to-process level. The Domain Name System (DNS) This is the whole network of programs and databases that cooperate to translate hostnames to IP addresses. Internet hostnames are composed of parts separated by dots. A domain is a collection of machines that share a common name suffix. Domains can also live inside other domains. Each domain is defined by an authoritative name server that knows the IP addresses of the other machines in the domain. The primary name server may have backups in case it goes down. The name-servers do not have to know the locations of all the machines in other domains including their own sub-domains, just the location of name-servers. Each top-level domain server knows where the name-servers for the domains directly beneath it are. Classful and classless routing IPv4 addresses were initially allocated based on classes A, B, C, D. Classful routing utilizes routing protocols which do not send subnet mask information if there is a sent out route update . All network devices must use a similar subnet mask e.g. RIPv1. In classless routing, the network portion of the address is determined by the network subnet mask, also known as the network prefix, or prefix length In Classless routing, subnet mask information is sent out in the routing updates. It allows VLSM (Variable Length Subnet Masking) e.g. RIP V2 EIGRP OSPF. RIP V1 has no Support for VLSM and doesnt support discontigious networks. RIP v2, however, supports VLSM networks and discontigious networks through routers compliant with Classless-Inter Domain Routing, which reduce size of routing tables. Governance The internet is a globally distributed network made up of many voluntary interconnected autonomous networks. It runs without a central governing body. Nevertheless, to maintain interoperability, all technical and policy features of the underlying central infrastructure and the primary name spaces, that is, domain names, IP addresses, application port number and many other parameters are administered by a body called Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in California. World Wide Web and the internet These two terms are often used daily without much distinction, yet have different meanings. The internet is made up of hardware and software infrastructure that ensure availability of connectivity between computers. The World Wide Web or just the web is one of the services transferred through the internet. It is a pool of interconnected documents and many other resources interconnected by hyperlinks and URLs. Technical terms related to the internet include: URLs It stands for Uniform Resource Locator and is used to uniquely identify each of the billions of web pages across the world and help one guide others to them. Internet Backbone The first high speed Tier 1 backbone was created by the NFS in 1987. Backbones are typically fiber optic trunk lines with multiple fiber optic cables to increase the capacity. Bandwidth This is the transmission capability of the lines that convey the Internets electronic traffic where a larger bandwidth transfers more data at a time. Lack of bandwidth can inflict severe restrictions on the quick information delivery by the internet. Peering This is where multiple ISPs are linked at peering points or Internet exchange points (IXs), permitting routing of data across each network, without transmission charges on one another for the data which would otherwise have gone through a third upstream ISP, attracting charges from the upstream ISP. Web hosting This is a form of internet hosting service that lets individuals and organizations make their own websites reachable through the World Wide Web. Web hosting companies offer space on a server they either own or have leased for use by their clients and furthermore provide internet connectivity usually in a data center. IPv4 The Internet Protocol enables internetworking and fundamentally creates the internet itself. IP Version 4 (IPv4) is the preliminary version on the initial generation of todays internet and is still dominantly in use. It was aimed to address up to 4.3 billion (109) internet hosts. IPv4 addresses were initially allocated based on classes. In the original specification of IPv4 (RFC 791) released in 1981, the authors established the classes to provide three different sizes of networks for large, medium and small organizations. As a result, class A, B and C addresses were defined with a specific format for the high order bits, which are the left-most bits in a 32-bit address. The remaining addresses were reserved for multicasting and future uses. However, IPv4 addresses are being exhausted due to the explosive growth of the internet, and the exhaustion is estimated to enter its final stage around 2011. (Microsoft Corporation, 2009) IPv6 The exhaustion led to development of IPv6 around mid-1990s, which provides massively larger addressing abilities and much more efficient routing of traffic. Presently, IPv6 is in commercial deployment phase across the world and internet address registries (RIRs) have started to urge all resource managers to organize rapid implementation and conversion. IPv6 is not interoperable with IPv4 as it basically creates a parallel form of the internet that IPv4 software cannot directly access. Software upgrades or translator facilities are thus essential for each networking device that requires communication on the IPV6 internet. While most recent computer operating systems have by now converted to function with both versions, network infrastructures still lag behind in this development. (Teare Diane, 2006) Client-Server Architecture A computer operates software known as the client and it interacts with another known as the server found at a remote computer. The client is typically a browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer. The server interacts with the browser using a set of guidelines called protocols. These protocols aid in the correct transfer of data via requests from a browser as the server responds. The World Wide Web brings the many protocols available on the Internet together so one can use HTTP, Telnet, FTP, Email etc. on one platform, the web browser. Inside the HTML page the web designer embeds the server-side language code. This code is handed to the suitable interpreter which processes these guidelines and generates the ultimate HTML displayed by the browser. Internet security Cryptographic methods and protocols that have been developed for securing communications on the Internet ensure cyber security. Protocols including SSL and TLS for web traffic, PGP for email, and IPsec for the network layer security have been developed to secure internet communications. Firewalls are used to control access between networks. They consist of gateways and filters which vary from one firewall to another and screen network traffic, blocking that which is dangerous or malicious. Antiviruses are used to protect networks and devices from computer viruses, malware, Trojan horses, spyware, worms and botnets. Conclusion Since its conception in 1969, internet has evolved more than anything else to react positively to new requirements. With faster speeds now, internet is used in banking, gaming, advertising, social networking like Facebook and almost everything else. Shaping the future of internet, CSS3, Fonts as a Service such as Typekit that cater to web browsers that support the font-face rule already, and HTML5 are providing web designers the creative liberty that they have been craving for a long time. Yet new ideas and technologies bring new challenges. Many feel a clean slate approach is the one sure way of correctly addressing security, mobility and further challenges that have arose since 1969. Researchers believe its time to reconsider the Internets underlying architecture, a change that might mean getting to replace networking equipment and modifying computer software to channel future traffic over the existing pipes better. Within a decade, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded GENI and European Union backed Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE) research programs would be making a considerable change of the internet. (JESDANUN, 2007)

Monday, August 19, 2019

Tree for Thought :: Free Essay Writer

Tree for Thought On a winding hillside along Birch Lake, various trees and organic landscapes hide my sacred place. It is located in the backyard of my grandparents’ house. To the average outsider, it is just another pine tree growing among piles of leaves and pine needles that blanket a grassy hill leading down to the lake. In my world, it was a place where I could lie at an acute angle and visit a tree I gave life to. I still remember the smell of the freshly baked bread my grandmother made that morning. I was only six years old, but when a fresh loaf of bread came out of the oven, I had the appetite of an adult. After stuffing ourselves, Grandma and I made our way to the shed in search of tools to plant a tree. As we searched for a shovel, fumes from the leaky gas tank of the lawnmower kept us in high spirits. We eventually found a spade and looked for a place to dig. The hill in the backyard was blocked off with a short fence. Dilapidated stairs led down to the beachfront. Grandma and I scaled the foot-high fence and sidestepped down the incline. About ten steps down, we found the perfect place for the tree. She gripped the ribbed, rubber handle of the shovel and began carving a hole into the fertile soil. I cradled the newborn tree, making sure he would be able to enjoy the new home we were making for him. The clouds were threatening as if they were predators preparing for an attack on their prey. The rolling thunder, snarling and growling, kept us working at a fast pace. My grandmother assured me that Spike that’s what I named the tree ¾would be fine when the storm struck later that afternoon. Once she finished digging the hole, we could have fit a soda can perfectly inside, but Spike fit much better. He seemed to like his new home. In time, mossy friends would keep him company, rain would nurture him, and dogs would soon make him their own. Grandma sent me back up the hill to grab the watering spout so we could feed Spike’s green needles the nutrients they needed to keep him alive and well. We were careful not to drown him, knowing that he would receive more water later that day.

Leadership: Lord Of The Flies Essays -- essays research papers fc

Comparison of Leaders Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding is able to touch on the many aspects of our civilization through the various characters he creates. Leadership plays a very important role in the novel as it does in real life because the characters need to feel some sense of security in order for them to survive. The two main leaders in the story, through their similar and different leadership characteristics and objectives fight back and forth to gain the discipline of the other boys on the island and generally the power to make the decisions that they feel should be made. Both leaders, Jack and Ralph, experience leading the group in their own style, which is similar in their desire for control yet different pertaining to their leadership qualities and their objectives while on the island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph was amongst the first few characters mentioned in the story and he quickly takes to the role of gathering the surviving boys by calling out to all that are in the area. He believes in leading with a democratic style, which gives people freedom of opinion, as well as equality to all group members. This is seen as Ralph uses Piggy’s idea for the conch to gathers the boys together in order to Dean 2 express ones ideas or opinions (Golding 12). However, Ralph is not the only boy on the island who is looking to lead the boys, and he finds that out when Jack marches his band members in a militant style to the platform where Ralph is deciding what needs to be done for their survival (Golding 15-16). Jack quickly became a cruel and dominating person who tries to impose fear onto the boys in order to gain his own control. This is evident when he begins opposing Ralph’s ideas about building a fire and picking fruit, to make himself look bigger and somewhat tough (Golding 22). However, a vote is thought up by one of the boys and Ralph’s democratic and orderly style of leadership is elected and he becomes the leader of the group (Golding 19). Ralph begins by organizing the boys to branch off in-groups and work for their benefit, such as keeping the fire going, building huts and scanning the island for anything worthwhile (Golding 38). He believes that if everyone contribute s by taking on one of the roles for survival, the entire group will benefit and hopefully be saved. Again, Jack opposes to the ideas of Ralph. He h... ...ectives by hunting down Ralph, and nearly catch him, until they come across the Navy ship which is there to rescue them (Golding 223-225). Both Ralph and Jack have objectives, which are completely opposite to each other’s which cause for much of the conflict throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the story, Ralph and Jack are two of the characters who probably have the least in common mainly because they are trying to outdo each other by making the others ideas and beliefs seem obscure. They are similar in their desire for control over the group, however they are completely opposite pertaining to their leadership qualities and their objectives. Author William Golding creates these characters as opposites so he could have a general conflict, which is based on man against man to contribute to his other conflicts of man against environment and man against himself. Personal reflections of this author conclude that the bizarre setting and plot are difficult to comprehend upon the first reading yet further readings would create a more enjoyable story to understand. Dean 7 Works Cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Boston, Mass: Faber and Faber Limited, 1958

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Gender Roles, Socialization and Relationships Essay -- Sociology

Watch the classical film Grease and one will understand how relationships function in western Society. The film tells a story of a boy (Danny) and a girl (Sandy) who falls in love. Through a series of misunderstandings they break up, but still care enough about each other that they still try revive their relationship. Through ballads such as Summer Night’s that are still popular today, the film shows how differently males and females view relationships. Danny, for example, describes his relationship in more physical terms while Sandy describes her relationship in much more emotional terms –such as what they did that night. Films like Grease are like a mirror, reflecting societal values and how it socializes its members. It makes clear that in relationships, males –like Danny—are socialized to view relationships as mostly a physical, sexual endeavor, while females –like Sandy— view it as an emotional bond, that is has resulted from a deeper c onnection between the two individuals within a relationship. It is tempting to believe that when couples say that they are â€Å"in love,† they view their love in the same way –that they have successfully â€Å"defined their relationship.† Love after all, is the only legitimate reason for marriage in western society and one should at least be on the same page before entering into a perpetual union (Henslin 468). Sociologists like to say that romantic love is composed of two components: sexual attraction (a biological response) and idealization of the other (a societal created response that promotes a bond between two individuals) (Henslin 468). However this is a very simple definition of love because it turns out that romantic love is in the eye of the beholder. Researchers of heterosexual love have ... ... completely differently. It is not stretch then to conclude that a dating couple who is watching this movie will be reinforced in what they already believe. The man will still view relationships as mostly physical and sexual and the women, as a means to satisfy her emotional needs and that of her offspring. Works Cited Dosser, David A., Jack O. Balswick, and Charles F. Halverson Jr. "Male Inexpressiveness and Relationships." Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 3.241 (1986): 241-58. Print. Gray, Peter. Psychology. 6th ed. New York: Worth, 2011. Print. Henslin, James M. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Ally & Bacon, 2010. Print. Kanin, Eugene J., Karen R. Davidson, and Sonia R. Scheck. "A Research Note on Male- Female Differentials in Experience of Heterosexual Love." The Journal of Sex Research 6.1 (1970): 64-72. Print.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Where to use mean, median or mode to make a decision

Measures of average are also called measures of central tendency. Their purpose is to provide a numerical figure which may describe the level of entire distribution. For example let five students be awarded marks as follows. 10, 11,9,12 and 13. All these scores are different from each other but at least there is one such score to which the rest of the scores standby or nearby. There are three measures of central tendency as follows; mean, median and mode (Srivastava et al. , 1989). These are used at different occasions when making a decision for example when the administration of the state is requiring to collect and analyze data related to population and material wealth of the country for the purpose of planning and finance. Mean can be used when making the instructional decisions. This can be used by a teacher to get the knowledge about the student’s entry behavior and background; in this case the distribution should be normal meaning all the scores should be present. By getting the mean of the student’s scores, the teacher will be able to identify the teaching technique to use according to their strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, the mean should be used when the teacher is evaluating the degree to which the objectives have to be achieved so that he/she will be able to encourage good study behavior among the students. Incase the scores are scattered the mean must be used so that all the scores are brought together to enable decision making to take place may be about the performance. Median should be used for guidance decisions. Students should be guided in their vocational choices; educational performance and their personal problems therefore median can be used to determine the average performer in class and can be advised accordingly. At the same time, median is used to make guidance decisions especially when a quick and easily computed measure is required to provide the data about significant characteristics which can help a certain group of people to understand themselves better. Mode should be used in research decisions in the sense that for any research to be carried out there must be collecting of the data on the issue at hand. After collecting the data, scoring, and analysis should be done and interpretation of the whole information given. When the information is incomplete mode must be used. It is also used when one wants to know the fashion of the most recurring measure or score.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Eng 221 Critique Essay

The Canon iR1210 is an All-in-One office printer designed to make an office more productive. It also has with it a six-page owners manual designed to inform the owner of many features of this printer and how it can make a person’s work around the office more productive by having this printer. This paper will provide critiques of the owner’s manual for the iR1210. The criteria for this critique will be in the following areas, Audience Recognition, Introduction, Glossary, Technical Description, and Graphics. The link to find the manual is by going to www.safemanuals.com and clicking on the Canon iR1210 link and that will enable anyone to download the manual. In writing a manual the goal is to offer customer support. Audience Recognition is a way to decide what to say and how to say. The writer needs to recognize who the readers are and give them what they want. The iR1210 manual does do very good job information in very simple terms what the iR1210 is capable of doing for the reader. The writing is very clear and to the point and avoids using any jargon that the reader may understand. The one downside for the audience recognition it does not have any instruction on how to use the product. It only really gives the readers highlights of the product so it does lack a bit of thoroughness. An Introduction to a manual is a way to promote good customer-company relationships. It is a way to personalize the manual and to achieve a positive customer contact. The iR1210 manual does an outstanding job of personalizing the manual. It does try to speak directly to the owner of the product by letting them know how much they will be benefiting from this product. One area that the manual can improve in is its use of positive  words. The manual does not really make the reader feel like the company is glad they bought their product. The Glossary is a way for the manual to let the reader know what they are referring to if they are using any abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols in the instruction of the products. The iR1210 manual does avoid needing any glossary because it does a very good job of avoiding using any abbreviations, acronyms, or symbols that the reader may not understand. It does lack any real technical instruction in the manual, and there is not any glossary in the manual. Manuals will contain a Technical Description of the product; it could be an explanation or a labeling of the product. May also include a list of the product’s specifications, such as size, shape, capacity, and capability of the product. The iR1210 has a large list of product specifications, which can be very helpful for the owner. It however does not include any kind of photo labeling each part of the system. Some owners may find that helpful to locate different parts of the product. Graphics are a way to make the instruction more visually appealing, and can help the reader understand instruction easier. The iR120 manual does have a number of photos of the product in different work type settings. But it does not include any kind of instruction on how to use the photo with the photos. Overall the manual for the iR120 is a very well done. It does highlight the features of the product and does a very good with audience recognition and personalizing the product. The area that the manual does need to improve on is the instruction of the product. It seems to be more focused on a person who already has a working knowledge of the product. An owner, who may not have the same knowledge, may find the manual lacking proper instruction on how to use the product.