Saturday, November 30, 2019

Terrorism Essays (702 words) - Terrorism, Violence, Crime

Terrorism Terrorism Why do people resort to such violent acts as bombing, assassinations, and hi-jacking? How do individuals and organizations justify these acts of terror. These acts can be described as terrorist actions. Terrorism is an growing international problem. During the last twenty years, new terrorist groups have sprung up al lover the world. Governments have had little success in their attempts to resolve issues in which terrorism is used. A major problem in discussing terrorism is establishing a generally accepted definition. Terrorism can be described as the unlawful use of fear or force to achieve certain political, economical, or social aims. Because it is so hard to define, organizations like the United Nations have had great difficulty drawing up policies against terrorism. Terrorist actions may be committed by a single individual, a certain group, or even governments. Most terrorists, unlike criminals, claim to be dedicated to higher causes, and do not believe in personal gain. The methods used in terrorism include threats, bombings, the destruction of property, kidnapping, the taking of hostages, executions, and assassinations. There are many reasons why political groups attempt to bring about radical change through terrorism. People are often frustrated with their position in society. They may in some way feel persecuted or oppressed because or their race, religion, or they feel exploited by a government. Any group that uses terrorist actions have very complex and powerful reasons to engage in those activities. The use of terror to achieve goals is not a new idea in history. One early terrorist group, the assassins, flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. The assassins used murder to dispose of their enemies, and their name has come to be used for one who kills for political or religious reasons. Government terrorism dates at least from immediately after the French Revolution, in 1789. During this period, known as the "Reign of Terror," the French Revolutionary executed thousands of its citizens who were considered enemies of its rule. Acts of terrorism have been committed by individuals, or groups who seek national independence. One such act was the assassination of the Arch Duke of France in 1914. The assassination had sought to win Bosnia form Austrian rule, but failed and led to the outbreak of World War I. Kings and government officials are often the targets of terrorism. Czar Alexander of Russia was assassinated in 1881 by members of a terrorist group that wanted to overthrow the government. Other famous people who were assassinated because of their beliefs were Martin Luther King Jr., and Pope John Paul II, who was shot, but survived. While many groups have engaged in terrorism throughout history, the Anarchist political groups in the 19th century are most remembered. These groups were especially strong in Italy, France, Spain, and the United Sates, but their roots lie within the Russian peoples will movement. Anarchists believe that by nature people are good, and that in the right circumstances people can leave in peace. They oppose all centralized state and think it is an oppressive force that prevents people from cooperating with one another. Modern Terrorism retains some elements of terrorism in the past. At the same time it differs because it has a wider extent in many of its methods. Today, terrorism poses a threat to innocent people, and is a serious threat to democratic fomrs of government. One of the characteristics of modern terrorists is their practice of taking hostages in order to force their demands upon a particular government. If demands are not met, the hostages face the threat of death. Hi-jacking commercial airlines and holding their passengers and crews hostage has become a favored method among terrorist today. Many people believe that terrorism became global in its extent in the late 1960's. In 1970 over 300 acts of terrorism were recorded worldwide. By 1979the number of terrorist incidents for one year increased to 3,700. Politically unstable countries offer frequent opportunities for terrorism. Lebanon, which has been torn by years of Civil War, has been the sight of numerous terrorist attacks. In addition to terrorist groups, governments today also engage in terrorism. Countries sometimes use terrorism as a substitute for traditional warfare by providing money, training, and weapons to terrorist groups whose activities serve their national aims. Governments may also plan and carry out terrorist actions themselves, although they usually deny responsibility for them. It is unlikely that we will ever see and end to terrorism. Terrorists are not born, but created as todays issues of today develop into the conflicts of tommorow.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

buy custom Articles about Observation essay

buy custom Articles about Observation essay Programs for early childhood or preschool age struggle to offer education of a high quality to the children. Such programs involve a vast range of characteristics in order to answer the purpose. These programmes include structural features that are instituted through the policies and regulations, and process features that are experienced be the children directly. For the most part, the programmes cover a physical environment such as spatial, furnishing and learning materials. Social environment also comprises the preschool programmes, which cover a classroom management as well as emotional and instructional support. The most important, they face a challenge of determining the quality of such programmes and its effect or impact on the features of development of the preschool children in terms of literacy, activity, interaction, language and skill. The level of the experience that children gain while being in preschool make significant contributions to their development of skills in li teracy, academic subject, language and competency in their emotional and social life. For this reason, the different educational systems have been developed, which provide the preschool learners with the rich experiences that prepare them for further studying. In addition, the experiences acquired in the preschool thoroughly prepare a child to join the senior classes or school. The development of these programmes is aimed at providing the preschool children with several opportunities in relation to education. One of the benefits of a high quality preschool education is that it is open for disabled children as well, which is very important. The programmes are useful in protecting such children, thus, reducing the gap of development or recognition that occurs at school entry (Burchinal et al., 2000). In the event of the above constraints, the learner can easily cope with the challenges of education due to the high quality preschool programme. Several studies conducted on this subject indicate a considerable connection between a preschool grounding and further educational advancement. Several organizations continuously emphasize the importance of the quality of the preschool programmes providing an appropriate language and interaction skills. They also insist that a conducive- preschool environment forms a strong foundation or basis for protection of the children experiencing difficulties in reading or social risks. Conducive environment means that children can learn with fewer difficulties and rely on the proper support of the teachers. They also imply that the quality preschool programmes are aimed at protecting such group of children prone to various risks being deprived of the possibility to get the due language skills in the educational surroundings. The peak of ability of a person to gain knowledge falls on a very tender age, that is why it is essential to a child to be in a conducive for studying learning environment. The early foundation in most cases will determine the future progress of the children. Poor educational background means that children will h ave difficulties in their future academics. Numerous studies have also shown the strong, positive relations that is intrinsic to children facing economic and social risks as a result of the connection between quality of preschool attended and the development of a child. However, these studies indicated the mixed evidences, which may be caused and explained by establishing the different study methods to evaluate the effects, sample compositions, varying sizes, and the measurements and definitions of a preschool quality (Cunningham, 2010). Several other researches have also found that preschools offering quality programmes to the children are more likely to achieve a greater, positive impact on the literacy of the children, cognitive or reasoning development and language skill. Preschool quality encompasses a wide range of programme characteristics such as the structural features implemented through the regulations and policies, and direct experiences of children provided via the process features. The process quality or features entail the mechanisms used by the preschool in conveying benefits to the children. It consists of the physical environment including furnishings, space and learning materials, as well as emotional support, management of the class, and instructional support. Extensive studies have been conducted to assess the relationship between various features of a preschool programme quality and the development and outcome of the children (Dickinson et al., 2006). The result of the studies indicates a significant relationship between a high quality preschool programme and future development of a child. In order for the programme to be effective, it is essential to use all the previous experience known in the system of the education of a child. For this reason, the programme ensures that all the elements consider the possible and available advantages that could provide the learners with a base needed to higher education. The creators of the programmes realized the essence of a high quality preschool programme in the preparation for the further development and education of the children. However, the connections between the development and a preschool quality tend to remain at the minimal side, with the significant relationships not evident in most of the studies. Similar studies also reflect the differential aspects and impacts of quality programmes in relation to the characteristics of the child such as sex, race and ethnicity, as well as family and home risk factors. The other factors indicate that development and further education of the learner do not mainly depend on the preschool programmes. The moderating effects in most of the studies and high quality programmes have contributed to the successful outcomes among the subgroups that had experienced the delays in development (Early et al., 2007). However, such studies are not to be relied upon because of various factors. Inconsistencies may arise in the relevant studies because of several reasons such as design of the study in detecting developmental effects, characteristic of the participants involved in the study, and definition and measurement of the quality and outcomes. Contradictions that occurs due to the study designs arise when a study measures the parameters of the quality and development at the same time. These studies tend to result into positive relationships, which may not necessarily be accurate in the interpretation of the concurrent associations. The results from studies assessing the associations of preschool program qualities and development of the children take into consideration the characteristics of the participants of the study. Studies conducted in the past incorporated children who were economically disadvantaged, and targeted to get into the programs of prekindergarten. Recent research and studies a longside with a subsequent expansion and growth of the preschool facilities has encouraged the incorporation of participants or children coming from diverse racial or ethnic and economic backgrounds (Cunningham, 2010). Similar studies on the associations of developmental changes of the quality preschool programs also utilize different measures in evaluating the outcome and quality on the magnitude of the program associations. These developmental measures include direct assessments or ratings of the abilities and skills of a teacher that are useful for learning of the preschool children in terms of language, reasoning, cognitive, social-emotional and academic success. Different studies have also reported varying of measurements of the preschool quality. Teachers, administrators, policy makers, and parents in describing the characteristics of prekindergarten programmes use the term of preschool quality. There are two known types of preschool programme qualities, namely, structural and process qualities. Structural qualities encompass those features of the programme that are targeted at financing and regulation, and include the professional training of the teachers and their personal level of education, ratio and size of the clss, service programmes for families and parents, curriculum types, and several other structural features associated with the developmental outcome of the students. The level of education of the teacher would be relevant in the way he or she can be helpful in implementation of the preschool programmes. In the event, the teacher with the task of implementing of the programmes that h a low educational level would not be appropriate for the job. On the other hand, the type of curriculum determines the impact of the programs on the development of the children. The recommended curriculums at this level are those which are student centered. Curriculums, which are not student centered, may not be effective in implementing the high quality preschool programmes. In addition, the high quality programs work well in schools where there is proper regulation of the class size and number. Crowded classes with insufficient supporting materials would make the programmes ineffective, and, hence, would not produce the expected outcomes (Early et al., 2007). Rationale A literacy environment quality entails the social relations and the surroundins that the children directly encounter while participating in various classroom activities. Social relations would comprise the other students and teachers. The available, supporting staff also covers the area of social relations, which children experience while being at school. On the other hand, there is a physical learning environment, which means the learning materials. Learning materials can include books, classrooms, playing toys, charts, drawings, and other relevant materials at this level of education. These global quality programmes can be described as one containing features of the potential to improve the positive development of a child providing the safe environments, appropriate learning activities, and interactions with teachers, parents and fellow children (Hoff, 2006). As much as global quality proves to impact the literacy development of preschool children, advanced research needs to be foc used on the specific quality indicators connected to language and reasoning skills, activities and interactions. There is limited research on the quality of the preschool programme and the literacy environment. Most studies dealing with the relationship between development of the child and quality of the school focus on the quality measures of one dimension, ranging from high quality to low quality. These studies do not explore the quality aspects that are strongly connected to the development of a child, as well as evaluation of specific quality factor that protect the children facing economic and social risks. This study seeks to examine the instructional practice, classroom environment and the impact of these features on development and support of the progression of the children. It is aimed at examining the association or influence of the factors of preschool qualities on the development of the language-reasoning skills of the children, their activities and interactions, using t he Early Childhood Ratting Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) to assess the preschool programmes and ensure that they meet the needs of the student according to the standards (Harms, Clifford, Cryer, 2005). Methodology The study is focused on the prekindergarten schools with convenient and representative sample sizes from diverse cultural, racial and economic backgrounds. Data collection was done by an observational survey using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R; Harms, Clifford, Cryer, 2005). The use of the scale has been reported for over two decades. It evaluates different subsections that are in line with the objectives of the study. They include such areas as Language and Reasoning, Activities, Interaction, Space and Furnishings, Programme Structure, Personal Care Routine, and Parents and Staff. There are 470 indicators equivalent to 43 items that are rated in a format of a seven-point scale. The descriptors for scoring the variables ranged from 1 (Inadequate), 3 (Minimal), 5 (Good), to 7 (Excellent). Observation Summary The study entailed evaluation of an ECERS-R observation evaluation as a requirement of the course Psychology of Early Childhood. The study was carried out on March 21st, 2012, in a Pre-K classroom, in Lincoln School in New Britain, CT. This observation is focused on three scales, Language-Reasoning, Activities, and Interaction. Participants included 21 students between ages of two to five-years-old. This group of students was from diverse backgrounds, including White, African-American, and Hispanic origin. The staff presented during the study included one head teacher and two assistant teachers. Table 1 shows the ratings based on the observations. Language-Reasoning consists of four subscales: Books and pictures, Encouraging children to communicate, Using language to develop reasoning skills, and Informal use of language. According to the observations, the author believed that all qualifications were met in this area, and rated them with excellent (7). In this Pre-K classroom, there was an assigned center for reading providing students with a variety of books. The teacher, Ms. Thurston, also read stories to the children. The teacher would ask questions and relate the stories to the children as she read. On the free play of the children, four of them played with the books, looking at the pictures and showing to each other. This classroom presented pictures of different subjects at the eye level of the children. In the subscale, the staff and children had constant communication in order to encourage the children to communicate easily. The author observed one particular student who was shy and low in interacting and communicating to the fellow students. The teacher during the free play tried to communicate with that student, and encouraged her to communicate, play and interact with other children by explaining what she was making with clay. As for using language to develop reasoning skills, the author noticed a group of children playing bingo. This game reinforced their vocabulary and knowledge of numbers. For instance, the teacher picked a number and asked them to repeat it then match that number on their bingo cards. In the subscale informal use of language, students were assigned to different centers in the classroom. The staff walked around in order to supervise and communicate individually with the children and inquire them in what activity they were involved in. For instance, one of the teachers asked a girl what she was making with sand. The girl answered: A big house. The teacher continued communicating and interacting with the girl about the house and inquiring whether she was going to add windows, doors, and a chimney. A variety of activities were also observed at Lincoln School. The author assigned a rating of seven (7) to all the subscales under activities except Sand and Water that were rated five (5) and Nature and Science rated six (6). Under refined motor skills, the author noticed that all the materials and tools used by the children were labeled and well organized. For example, the attention was paid to how all the utensils used in the cooking center were labeled and stored in their rightful places. Art work including painting and drawings made by the students were displayed all over the classroom walls. They also had 3D art articles with their names on made by using a clay, and snowmen made of the foam balls. The teacher played music to the children after a story had been read. The students had the chance of singing and dancing to the music separately for the girls and boys. Blocks had an assigned center, where the students had the opportunity to play with different types and sizes, for instance, the coloured plastic and wooden blocks, etc. In this classroom, there was a corner assigned as the sand center with a sand table. The table contained sand tools such as shovels and small buckets among the others. The subscale was rated with a five, as there was no area designated for watter play, either indoors or outdoors. In this classroom, the staff had assigned a theater center for the children to dramatize and change their character into anything they desired. This theater included dress up clothes and puppets. In Science/ Nature subscale, there were a group of books with different themes on nature, animals, and plants. Pictures were also displayed in the classroom that was related to weather. Math/ Number subscale was reflected within the entire classroom. Numbers were everywhere including the date, the blocks, the game they played together (Bingo). Two ch ildren were using the computer with headphones. The use of computers allowed the children to reinforce their knowledge and be able to properly use a computer. This classroom was multicultural; the teachers encouraged the students to play, sing, and dance together despite their ethnic backgrounds. The supervision of gross motor, the general supervision and discipline were well guided. The teachers talked to the children about their activities of interest and promoted an excellent level of discipline in which the students, at the sound of the whistle, knew how to translate the signals to the words Stop, Look, and Listen. Table 2 shows the ratings for the Early Learning Programme (ELP). On March 22nd, 2012, the author visited a preschool programme in New Britain, CT. The number of students present at the time of the observation was ten. Similar to Lincoln School, this programme was diverse in their student admission. The author rated the ELP with an excellent in all subscales because it covered many areas and activities within an hour of observation that were required in the ECERS-R scale. The following aspects were observed in the language-reasoning scale: many books with different topics were accessible to the children, pictures and art works of the children were displayed throughout the classroom. There was also effective communication between staff and students, as well as between staff and parents. The teacher made the children talk about pets at home and their experiences with them. There were four staff members responsible for the talk with the children in the preschool. One of the staff member s played a game with three students in which counting was necessary; she counted with them and also showed them how to count in Spanish. In the activity scale, there was a series of activities that had been observed. Fine motor skills were evident throughout the classroom; materials were all organized and accessible to the children. All the shelves and cabinets were labeled. The author even noticed the teacher bringing books and placing them on the shelf for the students. On the play time, a group gathered in the art center and began to draw whatever they desired. A girl drew her mother and the head teacher. All the previous art works of the children were displayed on the walls. The classroom had a CD player available for music and had music instruments free to be used. The students had the opportunity to play with blocks on their free play time. The children even tried to create a tower that was high enough without the tower collapsing. Previously, the students had played in their sand table center. The table had sand tools stored under the table for the use. This information was made available by one of the teachers in the classroom. The author also observed children playing with puppets, talking to each other as if they were the puppets and imagining stories. The children also played a board game with one of the teachers while parents arrived to pick up their children. In the Nature/ Science subscale, the author observed plants around the room, little flower pots with the attempt to grow grass. There was a classroom pet (beta fish) in which the author witnessed the children taking turns to feed the fish. The board game played by the students had to do with numbers. The personal information of the children was displayed which included their birthdays and a family tree. The classroom had one computer accessible to all children, with different learning programmes for the pupils to learn and play with fellow students. However, it was not used at the time of the observation. The classroom promoted a diverse environment by having children from different backgrounds playing with each other. The author even noticed some Spanish and Polish conversations between mother and daughter. The teachers assisted the kids in using the different tools like working ones, kitchen utensils and grocery shopping materials in an appropriate manner. In general, the supervision was well guided allowing students to work independently but also keeping safety rules in check. At one point, the children started getting rough in their puppet game and so the teacher intervened in order to show them how to play with the puppets and gave them ideas on what to do. The level of discipline in the classroom was excellent; when the teacher was reading a book the children had to raise thei r hand to speak. The author also noticed the children getting a little bit noisy and the teacher let them know that there were interfering with other children, who were trying to play other games. Conclusion Preschool learning age is an essential one and it demands a proper foundation for the preschoolers. The above information explores the experience of the author in the two different schools which were similar to each other. The dynamism of each learning center was unique and adequate for instructional processes and purposes. Both of them were following a protocol and a proper curriculum, which is a necessary element in the implementation of any preschool programme. The teachers used the most effective ways to connect classroom activities with student daily life experiences. This was through encouraging the learners to relate the class activities with the home activities or playground ones. This makes learning to get easier for the preschoolers as they could identify the relationships between class lessons and their life experiences. In addition, the learning expectations of the teacher were focused on academic disciplines (math, language, arts) and social expectations (interactions be tween the students and teachers, respect to others). These are some of the factors which are key determinants of the impacts of the preschool programmes on the development of the children. It is clear from the above discussion and studies that the type of curriculum, level of education of the teacher, and connection of the classroom activities with the daily life experiences results in the positive outcomes (Cunningham, 2010). Evaluation of the environment is necessary in understanding the influence of the environmental features in literacy and social developmental potential of the preschool children. Proper and positive environment will ensure that the learners would gain an advancement due to the preschool programmes. A negative learning environment means that there will be obstacles while implementing the programmes, hence, negative results. Assessment of the quality of the preschool programmes and the environment is essential in improving literacy skills at school entry. Research also indicates that a strong basis or foundation of quality programmes, activities, and literacy developments can prepare students for future successful careers (Campbell et al., 2002). This increases the need to put the priority of the development and future of the students at the topmost position. The high quality programmes and environment that encourage literacy and language development, can also serve to reduce the challe nges that the students might face in the early stages of their growing, thus promoting the development of successful and fluent readers and writers. It is also necessary to put into consideration not only the practice of literacy programmes and quality environment, but also incorporate essential books, experimenting opportunities in a stimulating and a print rich environment. Other notable features with potential benefits include knowledgeable teachers on language skills, meaningful learning choices, and a conducive learning environment with a risk taking, supportive and caring staff. Buy custom Articles about Observation essay

Friday, November 22, 2019

Born to write

â€Å"I was born to dance. It is said that I didn’t fall out of my mother’s womb; I danced out, my tiny body wriggling and flailing like a wild woman.† These lines come from the first page of a book that isn’t a New York Times best-seller or a selection from Oprah’s Book Club. In fact, fewer than 50 copies of this book exist worldwide, and perhaps even fewer people than that have read these lines. But that doesn’t matter because these thirty words are mine; they begin my novel, Deaf Girls Don’t Dance.Unlike my realistic but still fictional narrator, Margaret, I was not born to dance. I was born to write. Ever since my chubby five-year-old fingers first pressed pencil to paper, I’ve been hooked. My career as an author began in first grade when I wrote and illustrated a â€Å"book† about sherbs, fictional sherbet-loving creatures. Although my first authorial endeavor did not have immediate success, I didn’t give up. Throughout elementary school and junior high I spent the free time I wasn’t using for reading to write skits, screenplays, and short stories. By the time sophomore year rolled around, I had laid plans for my greatest masterpiece yet: a full-length, edited, self-published novel.The assignment, given the first week of school: with a mentor’s guidance, conduct research and then create an original work to be presented at the Gifted Expo in May. I knew my project the moment its title popped into my head: Deaf Girls Don’t Dance. After asking my seventh grade English teacher to mentor, I began poring over library books on deafness and developing a plot outline.I had to spend a minimum of an hour a day on my project, but a writer is slave to no clock. Inspiration comes in short bursts for me, so I spent many a night staring blankly at the computer screen, hoping beyond hope that something would come to my mind so I could meet my daily goal. When an idea came, my fingers typed frantically, rushing to get my words out before I lost them. If my clock read 4:30 a.m. by the time I was finished, so be it. The temporary discomfort from sleep deprivation is nothing compared to the lasting pride in finishing a chapter, and eventually, a book.The deep sense of accomplishment I feel from writing and publishing my book are nothing compared to my expectations for the future. Now that I have one novel under my belt, I am confident that I will be successful as an author in the future. After writing a novel considered almost autobiographical in many ways, I am compelled to expand my horizons and write more creative fiction while continuing to use my life experiences as inspiration. As I continue reading, I develop new ideas for writing. Deaf Girls Don’t Dance tells a unique story, but after reading books by well-known authors like Fitzgerald and Wharton, I want to do more than tell stories. I want to study English to perfect my craft and write books infused with beautiful imagery, riveting symbolism and subtle but strong themes, books future high school English teachers will use in their classes.I know my goal sounds impossible, but I want to go down in history as a great author of the twenty-first century. If publishing my first book at 16 isn’t enough to make history remember me, I will have to improve my skill as my career progresses. Writing only leads to more writing, and my strength comes from the confidence I gained through writing my first novel.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

What was the Western new imperialism, and how did it develop Essay

What was the Western new imperialism, and how did it develop - Essay Example The western countries depended upon African and Asian countries for raw material and colonization was a means to access and exploit the rare and precious commodities of the colonies. Apart from this, for some imperialists, the motive behind imperialism was to spread Christianity, or Western ethics, laws and culture around the world; for others, it was the precious commodities of Asian and African countries and golden chances for investment. For some, it was merely for personal or national glory or a strategic advancement. 1 â€Å"In short, British and French motives were characteristic of the medley of motives that constituted late nineteenth- and early twentieth century European imperialism.† (Fieldhouse 341) The three leading imperialists: Great Britain, France and Germany had their respective motives and interests in establishing their imperialism. Germany wished to defeat the rising socialism in the country and to prove that it was equal to the British by acquiring its own empire. Great Britain had the most advanced maritime technology that enabled it to expand its empire. France, having defeated by Germany in 1871 needed to restore its international standing, which was achieved by imperial expansion in Africa and Southeast Asia.2 In February 1885, the main European powers who were actively vying for control of large parts of Africa signed the Berlin Act which formalized the process for the partition of Africa. France, Germany, Britain and Portugal all had interests in West Africa and the Act provided the guidelines by which each then proceeded to define their territories.3 Thus western new imperialism was greatly facilitated by the technological advancement in the development of machinery, railways, roads, steam-ships, factories and global trade. The weak political structures and their internal conflicts in Asian and African countries made them vulnerable to the new imperialism. The long term

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

NSA Cyber Security Profile Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NSA Cyber Security Profile - Research Paper Example The assortment of the proper security controls for an information system is an essential duty that can have major ramifications on the functions and assets of an institution as well as the wellbeing of persons. Security controls are the organization, functional, and technical safeguard or counteractions prearranged for an information system to shield the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of the system and its data. Once implemented inside an information organism, security controls are examined to offer the data required to establish their general efficiency; that is, the degree to which the controls are carried out precisely, operating as intended, and creating the desired result with regard to meeting the security needs for the organism. Knowing the general productivity of the security controls carried out in the information system and its environs of operation is important in establishing the risk to the institution’s functions and assets, to persons, to other in stitutions, and the to the country resultant from the utilization of the system. The purpose of this paper is to offer guidelines for creating effectual security scrutiny plans and a comprehensive set of proceedings for examining the effectiveness of security controls implemented in the information systems (Gallagher & Locke, 2010) Security assessments can be effectively implemented at some phases in the organism development life cycle to expand the grounds for assurance that the security controls engaged inside or inherited by a data system are effective in their application. For instance, data system developers frequently carry security assessments and system integrators at the development and implementation stages of life cycle to assist make sure that the needed security controls for the organism, and/or system are appropriately intended and developed (Department of Defense, 2006). Assessment activities in the original system development life phase can be revolved more quickly m ode before proceeding to succeeding phases in the life cycle. Examiners receive the needed proof during the scrutiny process to permit the proper institutional officials to make objectivity establishment about the effectiveness

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Personal Ethics Statement Essay Example for Free

Personal Ethics Statement Essay The ethics that I am personally living with revolves on how I deal with my life, with other people and with the world per se. Some of them are anchored on my childhood years and learning which definitely reveals my becoming and upbringing. Some have developed and came up during my college years due to the fact that my eyes have become open towards different perspectives. Ethics deals with personal philosophies in life. What I believe in certainly reflects the ethics that I am living with and upholding. For me, if a person is to make one lie to me, he or she needs to add ten more. He or she needs to add more lies in order for his or her lie to be consistent. That reality has something to do on how I trust a person; it has something to do with relationship and friendship because trust is one of the vital components of establishing ties and relationships. â€Å"To refuse an offer is more than an insult. † I usually state and utter these words among my friends whenever they refuse something that I have given them because for me, it is unethical to decline one’s offer especially if it comes from the bottom of the giver’s heart. However, everything still depends on the circumstance because some offers are worth refusing especially if it is beyond your limit or beyond your belief. There are also things to consider when declining one’s offer. â€Å"Love is universal. † And I strongly grasped this philosophy. I do not believe that it is wrong to love a person of the same sex or to discriminate those persons who are involved in homosexuality. I am not gay but I believe in human rights and equality. If it is unethical for the church and for the society, for me it is not. I may evolve as a deviant on that but certainly, I, definitely, am not alone. Some of my personal ethics that are indeed of great help to my life, how I live with it and how I fight and struggle on life’s challenges focus on the following: (1) positive vibrations, which means that I have to get away with negative thoughts; (2) never manipulate a person, instead motivate them; (3) learn to fight; (4) be aware and sensitive of other’s feelings; (5) if a person or thing is not meant for you, it is not really meant for you; (6) forgive; (7) do not hold back and cling on to the past and; (8) if a thing is needed to be done, it should be done.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Leadership in Thoughts from the Tao-te-Ching and The Qualities of a Pri

Leadership in Thoughts from the Tao-te-Ching and The Qualities of a Prince Lao-Tzu’s â€Å"Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching† and Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Qualities of a Prince† both have the ultimate goal of making better leaders. The tactics that each writer chooses to present as a guide for the leader are almost opposite of each other. Today’s American government would benefit from a combination of the two extreme ideas. Lao-Tzu’s laissez-faire attitude towards the economy, as well as his small scale, home defense military is appealing to a liberal person. Machiavelli’s attitude towards miserliness and lower taxes, while being always prepared for war, would appeal to a conservative person. The writers are in agreement on some issues, such as taxes, but other ideas, such as government involvement in the everyday lives of citizens are completely opposed to one another. Lao-Tzu believes in moderation and small government. He states that a leader should stay within his country and govern his people only. He stresses that when the maser governs, the people should hardly be aware that he exists. A leader who is loved is better than one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised (22). Lao-Tzu also believes that war is not necessary when all follow the Tao. He states that â€Å"violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon itself;† therefore, if you have a neutral position, you will not be harmed (24). He believes that people are inherently good and not greedy. Man’s greed...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Book Critique on ‘Suicide’ Essay

Book Critique on ‘Suicide’ by Emile Durkheim Nearly a century ago, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim became interested in the phenomenon of suicide. Why, he asked, do people kill themselves? In his day, the common answer to such a question is: the suicidal person is depressed or mentally ill or has suffered an unbearable loss. An alternative philosophical answer is also presented: an individual commits suicide because it is part of his nature. But Durkheim was not satisfied with these explanations. He thought it likely that forces within society influenced people’s decision to kill oneself was never simply personal. Durkheim wanted to provide a sociological answer to the phenomenon of suicide. To find out whether his ideas were correct, Durkheim considered the explanations for suicide that were common in his day and systematically assembled the evidence for each. As his sources, Durkheim used government records that listed numbers of suicides and gave information about the people involved – their age, sex, race, religion, marital status. Upon analyzing this material, Durkheim saw that the usual explanations for suicide were contradicted by the evidence. There was a general variance of suicide rates across countries and time. Durkheim argued, â€Å"If suicide is considered a personal issue, why is there so much variation? † (Durkheim, 1897/1951:17). If suicide were related to mental illness, Durkheim would have found relatively stable proportions of suicide and mental illness within social groups. Durkheim found the opposite: some groups shared high rates of mental illness but little suicide; other groups shared high rates of both. Durkheim found that women were more likely to be diagnosed a mentally ill, but had less chances of committing suicide. Other contradictory information surfaced: Durkheim discovered that most people committed suicide during warmer periods of the year, not, as might be expected, during the cold days of winter. These initial findings forced Durkheim to conclude that suicide is determined by social forces; that is, forces external to the individual. Durkheim said, â€Å"suicide is based on social causes and is itself a collective phenomenon† (Durkheim, 1897/1951:145). Characteristics of the social group in which people find themselves make suicide more or less likely; self-destruction is not simply a private act. In analyzing his information, Durkheim looked for specific social conditions under which suicide occurred the most and least often. Here were some of his findings: 1) Protestants committed suicide three times more than Catholics and Catholics more than Jews; 2) Single people committed suicide more often than married people, and married people with children least often of all; 3) And, suicide rates are higher when people feel few or weak ties to a social group or community. The Jewish community was more tightly knit than the Catholic, the Catholic more tightly knit than the Protestant. Married individuals, especially those with children, had stronger social bonds than single people. After identifying the general cause of high suicide rates, Durkheim classified suicide into three types: 1) egoistic suicide, 2) altruistic suicide, and 3) anomic suicide. Individuals with few or weak ties to a community are likely to commit egoistic suicide, or suicide related to social isolation and individualism. The opposite of egoistic suicide is called altruistic suicide. Here individuals whose ties to their particular groups are so strong that their commit suicide for the good of the group. Durkheim also saw that suicide rates increased when there were sharp economic upturns, and decrease when there was economic stability. When times are stable, people feel better integrated into the social fabric and committed to social norms. When times are stressful, the resulting state of anomie leads people to commit anomic suicide. At the end of his research, Durkheim argued that ‘sociology is a legitimate field of study’ (Durkheim, 1897/1951). This statement is founded on two striking facts. First, he showed that suicide tendencies can be explained by social facts; that is, empirical statements with no psychological or philosophical implications. In essence, sociology is a field of study independent from psychology and philosophy. And second, social explanations about specific phenomenon are never inferior from other types of explanations. In essence, social explanations are sufficient to explain contradictory social facts, since the latter depends on the former for empirical validity. General Critique There are several criticisms on Durkheim’s research on suicide. Here are some of the criticisms: 1) Durkheim defined suicide as referring to ‘all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result’ (Durkheim, 1897/1951:44). By positive act, Durkheim meant such things as jumping off a bridge or shooting oneself. By negative act, he meant such things such as not taking necessary medicine or not getting out of the way of a moving vehicle. When Durkheim developed the concept of altruistic suicide, he himself committed a violation of his own operational definition. This violation constituted a flaw in his research. Given his data, it is almost impossible or difficult to find instances of altruistic suicide. One can infer that the inclusion of this type of suicide was the result of ‘overzealous inference’ from data; 2) Some sociologists argued that Durkheim was able to delineate the difference between personal issues and public problems. This is not entirely true. Durkheim never gave operational definitions to both personal issue and public problem. Durkheim only assumed that personal issues are issues peculiar to personal events; public issues are issues salient to the interests of a given social group. In a sense, it was Mills, not Durkheim, who formalized the distinction between personal issues and public problems; 3) Durkheim also ignored one important factor in his analysis of suicide: the political context of the late1890s. Durkheim argued that economic upheavals increased suicide rates, economic stability decreased suicide rate. If one closely analyzed the context of the late 1890s, one can perceive that it was not economic crisis (ups and downs of the economy) that determined suicide rates; rather it was the stability of political structures. The more stable the political structure, the more stable is the market. Hence, there are fewer tendencies for individuals to commit suicide. Conclusion Although these criticisms were significant in many respects, they are insufficient to demolish Durkheim’s theory of social facts. For one, Durkheim successfully defended the integrity of sociology as a field of study. And second, his analysis of suicide rates cannot be proved to be incomplete or faulty. His definition of suicide may be shaky, but the implication of such is of no theoretical importance. Hence, Durkheim’s study on suicide rates is sociologically acceptable. Reference Durkheim, Emile. 1897/1951. Suicide: A Study of Sociology. J. A. Spaulding and G. Simpson. New York: Free Press.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Coffee Bean – Malaysia

Our research is conducted with the purpose of investigating and studying the current retail mix. We chose The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf  ® as the retail company which operates in Malaysia. This report is important for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf  ® as it helps them to identify their problems and make further improvements to enable them to compete with their competitors, for example, Starbucks.As we know, The Coffee Bean has a lot of franchises, there were about 750 stores in 22 countries, for example in California, Arizona, Nevada, Singapore, Malaysia, Sabah, Taiwan, UAE, Korea, Brunei, Indonesia, Australia, Shanghai, Israel and Brunei and continues to expand both domestically and internationally. As it is hard for us to conduct a research on this topic in so many countries, therefore we only focus on The Coffee Bean operating in Malaysia. We conducted our research by using searching for detail information through the internet.Besides that, we went to one of the franchises lo cated in Penang to see how the business operates, how the staffs serve their customer and to know more information on the store layout and design. The result of our research shows us that The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf  ® has encountered many problems. As conclusion, we did include several recommendations to The Coffee Bean and to help them to improve in order to earn more profit and their sales can increase. RETAIL ENVIRONMENTRetailing is the final activities and steps needed to place merchandise made elsewhere into the hand of the consumer or to provide services to the consumer. Nowadays, retail sector is increasingly being viewed as an important in the economy and to the society. According to Malaysia Retail Report 2010, it predicts that total retail sales will grow from an estimated US$35bn in 2009 to almost US$58bn by 2014. A low unemployment rate, which rise the disposable incomes and a strong tourism industry are key factors behind the forecast growth. In 2009, Malaysia's n ominal GDP was US$201. 6bn. Over the forecast period through to 2014, it predicted that average annual GDP will growth 4. 3%. With the population expected to increase by 9. 8%, GDP per capita is predicted to rise from US$7,103 in 2009 to US$9,654 in 2014. Furthermore, it also forecast that consumer spending per capita will increase from US$1,961 in 2009 to US$3,197 in 2014. Moreover, Malaysia is classified as an upper-middle income country. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DSM), the average consumer spending was MYR2,285 per month in urban areas and MYR1,301 per month in rural areas.With the urban population predicted to account for almost 76% of the total by 2015, according to UN data, this is likely to have a positive effect on retail sales. Thirteen years ago, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brought the art of coffee drinking and the world of gourmet grinds to the land of kopitiams and has since successfully integrated it into the fabric of the urban Malaysianâ₠¬â„¢s lifestyle. Thirteen years later, there are over 54 stores in the east and west Malaysia. We can see that between this time period, Coffee Bean had rapidly growth.Besides, Malaysian today is also familiar with Coffee Bean compare to a few years ago. In the future, it is expected that Coffee Bean will continue to growth in Malaysia due to the changing lifestyle of Malaysian and other factors. INTRODUCTION In year 1963, Herbert B. Hyman started The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf  ®. With a dedication to excellence and the quality of coffees and teas in the world, Herbert’s efforts made him the founding father of gourmet coffee in California. Now The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf  ® has grown into one of the largest privately-owned, family-run coffee and tea companies in the world.Besides, the endurance and popularity of The Bean attributed to the high standards that were established from the beginning. The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf  ® has discovered the formula for a succe ssful coffee and tea company, which is start from trend-setting drinks such as the World Famous Ice Blended ®, to the employees who become a part of the communities they work in. Today, they offer over 22 varieties of coffees and 20 kinds of teas. Moreover, Coffee Bean is also a Clicks and Mortar retailer. They sell their product at both online and via physical stores.The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf  ® mission is to create a spirit within the company that inspires their team members to provide their customers with a total quality experience that is: Quality of Product, Service and Environment Furthermore, they also believe in the fundamental truths that guide them through their daily lives at The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf  ®, which is: 1. Friendly with each other and their customers. 2. Respect for each other’s values, opinion and individual diversity. 3. Ownership, it is because they are proudly entrusted with the responsibility. . Teamwork, it is because they achieve success by working together. 5. Honesty, it is because they are truthful to each other and to themselves. In short, they realize that their customers deserve ‘simply the best’. THREATS AND OPPORTUNITITIES Opportunities 1) Changing lifestyle Although there is an economic downturn in year 2009, however, the specialty of coffee industry has grown every year. According to one of the economy observer, when times are good the coffeehouse industry is great, and when times are bad the coffeehouse industry is still great.This means that the coffee industry is strong at all times. What makes the coffee industry become a strong industry at all time? One of the main factors is changing in the Malaysian’s lifestyle. Nowadays, many of them are hard-working, fast-paced Malaysian considers a stop at their local coffeehouse as their necessary part of the day. This is because coffeehouses provide calm, inviting environment for people to socialize, relax or catch up on work. Coffee house for such The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf is one of the places where they can meet with their friends.Besides, with the relaxing atmosphere and environment it makes the coffeehouse become a suitable place for the college student to do their assignment or discussing their homework. During weekend nights, coffeehouse is the place where full with the young customers. Furthermore, instead of going to a bar and paying for an alcoholic drink or a restaurant where a meal usually comes with a hefty price tag, the older adults now choose to spent their time in the coffeehouse. With a cup of coffee and snack, they can meet with their friends and relax. 2) Market potentialAs what we had discussed just now, Malaysian’s lifestyle is changing and therefore, coffee industry for such The Coffee Bean has the potential to growth in Malaysia. According to the research, there are only 54 outlets of The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf in the whole Malaysia included East Malaysia. In the future, it is expected that the number of outlet will continue to increase. In short it means there is a market potential for The Coffee Bean. Threats 1) Competition Global coffee market is one of the very competitive sectors. The main competitor of The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf in Malaysia is Starbuck.This is because both Starbuck and The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf are addressing the same target group. Both The Coffee bean and Starbucks have developed a strong and successful business by adhering to their core values that is to offer customers the best coffees and teas, to hire friendly staff from local community and to provide comfortable places to them to relax. Therefore, The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf has to develop the best strategies to compete with Starbuck. In here, the most important thing to compete with Starbucks is to improve its services.For example, The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf had offering â€Å"Party Pack† which customer can order when throwing a house or office part y. They provide services of giving their customer the possibility to bring The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf lifestyle back to their homes. Moreover, the company also provides online services. They have their home page with virtual stores which is being defined as collection of all pages of information. The customers can buy their product through online and knowing the latest promotion through the homepage.Besides, coffee manufacturer, such as, Nestle USA, Inc, distribute premium coffee products nationally in supermarkets and convenience stores. Most of these products may be substitutes for this company’s coffees and their coffee drinks. Therefore, if the company wants to retain its status as the world’s leading specialty coffee retailer, it must be aware of their competitors. 2) Host country risk management Risk management issues such as government policies, regulation, macroeconomic variations and monetary uncertainties are important to The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf on its international franchising.Therefore, it is a necessary for The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf to understand the host county government policies concerning to the transfer and repatriation of dividends, fees and royalties. However, this company conducts a very little host government policy evaluation due to attributed to a lack of resources and reactive approach to market expansion. 3) Enthusiasm of health consciousness Nowadays, people attitude are changing and they care more to health. More and more people are taking responsibility for their health rather than passively accepting medical decisions.With this, the consumers are cutting down on caffeine. It is because they believe that drinking coffee will harm their health. This is because that they feel that the pros of consuming coffee are less than the cons. As a result, this may decline the demand for coffee from The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf. COMPANY’S RETAIL MIX Retail mix is the combination of merchandise, assortment, price, promotion, customer service and store layout that best serves the segments targeted by the retailer. Price The price is what the customer willing to pay in exchange for the benefits of the product and services.From the research that we had conducted on several Coffee Bean franchises, it is clearly shown that the price of most of the products offered is around RM10 and above. For example, an egg club sandwich and a plate of Chinese chicken salad cost Rm15. 50 each. It may be expensive for certain group of people such as the youths who are the zero income earners. With this we can see that the price charged by The Coffee Bean is slightly higher than those coffee shops such as Old Town Coffee but if we use Coffee Bean pricing and compare it to their biggest competitor in the coffee industry, for such, Starbuck.Starbucks will have a little advantage on the pricing as with high price, they will earn higher profits in just a short period. Based on the research, we can see that Cof fee Bean focused on non price decisions, but on other factors such as qualities and facilities. Thus in here it is clear that Coffee Bean is using the above – market pricing policy as they do provide the wifi facilities and also the good environment for people to do their business or assignments. It also had show that they target the market most on the youths. The muffins and cookies which cost only less than Rm5 are affordable for the youths but the cakes nd also the pasta set are not affordable for them as they are not working and thus no income for them. They only depend on the pocket money given by their parents. Thus The Coffee Bean should offer their products with lower prices so that it is affordable for the youths to purchase it. Coffee Bean can earn back their profits in the long term. The adults with middle and high income can afford to spend on the products offer by Coffee Bean. For example, although the price for those cups and gifts available in The Coffee Bean a re quite expensive, but there were actually people who purchase them especially those with high income.Merchandise Merchandise is being defined as goods, ware, stocks, articles or item to be sold. In another way of defining merchandise is the availability of assortment of products available in the retail shop. For The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf or also known as The Coffee Bean in short, offer many types of products such as coffees, teas, cakes, party-packs, pies, cookies, muffins, sandwiches, salads and even hot pasta. They even offer different types of drink menus for their customers. The Coffee Bean does customise to meet the wants and demands of their customers.This is because different consumers have different types of preferences. It can be shown clearly when The Coffee Bean customises their coffees into light and subtle, rich and smooth, dark and distinctive and flavoured. For example the light and subtle coffee is especially for the customers who prefer mild and delicate flav our. Whereas for teas, it is being categorise into black and oolong tea, green tea and flavoured green and herbal and fruit infusion. For such, green, black and oolong teas all have their own signature flavours and aromas, and each will have its own unique set of blends that complements and expands their essence.A mellow Ceylon tea, for example, blended with a delicate peach flavour works the magic sparks of fruitiness with a light floral finish. And to those who dream of having spectrum of aromas and flavours, a cup of oolong tea will be their choice. Furthermore, the cakes being offered can be customised into cheesecake special, signature classic, for kids and special occasions. They also offer the drink menus to suit the taste and preferences of their valuable customers. For such, they offer coffee, espresso, brewed tea, tea latte, non-coffee, coffee ice blended drinks, coffee-free ice blended drinks and many more.Thus with the way of customising their products to suit the tastes and preferences of different customers, it will then help to attract more customers to The Coffee Bean and with customers, retail trade can be done. They also do provide merchandise line depth whereby they allow their customers to choose the size for their drinks whether they want small, regular or large size. In conclusion, customer satisfaction can be met when the retail organisation, The Coffee Bean is being influenced by the customers’ needs and wants.Besides from all these, The Coffee Bean also do offer some gift packs, for example The Holiday Tea Trio which includes three mini square tins each containing five tea bags of whole leaf teas. They are nicely wrapped with ribbon on top of it which makes it attractive for people to purchase them. Although Coffee Bean offer a variety of products for their customer but it may bring some disadvantage such as the taste and aroma of coffees and teas may not be that fragrant anymore as they do not focus on only a particular type of coffee and tea.This may make the good quality of the products offer by them to be turned into bad quality. Therefore, to prevent this from happening, Coffee Bean should only picked up some of their famous products to specialise in and to continually improve on it. Advertising and promotions The Coffee Bean become famous and as a media darling, their brand have been place and promote in hits shows like Entourage and The Hills, to coverage leading publications like Forbes Magazine and the Times. Coffee Bean had advertised its brand not only through the media or magazine but some other ways such as donations, promotions and others.The Coffee Bean have come out with a numbers of examples they been using to reflect the concept of social responsibility and also to promote their brand through donations. It can be shown by the following example; The Coffee Bean made a donation, 50% from their sales item to be donated to serves children with autism, learning disabilities, hyperactivity or a ttention deficit disorder, mental retardation, and emotional challenges. Through an ongoing commitment, The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf ® holds The Help Group's annual Deck the Walls holiday fundraising program and proudly features the children's artwork.Their most recent activity is the project of Caring Cup initiatives which planted and nurtured domestically in communities served by the company, as well as internationally in communities which the product originate. The framework of caring cup initiatives is rooted in need; where need from preventing the environment to improving education. Through these, The Coffee Bean will definitely well known in public and as we can see nowadays more and more people will come to purchase from the shops whereby there do a lot of charity work and these charity programs will be part of The Coffee Bean social responsibilities.Beside donation there are a few promotions being used to promote their brand. At times, The Coffee Bean ;amp; Teas also giv e free drinks today to celebrate the launch of the cafe’s holiday drink line. For example, from 4p. m. to 8 p. m. (11/12) customers can get a free 12 oz holiday drink. Choices include: Peppermint Latte or Ice Blended drink; Pumpkin latte or Ice Blended drink. Besides that, they also promote their famous drinks by posting pictures on the wall and putting up banners outside of their franchises.People who own The Coffee Bean Card may have some benefits too and it acts as a way of promoting and thus can attract their customers to purchase more. By having the card the consumers may enjoy the convenience of debit purchase, the more the people top up the card the more benefit they will get, such as 10% more value and redeemable of other item by having at least 5 point. They do have the holiday promotion. When it is near by the holiday season, they had been preparing some merchandise to go, such holiday cocoas gift set and others.This had helping in promote the brand by his consumer to others. They also have their online advertisement. They are not only having their own web site but they already create their pages in Facebook, Twitter and also Youtube which are the famous connection web on current time. They also post some short video on the web to promote and attract to the customer. With all the relevant aspect, connection and advertisement use by the company, Coffee Bean has successfully passed their information to their customer.Through the promotions of the products by hanging up banners and pictures on the wall sometimes may not contain full information such as the pricing and the nutrition of the particular product. They may only contain attractive pictures on it. In order to solve it, the management of Coffee Bean should publish their nutrition label and the pricing on the banners. With these, customers can get the information of the products they choose and can decide whether to purchase it or not. Besides that, we also noticed that Coffee Bean do not give out brochures as a mean of promotion. This may be a disadvantage for them.If brochures are provided to the passer-by, they may tend to go in to the Coffee Bean to enjoy the products offered by them. As a conclusion, the Coffee Bean should also provides brochures and distribute it to the people so that they can have more information on the offers and promotions offered. Customer service and Selling Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. For The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, they provide a series of customer service to their customers. Such as, their entire customer can apply for a member card or so called The Coffee Bean Card.Basically, The Coffee Bean Card is a loyalty card introduced to reward regular customers with loyalty points called â€Å"BEANS† which can be subsequently redeemed against purchases at The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf outlets (CBTL). With perception, Coffee Bean is a big believer in teamwork (just lik e Starbucks) as they feel that success is achieved by working together. After our research on several franchises of The Coffee Bean, we noticed that their staffs are efficient, friendly and helpful enough. They maintain amicable relationships between customers and each other.This can be shown when customers ordered their drinks and food at the counter, they served their customers with smiles and when we asked them certain questions for our assignment purpose, they will try their best to answer us. The employees have respect for each other's values, opinions and individual personalities and are honest and truthful to themselves and each other. Due to this strategy, they can serve their customers in a better way. In addition, Coffee Bean also provided online service which customer can view their website that having the latest news and more information towards their company.In order to let their customer to contact them or get more information towards them, Coffee Bean also provide the ir headquarter address, email, telephone and even fax number on their website. They even have their website for their customers to comment on their services and products provided. Selling is being defined as trying to make sales by persuading someone to buy one's product or service. Coffee Bean also did selling. They try to sell out their product as much as their competitors do. Therefore, promotion will exist. Besides that, Coffee Bean tends to sell their product through their good and friendly customer service.Due to the customer service provided by them are good, customers tend to come back to them when they think of having a cup of coffee and enjoying the peaceful environment there. Although most of the Coffee Bean franchises are well organised with their efficient workers, there is a possibility that they do made mistakes to especially in delivering the drinks to the customers or when they prepare the drinks. This can be shown when our group when to one of The Coffee Bean to do our research while having our drinks there; we noticed that they made the drinks for us not according to the size we ordered.For such, we ordered a regular size black forest ice blended and a large size of the caramel ice blended, but during the preparations of the drinks, the staffs made mistakes, everything goes the other way round. These mistakes can be avoided by sending those staffs to more training programs so that they can improve and be more efficient and the operations in The Coffee Bean will be more effective and productive. Location Location is an area that retailing may undergo significant changes in the decade to come.Besides that, retailers have been classified according to their location within a metropolitan area, be it the central business district, a regional shopping centre or neighbourhood shopping centre, or freestanding unit. In order to have the businesses caring out well or to improve the businesses, location and target market can be considered as important factors. For example, if the location that retailers choose is too far away from the town or is it hardly or impossible to find a parking lot to park their vehicles, most of the consumers will choose not to go there.Locations that retailers mostly choose to run their businesses and to earn a profit from there are such as metropolitan area (e. g. : town area), central business district (e. g. : heart of the state) and so on. In Malaysia, most of the retailers would like to operate their businesses at metropolitan and central business district. The reason they choose these places is because the locations tend to attract more consumers to their shops as there were also many hypermarkets and supercenters around.As for this assignment, we carried out a research on The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf, The locations that Coffee Bean may choose to run their franchise businesses are basically the two popular locations. Besides that, The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf currently has over 750 stores in 22 countries. In addition, in Malaysia currently have over 54 stores. 31 franchises in Klang Valley, 6 in Penang, 1 at Ipoh, 2 in Pahang, 3 in Johor Bharu, 2 in Malacca, 6 in Sabah and 3 in Sarawak. Every Coffee Bean in Malaysia tends to gives people a relaxing and enjoyable environment.The location that Coffee Bean’s retailer pick mostly at those places which can attract more people. The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf tends to attract those tourists and people who used to hang out with friends or to those who were carrying out their direct selling with others. For such, after a tired shopping day, most of those shoppers will tend to find a relaxing place for a rest. They can enjoy the coffee and the sweet aroma of teas that are provided by the Coffee Bean. Next is the customers may also enjoy the beautiful scenery around these franchises, for such the beaches.Through these, more of the tourists will pay a visit and spend their time there. Besides that, location such as shopping complexes is also a hot spot for shoppers and tourists to spend their time there either the day or night. Customers can sit and relax themselves; they can also view the shoppers shopping around and can feel the friendliness of the people. Locations that Coffee Bean chooses are also convenient to the entire consumer. Most of the franchises operate at the shopping complex; this is because there are a lot parking places provided for their customers.This will let those consumers to pay more visits to their shops which can provide them with the drinks provided and the good customer service provided. Target Market is the specific group of customers that a company aims to capture. They have been identified as people with needs or wants that can be met with the products or services from the company. The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf is targeting the youth, who are teens and working adults in their twenties. This has become a weakness for the firm. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf aligns itself wit h other major brands targeting the youth market.This may lead it to lose some potential market. For example, DOME’s positioning is â€Å"expensive and exclusive† as its target market is basically the professionals, managers, executives and businessmen. But The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf’s target market is the youth and who didn’t have strong consumption power. The target market for The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf is sensitive to the price issue. The Coffee Bean positioned them well in the target market by a competitive pricing strategy. This pricing strategy likes a threat for The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf.Thus the market share and profit for The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf are limited. They also target the adults with stable income. The problem on the location is that there were only 54 outlets in Malaysia. For example, Pahang there is only 1 branch but we found out that it may not be enough for the Pahang residents. The people who want to go to The Coffe e Bean may need to travel a long distance to reach Coffee Bean. As a recommendation, we recommend that the management of The Coffee Bean should increase the number of outlet in Pahang.Next we also found out that The Coffee Bean target the youth as their main target. Our group feel that the youths who are the zero income earners might not have enough income to spend on the products offer which will be slightly expensive for them. Thus Coffee Bean has made a mistake, they should target adults with medium and high incomes as their main target group as they can purchase the products without worrying that they would not have enough cash to pay. Store layout and design Layout and design is defined as an arrangement, plan, design of a building, book, picture and etc.As we know, Coffee Bean is one of the franchise companies. Most of their layouts and designs are almost the same in every outlet. For example, the theme colour of the outlet. You can see that their outlet mostly is painted in b rown colour. Brown colour is a natural, down-to earth neutral colour. It represents warmth, wholesomeness, friendliness and simplicity. With this, it gave their customers a warmth feeling when they are inside their outlet. As the customers enter into the Coffee Bean, they can also notice the pictures of the famous drinks at Coffee Bean are being hang up on the wall.Besides that, the playing of the sentimental music makes the environment calm and relaxing. This makes their customers willing to pay for a higher price for a cup of coffee and enjoy it in such calm and relaxing atmosphere. Furthermore, there are also a counter is used to display their products such as packets of teas and coffees, cakes, cookies, muffins and etc in every outlet. It is well organised, people can easily find the products they want as the products are being arranged in order. Each of the products display is being priced.Customers can choose whatever products they want from there and they can see the price fo r it. Moreover, in every outlet, there is a menu board at the counter. It shows the menu of coffee drinks and beverages that sell and their price. Customers can refer to the board and make their orders. There is also a small blackboard hanging on the wall which states that what the special offer is for the day. The outlets for most of the Coffee Bean franchises were big enough, there were spacious space for the customers to walk around without asking the others to shift their chairs to allow them to walk pass.The management of The Coffee Bean also placed some plants in their outlets as part of the decorations on the franchise. They do provide magazines for their customers to read. Next is the lighting system in The Coffee Bean franchises. They usually will use the bulbs with orange colour to give people the romantic and warmth feeling. The lights being used by them are those with nice designs on it and are in various shapes. There is also wifi provided for their customers who wants to serve on the internet for the assignments and business purposes.After stating the store layout and design of The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf, our group also do noticed some problem on it. For such, the writings on the small blackboard which is used to write what the special offer of the day are too colourful and it is too small as it can make the customers difficulty in reading it. Thus to improve it, they should provide each Coffee Bean franchises with a bigger blackboard and the writings should be change to a bigger size and the fonts which can be easily readable by the customers. CONCLUSIONFrom the report above, we can see that The Coffee Bean ;amp; Tea Leaf has been growing from time to time, but on the way of growing there are several issues that need retailer’s attention and take certain actions to correct and to improve it.. From the research, we found out that most of their customers are youngster and are of the middle income earner, but the price of most of the pro ducts offered is around RM10 and above, with this, it may not be affordable for the zero income earners in here the youngsters. As from these, Coffee Bean may need to lower the price of their products.As for the location and the number of outlets of the Coffee Bean, it is shown that there are only 54 outlets of Coffee Bean which operate in Malaysia, 31 franchises in Klang Valley, 6 in Penang, 1 at Ipoh, 2 in Pahang, 3 in Johor Bharu, 2 in Malacca, 6 in Sabah and 3 in Sarawak. As we can see there are unequal balances of outlets located, with this they may need to add more branches on those states which are under stored. Beside this, The Coffee Bean also conducts a small part of host government policy evaluation due to attributed to a lack of resources and reactive approach to market expansion.With this take should pay more attention on it. As on the side of health, a medical report had state on caffeine which conduct in the coffee may cause harm on our health; this had cause the cons umers to cut down on the consumption of coffee which contains caffeine. With this, The Coffee Bean may concentrate on tea left beside the coffee. Next, they offer a variety of products and thus they need to choose certain products which are popular among the tastes and preferences of the consumers.For their advertisement and promotions, they should provide more information on it, such as nutrition labels and the pricing on the banners, this not only can attract the customer, and it may also help those consumer make decision on their choice. Although The Coffee Bean franchises are well organized with their efficient workers, but there still have some problems occur, such as mistake in making order, to avoid this problem occur again, they should provide more training to their worker to improve their service system.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Mumbai Burning

Mumbai Burning Free Online Research Papers Mumbai is bleeding, Mumbai – city under fire, Terror hits Mumbai and we are just watching? These are not just headlines but the fact that we are just watching and cursing everyone. But who is at fault The Government – we choose them, The Politicians – we elected them with our votes, Corruption – We all are a part of it. And above all these we curse Muslims, the entire community. Yes, The Muslims, these are the one who are always behind all anti – social activities. It’s always a Jihad behind a bomb blast. But did we notice that the profile of Jihadi’s has changed. They are no longer aged in 30’s and uneducated. They are now someone who is next to us. Today’s Jihadi are young blood who has ambitions to grow and reach on top of different fields. They are engineers, management graduates, doctors, lecturers etc. They are our friends, colleagues, room-mates. These are the one to whom we were mentor and the one who have mentore d us. Have we ever thought of having such a mind set and aim, which made them so destructive and not us? Why are we victims and not a part of Jihad? Do we know the answer and had we ever tried to know why this happened? We know the answer but cannot except the ugly truth. We have been at times responsible for encouraging them to leave humanity. I even don’t remember a movie on terrorism where the ugly role is played by a Muslim character. What was the fault of Chak De’s Kabir Khan? He missed to goal against Pakistan or he being Muslim. He showed sportsmanship to the opponent’s Captain but media portrayed it as â€Å"Desh ka Gunehgar†. In a very similar instance, during the test series at Australia, Kumble congratulate Mr. Stubborn Ponting, everyone appreciated Kumble for his impeccable gesture and sportsmanship. Why the definition changed with the religion? We prefer to get our clothes stitched by a Muslim Tailor; even the Muslims are in saloons but while recrui ting a Muslim candidate we think twice. A blast happens and terrorist got identified as a Management student. What we did? The Management schools stopped giving admission to Muslims. Muslims lecturers were not given respect. Muslim worker were being questioned about their past and were asked to get Police Verification. Was that we were supposed to do? Is this the right approach to deal with this? DO we know how many Muslims were the victims? The NSG team had Muslims who were facing fire from the front to rescue peoples. We need to stand and lead from the front to raise against discrimination of communities. Few maharastrian do not want North Indians. The word â€Å"Bihari† and â€Å"Bhaiya† are being used to insult people. We say American have discrimination of color. We condemned DIscrimation of Black and White in the past. Then why are we discriminating Muslims? We all are responsible citizens but that citizen is yet to be recognized. We need to know the truth and we need to accept the truth and look beyond the perceptions. We are humans the only living creature which can think and we need to decide our actions for a better and safe future. Research Papers on Mumbai BurningWhere Wild and West MeetThe Hockey GameStandardized Testing19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsCapital PunishmentRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionHip-Hop is ArtHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Essay

Monday, November 4, 2019

Persuasive speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Persuasive speech - Essay Example People going to public places such as hotels or even some schools face the wrath of isolation. They are regarded as strangers or even terrorists and are stared at surprisingly. 2- Fear of physical harm. People opposed to wearing of hijabs have always assaulted girls wearing the hijabs in different countries such as France and other public places such as schools. They are always suspected to be hiding something behind their hijabs (Elawawadh Web). As a result of assault and discrimination, many girls have opted out of Islam and joined other religions or secular world. They fear the level of discrimination driven towards people wearing hijabs (â€Å"BBC News† Web). - Media has played a huge role in escalating challenges affecting people wearing hijabs. Through the media, such as social media and the television or newspaper, people around the world have been made to understand that terrorists are Muslims. The fear of interacting or rather mixing with Muslims has led to the isolation and physical abuse of people wearing hijabs (Elawawadh Web). Girls wearing hijabs do not have the knowledge on why they should wear the hijabs. They do not understand the benefits or even the meaning of wearing the hijabs (Asser Web). The knowledge should also be spread among people who discriminate against people wearing hijabs. They should understand that it is won for a good cause (Vyver Web). 2- Proper institutions and legal framework should be put in place to protect girls wearing hijab (Syed Web). Schools and other public places need to protect people wearing hijabs by introducing stern measures to punish any form of discrimination or physical assault. 3- Media should act as the number one messenger that promotes hijab wearing among Muslim girls (â€Å"BBC News† Web). They should bring in Muslim sheiks and clerics as well as leaders who support girls wearing hijabs. Wearing hijab is a command from Allah and it plays a major role in maintaining integrity and

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Medicare vs. Medicaid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Medicare vs. Medicaid - Essay Example It covers inpatient expenses such as rooms, meals and tests. Part B, known as supplementary medical insurance pays for necessary doctor, laboratory and some outpatient medical costs. It is financed by premiums paid by enrollees. Part C is the Medicare Advantage Program through which private plans provide benefits to enrollees. Part D is a prescription drug plan that covers some costs of drug and is extended to anyone eligible for Medicare. Taxes collected through the Federal insurance Contributions Act and Self employment Contributions fund the program. The government uses this to refund the services providers (Stanfield, Hui & Cross 2011). On the other hand, Medicaid is the second largest health insurance program that serves low income citizens. Each state has its own Medicaid eligibility criteria. Recipients include children under 6years and family income is at or below 133% of Federal poverty level, adults, elderly (over 65 years) and disabled persons who have no or no income and receive state assistance such as foster care assistance (Stanfield, Hui & Cross 2011). As mandated by the Federal government, Medicaid covers the cost of outpatient and inpatient care, family planning services, laboratory tests, X-rays, transportation, rehabilitation and physical therapy services. Payments by the State are made to the healthcare providers based on a fee for service terms or through health maintenance organizations. Then each state is reimbursed for a share of their Medicaid expenditure. Beneficiaries are exempted from copayments from family planning and emergency services. Both Medicaid and Medicare have had an impact on all stake holders. These programs have increased the number of citizens seeking medical and health services, therefore, is predicted growth in employment in the health sector. Demand for primary care is on the rise especially from physicians and nurses with advanced degrees. According to Stanfield, Hui & Cross (2011), as more