Weekly Journal #8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Journal #8 - Essay Example Doing contrary is likely to cause confusion and lack of focus, which may lead to failure or stalling of a therapy. Additional point collectible from the readings is that family therapy approaches can apply in the treatment of other psychological and behavioral malfunctions such as substance abuse, childhood depression, eating disorder, internalizing disorder, childhood depression and childhood anxiety. As a qualified counselor, one needs to accept and value concepts of effective integration as presented in the readings. Actually, an experienced counselor should never combine many approaches to family therapy in their entirety. Instead, one should select and borrow important concepts from other models, which are relevant and capable of addressing challenges and differences encountered at different levels of therapy. In addition, an experienced counselor need to apply more of specially designed integrative model when doing therapy. This can help in avoiding confusion and making clients understand complexity of stages and perhaps reasons for changing in costs of therapy. The concept of preferred view can also help experienced counselors identify problems and dysfunctional relationship quickly (Nichols, 2013). The readings of the week also contain many insights that can be vital to a family therapist. One of the insights is that a therapist can use family therapy approaches to treat other behavioral problems such as childhood depression, childhood anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders among others. Another insight is that therapeutic techniques are dynamic and multidimensional as concepts of one technique can help in resolving problems encountered during application of another technique (Nichols, 2013). Prior to the week’s readings, one would be thinking that integration of family therapy approaches is wrong and, professionally,

Girl Interrupted Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Girl Interrupted - Movie Review Example As the story progresses, Susanna became attached to Lisa who influenced her to cause troubles with the other patients. There was even a point where Susanna rejected the idea that she wasn't sick as what her boyfriend had told her because she relied much on Lisa. Susanna only came to realize how dangerous Lisa's personality was after Daisy killed herself and Lisa showed no mercy. Lisa even attacked Susanna and threatened to kill herself, too. At the end of the movie, Susanna was released from the institution. She left a remarkable line "Crazy isn't about being broken, or swallowing a dark secret. It's you, or me, amplified...". According to a study conducted by World Health Organization (2010) depression, anxiety, psychological distress, sexual violence, domestic violence and escalating rates of substance use affect women to a greater extent than men across different countries and different settings.

Celtic Tiger Irelands Growth Economics Essay

Celtic Tiger Irelands Growth Economics Essay The Harrod-Domar (CITE!!!) model developed in the 1940s was originally intended to analyse business cycles, but has since been adapted to economic growth. In the model, growth is dependent on the levels of labour and capital. As developing countries typically have a plentiful supply of labour, their growth is more dependent on physical capital and savings to create growth. Growth is achieved through net investment which will lead to capital appreciation thus producing higher levels of output and income; with higher levels of income there will be higher levels of saving. Thus, economic growth is dependent on policies and practices that will promote savings and/or create technological advancements that will decrease the capital-output ratio. However, this does not provide a complete picture and as a result, further models have since been developed. The traditional neoclassical growth model as developed by Solow (1956) and others builds on the Harrod-Domar model by including labour as a factor of production. However, the model allows little room to explain any impact other outside factors, such as foreign direct investment, may have on economic growth. In the model there are diminishing returns to capital and long run growth will be determined through exogenous factors such as technological advancement or population growth. Growth only lasts for a transitional phase until the economy reaches its new steady state level of output and employment. The model also states that growth rates are inversely related to a countrys income per capita; a poor country with similar endowments to a richer country will grow faster and eventually converge to the income per capita level of the richer one. Exogenous factors will only affect growth in the short term and the only way they can have lasting effects is via permanent technological shocks. H owever, Romer (1986), Lucas (1988) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995) among others are credited with the development of the endogenous growth model which considers technological advancements as endogenous to the model. In his seminal paper on growth, Romer (1986) provides an alternative model for long term economic growth. He states that income per capita among developed countries does not necessarily converge with that of developed countries and that in fact there may be differing levels of growth. In particular, less developed countries can exhibit low levels of growth or may not grow at all. The factors that do lead to growth are not dependent on exogenous technological changes or differences between countries, but rather technology is endogenous to the model. Even holding technology, population and other factors constant, the most important idea is to ignore the traditional assumption of diminishing returns. Thus, long run growth will come from the accumulation of knowledge. Knowledge can demonstrate increasing returns and marginal product and can have limitless, constant growth. New knowledge will be transferred between firms and have positive externalities thus leading to increased growth. Ro mer (1986) argues that these positive externalities are able to explain growth and are necessary for an equilibrium state to exist. Similar to Romer, Lucas (1988) adds technology or human capital to the neoclassical growth model. The model in his paper also considers learning by doing as a way of capital accumulation. Population growth is held constant and both physical and human capital are included. Physical capital is taken from the traditional neoclassical growth model and human capital boosts productivity, where a stable effort level will lead to stable growth rates in productivity. For a closed economy, poorer countries will continue to stay poor, but will actually have the same growth rates as richer countries. Therefore, there will be constant growth rates and a steady distribution of income. For the open economy with free labour mobility and free trade of capital inputs, externalities and spillovers will lead to higher wages and higher skill levels, thus increasing the wealth of a country. Lucas also states that different growth rates amongst countries can be due to different levels of human capital grow th associated with different goods. Accordingly, it is evident that the same levels of technology and human capital are not available in every country as the neoclassical model assumes. Barro (1991) examined 98 countries to test the neoclassical idea that poorer countries will grow faster than richer countries. Rates of school enrolment were used to measure levels of human capital. The results find that GDP per capita growth rates are significantly positively related to initial endowments of human capital and based on these initial levels, growth is negatively related to the initial level of GDP per capita. These findings seem to support the neoclassical model that poorer countries will eventually converge with richer countries. However, this only holds for the poorer countries that have relatively high levels of human capital, meaning that the human capital level is above what would be expected given the relatively low level of GDP per capita. The paper also takes into account other factors, such as fertility rates, government expenditure, political instability and corruption, and price distortions. Despite these considerations, Barro concedes that the results are unable to explain the poor growth rates for countries in Latin American and Sub-Saharan Africa and suggests that other factors must be involved. Convergence or Regional Boom? From the theory, it is evident that convergence of less developed countries is not automatic and that many factors are responsible for economic growth. For the case of Ireland, there is debate as to whether or not it was simply a matter of delayed convergence or as a result of a regional boom. There are several papers arguing both sides, which will now be examined. Ó Grà ¡da (2002) argues that the economic performance of Ireland in the 1990s is mainly a matter of delayed convergence and making up for many decades of underperformance. He finds that Ireland underachieved compared to other Western European countries from the end of World War II until the late 1980s. Throughout that period, the 1960s provided a glimpse at possible future economic growth. If the period is extended to 1998, Ó Grà ¡da states that Ireland performed as expected given the low initial level of income per capita in the 1950s in order to achieve convergence. Thus, the economic slowdown evidenced at the time of writing, 2002, seems to be in line with convergence theory and to be expected as Ireland had reached its new steady state level. However, if the Celtic Tiger is simply a matter of delayed convergence, then why it took so long also needs to be examined. Ó Grà ¡da attributes this to poor fiscal policy practices and protectionism during the 1970s and early 1980s. Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke (1996) examine in detail why Ireland underperformed in previous decades relative to other Western European countries. Ireland experienced much lower rates of GDP growth as evidenced in Figure 1. The richest countries in 1950, Switzerland (CH), UK and Denmark are compared with the poorest countries, Greece and Spain. Ireland is the clear outlier and exhibits much slower growth than would be expected. They attribute the weak performance to a variety of factors particularly trade protectionist policies, heavy reliance on agricultural exports, and rent-seeking behaviour. In particular, Ireland failed to participate in the economic recovery of the rest of post WWII Europe by maintaining barriers to trade and waiting to open up the economy until the 1960s. However, they do not find that low levels of investment in human and physical capital to have been significant factors. Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke also suggest that Irelands proximity and reliance on the UK cou ld have led to slower growth rates since the UK, while not underperforming, was not experiencing particularly high levels of growth. Figure 1: Average annual growth rates, 1950-1988, for Western Europe Source: Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke (1996) Honohan and Walsh (2002) also take the view that Irelands economic performance can be attributed to delayed convergence. They argue that there was no productivity miracle but instead the boom was mainly due to a change in fiscal and monetary policies and an improvement in the labour market, which allowed productivity to finally catch up to the levels of the rest of Europe. While an increase in the population employed and demographic trends are unlikely to be repeated, Honohan and Walsh argue that if the policy changes had been made earlier, Ireland would have achieved convergence earlier. The argument that the increased growth was due to a regional boom is also considered. However, it is immediately discounted when Irelands population and economic growth is compared to that of individual states of the U.S., ranking 23rd out of fifty (Honohan and Walsh, 2002). Barry (2000) examines if Irish growth can be attributed to changes in policy and to what extent, which would support the convergence hypothesis. The most important factor is correct microeconomic and industrial policy, which Barry argues is the main reason for the delay in development. However, he finds that there are other certain characteristics necessary for convergence to be achieved, including a stable economy, an effective labour market, a developed market for exports, and sufficient levels of education. Thus, Barry seems to provide mixed support for the convergence theory. The delayed convergence hypothesis suggests that Irelands economic growth was simply a matter of catching up with the rest of the developed world. However, it has some shortcomings including not satisfactorily explaining why Ireland failed to converge sooner like the other peripheral EU countries of Spain, Portugal and Greece. Delayed convergence also does not give a role to the large increase in foreign direct investment as the theory does not suggest that anything other than sound economic and industrial policies are necessary. The theory also suggests that since convergence has been achieved, all that is required to maintain it is to ensure the same sound policies are followed. The regional boom theory, on the other hand, does take into consideration other non-traditional factors such as FDI and the boom of the US economy. It particularly focuses on an economys export base as key for economic growth. This theory also leaves room for unexpected shocks, such as a decrease in FDI or downturn in the US economy to have an impact on the economy, which in light of recent events, would seem to be more accurate. The regional boom theory will now be examined in more detail. A regional economy differs from a national economy in that there is free movement of labour in and out of the region (Barry 2002a). Krugman (1997) has suggested that Ireland be treated as such a regional economy due to the fact that it exhibits many of the features of a small region of a larger economy rather than a larger independent nation. Ireland is a small, extremely open economy and before the adoption of the Euro, had a currency that was mostly pegged to another. With the free movement of labour, wages are determined by those of the larger region, rather than within the country itself and job numbers are based on labour demand rather than labour supply determining job creation based on wages (Krugman, 1997). Also, adjustment to exogenous shocks will be dealt with differently by a country in a regional economy versus a sovereign country. If a shock occurs to the labour market in an open economy, labour will simply leave, rather than a wage adjustment occurring and new industrie s arising, as in a closed economy. Krugman argues in favour of the regional boom hypothesis because of the large increase in the export economy and the increase in jobs in the services sector as a result. The majority of the increase in exports during the Celtic Tiger was in foreign-owned companies. Barry (2002b) examines Irelands economic performance and the factors that lead to convergence compared to the other peripheral EU countries of Spain, Portugal and Greece. Ireland, unlike the other countries, failed to reach EU average levels of growth until much later. Unlike previously argued by Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke, Barry finds that this was not in fact due to macroeconomic policies, as all four countries had similar practices and in fact, Ireland was the most export oriented country of the group, as shown in Table 1. Barry finds the main difference between Ireland and the rest is actually in labour market operations. Ireland experienced high unemployment, high emigration and increased wages from the 1960s to the late 1980s. The relatively high wages meant domestically owned labour-intensive firms were unable to compete with foreign-owned firms as high levels of FDI, particularly in the manufacturing sector, started to enter the economy. Thus, Barrys findings seem to support the regional boom hypothesis with exports and FDI playing a key role in explaining Irish growth. Table 1: Exports of goods and services as a percentage of GDP Barry (1999) argues that in order to achieve high levels of growth in a regional economy, a nation needs to be internationally competitive in the non-agricultural sector, as increased capital in an agriculturally based economy will lead to more emigration. He argues that industrialisation policy is crucial, whereas proponents of the convergence theory, including Ó Grà ¡da consider this a distortion with Ireland merely switching from import-substitution industrialisation to export-substitution industrialisation (Ó Grà ¡da, 2002, p. 8). However, others, such as Barros and Cabral (2000) and Fumagalli (1999) suggest that in order to industrialise, such a distortion is necessary. Hill et al (2005) consider both theories and come to the conclusion that perhaps it cannot be explained solely by one theory, but rather a combination of the two. They argue that the necessary conditions for convergence were in place by the 1970s, but that Ireland suffered as a result of poor policy practices from 1973-1986 and global economic downturn. However, this is not sufficient to explain the economic growth fully and thus, Hill et al also incorporate the regional perspective. Labour and capital inflows were as equally important as sound policies in Irelands growth. Ireland was able to attract foreign investment, create more and higher quality jobs and as a result, the levels of labour force participation increased. They cite increases in employment and job creation as extremely important in the Irish case, which implies a larger role for government than in convergence theory. Government needs to do more than just maintain proper fiscal policy and must ensure there is a compet itive environment for business. Ó Grà ¡da (2002) also considers the regional boom hypothesis, but finds it overly optimistic for proposing that high growth rates could be sustained without sustained increases in labour. However, both Barry (2002c) and Dascher (2000) develop a model of a regional boom economy with Irelands specifications and find that labour inflows will decline as infrastructure and housing become more congested. Yet, growth can still continue without more labour if sufficient stocks are maintained and there are no negative exogenous shocks to the larger regional economy. The regional boom theory also suggests that just because Ireland has caught up to average EU levels, it does not mean that further growth cannot be achieved as convergence theory would suggest. Indeed, if Ireland could continue attracting FDI and supplying labour, growth should still be able to continue, despite convergence already being attained. Blanchard (2002) comments on Honohan and Walshs 2002 paper and argues that convergence theory is not the appropriate model to describe Irelands growth, but rather endogenous growth theory is. Instead of the Solow model which has diminishing returns to capital, he suggests the AK model of economic growth is more appropriate, where output and capital accumulation move together because of consistently increasing employment levels. Thus, the economy will move towards producing more capital intensive goods. This is similar to the regional boom perspective where increases in labour and capital will stimulate each other to create more growth than would be possible in a national economy. The regional boom theory, unlike convergence theory, allows for negative exogenous shocks to affect growth. For example, a downturn in the global economy or a withdrawal of FDI in favour of Central and Eastern European countries, would significantly impact the Irish economy. However, convergence theory would consider these to be temporary shocks and since no policy changes have been made, they should not affect growth. Conversely, the regional boom theory allows for the possibility that these could be permanent shocks with tremendous negative effects, including even a return to pre-Celtic Tiger levels of unemployment and emigration and the undoing of the catch-up. Overall, both perspectives offer valid reasons to explain Irelands economic growth however, in view of the recent financial crisis and Irelands sharp economic decline, it may be more appropriate to view the progress of the 1990s in terms of a regional boom. While Ireland had relatively similar policies to Greece, Spain and Portugal, it did not catch up with European averages in the 1960s like the others did. Thus it seems perhaps more suitable to view Ireland in terms of part of a regional economy tied to the UK for that time period and again connected to the US during its boom years starting in the late 1980s. This theory also suggests that industrialisation strategy, creating an export-based economy and attracting FDI are the key factors for growth, rather than just appropriate macroeconomic policies. Both of these theories can provide useful lessons for other developing countries seeking to follow in Irelands footsteps of rapid economic growth. Lessons from Ireland for other countries There are many papers discussing the Irish economic boom, its causes and what lessons can be learned for other countries seeking to achieve such rapid economic growth. Acs, et al (2007) examine whether the Irish miracle could be duplicated in Hungary. The paper focuses specifically on the impact of FDI and how it affects entrepreneurial activity. While they find significant differences between the two, the results do suggest several policy outcomes based on the Irish experience that Hungary could implement, including boosting human capital, improving the quality of FDI and encouraging more enterprise development. Andreosso-OCallaghan and Lenihan (2005) focus on economic policy and whether Ireland can provide a good example of economic development for NMS, with particular regard to developing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). They find that Ireland does indeed supply a useful model for others to follow. Developing the growth of SMEs is important for overall economic growth and it was a key focus of Irish industrial policy, particularly after 1993. Andreosso-OCallaghan and Lenihan suggest that adopting Irish policies, such as dedicated development agencies, and proactively evaluating industrial policies, would help SMEs grow in NMS. However, they also warn of the dangers of relying too heavily on FDI as some would suggest Ireland has done. Hill et al (2005) examine the Irish experience in great detail, beginning with considering whether convergence theory or regional boom is more appropriate. They then recognize that for a small, open economy to develop and create quality jobs, the country needs to be competitive in the following four areas: context for firm strategy and rivalry, demand conditions, factor (input) conditions and related and supporting industries (Hill et al, 2005, 5). There are also corresponding policy initiatives for each of the four areas: tax policy, educational system, regional economy and institutions and consumer protection laws. They then analyse these four areas for Ireland and how policymakers have performed. The economic conditions and performance of Arizona in the United States is then compared to Ireland, to see what lessons Arizona could learn and if they could replicate Irelands growth. The results show that Arizona shares some similar characteristics with Ireland and thus has some opport unities for similar growth. Bailey et al (2009) examine industrial policy in both the Celtic Tiger and East Asian Tiger countries to see what potential lessons African nations could learn. They focus primarily on the Irish experience and provide several reasons why Ireland is a better example for Africa, including that most African countries, like Ireland are small and open, Ireland had a more corporatist experience than in East Asia, and that in some East Asian countries the rights of trade unions were suppressed. Bailey et al take a holistic approach to analysing Irish industrial policy, instead of focusing solely on policies that promote just FDI, or developing SMEs or Research and Development (RD), and then apply it to Africa. They find that Africa can learn from the policy examples and mistakes of Ireland and East Asia. In another paper, Bailey et al (2008) examine and compare the Irish and Hungarian experience, with particular focus on industrial policy and then determine what lessons other Central and Eastern European nations could learn. Hungary is selected as a comparison because it has closely followed the Irish model and has been cited by others, including the World Bank and the OECD, as a potential example for other developing countries (Fink, 2006). Like previously mentioned, Bailey et al implement a holistic approach to industrial policy. They assess both countries policies and find that attracting FDI has had the most significant impact on growth. However, they find that there are limitations to FDI based growth and thus emphasize the need to also develop domestic industry. Fortin (2000) discusses and analyses the characteristics and causes of the Irish economic boom. It is divided into two main sections, a long-term productivity boom and a short-term employment boom. Key lessons as well as appropriate policies for other countries, particularly Canada, are identified based on the Irish experience. These include encouraging free trade and investment, industrial and tax policy conducive to business and ensuring high levels of education. Fortin examines Canadas recent economic performance and discusses what changes Canada can implement based on these lessons from Ireland. Although not all Irish policy is applicable, Canada can emulate the policies of fiscal discipline, openness and free trade. Hansen (2006) examines the Irish determinants of growth individually and assesses whether Latvia could repeat Irish success. The approach is more holistic and based on the methodology of Mancur Olson (1996) and Hansen states that this approach could be applied to any of the other New Member States of the EU. The results show that Latvia has already implemented many of the same policies that contributed to the Irish boom. Other factors are considered to be specific to Ireland, and consequently unable to be replicated. Overall, Hansen suggests that Latvia cannot adopt much more from Ireland and goes so far as to suggest the Irish case is no miracle as others have proposed, but rather a combination of sound policy, timing and a bit of luck (2006, 13). With the exception of Hansen (2006) and Fortin (2000), most of the literature on Irish growth and lessons for other countries focuses on specific determinants or policies rather than taking a holistic approach. Therefore, this paper seeks to follow this example and examine the Irish boom in detail and then apply it to country. The individual determinants of Irish growth will now be examined in more detail. The Irish Experience Macroeconomic Stability Convergence theory cites effective policy as an instrumental part of economic growth and indeed Irelands failure to catch up until recently has been attributed to this. In the immediate post-War period, much of Western Europe began to recover and experienced economic growth. However, in the 1950s, Ireland still relied heavily on agriculture, had high levels of emigration and protectionist policies. In the 1960s, the economic conditions began to turn around, with better macroeconomic policies being adopted. As Honohan and Walsh (2002) state, these include pegging the exchange rates to the British pound, managing a reasonable balance of payments deficit, conservative fiscal policy of borrowing only to finance public capital investment and relatively low tax rates. Previous protectionism was dropped and foreign direct investment was encouraged through grants and tax exemptions. Ireland entered into the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement in 1965 and also decided to apply for membershi p in the European Economic Community (EEC), hence opening itself up for more trade. It would seem that during the 1960s Ireland was poised to catch up with the rest. However, in the 1970s, with the global oil crisis and inappropriate policy response, Ireland was unable to capitalise on the progress made in the previous decade. In an attempt to recover from the crisis quickly, expansionary practices were pursued, which caused real wages to escalate and crowded out productive growth. Consequently, in 1987 there was public debt in excess of 130%, an unemployment rate of about 16%, inflation level around 9.5%, high interest rates and there was an average growth rate of 3.2% during the 1980s (Hansen, 2006). All of these elements were not conducive to economic growth and as a result, Ireland faced a severe recession. Accordingly, it became evident that economic policy changes needed to be made and the general election of 1987 heralded the beginning of a more stable macroeconomic policy. The new government, employers and trade unions developed a social partnership known as the Programme for National Recovery to reach an agreement on wages, taxes, and other social welfare improvements. The government offered lower income tax rates in exchange for wage moderation by the trade unions. As a result, the labour market became more competitive and effective and more employment opportunities were created in both the services and manufacturing sectors. Fiscal Policy Fiscal policy from the 1970s to late 1980s was quite varied and went from being expansionary in 1977, to taxing and spending in 1981 and then to cost-cutting in 1987. These changes coincided with different governments in power and corresponding different policy goals. It was not until 1987 that appropriate fiscal policy was adopted for the economic situation and as a result, stabilisation began to occur. The government focused on reducing the budget deficit, which had reached levels between 6.1% and 8.2% of GNP between 1978-1987 and the debt to GNP ratio was a massive 131.4% in 1987 (Leddin and OLeary, 1991). By the end of 2001, the debt to GNP ratio was only 38% (Honohan and Walsh, 2002). Government spending also decreased from about 46% of GNP in 1987 to 37.2% already in 1991 (Leddin and OLeary, 1991). (For graphs see H and W). In addition to cutting spending and reducing the debt, the government cut tax rates. Comparing 2001 and 1985, the top income tax rates decreased from 65% to 42%, corporate tax rates fell from 50% to 16%, capital gains tax was reduced from 60% to 20% and capital acquisitions tax fell from 55% to 20% (Honohan and Walsh, 2002). From the 1960s until 1981, Ireland has a 0% tax rate on export profits. However, such low tax rates drew complaints from other EU members and, as a result, Ireland was forced to raise it to 10% in 1981. This preferential corporate tax rate was put in place for profits in the manufacturing sector, internationally traded services, and activities in the Dublin based International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Again, due to complaints, Ireland agreed to raise rates to 12.5% in 2003 for manufacturing and internationally traded services and in 2005 for IFSC activities. It is generally recognized that such low corporate tax rates were instrumental in attracting inte rnational companies to conduct business in Ireland. Gropp and Kostial (2000) estimated that if Ireland had increased corporate tax rates to the EU average from 1990-1997, there would have been a loss of more than 1.3% of GDP per year in net FDI and a 0.8% loss of GDP in revenue. As a result of Irelands success, lowering of corporate tax rates has also been adopted by other countries, perhaps most significantly, Germany, who reduced their tax rate from 40% in 2000 to 25% in 2001 (Walsh, 2000). Despite this, it is also important to note that the effect of low corporate tax rates on attracting FDI may be distorted as a result of transfer pricing. This means that foreign-owned companies may use pricing adjustments to allocate a larger share of their profits to their Irish operations and thus pay less taxes. This may be responsible for the large gap between GDP and GNP in Ireland during the 1990s. In 1998, GDP surpassed GNP by 14.3%, well higher than any other country in the OECD (Walsh, 2000). However, Walsh also states that the effects of transfer pricing on the measurement of economic growth should not be exaggerated (2000: 225). Generally, GNP is used to measure the performance of the Irish economic boom because of the high levels of FDI. Overall, corporate tax rates have played an important role in attracting FDI, which in turn has been a significant factor in Irelands growth and will be examined more fully below. Monetary Policy Ireland decided to join the European Monetary System (EMS) and an adjustable peg system in 1978 and end its parity with the pound sterling in 1979. Although the decision was made more for political rather than economic reasons, there were definite economic implications. Throughout the period of EMS, many exchange rate readjustments occurred and for most of them the Irish pound was devalued against the German Deutschmark, which allowed Ireland to gain wage competitiveness. Overall, though, Irish membership in the EMS was not as successful as hoped and served to increase uncertainty and discourage anti-inflationary practices. However, joining EMS laid the groundwork for signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and thus the agreement to join the European Monetary Union (EMU). As a result of joining EMU and giving up their independent currency, Ireland experienced a onetime decrease in interest rates.

Floating Armless :: Philosophy, God

In A Prayer for Owen Meany John Ivring uses several symbols to explore the themes of fate and divine control. Ivring describes several objects and characters as being armless to represent a sacrifice made by a divine influence. Owen Meany in particular is often described as being above the ground to represent what he sees as his position as God’s instrument. Owen is first described as being held in the air when attending Sunday school(p 2). Later in the book John repeatedly picks up Owen and raises him to a basketball hoop so he can practice a slam dunk that becomes known as â€Å"the shot.† Before Owen’s death he is once again lifted to a high window using the shot in order to protect a group of children below (p 612). Finally Owen floats above the pine trees after his death (p 615). In part, Owen’s repeated flight is practical. Practicing the shot gave Owen and John the ability to place the grenade on the windows. However, Owen’s flight, particularly after his death also alludes that Owen is closer to the heavens and reinforces his role as â€Å"God’s instrument (p 87)†. After Owen’s death, John points out that â€Å"†¦There were forces that contributed to our illusion of Owen’s weightlessness; they were forces that we failed to believe in-and they were also lifting up Owen Meany, taking him out of our hands. (p 617)† This suggests that Owen was being lifted be divine forces from childhood until they lifted him above the palm trees. Owen was confident throughout the novel throughout the novel that nothing happens by accident and that he was fated to die on July 8, 1968(p 607). Owen feels his death is a part of God’s plan and does not attempt to change his fate. This ties into the theme of divine control. He was carried by spiritual beings through his life to fulfill his role in saving the children. In A Prayer for Owen Meany many characters seem to suffer amputations. The Indian chief Watahantowet draws an armless totem when he sells his land(p 8). Owen amputates the stuffed armadillo’s claws to represent his guilt and grief after accidentally killing Tabitha Wheelwright (p 86). The Meanys’ nativity set features a one-handed Joseph and a three-legged cow (p 183). Tabitha’s dressmaker’s dummy is armless until Owen gives it the arms he removed from a statue of Mary Magdalene (p 553), one of which is later separated again from the dummy (p 555).

A Brief Description of the Feeling of Wonder

Jeaniqua Stanford January 17, 2013 ACP 110-02 Definition Paper Wonder is a feeling of curiosity, amazement, and surprise. Wonder can happen at any given moment, but most times it is not truly wonder. Most times when someone believes something as wonderful, they simply mistake it for wonderful. Instead what they are feeling is simply curiosity or amazement. Wonder is so much deeper than those simple emotions, it is to a point that when you feel wonder you become speechless. When you see, feel, hear, touch, or taste something that makes you feel speechless, like you literally have no words that can explain how you are feeling.If you ask people what wonder is, you will stump them. They will not know how to explain what exactly they feel when they feel wonder. Wonder is one of those emotions that is hard to explain. You know it when you feel it but you cannot explain it. In the ACP 11O-02 course at Roosevelt University, the students were asked what they believed wonder was. The students looked around, some even looked out the window, hoping that they would not be called on. This question is not one that is asked every day, so people do not normally have an answer ready for it.They probably would have to think about it for a long time until they can sum up at least one sentence for what wonder is. When sitting in the ACP course, the general definition of wonder that came from the discussion, was something that makes you feel amazement. Something that is wonderful to most people would be birth, or pregnancy. The whole process of having a child, psychically having it, is speechless. Mothers say that it hurts like nothing they have ever felt, but the emotion they feel once it is over and they get to hold the life they have been nurturing for nine months, is indescribable.The joy that takes over their faces is a moment that should be remembered, and most likely is. Wondrous things are everywhere in the world and if a person just happens to be at the right and at the rig ht time, than they might get to experience it. It is hard to say that something inanimate is wonderful, because it is hard to explain. Trying to find the words to say what a person feels about life itself is difficult. It is wonderful because even though it is explained and can be scientifically described, words truly cannot describe life.Yes, life is the way people go about living on the earth and what they do, but what else is it? How exactly did it happen? Religious people would say that God created man, the planet, and everything else on it. But then scientists would say that we evolved from other beings that roamed the earth before us. If you go for the scientists’ thoughts on life, than the religious people could easily counter that argument with a question on who created everything that we evolved from. Wonder is that emotion that everybody confuses with other things, is it really wonder or is it amazement.Can you explain how you feel or are there no words for how you feel? Those are the questions people need to ask when thinking about what is wonderful to them. The definition of wonder is something that leaves you speechless and curious for more information on it. Life is the one thing that is wondrous to most people because it is unexplainable. A person can guess all they want about how life came about, but they will never find the true answer of it, unless they find someone or something that has been alive for the entirety of earth’s existence.

The Settings of Dracula

With castles, hidden streets, waterways, recurring rainy weather, interesting European architecture, and mystique, London is the perfect location for Bram Stoker's Dracula. London: The capital of Great Britain, and the center of attention in the nineteenth century, due to the many incidents that were going on at the time. The novel includes many daunting scenes, such as when Dracula heaves a sack withholding a deceased child before three female vampires. It is no surprise why he choose London to be the setting of his novel. London is â€Å"exotic† and unknown. Stoker is obviously inspired by London's castles, hidden streets, and church yards. Because of all of these points, London is the perfect gothic setting for Stoker's â€Å"Dracula. † London is recognized for its grand castles. Stoker may have been motivated to use these in his novel describing Dracula's estate in London, â€Å"Carfax† and also his castle in Transylvania. This is illustrated when Mr. Harker arrives at Dracula's home â€Å"up a great winding stair, and along another great passage great passage, on whose stone floor our steps rang heavily. At the end of this he threw open a heavy door, and I rejoiced to see within a well-lit room in which a table was spread for supper and whose mighty hearth a great fire of logs, freshly replenished, flamed and flared. † (Stoker,13). High small windows, arched ceilings, and solid stone walls are also typical for the gothic architecture. These characteristics make the building cold, dark, and forbidding. For example, the text says about the castle in Transylvania that â€Å"The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing the room, opened another door, which led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort† (13) and . â€Å".. a vast ruined castle, from those tall black windows came no ray of light and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlight sky† (11). Everything is difficult to see. For example, dimming lights and dark thick walls are characteristics of this type of architecture. Overall the count's castle looks like the cathedrals in the thirteenth century. It is a copy of a medieval building. London is also a perfect location for this novel not only because of its buildings, but also because of its weather and its scenery. London (or Great Britain in general) is an island, therefore, it is surrounded by water. This makes it â€Å"isolated† from the main land. It makes it problematic to reach. This is why Dracula has to go by ship when he leaves Transylvania to go to London. People often connect harbors with something frightening and you can see harbors in many horror movies. Because of the surrounding water and the rough European climate, there is a lot fog and rain. These are the ideal conditions for Dracula to follow through with his killings. He can â€Å"call† for the fog and the rain. In the nineteenth century, London streets were very small and hidden with little lighting. This helps to create the fearsome setting for the novel. Smoke is created by enormous factories making a creepy backdrop for the terrible things to come. Numerous churches and cathedrals also create a fear-provoking â€Å"flair. These churches are built in gothic â€Å"dark† style. For example, the â€Å"Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows†, is built in this medieval manner. London also includes a considerable amount of beautiful, but creepy, churchyards. Ffor example, in the part when Lucy is constantly sleepwalking and Mina finds her in the churchyard talking about â€Å"his red eyes†, . â€Å".. from where I was I ran on to the entrance of the ch urchyard†¦ † (79). Of course these churchyards are used as a scary setting, like in many horror books or movies. The House of Commons was non-democratically elected. The Bill, caused by the temperance movement, didn't create a democracy in England, but it did enfranchise the British’s middle class. The Temperance movement was typical for the Victorian era. It surround the idea that the middle-class should have self-control and self-denial. These values were shaped both by Evangelicalism and by Utilitarianism. There were also contemporary views on the Reform Act in 1832. So the Reform Bill and the issues on the Reform Act got everybody's attention, what makes London even more interesting. In 1854 there were also several law for women passed. This could be the reason for Mina Harker and her friend, Lucy, to play such an important role in Stoker's book. In this time era, women believed that they should always be protected by the strong men. Because of this, Bram Stoker maybe wanted to draw the attention on the women. The marriage of Mina Harker and Jonathan Harker could may have been a result of the Chancellor Cranworth's Marriage and Divorce Bill passed in 1955. Another point of attention was also the Peterloo Massacre in 1899. A public meeting took place at Westminster on March 28th and in June. Another important piece of information is that London became a massive place with book-keepers, authors, and clerks. This is why many newspaper presses came to London. Stoker could have been stimulated by this and wrote the part, where Mina did research about this article, where the mysterious ship came into the harbor (how already mentioned above). Or it could have been the growth of shipping, caused by the famous clippers, which made it possible to import tea from China to the Thames. The whole story of Dracula could have been also been caused by the widespread poverty and crime in this time. Because of all these facts about London, the castles, the hidden streets, the waterways, the recurring raining weather, the interesting European architecture, and the mystique surrounding this city, Bram Stoker chose this special and fascinating city as the setting for his novel. London is just like made for settings in scary novels or even movies. Especially in the nineteenth century, with all the gothic buildings and all its frightening churchyards. Of course, everybody in this time knew London for this. London was not only well known because of these aspects, but also because London was the capital of its whole empire. So Bram Stoker could not have selected a better gothic setting for his disturbing novel â€Å"Dracula. † Works cited: -Wolffg. , John. â€Å"Gothic† 2002. Online. 5-20-03 www. clc. edu/~wolffg/gateway/gothic. html -Roumpou, Eleni. Is Dracula a gothic novel? † 9-19-00. Online. 5-20-02. www. hausarbeiten. de/faecher/hausarbeit/anl/1106. html -Jackson, Lee. â€Å"Victorian London-Architecture-Victorian Architecture† 2000. Online. 5-20-03 www. victorianlondon. org -Halsall, Paul. â€Å"19th Century Britain† 1-30-99. Online. 5-21-03. www. fordham. edu/halsaall/mod/modsbook20. html -Johnson, Jane. â€Å"19th Cent ury London† 2001. Online. 5-21-03. www. Britannia. com -Smith, Rebecca. â€Å"The Temperance Movement and class struggle in Victorian England† 1993. Online. 5-21-03. www. loyno. edu/~history/journal/1992-3/smith. html

The Science Of Music Example

The Science Of Music Example The Science Of Music – Term Paper Example The Science of Music The Primal Moves presents a collaboration of diversely significant ical compositions of famous musicians and composers depicting the role of music in expressing various emotions (anger, sorrow, happiness and wonder). It aimed to discover the role of primal moves (roles, ritual and recreation) in providing the needed inspiration to design and create â€Å"multidimensional sound world†. The emotional roots provided listeners with the opportunity to enjoy and reflect on the music that matches a particular emotion. The choices composed by composers such as Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov, Adams, Strauss, Ravel, and Brahms, among others were distinctly exemplary and fitted to the colors and emotions. Michael Thomas, the musical director of the San Francisco Symphony emphasized classical music’s ability to interpret and manifest all facets of life through its musical expression.It uses primal moves as the framework and basis for all its creations and compositions weaving together the raw emotions and pure expression of feelings of joy, anger, hope, fear, and a lot more. The experience of matching a painting and a musical composition to come up with a slideshow presentation is most enlivening and challenging as one would like to give appropriate justification to these works of art. The use of music, after all, is to assist in building emotions, tensions and suspense. Music also provides a multitude of facets in one’s live which people can relate to and experience on a personal level. The ability of music to satisfy and pacify an individual’s mood makes it an indispensable part of each person’s life.

Essay on CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY AND CONTACT PLAN FOR ORANGE part 2

Essay on CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY AND CONTACT PLAN FOR ORANGE part 2 Essay on CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY AND CONTACT PLAN FOR ORANGE part 2 Essay on CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY AND CONTACT PLAN FOR ORANGE part 2Essay on CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY AND CONTACT PLAN   FOR ORANGE part  1Question 2. Explain how to develop a customer contact plan in order to avoid losing customers considering the different market conditions in European markets.Orange is a large telecommunications provider offering internet services, fixed and mobile telephony and IPTV. The company’s customer base is very diverse, as Orange operates in 30 countries and has more than 230 million customers (Baines Fill 2014). The company is headquartered in Paris, France but its services are offered at the international level. Major regions of operation are Europe and Africa (Baines Fill 2014). Strategic objectives of Orange are to strengthen its core network offer and to add innovative services to achieve growth in order to expand the company’s market share.It is currently important for Orange to increase customer retention. Currently the c ompany’s approach to managing customer lifecycle includes three stages – welcome, grow and keep (Baines Fill 2014). Yet the impact of financial crisis in European countries led to the increase of involuntary churn for customers who are unable to pay their bills. In this context, it is difficult to simply â€Å"keep† a customer because customers experience financial hardships (Baines Fill 2014). The lack of a consistent customer contact strategy in Orange leads to the outflow of customers to other competitors and increases customer churn. Therefore, Orange should develop a consistent contact plan for its customers aimed at increasing customer retention.In terms of developing a customer contact plan, Orange should first of all determine its approach to marketing its services at international level. There are four key approaches to international market development – ethnocentric approach, polycentric, regional and geocentric approach (Payne Frow 2013). Et hnocentric approach focuses on the national market, polycentric approach views every market as a separate environment, regional approach is based on grouping countries into specific groups and targeting the regions, while geocentric approach views all target markets as a unified global market (Payne Frow 2013).Currently Orange has elements of ethnocentric approach (some key assumptions such as customer service use patterns are taken from national experience) combined with polycentric approach (customer retention strategy is standardized across Europe). It is recommended for Orange to switch to regional approach and to group European countries according to their financial health, borrowing culture and to the degree of reaction to financial crisis. For example, one group of countries might include stable and healthy economies which did not suffer significantly from financial crisis (e.g. France or Germany) and another group might include countries in which the purchasing ability of c ustomers was notably affected by the financial crisis, e.g. Spain and Romania.Research pertaining to customer retention in telecommunications shows that companies are switching from customer acquisition to customer retention due to competition and market saturation. Furthermore, according to Baines and Fill (2014), it is essential for telecommunications companies to focus on customer value and customer preferences. Kestnbaum, Kestnbaum Ames (1998) identified the following motivators of customer retention in telecommunications: customer service quality, phone/internet service quality and phone/internet plan quality. More recent findings also indicate that it is essential to optimize customer plans. Wong (2010) found that telecommunications customers often have difficulties predicting their usage needs and requirements, and tend to choose plans that are not optimal for them. Furthermore, Wong (2010) found that helping customers optimize their plans notably decreases churn rate and im proves customer retention.Therefore, to build a successful customer contact plan, Orange should analyze the needs of its customers as well as customer contact preferences, and to help customers optimize their plans according to their needs and financial position. The first step in creating such contact plan will be collecting customer information and dividing customers into categories using typical customer profiles (Pourasghar 2009). Key customer profiles might be: brand advocates (trusted customers actively supporting the brand), loyal customers (those who purchase regularly but do not take active part in brand promotion), average customers (make purchases from time to time), switchers (non-loyal customers who prefer discounted purchases), difficult customers (customers who have low satisfaction and have a lot of complaints), adversaries (those who are dissatisfied and spread negative information about the brand) and new customers (Kumar Reinartz 2012). Customer profiles should b e matched against country groups with different financial position. The combinations of customer and country profiles should be used for identifying the steps for customer contact plan.For each of the above-mentioned categories, it is necessary to develop a specific communication strategy to increase customer retention. For brand advocates, it is recommended to offer loyalty bonuses, access to new technologies and offers for free, advanced plans, etc. For loyal customers, such contacts as service news, account upgrade options and account optimization services can be offered. For â€Å"average† customers it is best to contact them with new offers, bundles, announces of new technologies and to provide them with exceptional customer support ready to explain and compare existing offers.For switchers, it might be efficient to suggest loyalty bonuses and to focus their attention on economic offers and bundles. Family options and group purchase options might also increase retention for such customers. Providing discounts for reviewing the company’s products and services might also encourage these customers to establish a better relationship with the company. For difficult customers, it is recommended to assign personal customer support workers who would help them and resolve their issues. Similar approach might be used for adversaries; furthermore, it might be beneficial to offer them a discount or free service for switching from competitors (assuming that the negative issues they disliked could be eliminated). For new customers, it would be best to offer a short survey of their preferences and interests, and then to suggest personalized services and plans according to survey results.Furthermore, it is essential to optimize the ways of contacting customers (Gillgan Wilson 2012). There are customers who prefer being contacted by email and those who prefer calling (Wong 2010). Additional methods of contacting customers are text messages, regular mail, me ssages in social networks, etc. (Gillgan Wilson 2012). For each customer, it is necessary to keep the preferred contact channels in customer profile and to use these channels. For the group of countries which were more significantly affected by financial crisis, more economic offers, discounted offers and options for paying by installments should be offered. For Orange, it might also be efficient to analyze the patterns of service use for all customers, to identify customers with low plan use rates and to suggest optimized plans to such customers. Using these recommendations, Orange would be able to create an efficient customer contact plan and increase customer retention.

Accounting Theory Question

What is positive accounting theory? how does it differ from normative accounting theory? what was/were the major dissatisfaction(s) with normative accounting theory which led to the development of a positive theory accounting? 2. Explain the meaning of an efficient market. what is meant by the following terms: weak-form efficiency, semistrong-form efficiency, strong-form efficiency? which form is the most important to accounting research? why? Explain the important of examining the impact the profit on share prices for financial analysis. can this analysis be used to make abnormal returns from the share markets? 4. Does study of the information content of profits announcements explain why firms use particular accounting practice? does it help to predict which firms will use particular accounting practices? 5. Give reasons that non-linear model relating unexpected returns to share prices would provide a more precise estimate of the earnings response coefficient (ERC). . Why would share prices have a greater reaction to the profit announcement released by small firm compared with those released by large firms? do you think this research has any implications for measurement issues in accounting or for formulation of accounting standards? 7. outline the research that has been undertaken on the impact of permanent and temporary increases in profits. why is this research important? 8. how will risk and uncertainty affect the valuation of a firm and, through this valuation model, the ERC? . The impact of profits for valuation has diminished over the years. what is the impact? how was the research adjusted to reflect this fact? 10. Outline a research project which explain how share prices are determined. would this project include factors other than accounting data? Briefly explain the outline the research of mechanistic hypothesis. what are the implications of the research? 12. Why would financial analysis be fooled by accounting numbers and provide optimistic and biased estimates of profits? an you offer a positive economic reason for their actions? 13. outline the different procedures that can be used to determine whether accounts have quality accruals or whether they create more noise. 14. what are the two main explanations for the association between the choice of high-quality auditor and a lower cost of debt or equity capital? 15. why do we have to be carefull drawing conclusions about causality based on studies using archival data?

A Vision for Aviation Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Vision for Aviation Education - Essay Example   It’s difficult to imagine what the world will be like in 2026 since science, industry, and our culture seems to be evolving at an ever faster pace. Specific to the aviation industry, new technology will certainly have an impact on the design and properties of aircraft vehicles to how we can best educate future students. Based on the relatively short history of aviation to date, any perception of the future includes an expectation that there will be a much broader application of value and use of air travel. This form of transportation may be much more individualized and certainly more prevalent than today’s air travel. Students won’t be able to imagine a time when there was not instant access to ubiquitous air travel options in terms of time or destination. Of course, it is anticipated that strict regulations and automated safety protections in every aspect of aviation will mitigate risk in the crowded skyways. Specific to academic achievement, the process sho uld provide the basis for both knowledge and practical application skill required to assist students in development of career goals. Both are required in order to possess the ability to perform at a basic level within industry core competency guidelines (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2006). On a practical level, this includes conventional familiarity with the current technology, industry drivers, and enough strategic insight to construct a workable model for a tactical implementation plan within the parameters of the vision. In creating a future vision specific to aviation education, its clear learners must excel in understanding scientific, engineering and cultural components such as new fuels, the consequences of super sonic travel, an aircrafts ability to function effectively and safely in all conditions including adverse weather, and the ability to deal with air traffic congestion. It is anticipated that new technology will assist with such aspects as automated air traffic control techniques, computerized standard maintenance, automated flight plans, and contributions to the safety, ease, and affordability of future air transportation. Future students will be equipped with significantly more knowledge of trends in aviation such as the impact of climate change; aircraft emissions; other environmental impact considerations; the impact of nationalization or privatization of air

Accidental Overexposure of Radiotherapy in Costa Rica-Total Body Research Paper

Accidental Overexposure of Radiotherapy in Costa Rica-Total Body Response to Radiation - Research Paper Example In a 1991 report, the capital city, San Jose had about 1.11 million inhabitants. The Costa Rican social security system, which is mandated to provide medical cover, reported 90% coverage for the population. The life expectancy was reported to be at 75.2 years between the years 1990 and 1995. Integral in the treatment of cancer in Costa Rica are three hospitals which also act as referral centres for the different segments of the country. These include the San Juan de Dios Hospital, the Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia Hospital and the Mexico Hospital. Of significance and relevant to the case study is the San Juan de Dios Hospital which has radiotherapy facilities (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1998). During the month of July 1997, the international atomic energy association received an invitation from the government of Costa Rica to aid in assessment of overexposure of radiotherapy. This overexposure had occurred to patients in San Jose Hospital in Costa Rica. The initiating occurrence specifically happened at San Juan de Dios hospital in San Jose on the 22nd of August, 1996. This was after a radioactive carbon source, 60 CO was replaced. When the new source was standardized, an inaccuracy was made in the computation of dose rate. Consequently, this error led to administration of considerable higher radiation doses compare to the prescribed intake in terms of exposure (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1998).... e was no satisfactory explanation as to these large disparities in dose values, an expert was engaged to evaluate the possibilities of such differences. The expert was to assess the physical aspects of quality assurance in radiotherapy. Furthermore, the expert was also to verify degree of application recommended by the technical report series and those of compliance reports. The review was conducted between the 8th and 19th of July, 1996. Her report indicated that there were no records kept on the calibration of beams emitted by radiation machines. Additionally, the assessment showed that there was no information available on the specific equipment used to offer radiotherapy services. With working environment prevailing in tandem with dose determination procedures properly followed, the outcome obtained or the calculation of absorbed dose rate in a computer program was not easily verifiable. The computer program which was developed by the person in charge of dosimeter had errors of c lose to 5% in percentage dose values. Moreover, there was an error of approximately 2 centimeters in the optical distance indicator (Perez & Brady, 1998). Discrepancies of up to 8% within the calculated time found, for the same irradiation conditions, when a calculation method on the basis of percentage depth dose (PDD) and the tissue air ratio (TAR) was used. Initial examination indicated that similar absorbed dose rate value had been employed in both procedures. Consequently, revelation on confusion between the concepts of dose in air and dose in water at the depth of optimal maximization was eminent. Having underpinned and satisfactorily addressed these issues, the expert brought these findings to radiation oncologists at the hospital. These included thermo luminescence dosimeters dose

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Research Paper

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Sexual Response Cycle - Research Paper Example Knowledge of the terminology commonly used in sexual and mental health studies is crucial for the study of the interrelationship between the two. The physiology of sexual functioning can be best described through the sexual response cycle which is divided into four phases i.e. desire, excitement, orgasm and resolution. The sexual response cycle is regulated by a multi-component system involving endocrine glands, autonomic nervous system, sex hormones and neurotransmitters which intimates the relationship between sexual health and mental health. Sexual dysfunction refers to problems experienced during any of the phases of the sexual response cycle hence preventing an individual from obtaining satisfaction from sexual activity. Statistics present on sexual dysfunction indicate that about 41% of women and 34% of men in the general population experienced various manifestations of sexual problems ranging from diminished libido, vaginal dryness, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and anorgasmia (Outhoff, 2009). Further breakdown of the epidemiology reveals that 35% of women and 16% of men experience inhibited sexual desire; 10-20% of men experience premature ejaculation while a further 35% experience erectile dysfunction. The prevalence of orgasm problems among women is 5-15% (Baldwin et al. 2003). Among the several causes of sexual disorders, discovery of a link with psychopathology stands out with sexual dysfunction being a common symptom among depressed individuals as indicated by the fact that sexual dysfunction occurs in only 26% of normal individuals while it stands at 45% of depression cases. Widespread use of antidepressant medications also led to the realization that such drugs had an adverse effect on sexual functioning with several experimental studies confirming this (Jespersen, 2006). The strong link between depression, antidepressants and sexual dysfunction alongside the grave statistics of sexual problems are the considerations that informed t his study. Undertaking this study is important as more knowledge on the link between the two needs to be generated through experimental, meta-analytical and review approaches and the research findings communicated to medical practitioners especially with the growing importance of evidence-based practice. Such research findings have the potential of influencing the prescription and treatment decisions for depression. This study will undertake to review literature from experimental studies into the effects of depression and antidepressant medications on the sexual response cycle after which the implications of the study findings on sexual health intervention research and policy will be discussed. The approach of the literature review will be through analyzing information from experimental research into the issue with focus given to work from the turn of the millennium so as to get up-to-date findings on the subject. Each study will be analyzed in terms of research topic theory, the me thod undertaken for the research and finally the research findings and conclusions arrived at by the researchers. Review of Literature Peng et al. (2006) undertook a study to find out the relationship between physiological and psychological factors with sexual dysfu

History of Mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of Mathematics - Essay Example The Pythagorean idea of the world was that natural numbers were the answer to the different secrets of humans and matter. They thought that everything was made up of numbers, the reason for what anything was could only be figured out in numbers (Early Concepts of Number and Number Mysticism). For the numbers from 1 to 10, each number has a special property. The number 1 is a monad and stands for unity because it is the cause of the other numbers and in number, mysticism is the number of reason. The number 2 is called a dyad for diversity or opinion and is mystically the first female number (all the even numbers are called female in many early cultures). The number 3 is a triad and means harmony because it adds up unity (number 1) plus diversity (number 2) and is considered the first male number (all the odd numbers are male in many early cultures). Number 4 is the number for justice or the squaring of accounts (number 2 squared). Number 5 is for marriage because the number 2 (first female) plus the number 3 (first male) equals the number 5. Number 6 is for creation because the number 2 (first female) plus the number 3 (first male) plus 1 more monad equals 6. The Number 10 is for the Universe because as tetractys it is the sum of all possible dimensions in geometry.

Byzantium And Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Byzantium And Islam - Essay Example .   Byzantium attained its political height through Justinian, who re-conquered the old Western empire parts.   Successive attacks from various peoples, including Latin Christians, made Byzantium weak, finally falling to the Ottoman Turks (1454) (Perry, Chase, Jacob, & Jacob, 2008 pg. 29). As the 7th century began, vast territories that extended from Egypt to Syria and across North African territories were under the rule of Byzantine Empire from Constantinople (modern Istanbul), its capital. Critical to the power and wealth of the empire, these southern territories long influenced by the Greco-Roman traditions held Orthodox, Syriac and Coptic, Christians, Jewish communities, among other many religions (Ratliff & Evans, 2012 pg. 36). Great pilgrimage centers engrossed the faithful followers from as far away as Scandinavia in the west and Yemen in the east. Major trade routes extended down the Red Sea to eastward past Jordan to Indian lands in the south, bringing ivories and silks to the imperial territories. Key cities made wealthy by commerce protracted along inland trade routes Constantinople north and along the coastline of Mediterranean sea. Commerce carried ideas and images freely through the region. In the same 7th century, the newly founded faith of Islam began from Medina and Mecca along the Red Sea trade way and reached westward to the Byzantium Empire’s southern provinces. Religious and political authority was conveyed from the long conventional Christian Byzantine to the newly founded Umayyad and well along Abbasid Muslim dynasties. These new powers capitalized on the advantage of existing region traditions in developing their compelling religious and secular visual identities. This exhibition shadows the Byzantine Empire southern provinces artistic traditions from the 7th century to the 9th, as they were changed from being fundamental to the Byzantine tradition and beliefs to being a critical Islamic world part (Ratliff & Evans, 2012 pg. 6 1). Byzantium preserved key foundations of the Greco-Roman practices and tradition.   Under Justinian's order, Byzantine scholars collected and organized Roman law in the Corpus Juris Civilis, which had four parts.   Influenced by the Greek historians, Byzantines including Anna Comnena, Procopius, and Michael Psellus offered rational, comprehensible, if not always objective, versions of historical occasions.   Byzantine religious philosophers studied Greek philosophy but they subordinated philosophical activity to theology enterprise. Byzantium developed a rich architectural, artistic, and musical tradition influenced by some pre-existing ones.   Drawing from Hebrew and Greco-Roman practice and theory, Byzantine musicians formed a tonal system that greatly influenced the Western music course, and Kontakion hymnody derivative of early Christianity models.   Byzantine art largely concerned itself with exalting the empire and serving spiritual purposes.   The iconoclastic c ontroversy made artists to find new methods of approaching the issue of representing the human nature, but despite that, Byzantine artists never reconnoitered realism in deep as their Western complements did.   Ravenna became the focus of much early artistic engagements.   Buildings such as Theodoric's church of St. Apollinare, Galla Placidia's mausoleum, and San

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Research Paper

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Sexual Response Cycle - Research Paper Example Knowledge of the terminology commonly used in sexual and mental health studies is crucial for the study of the interrelationship between the two. The physiology of sexual functioning can be best described through the sexual response cycle which is divided into four phases i.e. desire, excitement, orgasm and resolution. The sexual response cycle is regulated by a multi-component system involving endocrine glands, autonomic nervous system, sex hormones and neurotransmitters which intimates the relationship between sexual health and mental health. Sexual dysfunction refers to problems experienced during any of the phases of the sexual response cycle hence preventing an individual from obtaining satisfaction from sexual activity. Statistics present on sexual dysfunction indicate that about 41% of women and 34% of men in the general population experienced various manifestations of sexual problems ranging from diminished libido, vaginal dryness, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and anorgasmia (Outhoff, 2009). Further breakdown of the epidemiology reveals that 35% of women and 16% of men experience inhibited sexual desire; 10-20% of men experience premature ejaculation while a further 35% experience erectile dysfunction. The prevalence of orgasm problems among women is 5-15% (Baldwin et al. 2003). Among the several causes of sexual disorders, discovery of a link with psychopathology stands out with sexual dysfunction being a common symptom among depressed individuals as indicated by the fact that sexual dysfunction occurs in only 26% of normal individuals while it stands at 45% of depression cases. Widespread use of antidepressant medications also led to the realization that such drugs had an adverse effect on sexual functioning with several experimental studies confirming this (Jespersen, 2006). The strong link between depression, antidepressants and sexual dysfunction alongside the grave statistics of sexual problems are the considerations that informed t his study. Undertaking this study is important as more knowledge on the link between the two needs to be generated through experimental, meta-analytical and review approaches and the research findings communicated to medical practitioners especially with the growing importance of evidence-based practice. Such research findings have the potential of influencing the prescription and treatment decisions for depression. This study will undertake to review literature from experimental studies into the effects of depression and antidepressant medications on the sexual response cycle after which the implications of the study findings on sexual health intervention research and policy will be discussed. The approach of the literature review will be through analyzing information from experimental research into the issue with focus given to work from the turn of the millennium so as to get up-to-date findings on the subject. Each study will be analyzed in terms of research topic theory, the me thod undertaken for the research and finally the research findings and conclusions arrived at by the researchers. Review of Literature Peng et al. (2006) undertook a study to find out the relationship between physiological and psychological factors with sexual dysfu

Byzantium And Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Byzantium And Islam - Essay Example .   Byzantium attained its political height through Justinian, who re-conquered the old Western empire parts.   Successive attacks from various peoples, including Latin Christians, made Byzantium weak, finally falling to the Ottoman Turks (1454) (Perry, Chase, Jacob, & Jacob, 2008 pg. 29). As the 7th century began, vast territories that extended from Egypt to Syria and across North African territories were under the rule of Byzantine Empire from Constantinople (modern Istanbul), its capital. Critical to the power and wealth of the empire, these southern territories long influenced by the Greco-Roman traditions held Orthodox, Syriac and Coptic, Christians, Jewish communities, among other many religions (Ratliff & Evans, 2012 pg. 36). Great pilgrimage centers engrossed the faithful followers from as far away as Scandinavia in the west and Yemen in the east. Major trade routes extended down the Red Sea to eastward past Jordan to Indian lands in the south, bringing ivories and silks to the imperial territories. Key cities made wealthy by commerce protracted along inland trade routes Constantinople north and along the coastline of Mediterranean sea. Commerce carried ideas and images freely through the region. In the same 7th century, the newly founded faith of Islam began from Medina and Mecca along the Red Sea trade way and reached westward to the Byzantium Empire’s southern provinces. Religious and political authority was conveyed from the long conventional Christian Byzantine to the newly founded Umayyad and well along Abbasid Muslim dynasties. These new powers capitalized on the advantage of existing region traditions in developing their compelling religious and secular visual identities. This exhibition shadows the Byzantine Empire southern provinces artistic traditions from the 7th century to the 9th, as they were changed from being fundamental to the Byzantine tradition and beliefs to being a critical Islamic world part (Ratliff & Evans, 2012 pg. 6 1). Byzantium preserved key foundations of the Greco-Roman practices and tradition.   Under Justinian's order, Byzantine scholars collected and organized Roman law in the Corpus Juris Civilis, which had four parts.   Influenced by the Greek historians, Byzantines including Anna Comnena, Procopius, and Michael Psellus offered rational, comprehensible, if not always objective, versions of historical occasions.   Byzantine religious philosophers studied Greek philosophy but they subordinated philosophical activity to theology enterprise. Byzantium developed a rich architectural, artistic, and musical tradition influenced by some pre-existing ones.   Drawing from Hebrew and Greco-Roman practice and theory, Byzantine musicians formed a tonal system that greatly influenced the Western music course, and Kontakion hymnody derivative of early Christianity models.   Byzantine art largely concerned itself with exalting the empire and serving spiritual purposes.   The iconoclastic c ontroversy made artists to find new methods of approaching the issue of representing the human nature, but despite that, Byzantine artists never reconnoitered realism in deep as their Western complements did.   Ravenna became the focus of much early artistic engagements.   Buildings such as Theodoric's church of St. Apollinare, Galla Placidia's mausoleum, and San

Spatial Imagery in Borges Essay Example for Free

Spatial Imagery in Borges Essay â€Å"Reality is not always probable, or likely† (Borges), this quote from Jorge Luis Borges, a perfect example of what makes Collected Fictions mysterious and entertaining to read. His readings are not superficial, and must be taken by critical thought and completely different modes of thinking. Borges’ stories use many techniques to express his messages. In select fictions, the idea of geometry, which is simple and exact, is used to convey themes of infinity and perceiving reality, which are hardly exact at all. Whether Borges uses hexagons to explain a concept of infinity and God, or rhombi and labyrinths to prove an order to chaos, these fictions let the reader explore his perplexing and ambiguous philosophy through ideas of spatial imagery. The story Death and the Compass deals with spatial imagery in two ways, one being with geometric rhombi, and the other is the reader’s idea of labyrinths. A rhombus is used in this story to specifically draw the main character strait to the criminal. Borges mentions the rhombus for the purpose of simplifying the story into something that makes sense; the crimes of the story fit into a perfect, known shape. â€Å"I knew you would add the missing point, the point that makes a perfect rhombus, the point that fixes the place where a precise death awaits you† (p. 156). The end of the story proves that the simple idea is not that simple at all, it all represents how this logical order of crimes brings the protagonist to a chaotic sense of himself because of the elaborate scheme that brings him to his own demise, which becomes part of the order. The other way Death and the Compass deals with spatial imagery is the way Borges lets the reader picture what a labyrinth should look like. Labyrinths are a recurring theme in a lot of Borges’ works, but in this particular story the villain sets up a labyrinth inside the main character’s head to set him up. â€Å"†The next time I kill you,† Scharlach replied, â€Å"I promise you the labyrinth that consists of a single straight line that is invisible and endless†Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 56). This I see as spatial imagery because the reader has to decide what kind of labyrinth the protagonist is caught in, the picture is unclear. This quote suggests that there are many realities, and Borges may mean that every individual is caught in a labyrinth of perception that they cannot escape from. What one may seem as a truth may not be even close to what is real. Borges does not just use this concept in Death and the Compass, but in many of his works. The Library of Babel is another piece of well-constructed art using visual metaphors bound with ideas of infinity, God, and unachievable realities. To describe the universe, Borges sets a picture of hexagons attached to more hexagons that make up a library and that continue forever. â€Å"I declare that the Library is endless. Idealists argue that the hexagonal rooms are the necessary shape of absolute space, or at least of our perception of space† (p. 112-113). This quote suggests that Borges believes the universe is infinite, but in a very concrete way. He uses a very unique technique in allowing an unimaginable theme of infinity is described in the very real idea or a hexagon, a finite thing. A hexagon is only a hexagon if it follows certain rules, but infinity has no rules. The hexagons are the order of the universe; it is not just open space, which means there must be a builder of the hexagons. So does this mean Borges believes in a creator, or God in his own philosophy? â€Å"Mystics claim that their ecstasies reveal to them a circular chamber containing an enormous circular book with a continuous spine that goes completely around the walls. But their testimony is suspect, their words obscure. That cyclical book is God. † (p. 113) In this quote, Borges reinforces the idea of a creator as God. It seems that this creator is the master book in the giant library of books that holds everything in. The books that are held in the hexagons of life also point to an interesting idea, â€Å"the Library is â€Å"total†-perfect, complete, and whole- and that its bookshelves contain all possible combinations of twenty-two orthographic symbols† (p. 15), Borges mentions these books because although every combination possible is presented, even if unconceivable to human thought, is still only a finite number. This is an absolute contradiction of the idea of infinite hexagons with books in them. Still another problem arisen by this quotation is that there seems to be no evidence of a creator if every single book in the library is of all possibilities, but these messages expressed in these books have to be endless. Man searching for his purpose in the universe, then is meaningless, and this argument is all because of spatial imagery Borges uses with hexagons. Borges is a mastermind at manipulating the reader’s thoughts into traveling in many directions on the roller coaster of imagination. In Death and the Compass the story leads the reader in a logical direction with spatial imagery and explains alternate reality through labyrinths, and hexagons represent the idea of an infinite universe with the ambiguous existence of a creator in Library of Babel. The technique of spatial imagery can be endless and the messages that are found can be argued and lead to more questions than answers, but the next time I write this essay, all the answers will be revealed to you.

Development of the Boeing-797

Development of the Boeing-797 Boeing-797 1.0 Introduction: Boeing is the worlds largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes and military aircraft and worlds leading aerospace company. Boeing operates the space shuttle and international space station for his major client National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Customers of Boeing spread around the world more than in 90 countries. Its head quarter is in Chicago, it employs more than 157000 employees across the United States and in 70 countries. Boeing has made a commercial plane like 767, 777, and his recent successful plane 787 which create history in getting the maximum orders from the customer. Since the late 1990s, the rivalry between The Boeing Company (Boeing) and the European consortium Airbus Industries (Airbus) has been intense. Recently Airbus mounted a direct challenge to Boeings dominance in the large aircraft category (the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet) with the development of the Airbus A380, unveiled in January 2005. Boeing has only one competitive model in the form of the 787 when compared to Airbus A 380.But after 10-12 years again the need of new plane will emerge which will compete with the rivalrys modern Aircrafts. So for the future perspective Boeing has planned to go for a plane which will start a new era of Aircrafts with its latest blended wing technology, body of composite fiber material and 1000 passengers capacity and create a bench line in the aviation industry for the next generation future aircraft. The Boeing-797 is the double Decker plane which will help the Boeing to make their position much stronger in the aviation industry and capture the largest mar ket share for Boeing. 2.0 Project Roles and Responsibilities: Ø Stakeholders: Stakeholders are those persons who directly-indirectly influence the design of the project. They will provide project requirements and after completions they are the one who will reap the benefits of the project. Primary Stakeholders: Airlines around the world Secondary Stakeholders: Passengers, Crew of Airplane, Employees of Boeing, Government, and NASA (for its blended wing technology). Ø Contractors and Suppliers: Supplier: The organization which supplies parts or services to another organization known as supplier Contractor: People who provide his/her services to another entity according to the term and conditions prescribed in the contract. He/She is not a permanent employee of the organization and doesnt work regularly for the company. This project would require more than 100 contractors including major contractors and sub contractors. For detailed List of suppliers and contractors please see appendix no.2 Some Major Sub contractors: Rolls-Royce or GE aircraft engines which was hired to develop engines for the plane. Green Hills Software of Santa Barbara to write the operating system for the on-board flight-control computers. Astronautics Corp. of America to built instrumentation system. LMI AEROSPACE St. Charles, Mo. LMI supplies sheet-metal parts used on the wings, fuselage, and interior. KREISLER INDUSTRIAL Elmwood Park, N.J. to make fuel lines WESTERN FILTER GROUP Valencia, Calif supplies filtration equipment for the hydraulic-control lines. Honeywell for Navigation Package, Health Management System, and Flight control electronics. Kawasaki Heavy Industries for Main Landing Gear Wheel well. Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse for Environmental Control Systems Kaiser Electro precision (Rockwell Collins) for the pilot controls (i.e. wheel, column) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries a Japanese company for the wings manufacturing Ø Project Team: The project team is the combination of resources like analyst, designer, engineers etc. They can be part time or full time resources. Responsibility: Understand the allocated task Complete the allocated task within assigned budget, time and quality. Ø Project Manager The Project manager is the person who is responsible for the management of the project on the day-to-day basis. He/She ensures that resources are effectively allocated to the tasks through out the life cycle of project. He/she has to manage and monitor the progress of the project against the baseline of the project. According to the PMBOK, the project manager has four major areas of responsibilities: Identify the need for the project Establish achievable objectives Maintain the balance between Scope, Time and Cost. Understand and satisfy the persons involved in a project Ø Designer: Designer understands the business need and designs a solution which will meet the business need. His responsibility is to design model and framework with the help of required technology to achieve the optimum solution of the business need to the client. Customer: People who actually use the deliverable of the project. They help to define the business requirements. 3.0 Communication Plan: A communication plan is a document that defines: Information of what tasks need to finish. The ways in which those task can be finished. To whom the associated information will be addressed. Please see communication plan for Boeing-797 project in appendix no.5 4.0 Project Schedule: Project schedule shows the timing allocate to the work packages in the WBS and it shows the position and timing of milestones and specific events of the project (Lock, 2007) Schedule: Initiation phase 1.5 years Planning Phase 2.5 years Execution Phase 3 years Closeout Phase 1 year Total duration of the project 8 Years Milestones: Milestone is a schedule event which shows the completion of major activity in the project. There are seven major milestones establishes during the scheduling of execution phase: Ø Milestone 1: Concept Approval. Ø Milestone 2: Distribution of work packages. Ø Milestone 3: Completion of Major Assembly Ø Milestone 4: Completion of Power-On stage of aircraft. Ø Milestone 5: Completion of Wing-break test. Ø Milestone 6: Completion of Gauntlet test. Ø Milestone 7: Market Launch of Aircraft. Resource Loading: Resource loading is the process to assign a task to each employee of the working on the project by project manager. For the definition of the Power-On stage, Wing Break test, Gauntlet Test please refers Appendix no. 11 and for the dependencies of activities, resource loading please refers the Gantt chart of Boeing-797 in Appendix no. 4 5.0 Budget: Budget estimation is very important measure to control the cost through out the project life cycle against the estimated cost of the project (Turner, 1999). The estimated budget for the project is 8 billion pound. Approximate 50% of the total budget around  £4 billion is allocated for the research and development of the project. The estimated budget for the Planning and Execution phase is  £2.8 billion  £1 billion respectively. And estimated budget for the closeout phase is  £.2 billon. For the allocation of the budget during execution phase please refer Appendix no.8 6.0 Issues and Challenges at each phase of the project: Issues Challenges in Initiation Phase: Concept Approval: The concept approval is a big challenge for this kind of aircraft. It involves lots of research and development and so many changes in design until the concept get approval. Financial Aid: As this project involves lots of research and development it will need a continuous flow of money for the smooth and uninterrupted completion of this phase. Copyright issues: During RD stage due to the use of highly advanced technology there is chances of copyright issues of technology imposes by another competitor organization. Issues Challenges in Planning Phase: Resource Allocation: This is one of the major tasks involved in planning stage. Allocation of resources to the task need to be very accurate and prices because project cost and speed is depend on the efficiency of the resources used in the project. Efficient Project plan: Development of an effective project plan is a major challenge for the project manager. This is the document on which project success depend. The bad project plan can cause an overrun of the project schedule and cost. Issues Challenges in Execution phase: Supply Chain: Managing a supply chain is a major challenge of this project because delay in one sub assembly or important component from supplier could cause a delay of whole project. Major Assembly: completion of major assembly on time for the first prototype is challenge. Issues Challenges in Close out phase: Market Launch: Market launch of prototype on schedule is major challenge for an organization. As the orders of the product would have already received and the customer is waiting for the product the delay in launch of product could cause a cancellation of orders and damage to the image of the organization. Decommission: Successful decommission of such a big project is a challenge for project manager because decommission of project is very important task of this phase as it involves creation of important documents like closeout reports. These reports will help in same kind of future projects for referencing. If source of referencing is not correct or accurate then it may affect the future projects. 7.0 Project Environmental Appraisal: It is the systematic and comprehensive method to review the project in terms of environment, technical, social, and economic aspect to find out whether project will meet its objectives or not. SWOT Analysis: The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis is the analysis of factors that will the impact the effectiveness of the organization. Ø Strengths: Highly skilled trained engineers: Boeing has highly skilled and trained engineers to work on this project. The certified and highly experienced engineers and scientist are the strength of Boeing. Strong and efficient RD teams have been delivered many big and complicated projects in the past. Employees are enthusiastic about this project: The enthusiasm of employees toward this project is big strength of this project. This project provides a platform to the engineers and scientist to learn the new technologies. Specialized Crew Training: Boeing has the highly advanced training rooms and highly skilled trainers to train the teams of this project with the latest tool and technologies. A comparatively large scale use of composites material: The uses of composite materials make this plane lighter in weight, and help in less fuel consumption. Boeing has already used composite material in its recent aircraft so they have experience of using the composite material. Advanced Design and technologies: The expertise of Boeing in latest technology like fly by wire technology and blended wing technology ensure the success of the project. Boeing has already used fly by wire technology in its recent plane 787 successfully. This plane unique design accommodates 1000passengers without much increase in shape as compared to Airbus A380. Up front involvement with airlines and engineering: This project needs strong relations with the stakeholders and customers, which Boeing already has. The Boeing understands the requirements of each airline very well and regular communication with the airlines regarding their requirements help Boeing to plan their future planes. The regular updating in engineering field is one of the strength of Boeing which helps this project to become successful. Foundation for the future aircraft designed for long journeys: With the help of this plane the Boeing will start a new era of planes in the aviation field. The designed of this plane used as a milestone for the next generation future aircrafts which travel the long journey with the less fuel consumptions at higher speed. Ø Weakness: †¢ Big capital expenditures on manufacturing facilities and Training: To train the employees on specific high end technologies for this project requires a high class infrastructure training rooms. Also require a expensive tools and machinery help in manufacturing the plane. †¢ If the 797 failed, Boeing may have difficulty in obtaining money for future aircraft development: This project involves a large amount of money and the failure of this project could cause a big financial damage to the Boeing. In future project stakeholders might not get ready to invest on this kind of big projects. †¢ Extensive outsourcing strategy led to major delays: The use of innovative supply chain strategy of â€Å"buying more, make less† increase a dependency on the suppliers. The delay of major sub assembly could lead to a delay in major assembly. These delays affect the planned schedule and could incur an extra cost. †¢ RD prices are high: The RD cost of this project is very high. Approximate 65%-70% of the total project cost is going to use in RD phase. The research and development of new technologies and materials for this plane require large amount of time and money. †¢ Matching with defined Timescale, deadlines and pressure: Delays in supply chain or any other department can cause a delay in production of plane which increases the pressure of completing the project within the specified timescale. Ø Opportunities: †¢ Projecting the airline and passengers needs: This project is the opportunity to project the airline and passengers need and filling the holes of requirement in market not met by existing planes. This project attracts the customer due to its capability of meeting the requirements or needs of the user. †¢ Acquiring a long range market: By launch of this plane Boeing will able to acquire the aviation market for a long time as there is no another plane in the market which can compete with Boeings 797 plane. †¢ Market poised for growth: This project boost the market growth by strengthens the place of Boeing in market. †¢ Fulfill the need of change in aircraft market and get large market shares to Boeing: From a long time the need of change in aircrafts is emerging, this plane not only showing changes in its shape also in its design too. The changes can be seen in the use of technology and process used in the manufacturing of the plane. All these changes results into a unique plane which fulfill the need of customer and as there is no such kind of plane is available in the market it helps the boeing to get market shares. †¢ Global influences: Influence the world with the capability of Boeing in aircraft manufacturing. This project provides a platform where Boeing has an opportunity to show his capability to build such a unique plane with the use of high end technology. Ø Threat: Reaction of passengers of plane: Not sure how passengers would react on a plane which looks completely differently what they used to travel. It may time to adjust them with this design and understand the benefit of this design. Restriction of use at old airports: This plane face a problem of parking due to small size aircraft stands at old airports. Due to its size and requirement of modern tool and techniques for maintenance and repair this plane face problem at the old airports. Legal threat: The Legal threat from the competitors over technology or information issues is very common in such kind of big project. As sometime competitors try to slow down the speed of project or stop the project so that they can make they ready for the competition and speed up and modified their projects to compete with Boeing plane. Changes of Government policies: The changes in regulation and policies imposed by government like new environmental act, noise standards etc could lead to a delay or stop the project. Sometime change in policies and regulation also cause the change in design of the plane which incur the extra cost and time to the project. Lose of Key Staff to the competitive organization: There is a risk of lose of key staff working on the project to the competitive organization. This may slow down the project speed and progress, risk of leakage of sensitive and important information to the competitors. 8.0 Investment Appraisal for Boeing-797 NPV of this project is positive and IRR of this project is more than the standard Rate of interest or Weighted Average Capital Cost (WACC) of company. Suggestion: As the value of calculated IRR is more than the standard Rate of interest, NPV is positive and early returns of the investment shows that project is favorable and organization must take for a organizations future growth and benefit. 9.0 Procurement Plan: Procurement Plan is the document which provides information regarding the purchasing of goods and services, criteria to choose the supplier, type of contract, procedure to manage the suppliers. The Boeing procurement plan governs the purchase of the material in right quantity of right quality at right time and at right price from the right sources. All procurement actions follow the all applicable laws, regulations and contractual obligations. All suppliers and their representatives are treated fairly and impartially. For faster and effective procurement Boeing used an e-procurement technique known as Exostar. This website provides a platform for Boeing to share the information, the technology and help to maintain an effective communication with contractors and suppliers. Exostar is a online aerospace and defense trading exchange and its co-founded by Boeing with other aerospace and defense equipments leading manufacturers like BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Rolls Royce. Following are the important procurement steps followed by Boeing during different phase of the project life cycle: I) Initiation Phase: Requirement Step Requirement Step: In this step Boeing conducts a â€Å"make vs. buy† analysis, if company decides product (equipment, services, project resources, etc.) will be purchased, then company go to the Requisition Step. Company creates a statement of work, define the product specifications (e.g. design, performance, functional), and identifies major project milestones. II) Planning Phase: Solicitation Step Solicitation Step: This step includes receipt of proposals, negotiation with vendors, evaluation of the proposals and award of contract. III) Execution Phase: Contract Administration Contract Administration: In this step company manages the contract by working closely with vendors and by regular reviews to ensure that terms, conditions and requirement of the contract are met. IV) Closeout Phase: Closeout Closeout: In this step company receive the product and verify it with the contract requirements, if it is met the requirements then accept the product or service. And company makes final payment after ensuring that there are not any outstanding invoices. 10.0 Contract Strategy: The contract strategy determines the level of integration and complexity of design, construction and ongoing maintenance of the project, and it should support the prime objectives of the project in terms of risk allocation, delivery, incentives etc. There are a number of different contract strategies, but each company has its own specified contract strategies for the specific projects because one contract and its strategy will not be able to meet with the requirement of each project. The Boeing contract strategy emphasizes on the importance of competitive bidding as they believe its a very effective business practice. Before awarding a contract they consider the ability, capability, financial status, integrity, reliability, geographical conditions and performance, quality of product offered, delivery and overall relations with the customers of the potential supplier. 11.0 Administration of Contract: The purpose of the contract administration is to ensure that supplier/contractor delivering the product or services met with the requirement of contract. There are some important steps of contract administration: Interpret the specifications. Ensure the quality of the product or service. Manage the Administrative, Budget changes and contract modification if needed. Resolve the contract disputes. Terminate the contract if supplier or contractor failed to met the requirement of the contract. Manage the risk associated with the contract. The Boeing Company administers the contract with the help of different kind of forms, which contains all the conditions and regulations help to administer the contract successfully. For e.g.: To administer the purchase contract the Boeing has a Form D1 4305 1500 (Rev. 2/96). This form consist 46 terms and condition to review and administer the purchase contract. For further information of this form please refer Appendix no. 10 II) Boeings Contract Administration Form 12.0 Supply Chain Strategy Issues: Supply chain is the entire network of different entities like organization, resources, People etc to supply the end product to the final customer. Strategy: Design and Efficiency are not the only things about this new aircraft this project contains a production supply chain strategies which make it possible for Boeing to complete this aircraft in a record time. This kind of projects requires a very effective and efficient supply chain because the slightest delay at any point in supply chain can paralyze the production of the aircraft. For Boeing this new aircraft means the revamped supply chain. Traditionally Boeing used a strategy in which it is a main manufacturer and contracting with the thousand of suppliers for individual parts and systems later when parts and supplier reached to Boeing they labouredly assemble them into finished product. But for the 787 project they had used new supply chain strategies which includes major suppliers will design build the entire sections of the aircraft and later shipped them to the Boeing for the final assembly and testing i.e. â€Å"Making less, buying more†. In this way major portion of the aircraft will actually be built by Boeings global partners. To speed up the assembly Boeing need to achieve a whole new level of collaboration with key suppliers around the word. For effective Supply chain process Boeing used a internet trading exchange tool known as Exostar. All the suppliers need to register on the Exostar and direct procurement of design and part can be done on Exostar. Exostar is an e-tool which ensures that all the partners and suppliers of the project were in close communication about every aspect of Production, logistics, and design. For effective supply chain process the visibility of updated and latest data from Boeing to the required suppliers is very important. It helps suppliers to ensure that they are adhered to the production plan. On the Exostar the supplier can view the information regarding the engineering changes, production delays, part orders and the like. Whenever there is a specific major changes in the process or design suppliers came to know about it and do the changes within specified time without incurring extra cost to the project. With the help of Exostar the Boeing can have a better control of the whole supply chain. Exostar allows a Boeing to control and limit the flow of information to the tier1 or tier 2 suppliers. The Exostar work as an â€Å"Early warning system† it warns any disruption and error in a supply chain so that Boeing knows about the potential problem in advance to head off the impacts of those problems further along the chain. E.g.: If the supplier delivered an invoice through the Exostar with wrong unit price then Exostar identify the discrepancy between invoice and purchase order and send it back to the supplier. Issues and Challenges: The supply of the major sub assemblies from the different suppliers for the major assembly of the aircraft need to arrive on time and in precise order so that plane can roll out the assembly line on the schedule. Major risk involved in the supply chain is Schedule risk. The issues like delay in one major subassembly could cause delay in the production of the aircraft and increase and change in defined schedule. Some of the major issues are as follows: Design changes of the aircraft leads to the supply chain delays. Limited engineering resources inside the Boeing. Improper communication leads ambiguity between supplier and client. It could cause delay in supply of sub assemblies or parts. Some of the major challenges are as follows: Synchronizing thousand of suppliers and deliveries to build an aircraft. Assuring safe and on time deliveries of the sub assemblies from the supplier. Benefit of this strategy: Strategy focuses on making less buying more, driving the supply-chain complexity and supplier dependency. But with this strategy Boeing set out to do something revolutionary by tapping suppliers not only for parts, components and material but also innovation. And this helps Boeing to set out the new platform to market as soon as possible. It also help to reduced the business risk by reducing its dependence on its own operations like organized the labor in the production process. Some other benefits of this strategy are as follows: Control on spending the money. Performance Incentives and Delivery reliability. Focus on partnerships- Best practices, data exchange etc. Early problem detection, to implement control measure in advance. 13.0 Type of Contract: Boeing used a FFP (Firm Fixed Price) contract and they have their own specified designed contract forms based on FFP contract type. A firm-fixed-priced contract is a type of contract which made for a price that is not subject to pay any extra cost on the basis of contractors cost experience during performing the contract. This contract type places maximum risk to the contractor and full responsibility for all costs resulting profit or loss. It provides maximum incentive for the contractor to control the costs and perform the task effectively and imposes a minimum administrative burden upon contracting parties. 14.0 Type of Contract Form: Boeing does not have any traditional contract form. Boeing has different specified contract form, each contract form especially designed according to the product or goods. For procurement of goods or services for defense helicopter or for commercial plane they have different contract forms. Each contract form varies according to their product or services but all the contract forms are based on the prime contract i.e. â€Å"FFP Contract†. There is a sample contract form of Boeing is attached in Appendix no. 10, I) Boeings Procurement Contract Form for further information. 15.0 Legal Issues: Following Legal issues might arise during this project:  · Financial: The financial laws of any business are many in number and they varied from location to location. There are always new rules, regulation and taxes are imposes by government and they are changing regularly so its necessary for us to keep update with the latest tax laws and other financial regulation. This project involves large amount of money so its necessary for the Boeing to follow all the financial laws to protect themselves from any financial laws infringement which can cause an extra cost to the project.  · Contractual: This is the most common legal issue in any business. In this project where the suppliers and contractors are more than hundred in numbers the legal issues are very common. To minimize these issues it is necessary for both the parties involved in contract should read and understand the contract properly. * Advertising: Advertisings legal issues arise when a company says pretty much anything they want to in advertising to sell their product. These legal issues arise generally in small business where the product is small and cheap, and then it is easy to fool the public. But its not easy to do in the big projects like making of aircraft for the world renowned company because the big product like aircraft is not going to advertise on the television for the general consumers.  · Operations: The way company runs his business is one of the most important legal aspect need to be consider. Company must make sure that his business operations are governed by federal, state and local laws. In the organization there are so many laws of different department need to be considered during operation of the company or project like laws regarding human resources, tax reporting deadlines, and required insurance. The common saying â€Å"better safe than sorry† definitely applies to laws that govern the business of the organization because company needs to be extra careful as competitors are always ready to pick this kind of mistake or error so that they can highlight this issue and damage the brand image of company and fail the project. 16.0 Disputes between Stake holders and Competitors: Disputes: The dispute between stake holders will arise when there is disagreement between the stakeholders regarding their personal interest or when interest of one stakeholder is opposite to another stakeholder. If the dispute between stakeholders will not solve early then it may lead to the change in projects definition, scope and objectives. Mostly dispute between stakeholders resolved by any one of the form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) method i.e. Arbitration, Mediation and Negotiation. Usage of ADR form depends on the complexity of the dispute. â€Å"Litigation† is the last option for the company to solve the dispute as it involves lots of money and time. Disputes between stakeholders can be reduced and solved by following methods: Improved communication: More attention need to be given to dispute management in the organization so that it helps to increase more open relationship with the stakeholders. Stronger relationships: The relationship between stakeholders will improve with the help of effective communication between the stakeholders. The stronger relationship helps to build a better understanding between the stakeholders. Encouragement of appropriate solution: Problem and issues should identify at early stage and dealt with appropriate and most satisfactory outcome for the stakeholders. Corporate culture: The culture of the organization should be flexible and solution oriented. And the management and the employees take the responsibility to solve the problem or issue at their level. Early ide