Saturday, August 31, 2019

Tesco Company Profile

The company has also established a strong customer base by effectively utilizing the information held within their systems by leveraging the concept of Customer Relationship Marketing. Alongside, the company has effectively performed the process of data mining through directly analysing the information from the EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) Systems installed in their shop floors so as to identify the potential customers and enter new target markets and business segments. The implementation of the file maker systems in line with their point of sale systems to produce store specific adverts and promotion banners has apparently leveraged the company an edge over its competitors in the supermarket chain. The online shopping system TESCO WEBSITE In the light of the above argument, an insight into the TESCO website reveals the following results. The company has a highly structured website that has classified its products efficiently based on the departments and then provided a two stage categorisation for identifying the actual product itself. The two stages of categorisation are achieved by the providing a short list of hyperlinks under a selected category so as to enable the customer to view the products. The website also provides an interactive help system that efficiently guides a new user to quickly get accustomed to the online shopping process in order to encourage the customers to shop online. Apart from the easy to navigate system and the help provided online, the company has also established a dedicated call centre service especially to attend to the queries of the online shoppers including support on completing an order as well as serving the customer queries on existing orders and deliveries. Alongside, the feature of reserving a delivery schedule before starting the shopping process itself makes it further easier for the customer to decide on the products to prioritise on the order placed. This provides an additional benefit of gaining customer satisfaction as well as a second to none service in the online shopping system to the customers. The aforementioned statements further justify that the TESCO Plc has apparently gained competitive advantage in the electronic commerce mode of retailing in the supermarket chain segment of the retail sector in the UK. Alongside, the company has not only established the online transaction system for the sale of its retail products but for cross selling of its other services including DVD rental, finance and other services. This complete existence of the company over the Internet has apparently proved successful in gaining competitive advantage in the market. The above analysis has proved that TESCO Plc has leveraged competitive advantage through strategically deploying the electronic commerce system in its website and conducting transactions quickly in order to provide timely delivery of the products and services. The research conducted so far is based on the secondary information resources and hence to derive on a concrete solution, a primary research in the form of questionnaire is carried out. The next chapter provides a critical overview of the research methodology and the scope

Friday, August 30, 2019

A critical reflection essay on Islam Essay

Islam being the fastest growing religion, has adhered a lot of positive as well as negative attention from the media. Due to this vast media influence stereotypes in Islam have increased from terrorism, Muslims have been discriminated merely due to the negative outlook that North America has portrayed upon them. The media tends to entwine the truth and to make Muslims seem perilous. Having that simple coherence of one another will be the start to making a difference. Islam is one of the most inspiring religions in the world. It is practiced in many countries, including Northern Africa, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Iraq. Due to it being such a large religion, us people of the west tend to have a little understanding and knowledge about the religion. The very bitter truth is that not many people outside the religion can fully grasp their principles. With so many stereotypes being constantly circulated, it is very hard to get an evident picture about Islam both as a religion and as way of living. The first stereotype has to do with the jihad. Jihad literally means â€Å"The struggle in the path of God†, or â€Å"holy war†. This term unfortunately has been totally misunderstood and made to make it appear as though the Muslim people fight their way through all their problems. Jihad could mean ones spiritual struggle against infidels and does not always refer to actual violence. This pillar of faith has been completely turned around in order to portray Islam in a negative manner, which is surly something that we’ve adapted to through the media. Another stereotype is that women in the Muslim society are not treated equally or with respect. People feel this way because the women often wear a hijab which consists of a veil covering the head. This is actually a personal choice of the women, not a requirement. It was said in the Qu’ran that women and men were to be treated equally. By judging people too quickly we tend to forget to look inside rather then to make assumptions due to an appearance. Stereotypes such as the ones mentioned are absolutely biased and extremely unfair to the Muslim people. Many times, the media does not catch the side of the story where real people are being affected and influenced by what the society thinks and says about them. We seem to act as though we are more superior and that we are perfect and do not make mistakes. Just because some  people from a certain religion make a poor choice does not mean that everyone else is that religion is bound to as well. It is the same with the Muslim people. Just because there are terrorists who hurt themselves and those around them for selfish reasons, does not mean that every other Muslim is just as destructive. I feel that people need to be more open minded and try to do research and become more educated before judging and discriminating. If for once all religions saw eye to eye and did not try to put one another down then we would live in a much peaceful world. By not becoming educated, we basically take someone else’s opinion, or the medias and make it our own without looking deeper into the situation. If we just stop being selfish for just a moment, perhaps we can start again and try to live in harmony with our fellow human beings. During the past two weeks I have learned a lot about Islam, although I did know the basis of the religion people my family practices it. Although some of the thinks that I thought I knew turned out to be totally false I always thought the women never played a role in society and that the Muslim people really did have extremist views. After taking a closer look, I came to realize that I was not even close. It was so interesting and almost relieving to come to that realization that these people are simply misunderstood and are the victims of brutal discriminatory attacks. The biggest thing I learned from all this was not to judge a book by its cover. We can’t really have an opinion or pass judgment on a situation that we know nothing of. I realized now that people twist things in order to get a good story but as soon as people are educated about these matters, the media can no longer fool us into believing it all. Acting upon new knowledge, and most importantly correct knowledge is the way to see through the discrimination and look deep inside. Misconceptions and stereotypes about Islam and the Muslim community have increases majorly in the past couple of years. People have become too quick to judge and believe everything that the media tells them. Through knowledge and coherence about Islam and the Muslim people we would come to understand that it is all a simple misunderstanding and that really the Muslims are victims in this manifesto. We should not let others form opinions in our  head and to stay ignorant to the reality of the world. By doing this we save ourselves from becoming something that is not really human, but more so a robot that’s being controlled by the media, if we just stop and think for ourselves, we could live in harmony, and achieve world peace, a feeling that’s everlasting.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Add math project

Obesity can lead to various health problems. My school has decided to carry out a â€Å"Healthy Lifestyle Campaign† with the aim to create awareness among students about obesity-related health problems. The Body Mass Index (BMI) gives an indication of the physical state of person as being underweight, normal, overweight or obese. BMI can be calculated by using the following formula: BMI = History Body Mass Index (BMI) The body mass index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a measure for human body shape based on an individuals mass and height. It was devised between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing â€Å"social physics†. At first BMI was used by epidemiologists in studies of population health, but was quickly adopted by doctors who wanted a quick and easy way to measure body fat in their patients. By 1985, the National Institutes of Health began defining obesity according to body mass index. At first, the thresholds were established at 27. 8 for men and 27. 3 for women. Then in 1998, the NIH consolidated the threshold for men and women even though the relationship between BMI and body fat is different by sex and added the category of overweight. The new, drastically lowered thresholds were now 25 for overweight and 30 for obesity. Body mass index (BMI) is defined as the individuals body mass divided by the square of their height. The formulae universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of . A frequent use of the BMI is to assess how much an individuals body weight departs from what is normal or desirable for a person of his or her height. The weight excess or deficiency may be accounted for body fat although other factors such as muscularity also affect BMI significantly. Who regards a BMI of less than 18. 5 as underweight may indicate malnutrition, eating disorder, or other health problems, while a BMI greater than 25 is considered overweight and above 30 is considered obese. These ranges of BMI values are valid only as statistical categories BMI Category below 18. 5 Underweight 18. 5 24. 9 Normal Weight 25 29. 9 Overweight 30 and above Obese BMI can also be determined using a BMI chart, which displays BMI as a function of mass (horizontal axis) and height (vertical axis) using contour lines for different values of BMI or colors for different BMI categories. A graph of body mass index as a function of body mass and body height is shown above. The dashed lines represent subdivisions within a major class. For instance the Underweight classification is further divided into severe, moderate, and mild subclasses. Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health. It is defined by body mass index (BMI) and further evaluated in terms of fat distribution via the waist–hip ratio and total cardiovascular risk factors. BMI is closely related to both percentage body fat and total body fat. In children, a healthy weight varies with age and sex. Obesity in children and adolescents is defined not as an absolute number but in relation to a historical normal group, such that obesity is a BMI greater than the 95th percentile. The reference data on which these percentiles were based date from 1963 to 1994, and thus have not been affected by the recent increases in weight. Obesity is another term for excess body fat. Normal body fat percentages range from 18%-23% in men and 25%-30% in women. Men with body fat percentage greater than 25% and women with a body fat percentage greater than 3% are considered obese. Obesity occurs when intake of calories exceeds the daily caloric requirement. The National Institute of Health (NIH) classifies obesity as a chronic disease, which requires a lifelong effort. If an individual has excess body fat can be determine by various methods. These methods include body density using underwater body weight, dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), measuring skin-fold thickness, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The DEXA test and weighing an individual underwater are most accurate methods, although they can be expensive, time consuming and are not always practical. The two most common methods for measuring a person’s excess body fat are using a weight-for-height tables and body mass index (BMI) measurement. The weight-for-height tables provide a range of acceptable weights for a person of a given height. There are many versions of these tables with different weight ranges, which limit their use. Because of variability of these tables, BMI has become the measurement of choice for many doctors and researchers. BMI is calculated using a mathematical formula that accounts for a person’s height and weight. BMI is equal to a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) divided by height in meters squared (BMI=). Aim The aim of this project work is to investigate the relationship between height, weight and BMI with students’ health condition. The purpose of this campaign is to create awareness among students about obesity or underweight related to health problems. We should select an appropriate balanced diet to avoid from being a victim to such illness. Nutritional guidelines play an important role in helping us to make informed choices about our nutrient intake. The foods that constitute a balanced diet should contain the major nutrients which include carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, as well as vitamins, minerals, water and dietary fibre. A balanced diet is essential for the healthy growth and development of the body. The objectives of carrying out this project work are: 1 To collect data on the heights and weights of students. 2 To calculate BMI of each students. 3 To represent data using various methods. 4 To relate students’ knowledge with the data obtained. 5 To suggest ways to practice healthy lifestyle. The methods of research are as follows: 1 To obtain the height, weight and BMI of 50 students in Form 1 and 50 students in Form 5. 2 To tabulate the data consisting the height, weight and BMI of this 100 students. 3 To convert the data and represent it using three different statistical graph. 4 To find the mean, mode and median of BMI for the 50 students from each group of students. 5 To calculate the variance and the standard deviation of BMI for this students. Statistic : Finding mean, mode and median of ungrouped data and grouped data. Finding interquartile range, variance and standard deviation of ungrouped data and grouped data. Finding gradient according to the data. Mean Mean for ungrouped data: Adding up all the values in a set of data and sum in then divided by the number of values, we shall obtain the mean of the set of data. Hence if

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Criminal Identification Procedures in the Twenty-First Century Essay

Criminal Identification Procedures in the Twenty-First Century - Essay Example However, because these advances are still so new it is not always possible to understand their full implication. Do they have unintended consequences? Are they really as useful as they appear? And perhaps more importantly will we become so reliant on this technology that we throw away good old sleuthing techniques and human controls and simply let technology take over? These are all incredibly important questions that we must think carefully about. This essay will examine some of these questions by looking at the pros and cons of specific technological advances. In the criminal justice system there are two opposing modes of looking of how to deal with criminals. The first is the due process model. The gist of this model is that an individual can never be deprived of basic human rights no matter how horrible a crime he or she has committed. Even to put someone in prison is to take away the criminal’s inalienable right to liberty and there must be many appeals and a thoroughly scrutinized process to ensure that everything is done by the book. At its heart the due process model would rather see nine guilty people on the street than one innocent person in prison. The end result of this mode requires many hours of painstaking work by humans checking and rechecking evidence and the court case moving very slowly through the system. The second mode of looking at criminal justice is the Criminal Control Mode. This system puts a high value on locking up guilty people. It focuses on protecting citizens from criminals as quickly as possible. Und er this system more money is spent on policing and deterring and prosecuting criminals as quickly as possible so that the police and prosecutors can move on quickly to the next batch. If an innocent person is caught in the net, that is a tragedy, but what is important is that many bad guys got caught too.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Extreme wealth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Extreme wealth - Essay Example Sadly Barbara clarifies that their wealth results from the usual trick of overcharging their buyers, clutching their employees and polluting the environment. The rich also seem to be taking over lucrative sectors such as the mining industry and the farming sector. This happens while the government seems to be lenient and partially dependent on some rich folks (Barbara 553). The rich also have a positive impact in the society. There is a probability that wealthy individuals might share their riches and assist those in need. The rich may sit idle, but money does not because it goes through banks or other networks and eventually draws back benefits for the society. Unless the wealth is stored in the form of land or gold which is not in use therefore making the asset an incentive or a security for the rich individual (Barbara 556). Ultimately, all Americans would love to realize the American dream of financial independence. Astonishingly, the dream is among the means of developing the ethical foundations of a nation. Rich Americans seem to undercut and undermine the core values that make up the dream by trying to use shortcuts (Barbara 559). The wealthy are trying to manipulate and oppress the poor for their own selfish needs. They are culpable and should be blamed for the economic inequality

Monday, August 26, 2019

Economical and Environmental Consequences of Overfishing Essay

Economical and Environmental Consequences of Overfishing - Essay Example The problem of overfishing has its roots in human activities. Human beings have the mandate of taking care of their environments but in most cases, they do not do it. Human activities increase carbon emissions, which is a root cause of the problem is acidification of our seas. According to United Nations Environment as quoted in Ecocentric times, increasing carbon emissions has found its way in our oceans and the PH balance is no longer the same. Although only a few species like the crabs, corals, and shellfish will be greatly affected by acidification of the seas, a broken ecosystem balance will also affect the fish and hence food security (Walsh Web). It is worth noting, with interest, that all forms of life are interdependent and that extinction of one form of life threatens the survival of the rest of the ecosystem either directly or indirectly. On a global scale, the world has enough fish to cater for all its inhabitants and three other planets like earth. This means that the pr oblem is not with less fish in our oceans. According to Koster, â€Å"Worldwide, fishing fleets are two to three times as large as needed to take present-day catches of fish and other marine species and as what our oceans can support† (Koster, 2011, p.1). ...Statistics show that for every five persons, one depends on fish as a source of protein. Monterey Bay Aquarium foundation as quoted in Sea the Sea website clearly shows a great rise in fishing volumes. It is claimed, â€Å"Between 1950 and 1994, total fish caught increased by 400% and this increased in subsequent years† (Sea-the Sea, Web). UN Food and Agricultural Organisation statistics as quoted in Overfishing website depicts that there is no proper balance of fishing habits. That is â€Å"52% of fish fully exploited, 20% moderately exploited, 17% overexploited, 7% depleted, and 1% recovering from depletion† (Koster, 2011, p.1). At times overfishing is caused by corrupt activities of the managers of the se as who fully aware of the stress in our seas allow fishing. First, overfishing is a problem since economically fishing is an activity that supports so many livelihoods who earn a living from it. According to a UN website, â€Å"200 million people in the world depend on fishing worldwide† (Natal, 2006, P.1). Overfishing means that we are risking such millions of people losing their ways of earning a living. This is because fish is a finite resource that depletes over time especially if the stocks of fish left cannot replenish themselves. Secondly, overfishing destroys the normal ecosystem flow of marine species. This occurs after the extinction of one or more species that depend on the other for survival, which means that extinction of one or more fish species will adversely affect other sea species or even cause their extinction too.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant Personal Statement

The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant - Personal Statement Example After finding shelter in Egypt, she delivers her son and realizes that her family has lost all accounts of her The Red Tent is a great novel anyone who tries to gain a better understanding of a female’s perspective from an older generation standpoint. It outlines the difficulty of young women, who undergoes drastic life experiences as she witnesses her husband getting murdered. One of the most essential themes that are explicitly emphasized upon is the fact of that she is engrossed in all her memories. Dinah is almost forced to narrate her story from the fear that she will not ever remember these memories. Undoubtedly, these memories are critical towards her life experience. From my perspective, the author is trying to insist on the fact that our life experiences are critical as they are associated with memories. Without having these experiences, humans cannot fully develop their personalities. Another theme that is emphasized in this novel is the ability to heal. Clearly, humans are sensitive creatures that possess and experience strong emotions. Dinah witnesses her husband getting m urdered. In addition, she was also raped. Both of these incidents are traumatic as they can impact any individual dramatically. However, she is able to recuperate through time and patience. Her son is the hallmark of her striving to exist even when her life is shattered with these events. Anita Diamant, in this novel undoubtedly shows the futile superiority of men and portrays the strength that a woman must possess even after she experiences life changing events. She is clear to capture the essence of feminism in her novel through Dinah and shows the qualities that women possess that make them beautiful, sensitive

Mentoring, Americans with Disabilities Act, Flex-time, Workplace Assignment

Mentoring, Americans with Disabilities Act, Flex-time, Workplace Security, and Performance appraisal - Assignment Example The four phases are (Boreen et.al, 2000): A mentoring relationship is based on numerous factors that relate to the success of the process as preferred by both the mentor and mentee. The basic relationship requirements include (Boreen et.al, 2000): The process of mentoring provides significant influence in career development. In women and minority groups mentoring is regarded as a mandatory requirement. Women and minority are viewed as a weaker part of the human race. For this reason, they are exposed to limited career opportunities and resources. Through mentoring this gap is lessened as they are provided an opportunity to learn basic career requirements from experts. This also improves their succeeding probability. The ADA was created to respond to the plight of the disabled or otherwise challenged persons. The Act was signed in 2009 by President Bush. Main components in the Act focused on making work places comfortable for the disabled or other wise challenged persons. Additionally, public places and entities were also required to be observant of the Act (Schall, 1998). In the act the beneficiaries are described as people with physical disabilities. The act excluded the inclusion of people affected by drug or substance abuse and visually impaired people whose sight can be corrected by the use of an optical lens. The ADA has positively impacted the working environment as companies have become more sensitive in making working places comfortable to the disabled persons. To ensure compliance of the ADA, an employer should put in place systems and mechanisms that address the issues raised by the ADA. For instance, an organization should advice other employees against discriminating against disabled persons (Schall, 1998). Traditional work schedules were heavily demanding on employees as they had to work during many hours and the output displayed could not match the time taken to complete tasks. Working on full time or eight hour day daily on the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The benefits&limitations&ethical implications of a research method in Essay

The benefits&limitationsðical implications of a research method in the context of a particular methodology - Essay Example In participant observation the researcher takes part or becomes involved in the existing activities of the community and document observations. Generally the observer assumes the role being explored (Flick, 2009). However, similar to other research methods, participant observation in the context of ethnography has benefits and limitations. This essay explores these strengths and weaknesses, as well as its ethical implications. Benefits and Limitations Participant observation grants the researcher the opportunity to explore phenomenon from the inside. They are valuable in ethnography when behaviours and thoughts can be identified and appreciated best in their natural situation or when the observer plans to explore social dynamics or cultural trend over a period of time. They generate a wide array of information or knowledge about the responses of individuals and provide researchers the opportunity to build theories from the information gathered (Hume & Mu, 2004). However, the key bene fit of participant observation for ethnography is that it produces an accurate understanding of how individuals perform their daily activities or tasks. It presents truthful knowledge of how individuals view cultural or societal processes, norms, and roles when studied methodically, which implies that the researcher is not only performing an observation but is also examining contexts, situations, or relationships with an assumption of how interaction or communication must be taking place (Kirby, 2000). Hence, participant observation within the context of ethnography is a field that must be known to all corporate or organisational professionals. A perfect example is how Gary DiCamillo, the CEO of Polaroid Corporation, acted when he took on the corporate position in the 1990s (Stacks, 2010, 191). Aside from interviewing the members of the organisation, he checked the different Polaroid sites, visited the control centres and facilities, and participated in dialogues about the company w ith managers and employees. Due to his continuous participant observation, he was able to discover the company’s strong and weak points, and to plan his future actions for Polaroid (Stacks, 2010, 191). In essence, according to Gummesson (1999), participant observation gives the researcher the chance to have a profound, compassionate, and culturally-sensitive knowledge of how individuals perceive the world. It is particularly valuable in the ‘exploratory’ phase of an ethnographic study (Myers, 2008), when researchers have an unclear or indefinite idea of what they are trying to discover or understand and an unclear idea of what they will find out. The major limitation of participant observation within the context of ethnography involves the amount of effort, time, and related costs it requires (Bryman & Bell, 2007). In addition, because participant observation generally requires only one researcher in a particular social situation, it is not easy to find out if ot her researchers would evaluate aspects similarly and it is not easy to determine how generally results may be related to other situations (Symon & Cassell, 1998; Collis & Hussey, 2009). Thus one of the major limitations of participant observation is reliability. In summary, the strengths of participant observation are as follows: the researcher is responsive to new ideas; it can analyse the deepest aspects of social processes or cultural dynamics; it assumes the role or perspective of

Friday, August 23, 2019

Developing Leaders at UPS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Developing Leaders at UPS - Assignment Example Similarly, Jovita used her skills and knowledge to progress in future which came out positive for her. She focused on her individual development and with the passage of time; she gained experience which helped her to become a successful leader. As a leader, she took challenges regardless of the results and focused her attention on learning from the experiences of other people. According to her, observation and remaining close to skilled employees helped her to gain a competitive edge in the market. She knew when to use her leadership style in which situation. Basically, Jovita’s approach can be framed as a situational leader who acts according to the situation. Secondly, she focused mainly on developing good relations with her subordinates. A good leader always focuses on building good relations with his peers, employees and subordinates. She encouraged active participation of her employees, motivated them and helped them to improve their skills through training and developmen t programs. A good leader always focuses on developing high communication with the employees, greater teamwork interaction and gives them space to act and behave within a certain limit. Jovita followed the same rules which helped her to become a successful leader in the corporate world of UPS.... Without these three basic elements, it is impossible to attain growth in the spiral of experience. Answer 3: Some of the skills that Jovita Carranza demonstrated in her career as a successful leader are: 1- Cognitive ability: Jovita possessed both raw intellectual horse power and mental flexibility (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy 2012). She joined UPS when she was ready to take her skills to next level. According to her, intelligence and flexibility enable a person to groom one’s skills. It was her flexibility and willingness to learn that helped her to attain her goals both personally and professionally. Leaders learn from the experiences of others and by experimenting with their practices. 2- Strategic Thinking: Strategic thinking has helped Carranza to gain global competitiveness and an edge over other competitors in the market. She knew how to make the most of her skills and thinking ability. Leaders know to compete with the other players in the market by making the most of t heir leadership potential. 3- Analytical Ability: Jovita Carranza worked in different regions with different employees from diversified backgrounds and under different situations. This helped her to develop analytical ability to analyze different situations and then to act differently according to the requirement. Also, it helped her to know the exact situation and the solution through her prior working experience in different regions. 4- As described by Jovita, it is impossible to make sound decisions and winning impression without eagerness to learn and without taking challenges, especially when one is uncertain about the results. These are the qualities of a true leader to take

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The major Marks and Spencers stores Essay Example for Free

The major Marks and Spencers stores Essay -Retailing in local stores We had a lesson in ICT class on watching a video on Marks and Spencers who showed us on the way there retailing works in their local stores around the country (England). The way ICT is used. ICT controls everything that goes on in the major Marks and Spencers stores. As one lady in the video tells us about how many things where manual (human working) in the store round 50 years ago. And how many people have lost their jobs by computers replacing them. This shows us how much progress the store has made in only a short about of time. As we carried on watching the video many people who worked in the company were showing us the first thing on how they use ICT. This was having barcodes on every product that was brought in to be sold. The barcodes that were placed on the side of the products were for * The specific numbers to show were they would be placed * When they were bought in and the out of use date and time. The barcodes were made to make life more easer for the stocking for the assistants and cashers. Although the cashiers need a basic knowledge on how to use a computer and how to operate the machines. The store also has ICT lasers. The lasers are mainly at the checkout tills. The cashiers use the lasers to scan on the bar codes to send a message to a larger computer, which tells them that the product or item is sold or bought so there will be a need to replace the certain stock. Costumers As the lady explains to us we are told that since 50 years ago everything has changed to automatic as before it was manual labour work. The complaint of the very new ICT department is that little corner shops are suffering and losing their businesses. The ICT department are giving people a choice of from where they want to order (if they are have a computer with internet access) they are capable of ordering from the home. Every Marks and Spencers shop have each hand held terminals, which we are given the shortened name of HHT. Hand held terminals The jobs which HHT do is *They record what needs to be stocked up or when they sell out of certain products this is recorded and is sent to the suppliers to tell them that more items are needed to go on the shelves. Manual jobs (mainframe) Employers off the store stock company stock the shelves manually when the company receives the product. Most off the products have certain times to be bought in and also have a certain time of which it is delivered the times are as follow; 1. 10 am (morning) 2. 12 oclock (noon) 3. 4 pm (evening) When the products are brought in for stocking it has to first scan the type of product it is then by the belt it will be taken up in the required lane and in for the right department for the item. Then it is taken in to the drop plan, which the product is needed for and ticked off. The drop plan is located above the product off, which it is placed in. Delivery Marks and Spencer has got loads of delivery vans all over the world. The vans gave a tracking device that allows the managers to see whether they will be on time for stocking and where they are located in the country to see if theyve taken a brake and for how long. They can also track how fast there driving. Marks and Spencer have worked out this plan and believe that it is the fastest way of delivery. But everything has a problem and with this it has some of its own. Like * Traffic jams (has risks to everything) * Pollution (problems to the environment) If things go wrong what will happen? If some think goes wrong in the department it is located by a traffic code system. When these lights go on 1. Red 2. Blue The red is for alert and the blue will go of if some think is incorrect. Although if anything does happen like a power cut the store has a back up system which automatically goes on before anything or anyone is hurt or something serious has happened. These sort of things hardly ever happen as we are told by the lady in the video it only happens every 10 years. Conclusion From this video that I have just watched I see that Marks and Spencer has to do a lot of things before it is all nicely presented to us. Marks and Spencer is a very common shop and for every new shop opened 200-300 local shops are put out of business but we live in a very competitive world and have to learn how to put up with these things. This is hard business. The video has told me that ICT is a very useful thing in the world off business we live in today.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

History of Ocean Explorations

History of Ocean Explorations Significance of oceans Oceans are very important for human being in many ways. We will discuss three significance of ocean here Significance of ocean in exploration Significance of ocean in transportation Strategic role of oceans Significance of oceans in exploration Ocean played major role in exploration of many unexplored lands of the world. The age of exploration begin in early 15th century to until 17th century in which many Europeans travelled and explore many land of Africa, America, Australia and many other islands. Reason of travel They travelled to get spices, goods like silk and gold, religion converts and for bypassing the Muslim empires They travelled because they get the new and more detailed maps and also the new instruments which they used in exploration some of the instrument are Astrolabe that is used to determine altitude of the sun and position of the stars Sextant that is used to find latitude and longitude New ships which were bigger than the past Explorers With the rise of the Turks in the 14th and 15th centuries, trade with the east became increasingly difficult by land. But under the influence of the Renaissance on the European mind there also developed an urge of adventure and enterprise to discover new lands to plant colonies of their own people in them and to find a new independent route to India. Thus the 15th century ushered in an era of discoveries in the history of European peoples. (1) Some of famous explorers are: Marco Polo (1250-1324) He started his travel from Italy to china in 1271 with his father and uncle he spend 20 years with Kublai Khan. In 1292 he decided to went back king gave him 14 ships. He travelled from Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. Prince Henry (1396-1460) He was a Portuguese explorer. He reached India bypassing Muslim Empires and Africa .In 1455 he reach to banning coast. He discovers many lands of Atlantic Ocean. Captain Vasco da Gama He travelled from Cape of Good Hope to Mozambique to Mogadishu to Mombasa. In 1498 he travelled and reached Calicut from Mozambique and realised the Portuguese ambition to finding a sea route to India. Kristopher Columbus (1451-1508) He was Spanish but studied in Portugal. He travelled to explore India. In 1492 he reached West Indies he thought that he had discover India until his death. Magellan: He was Portages explorer but Spanish king help him in sailing and provide him 5 ships. He started his journey in 1519 from Spain to Brazil and then South America and tip of India. He reached Guam islands (east of Philippine) on April 27, 1521 he entered Philippine and killed there. Juan Sebastian the captain of Victoria ship one of the Magellan ship reached Spain by crossing Indian Ocean. In 1522 Juan Sebastian in Victoria circles the earth. French and English nations In 1534 the French navigator Jacques Cartier’s (1491-1557) expedition in an attempt to find the north-west passage reached the mouth of the St. Lawrence and discovered the lower fertile valley of the river. In 1553 the English expedition of Willoughby and Chancellor, in search of North East passage, reached the White Sea leading to the discovery of Russia. In 1576 Sir Martin Frobisher undertook three voyages (1576-1578) westward to find the north-westward passage and in the last attempt discovered the Hudson strait of the north of Labrador. (2) Captain James cooks (1728-1779) He was British navigator he drew the outline of Pacific Ocean and explores many Islands and countries. There are three major journeys of cook 1768-1771: He travelled from England to South America (Strait of Magellan) to Pacific Ocean to New Zealand to New gunny to Australia (eastern coast and islands) Cape of Good Hope to back to England. 1772-1775: Start his travel from England to Cape of Good Hope to Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean then to New Zealand and different islands he reached Antarctic circles up to 71 degree and 10 minutes then reached England moving from Strait of Magellan. 1776-1779: Started his travel from England to Cape of Good Hope then New Zealand Go way islands to Northern post, Alaska, bearing post, Russia and died there. Kids.britanicca.com After James cooks the Earth was explore world map was redrawn. Significance of ocean in Transportation The oceans serve as a highway for trade and travel. Mostly the shipment of heavy trade commodities and mineral oil is transported through these ocean routs. (3) There are many ways of transportation like roads, railway, by air and by water. Water enables more efficient travel as compared to land for most of heavy material things like containers, oil tankers, heavy machinery and jets and other weapons etc. Waterways are very important for the transportation of people and goods throughout the world. Connection between coastal ports and inland ports of countries lead the foundation of material economics wealthy worldwide. Early history of water-based transportation In the past water-based transportation was very important for domestic and international trade and travelling of people. By the early exploration many natural resources were identified such as fisheries and timber etc. For the transportation of these resources trade centres were established along the coastal areas where goods were gathered and then transported to consumers of Europe and other areas of the world by ocean vessels. Introduction of transportation system lead the small subsistence farms to larger farms such as wheat, tobacco, rice and cotton that were commercially marketable in Europe. By the ocean vessels low value goods were exported and returned with high value and low density goods like inks, linens and finished products. During 1700s, the British government passed away act to collect taxes from the colonies this step of Government affected the trade. Transportation in Twentieth and twenty-first centuries In this time with the arrival of advancement in technology, engines design as well as improvement in construction material the ships which looked like the beautiful city the transportation become very easy and economically better then the last centuries of times. Moderns cruise ships, ferries and many other small boats carry peoples for daily business commuting to fishing and sightseeing. Ferry system in Nova Scotia (Canada) is an example of the importance of waterway of transportation. About 95% of U.S. foreign trade passes through its port system. Pakistan Karachi port is very important as far as the heavy materials transportation is concern. Today the world economy has become globalized. According to NOAA the U.S. was the world’s leading trader in 1998, about one billion tons of trade was bound with ocean. All containers of different goods and oil tankers that cannot be transported by other mean of transportation so they are transported by the water passageway these heavy material are transported to the ports by land and then transported by ocean ways to the other countries of the world. (NATO supply is also carried out by the ocean way from U.S.A. a large part is transported to the army of NATO from Pakistan)

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Background Of Human Resource Management Commerce Essay

The Background Of Human Resource Management Commerce Essay Human resource management is an important asset for any company. First, human resource management is between employer and employee. These two groups are the determining factor of the company. The challenges faced by human resource management include the number of people is needed, being employed and to train them. If employees are hired, employer must give them an appropriate compensates. Employee should be given a reasonable salary for their effort. Without this, employer must grant awards to employees merits and carries out penalty to those employees that do not abide to the rules and regulation of the company fairly. Subsequently, the connection between employer and employee is important for success of the company. Definition Human resource management is a personnel management that focuses on one individual rather than a group of people. The human resource management responsibility is often devolved to line management. It is illustrated by stressing on strategic integration, employee commitment, workforce flexibility, and quality of goods and services. Theories/concepts of human resource management Recruitment Recruitment which is a part of the human resource management, it is a behavior impact achievement of an organization. It determines the internal or external of a candidate whether they are the best, and choose suitable applicants. Selection Selection which is gathering information and decide that who should be hired, and choose the best for the whole organization. Selection is a very important process in all business; because it will give an impact to the whole organization achieve its goal. Training Training is also a part that very important in an organization, because it to let employee need to know the way how to apply the equipment when work. The purpose of training to the employee is to improve more productivity by increasing each of the employee ability to perform. Development Development and training are impact with each other, training is a focus on short-term skills while development which is a focus on long-term skills. Both of these two functions which is a assess needs of the organization. Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) is one of the largest research-based pharmaceutical companies in the world that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets human health products. An innovative company that produces branded products only, which it has develops itself. Pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare is the two main division of the company. The pharmaceuticals division is the biggest division in the company and is divided into prescription drugs and vaccines. GSK headquarters is located in London, United Kingdom. GSK manufactures pharmaceutical as well as consumer healthcare products. GSK marketed pharmaceutical products like Zentel, Pentosam, Tuberculosis, vaccines and anti-malarial products and anti-retrovirals products. And for the consumers healthcare products, such as the toothpaste brand Aquafresh, Macleans and Sensodyne, and nutritional healthcare drinks. Based on one of the GSK Malaysia employees explanation, GSK Malaysia company structure is manage by Managing Director and supported by Finance department, Business Units and the Human Resource (HR) department. In the business units, they have four business units and in each unit, there are marketing staff and sales staff. Under marketing, consist of product managers and product executives. Under sales unit, consist of sales managers, sales executives and medical sales reps whereas in the HR department, the head of department is assist by managers and executive. The finance department operates by the financial controller, managers and executives. Mr. Andy Lim (GSK Senior Professional Medical Representative) confirmed verbally that the information on the company structure is true on 25 May 2010. In order for GSK to achieve their business goal; to be the world leader in the pharmaceutical industry, GSK would have to enhance their Research and Development (RD) pipeline. With that, the company can maximize their RD portfolio and linking RD closely to commercial operation. Furthermore, by increasing the brand recognition among costumers and seeking to improve version of older products is one of the companys marketing strategies. Besides that, GSK is using the Direct-to-consumer (DTC) method and it is the most important element of their marketing strategy. From DTC advertising, consumers will be updated with the latest information about their products. Subsequently, consumers may request specific brands of medicines to their physicians. Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), Human Resource Management process. GSKs Human Resource Management (HRM) process consists of recruitment, selection and training and development. Firstly, the company requires the applicants to use the search functions in the particular companys website to search for their desired vacancy. Fill in the online application form and submit the application. Then, the company will inform applicants by an on-screen message that stated that the application has successfully been submitted. By providing a valid email address, applicants will receive a confirmation email that their applications arrived in the recruiters inbox. The recruiters will review the applicants applications. If the applicants resume fulfils the job requirements, the applicants resume will advance to the appropriate hiring manager. The company will only inform applicants that are granted an interview. The recruiter will contact the selected applicants to make them a verbal offer and a written offer letter will be followed up and the company will also explai n the next steps include their pre-employment screening process. The selected applicants will go through the pre-employment screening, which after the company will finalize their starting date and induction detail. The selection process used by GSK was designed to give an opportunity to these ambitious and talented applicants, to exhibit their leadership quality so that these applicants can lead the company. The company is interested not only in the qualification of the applicants but also the personality in each applicant. Performance is not the only factor that the company would put into consideration to hire new employee; they are also interested in the level of integrity, initiative and the passionate commitment by the applicants towards the people that they may work with. Furthermore, GSK would prefer the applicant to have a degree in science or pharmacy, experience in healthcare/pharmaceutical industry, then applicant also need to be good in the communication skill and especially in English language. Applicant need to have the spirit of highly self-motivated and result-oriented. The company requires the applicant to have their own car and willing to travel. GSK gives the employee training and development. Their training includes training, mentoring, coaching, performance appraisals and volunteering opportunities. Such training will help the employees to upgrade themselves to a higher level and it will help to develop the employee to advance in their career. For the training, the employees are provided work-related training courses. GSK offered learning programs in 19 languages to their employees in over 100 countries and these programs were offer through the company online learning management system. Furthermore, project secondments were offered to help the employee to develop new skills. In mentoring system, the high-performing employees are given support and inspiration; this will help to create leaders of the coming years and another important component of employee development is coaching. Internal and external coaching resources will help to speed up growth and develop leadership skills. Performance and development planning (PDP) is a key people process in the company. This is the basic on how the company establishes what they will achieve through the company personal objectives, as well as how the company will achieve through GSK behaviours and most of the employees take part in performance appraisals through the PDP process. GSK promote employee volunteering. Through employee volunteering process, employees will gain new experiences and skills, and it will also help the employees to deepen the understanding of the patients need. Human Resource Management Process Highlight any positive and negative effects of implementation. (Recruitment, Selection, Training and Development) There are a few of positive and negative effects when you are working with this company. After I done my research on this company, I found that only those who are highly educated are qualified to work in this company. For this reason, I can conclude that most of the human resources management process designed by this company, demonstrates a positive outcome. In recruitment, the positive effect shown in this company is online application. With the presence of such technology, employer can reduce their work by only contact those applicants who are granted an interview. This type of recruitment widely used because it works faster and easier. The positive selection on this company depends on the employees qualification. Basically, the selection requires at least three years of working experience. Although an employee maybe a PhD holder, experience is equally as important in order to have a job. The negative effect identified is that the probability of employing experienced employee is low compared to fresh graduates. This is because in this century, the number of unemployed fresh graduates is high. There are a few highlight positive effects about training for employees in this company. Their training process is designed to give an opportunity to all those talented and ambitious students to demonstrate their potential, to be the leaders of the future. The company are not just seeking performance, but also integrity, initiative, and a passionate commitment to the people they work with-whether theyre at the next desk or on the other side of the world. In the other hand they also had learning opportunities that teach flexible thinking skills, employment practices that support career development, benefits and rewards that reflect changing needs, and performance-based flexible work practices and policies that meet both business and personal life needs. Of course there are also had a negative effect about the worker selection on this company. For those who want to get a career on this company must a person that have a high self-confident, because this company wanted to train their wor ker to become a very strong leader ship worker as what this company requite. The positive effect can be shown on this company development when everyone who works in this company can enjoy a work-life balance. With this, you are able to have a Flexible Working Policy, which applies to all staff, covers a variety of working patterns, including home working, part-time working, annualised hours and term-time working. Of course, these kinds of flexible working options are particularly attractive to parents and care-givers. This approach is to support flexible working arrangements wherever this company can make life better for their employees, while ensuring business needs are met. While the negative effect on this company development on flexible working is employer or the manager will faced some problem when they want to give training or speak for their employee because employer need to separate it into two sections, so that it will cause more expenses and time are needed. Example of the implementation of human resource management process in GSK (Recruitment, Selection, Training and Development) After doing some research on this company regarding their recruitment, selection, training, and development process, it shows that this company is quite strong, but theres more to improve for a better. In my opinion, this company should implement new strategy on their recruitment and selection by set a higher standard recruitment. For example, for those who wanted to work in this company should have a minimum working experience of three to four years with other pharmaceutical company and at least a degree holder. With such requirement set by the company, the employees that work in the company are efficient. In addition, this company must also improve their training by instil job management skills. For example, as a result of the training given by the company, employees will possess leadership quality in them as to prevent any of the employees to cross over the moral codes of the company. Does the companys development important? It is important as it will determine the future of the c ompany. Therefore, they should improve further on their development. For example, employer should give more incentives to their employees as to reduce the frequency of absence of employees and to increase the efficiency of the employees. Subsequently, the employees will work harder for the company and it may contribute to improve the companys profit. Conclusion In a nutshell, I have learned that the human resource management is a significant asset for any company to grow and advance further in the future. Furthermore, human resource will also assist to nurture the employers and employees in their self-development, so that they will be more productive to the company. In human resource management, I have learned that, in order to work with people effectively, well have to be aware of various type of human behaviour in them, and to be knowledgeable regarding various systems and practices available in order to facilitate in building a skilled and motivated workforce.

Monday, August 19, 2019

USA Patriot Act Essay -- American Government Rights Freedom Essays

USA Patriot Act The USA Patriot Act, actually named the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism act, was created to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United State and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes. It was passed by President Bush in October of 2001. he USA Patriot Act gave the FBI and other agencies more power to investigate, created a Counterterrorism Fund, and made it illegal to aid and/or harbor terrorists. The Act was a good one to pass, and it has many good ideas and policies, but the Act contains several policies that are unconstitutional due to the rights of the First Amendment. The attacks on September 11th, 2001 were devastating. It was the first time since Pearl Harbor that the United States had been attacked on home soil. The threat to America was great, attorney general John Ashcroft responded by making the USA Patriot Act to help fight against the terrorist threat. In a time when fighting terrorism was the nation’s number one priority, the entire congress agreed on the Act, and passed it without any significant changes. The power given to the FBI and other agencies provided what was needed to capture enough terrorists to get the fight off of American land. The Patriot Act allowed the United States government the power and authority to look for terrorists in ways that was never done before. Evidence could be collected on any suspect and used in court, almost regardless of how it was required. It was almost like saying, â€Å"forget the rules, we need to protect ourselves†. At the time, the USA Patriot Act was a good thing, because the average American didn’t have to wo... ...ed. The notion that the FBI can ‘censor’ books by putting people on a watch list for reading them in a public domain is terrible, especially since the government is against censoring and banning books due to free speech rights. The idea that the government can stop a person’s expression because it ‘aids’ terrorism is also a horrible one. They might as well say that criticizing the government aids terrorism, and therefore should be punishable. The USA Patriot Act was an effective system when it was created. Without it, capturing the remaining terrorists in the United States would have been next to impossible. It was essential to solving that problem. Now that the fight against terrorism is off of American soil, the Act is no longer necessary in the fight. The USA Patriot Act should be repealed and declared unconstitutional. It violates the rights of every American.

The novel, Silas Marner by George Eliot :: English Literature

The novel, Silas Marner by George Eliot Silas Marner The novel, Silas Marner by George Eliot is a prime example of a tale which enlists the use of the literary archetype of the quest. Silas Marner is a lonely man who lives in the town of Raveloe with nothing but his hard-earned gold to console him. His call comes unexpectedly when a man by the name of Dunstan Cass steals the money. This marks the point where Marner sets out on his quest to find the gold. The protagonist’s other in the novel is in the form of Dunstan’s older brother, Godfrey Cass. While Silas and Godfrey are complete opposites on many levels, they are ultimately the same person. Godfrey is a man still in his youth, who has been blessed with a luxurious lifestyle, whereas Silas is portrayed as a miserly old man. Differences in social class aside, both Silas and Godfrey are lonely; a product of their own actions. Godfrey is lonely because he chooses not to tell Nancy of his secret marriage, and Silas is alone because he chooses not to associate with the townsfolk. That is, until he is called upon to do so with the theft of his gold. Silas is aided by his adopted daughter Eppie, who acts as the helper, or guide. Silas’s journey is both physical and psychological. At first, Silas sets out to discover who it is that has stolen his money, and means to get it back, and has no intention of punishing the thief. It is evident that this is not the quest the author has in mind for him. Through the journey of raising Eppie, George Eliot has Marner discover true happiness, even though it is not what he set out for in the first place. Even though, through the events that transpire, Marner is able to get back his stolen money, in the end, he is able to obtain a treasure far greater than the gold he anticipated, that is, happiness with another person. At the conclusion of the novel, Silas Marner is a man who has transformed from a cold-hearted and lonely person, to one who has found love and acceptance in another. One of the major themes George Eliot employs is that of the individual versus society. Throughout the novel, Silas is contrasted to the community in which he is situated. In Lantern Yard, Silas is excommunicated because the rest of his church does not believe in his innocence, and in Raveloe, Silas is seen as a crazy witch doctor of sorts. Most people feel it is safe to stay away from him, and Silas

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Essay --

Ans. Today a typical operation spends and takes in several hundred thousand dollars per year , and income over a million dollars are not uncommon. The irregularity of income and expenses, and the use of intensive technologies have become very capital have adequate funding in the key to the success of a business right time. The use of capital and credit has modern investors with a series of decisions to make : †¢ How much to invest? †¢ Where to get capital? †¢ What combination of equity and debt to use? †¢ How to negotiate rates and terms of the credit? †¢ How much financial risk to take ? Making good financial decisions is often the difference between a thriving economy , growing farm business and is constantly wondering how to pay the next bill. The modules in this course of professional study will address the above decisions , and more. Although the modules are arranged in a logical sequence , can be completed in any order you want. According keeper and ambrosio , " Financial Management is the application of the functions of planning and control of the finance function. " ï  ® Financial decisions are decisions concerning the financial matters of a Firm. The financial decisions are grouped into three categories. 1. Investment decisions. 2. Financing decisions. 3. Dividend decisions. Investment decisions An investment decision revolves around the capital expenditure assets that produce the best performance of the company over a period of time desired . In other words , the decision is about what to buy for the company will get the maximum value. To do this, the company has to find a balance between your short term and long term. In the very short term , a company needs money to pay your bills, but keeping all your cash means you ... ...ned as: WACC= [kd(D/D+E) + ke (E/D+E)] D= Dividend E= Equity Kd= cost of debt Ke= cost of equity WACC= value of the firm The WACC for the firm may be calculated as follows: % 0f Equity % of Debt Cost Of Debt Cost Of Equity Cost of capital of Debt Cost of capital of Equity WACC 100% 0% 5% 12% 0.00% 12.00% 12.00% 90% 10% 5% 12% 0.50% 10.80% 11.30% 80% 20% 5% 12.50% 1.00% 10.00% 11.00% 70% 30% 5.50% 13% 1.65% 9.10% 10.75% 60% 40% 6% 14% 2.40% 8.40% 10.80% 50% 50% 6.50% 16% 3.25% 8.00% 11.25% 40% 60% 7% 20% 4.20% 8.00% 12.20% The optimal debt equity mix for the company occurs at a point when the overall cost of capital, ko, is minimum. The above calculations show that the ko is minimum at a point when the debt is 30% of the total capital employed. Therefore, the firm should use 30% debt and 70% equity in its capital structure and its ko would be 10.75%.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Educational Histories Of Korean Americans Essay

The first emigration of Korean’s occurred in the eighth century when they immigrated to Japan because of famine, high government taxes and natural resources. Towards the end of 19th century, few Koreans moved to the US. Initially, only three political refugees migrated in 1885, followed by five others in 1899. Five years later, 64 Koreans joined them to attend theological institutions in Hawaii and were later repatriated upon completion of their studies. The Japanese and Chinese were among the major workers working in Hawaii but were not allowed to work in the US. The aggressive marketing strategy saw Hawaii as the journey to the top where in 1905, over 7000 mainly bachelors had been recruited plantations of which only 2000 made it back to their families because of the expensive lifestyle of Hawaii. The Japanese government was angered by increasing Korean migration to the US, and banned further migration from peninsula in 1905. This relaxed in 1907 by the Gentlemen Agreement Act that allowed Korean husbands to join their wives in the US. Education History of American Koreans The American Korean education history started in 1907 and 1923 majority being students and political refugees who escaped assassination from the oppressive Japanese government. Notable among the political refuges was Syngman Rhee became the first president of South Korea. He emigrated as a student and graduated with a doctorate from the famous Princeton University in 1910 and later launched a protest against the government of Japan. He later escaped to US when he was hunted to be arrested. Migration rules became stringent allowing only women and the quota system was introduced by the US that restricted more 150 Koreans per year. Immigration rules were twisted to give preference to professionals, with technical skills where Korean women who were married to American military were naturalized following McCarran-Waltern 1952 act. The 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act phased out the quota system where by Rules were relaxed and gave preference to Koreans with relatives in American and to professionals. Their education was highly valued and encouraged. Students were put under pressure to excel in academics to increase their chances of employment. In 1980 the figure of Korean American’s who were over 25 years of age with a high school education stood at 78. 1% against an overall 65% for all Americans. About 33. 7% were four year college graduates against a low of 16. 2 for the whole US population. Korean Americans have been known to do well in sciences but they still perform better in other subjects. American Koreans have grown significantly to 1. 3 million at the beginning of this century. Cultural stereotypes propagated through generations have effectively contributed to this gender imbalance in educational training and employment. Women have had to content with domestic chores whereas society has exempted men from such responsibilities. The job market has greatly discriminated Korean American women despite their high professions as doctors, teachers, lawyers and engineers which resorted to working as typists, cashiers, clerks especially in textile industries Language barrier contributing being perceived passivity. During the migration they were barred from taking formidable employment in the US by restrictive discriminatory rules on citizenship leading to lower paying jobs as waiters, houseboys, janitors which were poorly remunerated and some ended up opening up private businesses. Sample Research questions From the history of American Koreans above the following research questions come up 1. How has Korean culture and religion been influenced by American Korean education? 2. How did culture, language and education affect Korean immigrants in employment? 3. Has western education benefited American Koreans? 4. How has cultural stereotypes affected education among American Korean women? 5. What is the perception on Korean American in their home country?

Friday, August 16, 2019

Dance Elements Essay

Literal meaning of the word kathak is related to katha, the art of story-telling, â€Å"Katha Kahe So Kathaka Kahave†, which means â€Å"one who tells a story is a story-teller†. According to M. Monier Williams, Katha denotes conversation, story, speech, tale or fable. Katha also means to ‘ sing in praise’, ‘to say or inform something’. Thus, kathakars were originally a caste of story-tellers who were attached to temples in certain parts of Northern India. These kathakars used to go around the countryside narrating the stories of the Epics and other Legends. The modes employed were poetry, music and dance. All these three arts were closely inter-linked. The aim of kathaks was to educate the people in the knowledge of Gods and Mythological Legends. Historically kathak dates back to the Vedic period which are full of descriptions and stories which give us an insight into the mind of those who wrote or composed jthem. Kathak dance is evolved from religious and mythological concepts. In Ramayana period, we can see many glimpses of music and dance. The Ramayana tells the story of an ideal heroic prince Rama of Ayodhya and his devoted wife Sita. This ancient tale has been treasured and retold for countless generation in every Hindu house; they worshipped Rama as the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In Ramayana we find a mention of recitors who were specialised in story-telling. Lava and Kusha, the two brave sons of Rama rendered Ramayana in verses composed by Sage Valmiki. While reciting the stories, they also added the element of acting-Abhinaya. From that time nomadic bards who narrated the Ramayana were known as ‘Kushilavas’. As a matter of fact, the term kushilavas has been associated with dancers and actors. Likewise, many mythological stories were depicted through gestures, postures and abhinaya. The another story of Ramayana which tells us that how Ravana, the king of Lanka worshipped Lord Shiva with song and dance. Also the story of Ravana assaulting Rambha, one of the main Apsaras. According to Kapila Vatsyayan, in Ramayana, the Apsaras are the most important mythological characters who danced and performed both in heaven and earth. There are various other instances like the stories of the grand act of breaking Shiva’s bow in â€Å"Sita Swayamvar†, the evil plotting of Kaikayee, the Banishment of Rama to a fourteen-year exile, Sita’s kidnapping by Ravana and the war that ensued leading to Rama’s victory and Sita’s rescue. Thus, Ramayana is rich in incident and moral concept. We come across many references to perfomances of dances from the Mahabharata. In this period, worship and adoration of Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh started with music and dance. Krishna is the ‘Sutradhara’ (around whom the entire Mahabharata developed) and he was an expert dancer. The Mahabharata depicts episodes of Krishna’s life that how he is adopted and raised by a family of cowherds. The stories of his childhood of stealing butter and milkmaids known as â€Å"MakhanChori†. His dance of his youth with Radha and Braj narees is known as â€Å"Rasa Lila†. His spiritual love dance with Gopis or Milkmaids by the bank of Yamuna river in moonlit night is known as â€Å"MahaRaas†. The story of â€Å"Kaliya Daman† which tells us how Krishna defeated the poisonous snake Kaliya and danced on his hoods. The story of â€Å"Govardhan Dharan† which tells us how krishna picked and hold the Govardhan mountain to protect the people of Vrindavan from heavy rain. Another important episode of Mahabharata is known as â€Å"Vastraharan†, in which Krishna saves the honour of the Pandava Queen Draupadi. The story goes that Dushasana, one of the Kaurava brothers attempted to humilate her by disrobing her. Draupadi called out to Krishna to save her and miraculously, as layer after layer of her saree was pulled, the number of sarees went on increasing. This episode is a popular theme in Kathak dance. Mahabharata also depicts the story of the five Pandava brothers who were unjustly deprived of their kingdom by their cousins, the kauravas, and of the great battle of Kurukshetra that established the victory of the Pandavas after much suffering and bloodshed. The Mahabharata also describes Krishna’s role as the Charioteer of Arjuna during the battle of Kurukshetra, and his conversation on the battlefield constitutes the text of the Bhagavad-Gita, the celebrated philosophical work. Thus, it is clear that by the time of Mahabharata, the arts of music and dance developed sufficient content, form, style to be taught in a systematic order. The training also seems to be elaborate with rules and regulations. Natyashastra is an encyclopedic work having 36 chapters and it deals with various topics such as the first 3 chapters deal with the origin of Natya, construction of theatre, Rangapooja, etc. , 4th and 5th chapters deal with the varieties of Dance. The 6th and 7th deal with Rasa and Bhava. From the 8th chapter of the 15th one, the different poses of Dance are being dealt with. The different aspects of Abhinaya are described in 15 to 22 and from 22nd to 28th describe the costumes elaborately. The chapters from 28th to 34 deal with music and musical instruments and the last two deal with the different characters and costumes. Natyashastra also describes the divine character and dance of the Nataraja, the dancing Lord Shiva who is considered the king of actors and dancers and also the supreme Lord of Dance. The moon which he adorns in his head is the symbol complete control of his senses. The serpents wound around his body is the proof of his complete control over vital life forces. His foot raised high over the wicked demon, a symbol of victory over the ego. This divine art form is performed by Shiva and his wife Goddess Parvati. The Dance performed Lord Shiva is known as â€Å"Tandava†, which depicts his violent nature as the destructor of the Universe. The Dance performed by Goddess Parvati is known as â€Å"Lasya†, in which the movements are gentle, graceful, erotic and it is also called the feminine version of Tandava. Therefore, according to Kapila Vatsyayan, Bharata attributes to dancing a divine origin, a literary and religious heritage both in thought and technique and aesthetic secular purpose. It has also been mentioned in Natyashastra, how to interpret the different moods of man accompanied by Bhava, Raga and Tal – all directed to create rasa or emotion in the spectators who are called â€Å"Rasikaas†. From the 7th and 8th century, â€Å"Sangeet† occupied a prominent place in the society. The art of sculptures also made great strides and most of the sculptures depicted various dance poses. Temples were the places of origin whereas the dancers or the priests danced in praise of the Lord enacting various mythological stories. Temples sprang up where the devotees gathered to pray to the Almighty God or hear stories about Him. The Temple connection is well established as can be seen in the art of â€Å"Kathavachakas† who carry on the tradition to this day in the North in the Temple boundaries and in open spaces. With the passage of time, in the medieval period, the Bhakti movement influenced all over India. The vast spiritual empire established by Vaishnavism in the North embraces life in its totality. The fine arts found a fuller expression by the 15th and the 16th centuries A. D. Literature, music, dance, painting and other fine arts flourished with the patronage extended by the temples, priests and devotees. In particular the Rasa Lilas in Braj and the neighbouring areas of Mathura in the North sustained the tradition that centered round Vishnu and his recognization as Krishna. The Bhakti movement inspired a whole new school of poetry, dance and music. Krishna and radha are the presiding deities of Vaishnavism and it was on the basis of Leelas of Krishna that precious and distinctive art heritage of Vaishnavism was built up. Mirabai, Surdas and Tulsidas for e. g. wrote powerful devotional verses on longing and separation, expressing the yearning of the human soul for union with God. They chosen the themes was the love of radha for krishna. Krishna Leela though brought out in high relief by Vaishnavism but it had its origin in the past and it can be traced easily to the periods of Mahabharata and Bhasa. In Braj, the Rasa lila’s developed as a combination of music, dance and narration that was used to enact the Krishna Legends – especially the Radha-Krishna idea and stories of Krishna’s youth with the gopis or milkmaids. Hence, the earliest compositions in kathak were based on the religious and stylised music of North India, notably the Dhrupad, Keertan, Hori, Dhamar, Pad and Bhajan. According to Mohan Khokar, Keertans are similar style to dhrupad, but they may, unlike the latter, also be sung in chorus. Keertan is a spiritual practice belonging to the path of Bhakti (devotion). Keertan more specifically means the chanting of sacred sounds or mantras. The Rasa Lila miracle plays of Braj were formerly staged to the accompaniment of keertan music only. Keertans were meant both for singing and dancing. Whereas Bhajans are strictly devotional songs and are in praise of deities such as Krishna, Shiva, Rama, Ganesha, Durga, etc. The songs are rendered in ragas, but improvised tunes are also freely used. Stories and episodes from scriptures, the teachings of saints and description of Gods have all been the subject of Bhajan. Bhajans of Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabir, the Ashtachhap poets and other composers are a part of kathak repertoire. Some of the Famous Bhajans of Mirabai is the following: â€Å"Baso more nanun mein nandlal, Mor mukut makrakrit kundal, arun tilak diyo bhal, Mohni murat – saavari surat, naina bane bisaal, Adhar sudha – ras murli rajat, ur baijanti maal. Chhudra ghantika kati tat sobhit, nupur sabad rasaal, Mira’ prabhu santan sukhdai, bhagat – bachhal gopal† With the advent of the Mughals, the Hindustani music underwent a drastic change. The stylised music absorbed the Mughal influence in a remarkable manner. The dancers moved from the temple courtyard to the palace dubar and this necessitated changes in presentation as Muslim kings could not enjoy the bhava of Bhakti Rasa. Kathak received encouragement at the hands of Nawabs and Rajas. Whereas formerly it was religious and devotional in mood and temperament, now it turned into a means of entertainment. The forms like Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal evolved and became a part of the Hindustani music. The word â€Å"Thumri† has been derived from a combination of two terms i. e. ‘thumak’ (or the chaal) and ‘rijhana’ (or to please). Thus, together meaning graceful stamping of the foot. Thumri is a verse that has Krishna and Radha or Krishna and Gopi’s as its central theme. It is essentially based on the divine romance portraying both aspects of separation and union. The last Nawab of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah was an accomplished dancer and musician. He composed thumries in classical style and these were sung by the kathak dancers. His contemporaries and the court musicians like Kadarpiya, Akhtar Piya, Lallan Piya, Sikandar Piya and others contributed to its popularity. Although he was a muslim, he liked the Radha-Krishna themes. He himself presented a dance on the Rasa Lila which he called ‘Rahas’. His famous thumries are the following: â€Å"Babul mora nehar chhuto jaye, Chaar kahar mil, doliya uthave, Apna begana chhuto jaye. † Another Thumri: â€Å"Jab chod chale lucknow nagri, Tab hale ‘ali’ par kya guzri, Mahal mahal mein begum rove, Jab hum guzre duniya guzri. † According to PeterLamarche Manuel, Bindadin Maharaj is regarded as one of the most important figures in the development of Thumri as well as Kathak. The kathak Masters Bindadin and his brother Kalka Prasad composed Thumries that were suitable for kathak dancing. Some of the famous Thumri of Bindadin Maharaj is the following: â€Å"Mohe chhedo na, nand ki suno challa, Badi der bhai, ghar jane de mohe.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Fedex and UPS Essay

1. Accounting Treatments Capital Lease -Lessee Initially, the lessee recognizes the asset under his property, plant and equipment. The amount that should be debited is the Lower of asset’s fair value and present value of minimum lease payments. The present value is determined by discounting minimum lease payments using interest rates implicit in the lease. Also, initial direct cost that the lessee incurs in relation to the lease is added to the cost of recognized asset. On the credit side of the entry should be lease liabilities, which is in fact, some kind of a loan. The lease liabilities should be split into current and noncurrent liabilities as some payments are made within 12 months while others are made after 12 month of the reporting date. Subsequently, there are two things we must take care of. First, we must depreciate the lease asset over the economic life, not over the lease term because that doesn’t necessarily need to be the same. The entry is to debit depreciation expense in profit or loss and credit th e accumulated depreciation account. Secondly, we need to allocate the lease liability or minimum lease payments paid to the lessor into two parts; reduction of lease liability and finance charge or interest. IAS 17 requires the finance charge to be allocated so as to produce a constant periodic rate of interest (interest rate implicit in the lease) on the remaining balance sheet liability. (Refer to appendix A for journal entries Capital lease-Lessor The lessor is a finance provider, and therefore records lease receivables as the debit side of the entry. The lease receivable is the net investment in the lease, which is the total of minimum lease payments and unguaranteed residual value. Total of these two figures is gross investment in the lease and we need to discount it to present value using discount rate implicit in the lease and all this must be equal to fair value of the asset plus initial direct cost. The credit side to this entry is simply cash given out by the lessor. Subsequently, we have to split minimum lease payments received from the lessee between reduction of finance lease receivable and finance income similar to what the lessee would do. (Finance income should reflect a constant periodic rate of return on the lessor’s net  investment in the lease.) (Refer to appendix A for journal entries) Operating Lease-Lessee In an operating lease, the lessee does not recognize any asset. The lease payments are recognized as rent expense in profit or loss on a straight-line basis. The journal entries would include a debit to rent expense and credit to cash or accounts payable. (Refer to appendix A for journal entries) Operating -lessor Lease payments received from the lessee are recognized as revenue in profit or loss on a straight-line basis. The lessor keeps the asset on his financial statement and depreciates it in line with its fixed asset accounting policy. (Refer to appendix A for journal entries) Advantages of Operating Lease In an operating lease, the lessee is considered to be renting the equipment and thus the lease payment is recorded as rental expense. No assets or liabilities are recorded on the balance sheet (Off-balance sheet financing). This is beneficial for companies because it will result in a lower asset base, therefore creating a higher ROA. Operating lease will also display more desirable solvency ratios such as lower debt to equity. This off balance sheet method of recording will also produce better debt covenant ratios for the company to show its debt lenders. Moreover, some companies associate management bonuses to certain ratios such as return on capital, which would be more optimal looking if recorded under operating lease. Another major benefit of operating leases is the potential tax benefits. An operating lease may allow the company to deduct payments as operating expenses during the period in which they are paid. If the company purchases equipment, they may be able to deduct the in terest, as well as the cost of the depreciation. 2. Under current Financial Accounting Standards Board regulations, what business arrangements might FedEx have made in order to account for leases as operating leases rather than capital leases? An operating lease is usually coined as anything that is not classified as a finance lease.  Factors that an operating lease may include are: 1. If a lease does not significantly transfer all the risks and rewards, associated with ownership of an asset the lease 2. If the ownership of the asset is more likely to go back to lessor at the end of the term 3. The lessee does not have the option to buy the asset at a cost significantly below the fair value of the asset → ie. a bargain price. The term of the lease is not a major part of the economic life of the lease item. IAS 17 does not explicitly say how much is a major portion however ASPE states that 75% and above is a major portion. 5. If there is little or no risk to the lessee; all major risks are borne by the lessor. An example wo uld be cancellation costs. 6. The leased asset is of common nature; not specialized and can only be used by the lessee. 7. The present value of the total amount of minimum lease payments do not equal or is close to the fair value of the asset leased. Other Additional Criteria can be: 8. Whether fluctuation in fair value at the end of the lease accrue to the lessor 9. If the lessee does not have the option to extend the lease for a secondary period at a â€Å"below the market† price Arrangements FedEx would have to make to disclose the operating lease would include disclosures about: the outstanding payments left for non-cancellable operating leases for the time periods: within one year within two to five years after more than five years the total future minimum sublease income for non-cancellable subleases the lease and sublease payments recognised in income for the period the contingent rent recognised as an expense  the general description of significant leasing arrangements, including contingent rent provisions, renewal or purchase options, and restrictions imposed on dividends, borrowings, or further leasing For operating leases, IAS 17 states that the total lease payments should be incurred as an expense and would appear on the income statement regularly with the amount on a straight-line basis over the entire lease term. Any enticements that the lessee may have received from the lessor to enter into the lease arrangement, must also be divided on a straight line basis to offset the  rental expense. 4. Lease Capitalization on Financial Variable and Ratios Unrecorded Lease Liability and Debt-to-Equity Ratio Based on the ratios and calculations performed there are many incentives for companies to report leases as operating leases rather than capitalize them. It can be concluded that the impact of lease capitalization on the financial statements is far greater for FedEx than UPS, however both companies are reaping benefits from reporting leases as operating leases. Capitalizing leases requires that leases are recorded as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. The Unrecorded Lease Liability is 98.41% of existing liabilities for FedEx and 8.27% for UPS. Thus, by not capitalizing leases, firms are able to decrease their liabilities and present a more lower debt/equity ratio.The Debt/Equity ratio gives stakeholders an indication of the capital structure of the firm. The ratio for FedEx moves from 0.97 to 2.70, which indicates a more leveraged capital structure. UPS ratio moves from 0.87 to 1.28. The capitalization of leases would not a llow FedEx to maintain a debt-equity ratio below 1, which would change shareholder’s view on the financial flexibility of the firm. If FedEx wishes to maintain a relatively low debt-to-equity ratio on their financial statements it would be unfavourable to capitalize leases. Return on Asset The Return on Assets (ROA) is another key ratio that is affected when leases are capitalized due to the increase in assets that the company owns. When leases are capitalized there is a decrease in ROA for both FedEx and UPS by 1.69% and 0.32%, respectively. This is a relatively significant drop in efficiency and further motivates firms to record leases as operating leases. Interest Coverage Ratio The interest coverage ratio informs stakeholders of a company’s ability to pay back their interest. There is a significant drop of 17.26 in FedEx’s interest-coverage ratio and a drop of 9.2 in UPS’s interest coverage ratio. This means that a certain amount of profit is attributed to the fact that leases are not capitalized. In conclusion, it is clear from the variables and the ratios analyzed why companies prefer to record leases as operating leases rather than capitalize them. Operating leases are kept off the balance sheet and their main impact on the income statement is rent expense since the risks of ownership are not assumed. On the other hand, when leases are capitalized, the present value of payments including interest expense,  is treated as a liability on the balance sheet. These two accounting methods result in ratios to be more favourable for the firm when leases are recorded as operating leases rather than financial leases. 5. New Exposure Draft: A Contract-Based Approach Development of Contract-Based Approach Leasing is a critical activity in business as it is a means of gaining access to assets, obtaining finance and reducing an entity’s exposure to the risks of asset ownership. Some key advantages of leasing assets rather than purchasing assets are 100% financing, flexibility and the tax advantages. Therefore it is crucial that leases are appropriately accounted for and nature and duration of the lease agreement is considered. Current models require lessees and lessors to account for leases as either finance leases or operating leases. A recurring criticism of this approach is that lessees are not required to recognize assets and liabilities arising from operating leases. We can see the benefits of this in the financial statements and ratios of FedEx and UPS, as discussed above. In our opinion capitalizing leases provides stakeholders of a less aggressive view of a company’s financial statements. The contract based approach ensures th at companies recognise the right to use an asset along with the contractual liability on its balance sheet. Recognition and Measurement (Lessee) IASB and FASB are proposing a new approach to lease accounting that ensures entities record assets and liabilities arising from a lease. With this new approach, a lessee would recognize assets and liabilities for leases with a maximum possible term of more than 12 months. Under this contract-based approach, the asset is taken on by the lessee as the right to use to asset and not the asset itself. This a key difference between the contract-based approach and finance leases. When the lease is acquired, the lessee would recognise a lease liability. This would refer to the obligation of the lessee to make recurring lease payments. Additionally, the lessee would recognize a right-of-use asset representing a lessee’s right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The right-of-use asset would include the initial measurement of the lease liability, any lease payments made at or before commencement date and any initial direct costs incurred by the lessee. The proposal further categorizes the leases into Type A and Type B leases. Type A Lease Recognition Leased assets other  than property (such as equipment and vehicles) would be classified as a Type A lease. However, if the following two conditions are met, the lease would be classified as a Type B: if the lease term is an insignificant portion of the asset’s economic life and if the present value of the lease payments is insignificant relative to their fair value. Initial measurements for a Type A lease would include a right-of-use asset and a lease liability. The lease liability would be measured at the present value of the lease payments, measured at the rate charged by the lessor. If that rate cannot be immediately determined, the lessee uses the incremental borrowing rate. Subsequent measurements would recognize interest expense and the amortization of the right-of-use asset separately on the income statement and balance sheet. This would be accounted for separately from the amortization of the asset. Type B Lease Recognition Leased assets of property (such as land or a building) would be classified as Type B leases. Initial measurements would be parallel to the initial measurements of Type A assets. However, subsequent measurements would recognize a single lease cost. This cost would be a measurement of the interest expense as well as the amortization of the asset. This combined figure would be calculated on a straight-line basis. Effect on Existing Operating Lease Existing operating leases must be appropriately treated based on the a ccounting standards for leases. Leases that were previously reported as operating leases by lessees should be recognised using the new approach at the beginning of the earliest comparative period. The lessee should recognize the lease liability, which is the present value of the remaining lease payments. For Type A leases, a right-of-use asset is measured as a proportion of the lease liability. The proportion is based on the remaining lease term at the time of the earliest comparative period. Additionally, the right-of-use asset recorded should be adjusted for any previously recognised prepaid or accrued lease payments. On the other hand, for Type B leases, a right-of-use asset is measured at an amount that equals the lease liability. The asset is then adjusted for previously recognised prepaid or accrued lease payments.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock and Dualism in Psycho The characters in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) each have a dual nature that is masterfully portrayed through character development and use of mirrors throughout the film. The very first shot in Psycho is zooming in from an open view of the city where it is a bright and sunny day. As the shot zooms in further and further it comes into a dark and shaded room that shows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Sam Loomis (John Gavin) having an affair in a undisclosed hotel. This is dualistic image is just one example of many that Hitchcock has placed in this film.Marion Crane is the first main character that is focused upon for the first half of Psycho. â€Å"All that Marion Wants, after all, are the humble treasures of love, marriage, home, and family. † (Brill 227) [up and down] This is the reason why Marion steals the money in the first place. The money is her first real chance at escaping the life of meeting at cheap hotels in secret. The open ing scene shows the lack of money and personal isolation that Marion has while making love in secrecy in a hotel that â€Å"aren’t interested in you when you come in, but when your time is up. Marion is desperate for any type of companionship with Sam even claiming she would happily live in the spare room at his work. The progress of Marion in Psycho is followed very closely by her appearance and her apparel. â€Å"†¦the bag is a transgressive agent associated with stealing, escape, and independence. † (Gottlieb, Brookhouse 151) [Sarah Street 151] Before any crime was ever committed, Marion wore a white bag that matched her underwear and her clothing. After the money was taken, she made a choice to place the envelope of money in her black bag, rather than her suitcase which would completely hide the money.Along with the change in bags, Marion also changes her underwear to black, and her outer clothes to dark colors as well. Marion’s death is very symbolic and dualistic in a multitude of ways. â€Å"The fact that Marion is nonetheless murdered after her self-realization suggests that neither she nor the society that produced her is recuperable† (Gottlieb, Brookhouse 362) [Christopher Sharrett 362] Once Marion had made that fatal mistake to become a criminal, she was destined to die as a criminal, with no chance of salvation. This is very dualistic of the ending of the frontier, which was right around the time Psycho was produced. the movement of the film is steadily downward and inward, away from the feeling of daylight, abundance, and expanse to a nightmarish claustrophobia that exteriorizes the unconscious mind. † (Gottlieb, Brookhouse 362) [Christopher Sharrett 362] The image of the West being a gigantic open expanse was coming to an end and Hitchcock showed that the frontier was finished and there was no chance of it coming back. Hitchcock places a large amount of dualism between the characters of Marion, Sam, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), and Lila Crane (Vera Miles). The first couple, Sam and Marion, engenders the second, Norman and Marion: Norman has thus taken the place of Sam. Yet he has actually, diegetically speaking, taken the place of Marion, given the mirror dialectic between the sexes and their psychic structurations. † (Deutalbaum, Poague 357) [Bellour 357] The couple of Marion and Sam never got a chance to be married, but as the film goes through the second half, it is Sam and Lila that are â€Å"married† as they go to the motel. Lila doubles as her lost sister as the heroine of the film, following nearly the same actions as Marion.The look on Lila’s face as she finds the mummy is identical to that of Marion’s in the shower Hitchcock uses mirrors quite a bit in Psycho to really help express dualism in this film. â€Å"†¦ depthless images in mirrors that are used systematically throughout Psycho to prefigure the shattering of its characters’ p ersonal coherence. † (Brill 227) [up and down] Brill states how Hitchcock uses mirrors to match up the different characters and to show that there is a lot more depth than what the viewer my first think.Through use of mirrors, Hitchcock brings a much deeper meaning to certain scenes with different characters than would otherwise be without mirrors. One of the most crucial uses of mirrors in Psycho is when Marion is at the car dealership. â€Å"When she takes the damning step of spending some of the money, she is radically bisected by a down word looking shot and a mirror in the washroom where she takes the cash from her purse. † (Brill 227) The image in this scene is extremely important to the dual nature of Marion.At this point, she passes the point of no return and is cut in half by the mirror. The half image of Marion shows that she has split herself in two, good and evil, and the evil side is the one that has taken over. The second half of Psycho, in which Marion is dead, shows the dualism between Marion and the other characters. When Detective Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) first interrogates Norman, his back is to the mirror in the parlor, almost identical to that of Marion when she first entered the motel. Sam appears more than once in the same mirrors while uestioning Norman. When Lila is searching the house for Ms. Bates she comes upon the double mirrors in her bedroom. â€Å"This moment constitutes Hitchcock’s most explicit suggestion that his characters are experiencing-and we are watching- not something weirdly outside ordinary experience, but the expression of a potential for personal distortion and violence that is the other side, the mirror image, of human normality† (Brill 227) This moment is key for Hitchcock because he shows the viewers that something like this could actually happen.There are people in the world that are not mentally stable and that do the type of things that Norman Bates does. Hitchcock also shows a large amount of dualism between the characters in Psycho and birds. â€Å"†¦a complex analogy between bird and human that exists in Psycho and is announced in the opening sequence of the film. Over the bird’s-eye view of a city [†¦] evoke the point of view of a bird who glides down, alights on the window ledge, and slips into the room. (Gottlieb, Brookhouse 295) [Richard Allen] Another sense of duality is present in the last names of Marion Crane and Sam Loomis, both different types of birds and both can be seen as a pair of love-birds. The duality in with birds in Psycho becomes extremely apparent with Norman Bates. When Norman is talking to Marion, he tells her: â€Å"My hobby is stuffing things. You know, taxidermy. I guess I’d just rather stuff birds because I hate the look of beasts when they’re stuffed. You know, foxes and chimps. Some people even stuff dogs and cats but, oh, I can’t do that.I think only birds look well stuffed, well, because they’re kind of passive to begin with. Norman’s claim that birds are passive to begin with, is a reference to the habits of birds and is implied to being a habit of women as well. His obsession with stuffing birds culminated in the creation of his prized â€Å"stuffed bird†, the mummy of his mother. â€Å"This ‘stuffed bird’ was created by the act of ‘stuffing a bird’ in the sense that combines both a sexual act- the implied incest between Norman and his mother- and the act of killing.The monstrous figure of Norman’s mummy is condemned endlessly to repeat this act. † (Gottlieb, Brookhouse 296) [Richard Allen] Marion is the first victim of this sexual and murderous bird that swoops down from the house and attacks her. The knife can be seen as a form of â€Å"pecking† that is used to kill her. After being â€Å"pecked† Marion Crane eventually ends up slumped over, very dualistic to that of a bird with a broken neck staring blankly upward. The stare of death that remains on Marion’s face is a mirror image of the birds that hang in the parlor of the motel, permanently stuck staring out from death.The angles of the shots when Marion and Arbogast are being murdered are from a very high up view to symbolize even further to create a duality between Norman’s mother and a bird. â€Å"Hitchcock’s camera, initially indentified with the love-bird, now comes to occupy the gaze of the death-bird in a series of high-angled shots that accompany the murder of Marion [†¦] swoops down to murder Arbogast on the landing of the gothic staircase. † (Gottlieb, Brookhouse 296) [Richard Allen] Both murders relate to a frenzied bird swooping down from high above and attacking its prey with its vicious beak.