Investing in TUFS

The success of a project is highly dependent on the project implementation process. Proper project implementation should discover red flags in the project and formulate methods of overcoming the problems, before the IT project goes live (Crum, 2002).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Investing in TUFS specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Incorporating the ultimate users of the project in the design and implementation of an IT project is one of the key factors that determine the success of the project. Failure to follow the right procedure in project initiation and implementation would make an IT project face many problems. This is the major issue that faces the Technical Underwriting Financial System (TUFS) of Northern Insurance. Northern Insurance implemented Technical Underwriting Financial System (TUFS) to increase the efficiency of the underwriting process. However, the software was unable to solve the problem . Northern Insurance spends vast sums of money fixing errors in TUFS. This necessitates the company to determine the source of the problem to prevent continued spending on an inefficient system. One of the major factors that led to TUFS’ current problem is failure to incorporate employees who would use the system in the design and implementation of the system. Failure to incorporate relevant employees increased employee resistance to the system. Therefore, it is vital for the company to incorporate the ultimate users of the software in the design and implementation of TUFS. In addition, the company should ensure that it trains employees on how to use the system (Kerzner, 2003). Testing is one the critical phases of an IT project implementation. A company should ensure that there is ample time for testing the IT project. Testing helps in detecting red flags in the system. Northern Insurance did not undertake sufficient tests on TUFS prior to its implementation. This led to the discovery of various problems when the company had already implemented the system. Undertaking alterations to a system when it is up and running is usually more expensive than doing the alterations during the testing phase (Martin, 2011).Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Northern Insurance needs to undertake an overhaul of TUFS to realize its real benefits. Doing minor changes to the system would not solve all the problems. It is evident that most of the problems arose during the project initiation phase. The project implementation team did not seek the views of the users of the system. In addition, the project implementation team implemented the project in a hurry to beat the deadline. This led to the abandonment of various critical aspects of the system. In making the necessary changes to the system, the IT department should incorporate the views of employees of the u nderwriting department. Employees of the underwriting department should form an integral part of the project implementation team. In addition, the company should train employees of the department on how to make maximum use of TUFS. Proper implementation of TUFS would make the company reap maximum benefits from the system. The company should measure its benefits by determining the man-hours that it would save due to use of the system (Waller, 2005). TUFS would enable underwriting managers receive underwriting reports with a click of the mouse. For Northern Insurance to reap the full benefits of TUFS, employees in the underwriting department should embrace the system. They should use the system in their daily operations (Ewusi-Mensah, 2003). Therefore, it is vital for the company to determine the level of employee acceptance of the system. References Crum, J. (2002). Using Oracle 11i. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. Ewusi-Mensah, K. (2003). Software development failures: Anatomy of abandoned projects. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Kerzner, H. (2003). Advanced project management: Best practices on implementation. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Investing in TUFS specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Martin, J.W. 2011. Unexpected consequences: Why the things we trust fail. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Waller, A. (2005). IT for property people. London: Taylor Francis. This case study on Investing in TUFS was written and submitted by user Ian U. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Northern Snakehead essays

The Northern Snakehead essays The Northern snakehead....a modern day fox in the henhouse. The introduction of the snakehead species into the U.S. could become far more serious a problem than most people would like to believe. These fish well kill and eat anything that moves basically....and a lot of it. Entire marine ecosystems are at risk if these extreme predators are allowed to run rampant. All together there are 28 species of known snakeheads; three are indigenous to Africa, the other 25 to Asia. All are air breathers and can live on land for at least three days. All 28 are voracious predators and truly viscous. Some types even kill more than they can eat. One species, the bullseye snakehead, has not only established itself into southern Florida waterways but is thriving! However, there has been little evidence of the impact on local wildlife. Fortunately this species is restricted to water temperatures of 40 degrees and higher, so cannot survive the winters of Northern Florida. We have not seen, and we dont anticipate, that the presence of the snakehead in Florida will have a catastrophic impact, said Shafland. But its like throwing trash out of a car window; it cant be good. Unfortunately, the northern snakehead is nothing like its cousin in Florida. Basically the bullseye is the Chihuahua of the family and its northern cousin is the Pit Bull. Around ninety percent of the northern snakeheads diet consists of other types of fish and they grow at an amazing rate; fingerling to twenty four inches in under a year! They can survive anywhere from freezing to 85 or so degrees Fahrenheit, and they can survive under the ice all winter long. They can grow to over four feet long and have rows of sharp teeth. In short, a well designed, efficient predator. In its native country of Burma, it is known as freshwater shark. With the discovery of one of these real life monsters in Maryland, th...

Legal Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Legal Ethics - Essay Example A Morgan poll conducted in Australia showed that the public has a poor opinion of lawyers1 which has been deteriorating over the years, findings which replicated those of the American Harris Poll conducted in 1997, showing a deterioration in the perception of lawyer prestige from 36% in 1977 to 18% in 1997.2 The movies portray lawyers in an adversarial, litigating role at trial courts, especially in the case of women lawyers.3 This highlights the aggressive and confrontational role of lawyers and enhances this image in the public mind. Graham and Maschio have pointed out how the conventions of movies interact with the conventions of law4. Through a particular depiction of various categories of lawyers in films, such as female or gay lawyers, the general image of such lawyers may be distorted among members of the public. Rapoport has pointed out how the public images of lawyers as revealed on the silver screen could also affect the manner in which lawyers view ethical dilemmas and make ethical choices, with law students being particularly susceptible to such images.5 The notion of professional and ethical responsibility of lawyers is being increasingly undermined by the screen images and Ross and MacFarlane have highlighted evidence which suggests that students â€Å"do not take the courses in professional responsibility seriously.†6 In general, students take up courses in law for the purpose of better earnings, rather than being motivated by the desire to practice law in an ethical manner7. Moreover, films tend to portray lawyers as bad characters who conduct themselves in an unprofessional manner, which undermines the confidence of the public and also affects the perceptions of new emerging lawyers. Asimov provides several examples of such negative portrayals of lawyers in films– for example, the character of arrogant and rude lawyer Martin Vale in the film â€Å"Primal fear†, or the drug abusing character of

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 128

Discussion - Essay Example She describes it as the management for uncertainties. She denotes that Agile embraces change by determining the requirements of a project and implementing them throughout the project thereby making it easy to accommodate any changes. The other difference, according to Erin, is that the Agile approach promotes the implementation of user stories in which common risks are mitigated and return on investment realized. According to Erin, the Agile approach drives the scope while the Iron Triangle of Waterfall fixes it. In this case, the Iron Triangle determines the scope of a project before estimating the effort needed to make the project a reality. Finally, the time required and budget needed for the implementation of the project are derived from these estimates (Erin). An Agile project, on the contrary, begins with a high-level build-up of features and allows for the selection of specific user stories needed for implementation throughout the project. In this case, the project scope is defined in the entire project hence the feeling that it changes in the entire process. After a clear analysis of Erin’s lecture, it is important to note that the Agile approach can be used in the personal projects. When used, cases of project inflexibility and uncertainties can be

History questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History questions - Essay Example The concept of city-states began with them and they were known to practice some religious beliefs because of the ziggurats or the terraced temples. 2. AKKADIANS: The Akkadians who were natives of central Mesopotamia, had their own Akkadian writing using the cuneiform. Authors like Ziomkowski and Spielvogel claimed that they invented the stamps and instituted regular postal services and cadastral survey (3;6). Noble (18) said they gave us the first great warlord known to mankind and this was Sargon. 3. BABYLONIANS OR AMORITES: These inhabited lower Mesopotamia or near the Tigris-Euphrates delta. But with the conquest of the Akkadians and the Sumerians, King Hammurabi was able to carve a kingdom that unified almost the whole of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi then established the Code of Hammurabi, which was a list of judgments stressing fairness and justice among citizens. They then devised a calendar, consisting of 12 lunar months, with 30 days for each month and with 24 hours for each day. They also had a system 4. ASSYRIANS: These were warlike people in upper Mesopotamia who first utilized iron weapons and made use of chariots and cavalry. They invented battering rams and mobile towers to ensure victory in wars as well as what Noble(66) calls sapper work or excavation methods to undermine city walls of enemies. 5. 5. NEO-BABYLONIANS OR CHALDEANS: Led by King Nebuchadnezzar, these accomplished people who made a mark in astronomy, agriculture and the construction of buildings such as The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, will always be remembered for the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews (Noble et al 44). 6. LYDIANS: These inhabited the now northwestern Turkey and they were noted for their wealth and the beauty of its capital Sardis. Under King Croesus, they invented coinage and its minting using gold, silver and electrum. They were also the first to put up retail shops. 7. PERSIANS: These were people, who together with the Medes, occupied present day Iran. They will always be remembered because of their great warrior kings Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great and Xerxes who built one of the largest empire in the world. They also brought Zoroastrianism and a system of governance that divided the empire into 20 provinces, each ruled by a satrap and a system of road building as well as improvement of trade and a barter economy. 8. EGYPTIANS: These people were superb engineers, architects and builders. Denizens of the Nile River delta and oases, they constructed 35 pyramids, temples, obelisks and palaces. They established the art of mummification and the belief of immortality after death. They invented hieroglyphic writing on papyrus and the use of Rosetta stone to encrypt these writings. They devised irrigation and agricultural techniques and an efficient administration techniques under a vizier as well as the concept of Ma'at (Noble 25) or justice and the empowerment of

Intention of Life Interest

Intention of Life Interest 1. (a) The life interest of Parwinder which on the surface appears to be a vested, immediate and limited interest is coupled with a remainder interest for their daughters. In this instance, there is a problem with certainty of intention. Although technical words are not necessary,[1] problems arise when precatory words such as ‘in full confidence’ and ‘will respect’ are used in this provision. The wording of this provision is very similar to the wording of another provision featuring in Comiskey[2] which stated â€Å"in full confidence that †¦ at her death she will devise it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  between nieces as â€Å"she might see fit.† Therefore, following this judgment it is likely that the courts would construe from her words an intention to leave her estate to her husband with a gift over of the remaining property to be shared between her daughters according to his will and otherwise equally. However, if the court decides that intention cannot be derived from this provision, Parwinder will take the property beneficially and there is a resulting trust.[3] In this instance Parwinder will be appointed trustee of the estate thus, he can be compelled to carry out the trust. Should Parwinder become unable to allocate shares to his daughters the court will operate as trustee and distribute the estate if all certainties are found to be valid. If Parwinder is held to be a trustee, he must carry out the distribution of the estate as a trust is obligatory. Therefore, he must make a provision in his will allocating the distribution of the estate or else he must create an express trust making sure he includes valid certainties and follows the beneficiary principle inter vivos. This provision may also constitute a trust in conjunction with a power of appointment. According to Hanbury Martin, when a husband gives his estate to his â€Å"widow for her life, and after her death to their children† but allows the wife to decide the shares for each child it is a valid power to â€Å"appoint using her absolute discretion with a gift in default of equal shares â€Å"[4] Therefore, a special power exists whereby Parwinder must distribute the estate to a specified group of appointees[5] however, he is under no obligation to carry out his duty or even consider it as an obligation.[6] (b) Firstly, this provision may fail for lack of certainty of subject matter in that the size of each beneficial interest is not expressly declared.[7] However, the court may determine that the settlor has provided an effective method of determining the size of the gift therefore; the court will apply its assumption in order to prevent the gift from failing.[8] Should the courts be unable to determine any certainty of size of the beneficial interest the provision will become a resulting trust for the settlor’s estate. Assuming the share size may be determined by some means, it would appear that  £200,000 has been made over into a trust held by the trustees of the estate. However, the obligation to distribute the money to the first 100 applicants must be clarified as a discretionary trust or a power of appointment. According to Hanbury Martin it appears that the trustees who hold a trust for the benefit of â€Å"such members of a class of beneficiaries as the trustees shall in their absolute discretion select†[9], are in fact the trustees of a discretionary trust. The first requirement would then be to ascertain if there is certainty of objects using the test encouraged by the House of Lords, the Given Postulant Test.[10] The test requires the trustees to ask â€Å"Can it be said with certainty that any given individual is or is not a member of the class?†[11] Using this test it is valid to say that any postulant who has written in response to the advertisement in the Oxford Gazette and who have made a moral claim for a share will have to be considered a member of the class of beneficiaries. A slight problem arises if in response to the advertisement the following day 100+ letters are received making it impossible for the trustees to determine who the first 100 beneficiaries are as is clearly requested in the provision. This would result in administrative unworkability and the trust would become void and revert back to the settlor’s estate. (c) The wording of the provision would be construed to impose a fiduciary duty on the trustees and thus, produce an express trust. This is due to all certainties being very explicit and straightforward. Although Charles is in a coma and unlikely to recover, the trustees are still bound under the terms of the trust to distribute property to Charles according to the declaration of trust. Overall, the trustees are under a general duty to act even-handedly and â€Å"maintain equality between the beneficiaries†[12] especially in the context of successive interests. The trustees still maintain the legal title of the cars and Charles and the Oxford Motor Museum enjoy merely an equitable and beneficial interest. Therefore, it is possible for the Trustees to maintain the legal title to the cars and give the entire collection of cars to the Museum on trust as they will not automatically acquire the legal title to the cars. Should Charles die his equitable interest in one of the cars will succeed him and become part of his estate, however, if he were to recover he would still have an equitable interest in one of the cars which he could then take advantage of. Once he or a beneficiary of his estate has chosen a car the legal title of the car will be transferred to them through the appropriate procedure and the trustee’s duty to Charles will be fulfilled and the trust will end. The trustees will then hold the remaining cars on trust for the Museum. The final option available to the trustees is to make an application to the Court for Directions. As Charles is still living, he has an earnest claim on one of the vintage cars; therefore, if the trustees apply to the Court for direction and follow any subsequent directions of the court they will be protected.[13] This process has come into effect to allow difficulties in administration of the trust to be heard by the Court and alleviate the â€Å"risk of making decisions upon a false premise.†[14] 2. One of the main problems in the current law surrounding interests in the family home is in regards to the sometimes archaic nature of the law in respect to the more level field that man and woman now work and support themselves through their careers. Pettitt vPettitt[15] made clear that a women housework, childcare and contributions towards expenses do not equate to contribution towards the purchase price therefore, unless the wife demands the house to be conveyed to the spouses jointly, she may find she has no interest in the house upon dissolution of her marriage, however, the right to invoke discretionary powers of the court to distribute the property is still an option she has upon divorce. The main problem with the current law today is the lack of statutory power a court has when dealing with cohabiting couples who share a family home. Couples may often live together for years and have children and mutually contribute to the house via renovation, expenses and upkeep, however, often times the house is registered to one of the individuals only. However, a non-legal co-owner may have an equitable interest resulting in a constructive trust even where a direct financial contribution has not been made.[16] A constructive trust is another solution to this problem whereby the courts will consider contributions made to the mortgage payment by each party, refurbishment the house as this contributed to the maintenance and essential upkeep. This remedy comes into effect if one party has â€Å"acted to his detriment† in reliance on the assurance that he held a beneficial interest.[17] Lastly, and in most cases preferable is the remedy of proprietary estoppel or when the Courts â€Å"protect the expectations of the non-owner and may award the non-owner as much as a full ownership interest in the land if justice demands†[18]. The essential elements of proprietary estoppel exist where the legal owner of the property has encouraged a third party to believe that he has or will in the future obtain rights in respect of the property and the third party has acted in reliance of this assurance to his detriment.[19] This is the most just remedy available as it will consider mere oral declarations such as â€Å"the house is as much yours as mine† or â€Å"we share everything 50-50† as an assurance and the non-legal owner is likely to be granted an equitable interest in the property upon dissolution of the family home based on the amount of contribution made over the years of communal living. BIBLIOGRAPHY PEARCE, R AND STEVENS, J. (2002) The Law of Trusts and Equitable Obligations 3rd Edition London: LexisNexis Butterworth’s Tolley. PENNER, J.E. (2001) Mozley and Whitley’s Law Dictionary 12th Edition London: Butterworths. MARTIN, J.E. (2001) Hanbury Martin Modern Equity 16th Edition London: Sweet Maxwell Ltd. Footnotes [1] Paul v Constance [1977] 1 W.L.R. 527 [2] Comiskey v Bowring-Hanbury [1905] A.C. 84 [3] Watson v. Holland [1985] 1 All E.R. 290. [4] Martin (2001) page 173. [5] Re Gestetner [1953] Ch. 672. [6] Martin (2001) page 174 [7] Boyce v Boyce (1849) 16 Sim 476. [8] Re Golay [1965] 1 W.L.R. 969 [9] Martin (2001) page 175. [10] Re Gulbenkien’s Settlements [1970] AC 508 [11] Ibid per Lord Wilberforce [1971] AC 424 at pages 454-6. [12] Martin (2001) page 553. [13] Re Londonderry’s Settlement [1965] Ch. 918. [14] Martin (2001) page 550. [15] [1970] AC 777. [16] Lloyds Bank v Rossett [1991] 1 AC 107. [17] Ibid at page 536. [18] Penner (2001), page 281. [19] Gillies v Keogh [1989] 2 NZLR 327 at page 346 per Richardson J.

Tim OBriens The Things They Carried Essay -- OBrient Things They Ca

Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried Culture teaches that men must dispense of ridiculous emotions and remain firm, following expected duties. O’Brien develops this theme of the transition from youth to manhood in his short story, â€Å"The Things They Carried.† Through the protagonist Jimmy Cross, metaphors of weight, and futile ideas of freedom, O’Brien reveals how society expects young men in transition to adulthood to let go of impractical idealism and dwell instead on the cruel reality of the world. Initially, O’Brien highlights Cross’s thoughts of love and emotional feelings as he describes the experience of war. Cross constantly thinks about Martha and how much he loves her, and though he senses her uninvolvement, he remains in denial about the fact that Martha feels nothing for him. However, he grasps on to her as his only hope. She represents his connections to a normal life, the world where he can be an average twenty-two year old, not plagued by death and devastation. O’Brien exposes Crosses desires to be pure and unscathed in his hopes that Martha is a virgin. Cross wishes to be untouched by war, destruction, bombs, fear, and the devastation of war, just like Martha. O’Brien illustrates how overcome with emotion Cross is as he daydreams about her â€Å"dense, crushing love.† In addition to love, O’Brien describes the tremendous mental burdens the men carry, but are not allowed to express. O’Brien utilizes the metapho r of weight to emphasize the burdens on the boys. The narrator speaks of everything in weight as in the â€Å"jungle boots—2.1 pounds†, â€Å"steel helmets that weighed five pounds,† and â€Å"the letters weighed ten ounces.† This technique further stresses the mental envelopment of these boys in war because they a... ...aims â€Å"there’s definitely a moral here† and continues to bring up the subject throughout the story. O’Brien highlights through Mitchell that the soldiers are only boys and far too young to be exposed to such violence. With the â€Å"dispens[ing] of love† and idealism, the reality of war settles into Cross’s mind, forever changing his view the world. In his short story, â€Å"The Things They Carried,† Tim O’Brien demonstrates the depressing change of a soldier from imaginative boy to impersonal man, adolescent to adult, and lover to leader. The terrible burdens pile so high on the young men that â€Å"certainly they would never be at a loss for things to carry.† The harsh reality of the world tremendously affects Cross and forever changes him. Through this transition, O’Brien reveals the strict and dismal standards which culture upholds for men to be firm and unwavering.

The Raven Essay

The Romantic Story, the Raven Surprising enough, the famous story by Edgar Allan Poe, the Raven, is a Romantic poem. Poe was a poet during the Romantic period, making him a romantic writer/poet. Actually he was a dark romantic poet, which makes a little more sense. The Raven typifies Romanticism in many ways, especially when it comes to their connection with God. Also Poe reveals many emotions throughout this poem. Romantics loved and cherished the natural world. They would rather be in the woods than in the city, and they also escaped to nature to find a more emotional and intellectual awakening.When it comes to God and spiritual beliefs, they place faith in inner experience and the power of imagination, everything including humans is a reflection of the divine soul, physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual world, intuition allows people to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls. Dark Romantics explored the conflict between good and evil, the effects of guilt and sin, and the destructive underside of appearances. They also explored the madness in the human psyche as well as the humor of evil. The Raven mainly demonstrates connections to God.The Romantics believe that their imagination is of great importance in your life and in the Raven the narrators imagination got the best of him and he put faith in his imagination in thinking that his dead wife came back to life. The narrator hears something very quietly tapping on his door. He finally decides to go and answer the door, â€Å"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,/Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;/But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,/And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore! /This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore! ‘/Merely this and nothing more† (Poe). In his imagination he saw Lenore, his wife who died and h e believed it which shows the importance of the imagination. Romantics also believe that everything is a reflection of the divine soul and in the Raven the raven is a demon or a reflection of the devil. The narrator says â€Å"And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,† which shows that he believes the raven is a demon and that the raven will take his soul to hell when he dies (Poe). The main emotions that Poe stressed are morning, grief and sadness.The narrator is morning the loss of his wife Lenore and he is depressed about it. The narrator was reading late at night to suppress the â€Å"sorrow for the lost Lenore† and he was sad and then he thought he saw her come back to life and come to the door (Poe). Poe also shows a few different emotions about how the narrator feels about the raven. He at first is cautious and even scared of the raven, especially since it could talk. He then became amused by the raven and develops a respect for the bird b ecause he came in like he owned the place and started talking, well at least saying one word.Then by the end of the poem Poe does not like the bird at all and describes him as an â€Å"ungainly fowl† (Poe). The Dark Romantic Poet does a wonderful job at typifying Romanticism and expressing many emotions through his poem, the Raven. He shows how much the Romantics valued the imagination by the narrator thinking his dead wife came back to life and also how everything is a reflection of the divine soul by the narrator thinking that the raven is a demon. Poe also mainly stresses how the narrator is morning the loss of his wife and how he is depressed. The Raven is a perfect example of a typical Romantic poem.

How to Organize a Research Paper

How to Organize a Research Paper Organizing a research paper has always been a tricky business. Many students are stumbled upon this problem, and have no knowledge how to organize a research paper, with great quality and make it look structured, logical, profound, well balanced and complete. This article will try to help you organize a good research paper, spending minimum time on the organization process, and spending maximum time on the activities you really should spend your time. Just follow these steps how to organize a great research paper, and you will learn how to organize a research paper with minimum time and efforts. Structuring a research paper is the second step in writing a research paper, and takes a lot of time out of a student. If a student keeps in mind the structure he needs to create, he will not be having any difficulties with organizing a research paper in future. Structuring and organizing a research paper is the same as writing a classification essay. The main and most powerful tools are categorization, classification, step by step thinking as well as developing a logical and methodical algorithm. As soon as you will be able to develop a good algorithm in explaining your thoughts, decisions, ideas and theses statements in your research paper – youll immediately understand how to organize a research paper without any problems nor difficulties, whatsoever. The first thing you have to remember, when thinking on how to organize a research paper is to carry out the main idea of your research paper. You have to define clearly the main point of your research paper, what you want to stress in your research paper and what you might want to tone down. After you have decided of the main point – you get a bit closer to get the idea on how to organize a research paper properly and with the best quality. The most important part in organizing your research paper is to keep a clear string of your main point, main idea, and all the most important things you would prefer to accent in your research paper. Whenever you are forced to organize a research paper – you should always think of these simple tips on how to organize a research paper, and everything will come out eventually. Every research paper is an individual piece of hard work. Each research paper has its own outline, structure, and basically, its own method of organization. This article can only give your vague research paper tips on how to organize a research paper, and you have to get the more detailed stuff yourself.

Free Essays on Flatland

"Flatland" is a story of depth, and the lack there of. The tale of A. Square's ventures through Pointland, Lineland and Spaceland ultimately reveal to him the possibilities of the seemingly impossible. In this case, the "impossibilities" are the very existence of other dimensions, or worlds. His guide throughout the journey, a god - like figure who refers to itself as "Sphere", bestows upon A. Square the greatest gift he could hope for, knowledge. It is only after the Sphere forcibly takes A. Square out of his dimension, however, that he is able to shrug off his ignorance and accept the fact that what cannot be, can, and much of what he believed before is wrong. When he sees first hand that a square can have depth simply by lining up a parallel square above it and connecting the vertices with lines he is awestruck by its beauty. A cube now exists, seemingly made out of squares. Where there was but one square before now there are six connected. To A. Square's mindset, this thing of beauty is something he could become if only he could lift up. It gives him hope, for in his world you are ranked without say according to your shape. From the lowest convict shapes to the - not - quite - perfectly - round - but - practically - there priests. When A. Square asks the sphere deity what comes next, what about the fourth dimension, Sphere becomes vexe d and sends A. Square plummeting back to his original world without the necessary knowledge to be effective in spreading the gospel of the third dimension. This is, of course, what leads to the end for A. Square; being locked up in an insane asylum for speaking of what simply cannot be. Adding to the irony is that no matter how hard A. Square tries, it is quite impossible for him to demonstrate it within the two dimensional realm. The knowledge that he thirsted for was his demise. "Flatland" is a book which main purpose is to make the reader think; it raises many questions. Is the... Free Essays on Flatland Free Essays on Flatland "Flatland" is a story of depth, and the lack there of. The tale of A. Square's ventures through Pointland, Lineland and Spaceland ultimately reveal to him the possibilities of the seemingly impossible. In this case, the "impossibilities" are the very existence of other dimensions, or worlds. His guide throughout the journey, a god - like figure who refers to itself as "Sphere", bestows upon A. Square the greatest gift he could hope for, knowledge. It is only after the Sphere forcibly takes A. Square out of his dimension, however, that he is able to shrug off his ignorance and accept the fact that what cannot be, can, and much of what he believed before is wrong. When he sees first hand that a square can have depth simply by lining up a parallel square above it and connecting the vertices with lines he is awestruck by its beauty. A cube now exists, seemingly made out of squares. Where there was but one square before now there are six connected. To A. Square's mindset, this thing of beauty is something he could become if only he could lift up. It gives him hope, for in his world you are ranked without say according to your shape. From the lowest convict shapes to the - not - quite - perfectly - round - but - practically - there priests. When A. Square asks the sphere deity what comes next, what about the fourth dimension, Sphere becomes vexe d and sends A. Square plummeting back to his original world without the necessary knowledge to be effective in spreading the gospel of the third dimension. This is, of course, what leads to the end for A. Square; being locked up in an insane asylum for speaking of what simply cannot be. Adding to the irony is that no matter how hard A. Square tries, it is quite impossible for him to demonstrate it within the two dimensional realm. The knowledge that he thirsted for was his demise. "Flatland" is a book which main purpose is to make the reader think; it raises many questions. Is the...

The subject of assignment at the assignment criteria box Essay

The subject of assignment at the assignment criteria box - Essay Example Multinational companies are those companies with branches in several countries. A multinational company is a main company that produces in foreign countries through its branches or partners situated in several countries. The policies of the branches and partners are directly controlled by the parent company which sets strategies for all the activities of the company that go beyond the boundaries of the host countries. These include; product marketing, personnel, financial matters as well as production strategies. The policies may have host country orientation or parent country orientation (Feldman, 2008, pp.22-27). A multinational company may be owned by citizens of one, two countries or more. In another situation, a company may establish branches in different countries in order to reduce the cost of transporting raw materials in order to reduce the final cost of the products that is added to the consumer price. A company may also establish branches in countries that import its products in order to escape import tax that may be enforced by the importing country against foreign companies. An example of this is when external levy was enforced against outsiders by the European Community, companies from the United States engaged in Foreign Direct Investment in order to evade these tariffs (Howard Perlmutter, 1969). Fluctuating exchange rates are also a factor that leads to the establishment of multinational companies in order to avoid losses that are associated with these rates. This phenomenon arises when companies produce at a high value of the local currency and then the value falls during exportation. They opt to establish a subsidiary industry in the importing country. Competition is also a factor that gives rise to multinational companies. A company X in one country may be producing the same products as another company Y in a different country, both competing for a

Supply Chain Management in Whirlpool Research Paper

Supply Chain Management in Whirlpool - Research Paper Example Unlike its competitors like Electrolux, LG and General Electric, majority of the Whirlpool's products undergoes some form of manufacturing inside U.S. Although, Whirlpool outsource their operations, it is done minimally, with majority of its manufacturing plants located in North America. Apart from this manufacturing segment of its supply chain, Whirlpool also has a widespread distribution network to supply or reach the product to the intended customer. This distribution network consists of factory based distribution centers or warehouses, from where the finished product reaches the regional distribution centers, and then to the local distribution centers, thus finally reaching retail outlets for the client to buy. (Cookie, 2008). With such extensive operations, Whirlpool had to have an optimized Supply Chain Management (SCM) to satisfy the customers, and emerge successful. Although, in early 2000’s, Whirlpool had problems in managing its supply chain, by implementing effectiv e strategies and importantly by using Information technology (IT) tools, it has been able to strengthen its supply chain. Even after the acquisition of Maytag, Whirlpool continued to improve its supply chain by associating with strong players like Penske Logistics, who brought in more IT tools Porters’ five forces The bargaining power of the buyers has increased because now they have better information about the products, prices and their characteristics because of a lot of exposure about the company and its products through various mediums. In the case of Whirlpool also, the bargaining power of the buyers has accentuated and that is impacting its supply chain. So, to improve its supply chain, Whirlpool decided to first focus on the customer requirements, and then proceed from there, in a backward manner. With that focus, Whirlpool studied customers’ expectation and found they are â€Å"asking for accurate promises as a first requirement: "Give a date, hit a date."â⠂¬  (Lee, 2009, p.182). Because of this behavior of the buyers, Whirlpool understood they have to deliver products as soon as possible to the customers. â€Å"The supply chain needed to be able to get that appliance to [the consumer] within 48 hours,† (MacMilan, 2008). To fulfill this target, Whirlpool started incorporating technology in an accentuated manner in its supply chain. In that direction, Whirlpool also associated with number of suppliers in its supply chain, thereby increasing the bargaining power of the suppliers as well. Although, Whirlpool did not outsource its manufacturing operations, when it came to supply chain operations, it did not stress on conducting it in-house. After making thorough assessments regarding its extensive operations, Whirlpool decided to outsource the maintenance functions. Historically, its supply chain was divided into three parts, with Ryder Logistics handling supply of raw materials to the manufacturing plants and reaching the finishe d goods to its distribution centers, while ERX managed its regional distribution centers. (Bowman, n. d). For all these operations, Whirlpool had to supply its fleet of tractors and trailers, as well as manage it. That is when, Whirlpool overhauled its distribution strategy and decided to â€Å"transform its private fleet into a dedicated operation managed by an outsider†, with Penske Logistics coming into the picture. (Bowman, n. d). Penske Logistics with a wide range of IT