Director Spike Jonze's music video for ''Praise You'' Essay

Director Spike Jonze's music video for ''Praise You'' - Essay Example Opening on the staked out area of a theater mezzanine, the video for Fatboy Slim’s video â€Å"Praise You† features a small troupe of inelegant dancers as they perform to the song being played on a boom box set on the ground before them. Although the song lyrics themselves indicate a sincere devotion, the video has a bit of fun by involving regular people with no special talents or distinguishing abilities. Through the interactions with the audience, they, too, become characters in the video, representing the every man in society while the one person to appear sharply dressed, as if they were â€Å"somebody† shows up only long enough to stop the fun for the space of time in which he’s present. In the video for Fatboy Slim’s video â€Å"Praise You,† director Spike Jones works to have fun with the world in introducing the completely inept but blissfully unaware character of Richard Koufey while emphasizing the irreplaceable treasure of the indi vidual, regardless of who he or she might be, underscoring the meaning contained within the song.

Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations Essay

Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations - Essay Example The main impetus for employee relations is the need for participation in management and the encouragement of participation as a result of democracy (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004 p276). They state that â€Å"participation is by definition a higher-trust and positive-sum activity where the emphasis is placed on the shared resolution of issues to the mutual benefit and gain of those involved† (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004 p276). This implies that participation is an appropriate means through which both employers and employees can resolve their differences. However, the idea of participation led to the creation of trade unions and the incorporation of trade unionist policies in workplaces (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004). Also, the inclusion of European social policies encouraged bargaining and collective participation. Evolution from the Old Unionism Boxall and Purcell (2003) identify that the old industrial relations of the early 20th century was about control and stability and gaining agr eements to keep the production system going and avoiding disruptive conflicts. These arrangements were not legally enforceable. However, the post-war era ushered in a new period where participation of employees in organizations was done through unions. These unions were representatives of employees through collective bargaining arrangements. Collective bargaining is defined as â€Å"a process through which representation of employers and employee organizations act as joint creators of substantive and procedural rules regulating employment† (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004 p226). In other words, these were situations where important and relevant issues between employers and employees were discussed. The most common 'substantive' issue is the demand for fairer wages. Also, it involved the utilization of a clearly laid down procedure or system whereby employees could assert their demands based on the market value of their collective supply of labor. Most businesses after 1950 had unio ns. The only exceptions were traditionalist organizations that hated unionism and sophisticated paternalists who had management policies which substituted for the unions' presence (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004 p303). However, towards the 21st century, employee relations evolved after the old system of tripartite negotiations collapsed. In the 1980s, trade unionism and collective bargaining fell because of three main things: 1. There was a reduction the proportion of employees covered by collective bargaining arrangements. 2. There was a growing tendency for those arrangements to be local rather than national and 3. The narrowing of the scope of collective bargaining. In 1984, 70% of employees were members of collective bargaining groups. However, in the 1980s, the structures of the trade unions were exposed because they were not capable of dealing with the economic restructuring (Blyton and Turnbull, 2004). In 1990, only 52% of workers were members of collective bargaining groups. By 1 998, this figure had fallen to 40%. Today, the main framework of employee relations include three main elements; science building, problem-solving, ethical systems(Kaufman, 2004 p42).

Three Fundamental Functions Of Business Organizations Management Essay

Three Fundamental Functions Of Business Organizations Management Essay BMW stands for Bayerisch Motoren Werke AG established in 1916. The company was first known as a manufacturer of aircraft engines. In 1928, it started focusing on car manufacturing with the purchase of the Eisenach motor vehicle factory. The BMW 3/15 which was a version of the Austin Seven, from British automaker Austin was the companys first passenger car. It operated with a 15 horsepower engine and had a top speed of 45 miles per hour. BMW began to design and build its own cars in the 1930s. The company developed its own engine plant that allowed BMW to build both sports cars and sedans without using engines made by other companies. The 327, 328 and 335 models were advanced technologically that made BMW be recognized as a major European automaker. During WWII BMW was forced to produce motorcycles and engines for the German army. They had to stop car production until the 1950s. After WWII, BMW had to restart their car production from zero. In 1952, they began producing the large 501 luxury sedan. It was the first car to be mass-produced in the West Germany. The successful 501 was followed by the 502 sedan in 1954 and the popular 507 roadster in 1956. This series help the company regain the prominent position for sports and luxury cars. Today BMW cars is recognized as a worldwide luxury brand with a high reputation for quality and by their marketing slogan, The Ultimate Driving Machine. BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce are three of the strongest premium brands of BMW nowadays. BMWs car is a superior product in terms of aesthetic appeal, dynamic performance, technology and quality. It underlines the companys leading position in innovation and technology. BMW Group Production Network currently includes 29 production and assembly plants in 14 countries on four continents with a network of more than 12,000 suppliers all over the world. The integration of production and logistics systems within the individual BMW Group locations provides advantages for the customer. Higher efficiency in the supply of production materials helps accelerate the delivery of cars to customers. Each plant contributes to the smooth operation of the global production network. The main locations of BMW Group Production Network include: USA: Spartanburg, South Carolina. Germany: Dingolfing, Berlin, Eisenach, Landshut, Munich,  Regensburg and Wackersdorf Brasilia: Manaus. Italy:   Cassinetta India: Chennai Great Britain: Goodwood, Hams Hall Oxford Swindon Austria: Graz, Steyr. Indonesia: Jakarta Russia: Kaliningrad Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur Thailand:   Rayong South Africa:   Rosslyn China: Shenyang (Dadong) and Shenyang (Tiexi) (Adapted from www.bmwgroup.com; BMW group (2011); http://www.ehow.com/about_5145304_bmw-cars.html ) Operations management as a set of decision making 2.1. What resources will be needed and in what amount? 2.1.1. What resources will be needed? The production process is concerned with transforming a range of inputs into those outputs that are required by the market. This involves two main sets of resources the transforming resources, and the transformed resources. Transformed resources include those that are transformed in some way by the operation to produce the goods or services that are its outputs. Three types of resource that may be transformed in operations are: materials the physical inputs to the process (manufacturing) information that is being processed or used in the process customers the people who are transformed in some way (common in the service business) Transforming resources include those that are used to perform the transformation process. The two types of transforming resource are: staff the people involved directly in the transformation process or supporting it (labour) facilities land, buildings, machines and equipment (capital) (http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-transformed-resources-and-vs-transforming-resources) In the case of BMW group, the resources necessary for their car production can be summarized in table1 Resources Types Notes Transformed Iron, Steel, Aluminum, Rubber etc Energy Car Body Paint Engine Other parts For the production of car body, bolt, rivet, wire, seat and other parts etc Transforming Land Engine production plants, body shops, paint shops and assembly plants Automated machines and other related machines Equipment and tools -Computers and supportive software Workers, managers, supervisors, inspectors -To build different types of car manufacturing plants 2.1.2. In what amounts? The amounts of resources required for car manufacturing largely depends on the demand of the product. The number of the goods/ services the company intends to produce and deliver to customers and the variety of products to be produced will determine the amounts of resources needed within a defined production system. To make decisions on the amounts of resources needed for manufacturing the product(s), operations managers should consider carefully two elements: selection of production process (operations strategy) and forecasting of demand of products/services. Selection of production process: There are three basic types of production methods or process: Make-to-stock (mass production): this method commonly goes along with line-flow strategy in which high volumes of products of relatively few standardized products are manufactured base upon relatively accurate anticipation of future demand for those products. This requires the firm to hold products in stock for immediate delivery. The competitive priorities of this method are stable quality and low cost. Since the demand for the products have been well anticipated so does the amounts of required resources (Krajewsky et al, 1999). Make-to-order: this method is commonly used by firms with flexible flow that produce low-volume, high-variety of goods/services according to customer specifications. In this direction, high level of customization is the major competitive priority of this method (http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B66/098MB66.html) Assemble-to-order (mass customization): this method is used to produce goods/services with many options from a relatively few number of assemblies and components in line with the customers specific order. Assemblies and components are held in stock until specific orders arrives. Then respective products will be assembled with appropriate assemblies and components. This method is relevant to high volume and relatively high variety of good/services (Krajewsky et al, 1999). Forecasting: In order to determine more accurately the amounts of resources needed for the product/service the organization is to offer to the market, it is vital to forecast the demand of this product/service. Demand forecast is usually developed by the marketing department and its accuracy will be the crucial element of the success of capacity management plans implemented by operations. Forecast provides a strong basis for determining the capital invested in the plants, machines and equipment, purchasing the right amount of materials and employing the right amount of labour (Albert Porter, 2010). Production methods and capacity planning of BMW group as means to define amounts of resources needed. In terms of production method, BMWs leading production principles includes horizontal and vertical integration of functions, team work organisation, visual management, built in quality processes, pull system of procurement and continuous improvement. This can be seen as a hybrid production system with a strong German element in product, production technologies and quality standards, a strong part of Japanese principles in process and work organisation and an American part of vertical management hierarchy. BMWs production approach is characterized with high quality, high productivity and high product flexibility which is closed to the mass customization model of production (Ludger Pries, 2002). With this production approach today BMW produces at least 80 percent of its vehicles to customer orders. (http://www.bmwgroup.com/e/nav/index.html?../0_0_www_bmwgroup_com/home/home.htmlsource=overview). With regards to capacity planning BMW develops a well-elaborated strategic-planning process where products and sales are forecast before production capacity planning. Derived from the results of market research, planners decide on the set of future products and estimated sales figures during their life cycle for different geographical markets with the necessary flexibility reserves (i.e. difference between expected demand and available capacity based on their experience). This serves as data for plant loading in which planners allocate the products to the plants and determine the required production capacities including future amount of resources needed and the way to procure them (Bernhard Fleischmann, 2006). 2.2. When will each resource be needed? When should the work be scheduled? When should materials and other supplies be ordered? When is corrective action needed? All those above questions are connected with materials management, scheduling and quality control the operations manager should carefully consider once the production process is put in place. Master Scheduling Plan and Work Scheduling Forecast of future demand of sales helps companies set up an overall production capacity plan which in turn tailored into Master Scheduling Plans (MSP) with an intermediate timeline where the quantity of specific end-products and the time to produce them are defined. It is the major control of all production activities. To create an MSP, it is important for managers to know where materials are located and how they flow at every step in the production process. For this purpose, they determine the routing of all materials-that is, the work flow of each item based on the sequence of operations in which it will be used (Anil Kumar et al, 2009). On the other hand, as it is necessary for managers to control the timing of all operations, they have to build work schedules for this purpose. Scheduling allocates resources over time to perform specific tasks (Krajewsky et al, 1999). Managers determine jobs to be performed during the production process, allocate tasks to work groups, set timetab les for the accomplishment of task and ensure that resources are to be adequately provided when and where they are in need. Two most popular techniques used in scheduling are Gantt and PERT charts (http://www.webbooks.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B66/098MB66.html) Inventory control It is disastrous if a manufacturer runs out of the materials it needs for production. However, keeping large inventories of materials is wasting money because the firm has to pay for those materials in stock and find places to store them. Therefore, to remain competitive, firms have to manage inventories efficiently. They need to ensure the availability of materials for production and at the same time not to waste money due to large inventory. Achieving the balance between those two risks rests on the inventory management and control. There are three types of inventories including (i) raw materials; (ii) purchased goods and (iii) finished parts and components. The various types of inventory to maintain the continuity in the production process is illustrated in fig 1. Inventory Raw materials Process Inventory Parts + Purchased items Process Finished products Market Inventory Fig 1: Inventory of materials (www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001386.pdf) There are two common inventory-control methods as follows: Just-in-Time It is seen as the modern concept of inventory planning where the materials should be purchased and brought in the stores just before it enters the production or sold out so that inventory cost is negligible. The zero inventories are the ideal planning because the costs of holding inventory are significantly cut. JIT, however, requires considerable communication and cooperation between the manufacturer and the supplier. The manufacturer has to know what it needs, and when. The supplier has to commit to supplying the right materials, of the right quality, at exactly the right time (Albert Porter, 2010). . Material Requirements Planning However, in the present situations in any of the organization particularly manufacturing organization, it is not absolutely possible to keep no inventory of materials required for production. Another inventory control method is commonly used called Material Requirements Planning (MRP). The MRP is a technique relies on a computerized program both to calculate the quantity of materials needed for production starting from the raw materials, finished parts, components, sub-assemblies and assemblies as per Bill of Materials (BOM) and to determine when they should be ordered or made to support a Master Production Schedule (MPS) (Krajewsky et al, 1999; Anil Kumar et al, 2009). The basic MRP focuses on material planning, but there is a more sophisticated system-called Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)manufacturing resource planning (MRP II)System for coordinating a firms material requirements planning activities with the activities of its other functional areas.-that goes beyond material planning to help monitor resources in all areas of the company. Such a program can, for instance, coordinate the production schedule with Human Resource managers forecasts for needed labor (www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001386.pdf) Quality control Quality control of materials The quality of the product largely depends upon the quality of the materials used to produce that product. Therefore, it is a very important for the firm to purchase the right quality of materials. Quality control of materials aims at delivering product at higher quality with lower cost. It also helps decide the selection of suppliers and the relationship between buyers and suppliers. In quality control, the quality assurance is decided by inspection and checking. The various properties of materials are decided by the standards they should follow. (www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001386.pdf) Total quality management Today, quality is an efficient weapon firms use to compete with their rivals in the market. Total Quality Management (TQM) or quality assurance includes all managerial steps that firms take to ensure that its goods or services are of high quality to adequately meet customers need). TQM encompasses the following three principles: Customer -driven definition of quality: firms encourage customers to tell them how to make the right product. Firms also track customers feedback about their products (via surveys and other methods) to know what they need to improve. Employee involvement: commitment of employee in ensuring quality of their tasks and in detecting and correcting quality problems is very important. Training and other tools will help employee be actively involved in quality assurance process. Continuous improvement: the commitment to making constant improvements in the design, production, and delivery of goods and services ((Krajewsky et al, 1999). A range of tools have been developed to control quality and indentify areas of improvement such as Statistical Process Control, Benchmarking and Taguchi`s Quality Lost Function method. In addition, a set of standards called ISO has been devised by the International Organization for Standardization to help companies comply with quality documentation standards and get recognition worldwide. There are a set of standards: ISO 9000 family for quality management and ISO 14000 for environmental management. (http://worldacademyonline.com/book/applied_operations_management_manufacturingand_services/). Materials Management and Quality Management at BMW BMW forecasts their new products and demand of sale for capacity planning and allocate the products to their plants worldwide. Each plant then develops the MSP based upon the new orders and demand of sales. The MSP determines explicitly the quantity and the time of the resources (materials and capacity) needed based on the sequence of operations. In terms of inventory management, since BMW adopts a hybrid production system, MRP is used to calculate the quantity of materials needed for production and to determine when they should be ordered or manufactured with the integration of JIT principle to reduce inventory. In each location, BMW manufacturing plant establishes a network of first tier suppliers located nearby, for instance the Spartanburg plant has 18 first tier suppliers that are located in the nearby industrial park and committed to provide ordered materials and components with high quality and right in time. E-orders and purchasing are used to communicate and do the transacti on with its suppliers. As a result, buffers between body shop and painting is18 units and between painting and assembly is120 units. The suppliers are forced to recompense the rigidity of the production system with their own and extensive buffer (Ludger Pries). This mixed inventory control method allows BMW to develop a mass customization production system characterised with high quality, high productivity but also high flexibility. Quality is the strongest competitive advantage of BMW cars. For BMW to achieve premium quality, it is important to recognize any defects/mistakes before production begins and to correct them. Therefore the company has adopted sophisticated computer-aid quality inspection technology to control the quality of purchased parts, engines and all the semi-products and components going from the press, body shop to the final assembly with start-of-the-art inspection device such as 3D CAD, mobile optical TRITOPCMM system (http://www.capture3d.com/file-capture3d-bmw-assemblyline.pdf). Computer-aided inspection systems contribute significantly to saving rework time, optimizing processes and thereby reducing production costs. BMW group also complies to ISO 9000 and IS014000 for quality and environmental management system ((Ludger Pries, 2002). 2.3. Where will the work be done? The selection of plant location or facility location is a key strategic decision for an organization. The location decision is costly and time consuming to change. This is because large investment is made to buy the land and to construct buildings. Companys competitiveness will be affected by its location since it will impact costs such as transportation and labour. Improper location of a plant may lead to loss of competitiveness, and eventually waste of all investments put in land, buildings and machinery. Therefore, before making decision for the selection of a plant location, long range forecast about the future demands should be made. The plant location should be based on the firms expansion plan and policy, diversification plan of products, changing market conditions, changing sources of raw materials and other resources and many other factors. The key following factors are seen important for location decision: Proximity to customers (extremely important in service business) Proximity to suppliers Proximity to labour Infrastructure and transportation availability (Albert Porter, 2010; Anil Kumar et al, 2009). BMW group and its worldwide plant locations Needless to say, BMW group has seen the development of its plant location worldwide network as a key strategic planning to enhance its competitiveness in the automobile global market. From their dominant position in Europe with their plants located in strategic countries such as Germany (its headquarter), Britain, Austria and Italia, the company spread their manufacturing to strategic countries of all over other continents (except Australia) for instance the US for North America, Brasilia for South America, South Africa for Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thai for Southeast Asia, India for East Asia and recently China for North Asia. In each country, BMW has meticulously identified most suitable area for the location of their strategic manufacturing plant corresponding to their expansion plan and policy and the diversification of their products. Proximity to suppliers, labour and the land, infrastructure and labour availability are factors the group always considers when making plan loc ation decision.

Egocentric Subjectivism and the Universal Consciousness :: Philosophy Research Papers

Egocentric Subjectivism and the Universal Consciousness It was at the beginning of my vacation that I realised the world was not all it appeared to be. Up until now, I had always accepted that the world was a collection of material objects independent of myself. As I sit in the airport lounge waiting for my flight, it now seems that everything I see is nothing more than a series of images projected in my mind. The lounge is like a stage set and people, like characters in a film, pass by and disappear. The world, or rather my world, is simply that which exists in my mind, but has no material existence in my mind. Does that mean that the objects of the world have no existence outside my mind? My understanding of existence is what my mind reasons it to be. Even if someone tells me what existence is to them, I must still consider their comments in the context of my own knowledge and interpret it as what existence means to me. For example, a passenger in the airport lounge complains that a flight delay will lose him a valuable contract. I know what the loss of a contract means, but only because I can relate it to my own experience of a similar situation. I then make an assumption that it means the same to him, but I cannot be certain of that. I can only know what existence means to me, and it is egocentric subjectivism that takes this to its ultimate limit. My world and everything in it are dependent on my mind for its existence and without my mind that world would not exist. Despite this reasoning, it does seem that I am moving about within a three-dimensional world. Movement itself can be illusory depending on what is believed to be stationary. When I arrived at Zurich I boarded a train and waited to travel on to my destination. A train on the next track also stood waiting. Before long we were off and I watched the carriages of the other train swiftly disappear from view as we gained speed. As we passed the last carriage, I saw that we were still in the station and realised that it was the other train moving and not ours. However, when the train made its way around the mountains and up into the Alps, it did seem as if there was a three-dimensional space through which it moved.

More Than a Veil

More Than a Veil A Feminist Readings of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis Cultural differences have been on the foreground of the ongoing struggle between the United States and Iran since the 1970’s. Stereotypes are built on misunderstandings which can prove costly in international relationships. Our national media coverage of Iran portrays radical Islamic men oppressing their female counterparts. Many American citizens have narrow opinions on Iranian women, most of them dealing with the infamous veil that Islamic girls wear females.Marjane Satrapi in her biographical novel Persepolis examines Iranian women’s roles in the Islamic Revolution, breaks the myth of the oppressing veil, and demonstrates how Iranian boys and girls are socially constructed. Satrapi does all of this with a nontraditional writing style as she challenges the more common coming of manhood tale called a Bildungsroman (Barry p. 129) with her own coming of womanhood narrative. In America it is widel y believed that women in Iran are to be seen and not heard. That Iran is controlled by an extreme patriarchy where women voice no opinions on social issues.However, we see in Persepolis that Marjane comes from a family with strong women like her mother and grandmother. Her mother routinely takes part in protesting alongside her husband in the streets of Tehran. (Satrapi p. 18) Marjane’s mother is an example of the misconception that women in Iran are subjects. Marjane’s mother illustrates to us how women all across Iran were active during the Islamic Revolution, as protestors, collaborators, or victims. (Botshon p. 5) Agency is not just shown in adult women in Persepolis but also in adolescent girls.Many Americans are quick to point out the veil which covers an Islamic women’s face as a sign of the extreme patriarchy in Iran. However, in the beginning of Persepolis we see Marjane as a child and other little girls taking their veils off at school to use them for games like jump rope. (Satrapi p. 3) This imagery immediately shatters our connotations of disciplined Iranian girls and focuses us more on the playful resistance which the school girls demonstrate. This rebellious nature of Marjane does not stop in childhood despite the oppressive agenda of the school board.Marjane’s self-expression continues as a teenager when she adopts American culture ideas like punk rock clothing and even owning a Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden poster, which her parent smuggled in from Turkey. (Satrapi p. 127-129) In all of these scenes Marjane is drawn on the pages of the novel without having her veil on. These scenes are an example of how some girls were not submissive to Islamic rule as is it often depicted in our own media. Even though women had proactive roles in the Islamic Revolution they were still constructed and treated differently in Iranian culture.Marjane’s mother speaks of the violent soldiers she had encounter in the streets of Tehran o ne day when she was caught not wearing the mandatory veil; â€Å"They insulted me. They said that women like me should be pushed up against a wall and fucked. And then thrown in the garbage†¦And that if I didn’t want that to happen, I should wear the veil. †(Satrapi p. 74) In this scene it is clear that the Islamic regime agenda is to suppress Iranian women’s individuality, but how come these military men are so violent?The answer may be in the way that girls and boys were socially constructed during the Islamic Revolution. In Iranian culture it is common for boys to learn military values at school while girls would learn more suitable household skills like knitting and sewing so that they could make winter hoods for the soldiers. At a young age boys are taught to be soldiers and take part in war while girls are helping war efforts indirectly. Aggression in boys to some people may seem natural; however, in Iran young boys are being taught this social trait. The veil itself is a way that Islam fundamentalist try to construct their women into being oppressed and submissive. The wearing of the veil is enforced by school officials who have an Islamic agenda, however; many girls are taught contradictory ideas about the veil by their parents at home. Marjane would have been more susceptible to Islam fundamentalists if she did not come from a family with strong independent female figures. Satrapi demonstrates clearly that gender roles are taught in institutions like religion and school and are not natural.Even more importantly Satrapi writes about how she rebelled against these norms, which makes Persepolis an original narrative of growing up as a girl in Iran. Persepolis in its roots is a personal female memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s growth into womanhood while being raised in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The story of Marjane Satrapi’s life cannot be duplicated by another author. Marjane grew up in a confusing time where c omplex issues of religions, politics, and class formed an authentic female version of a classic Bildungsroman tale.Satrapi’s Persepolis questions western thought about Iranian women. Without Marjane Satrapi’s personal experience it is easy to believe that a similar Islamic Revolution tale told by a female protagonist would focus on the hardships of being oppressed and not the variety of social classes that depict rebellious Iranian women. Without Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis could have had an unoriginal western stereotypical story about Iranian women. Marjane Satrapi literally makes herself the central character as the author.Persepolis as a feminist work shows the value of women in Iranian society, the social construction of girls and boys, and the complex issues in Marjane’s life which are reflected in her work. Many misconceptions about Iranian women are dismissed in Persepolis. Satrapi shows Iranian women as agents with a cause rather than subjects with no vo ice. Although we are use to the typical submissive Iranian women waiting for liberation, Satrapi blows this belief up for western reader. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis humanizes the Iranian female population which is all too often illustrated in United States’ media as being oppressed by a veil.Works Cited Babak. Elahi. Frames and Mirrors in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. University Nebraska Press. Vo. 15 No. 1-2. 2007. 312-325. Article. Barry. Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. Manchester. Manchester University Press. 2009 Print. Botshon. Lisa. Plastas. Melinda. Homeland In/Security: A Discussion and Workshop on Teaching Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. University of Illinois Press. Feminist Teacher, Vol 20. No. 1. 2009. 1-14. Article. Satrapi. Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York. Pantheon Books. 2007. Print.

Happiness Express, Inc. Essay

The primary audit objectives that auditors hope to accomplish by confirming the client’s year-end accounts receivable are if the purchaser is real and confirms the balance (existence) and that the transactions that should have been were recorded correctly (completeness). Since confirmations go outside the firm being audited and ask the customers or vendors to confirm or deny amounts that the company is reporting, they also give valuation. The confirmation process lets the auditor figure out if a client even exists and if the correct balances were recorded. The objectives for performing year-end sales cut-off tests is to ensure the transactions are recorded in the correct accounting period (timing/cutoff) and that all the recorded transactions should have been recorded and actually took place (completeness/occurrence). Mistakes or errors in judgment that Coopers & Lybrand may have made in trying to confirm the Wow Wee in 1995 receivable were notifying Michael Goldman that they were going to seek confirmation from Wow Wee, allowing Goldman to do the follow up contact with Wow Wee when the confirmation wasn’t returned, and not doing any follow-up procedures when they finally did receive a conformation from Wow Wee, which ended up being fabricated by Goldberg. I think these mistakes and errors definitely involve negligence in the part of the auditor for over involving Goldberg in the process of confirming Wow Wee’s accounts. I also believe they were reckless because there seems to be no professional skepticism at play. Wow Wee being a toy manufacturing, not responding to their confirmation requests, and having large orders near the year end did not being enough to signal to the auditors that something suspicious is happening is pure recklessness. Even if it did not seem like fraud simply relying on a faxed confirmation was over and beyond negligence. Coopers and Lybrand auditors should have confirmed West Coast Liquidators’ receivables because they accounted for about 13% of Happiness Espress’s accounts receivable and a confirmation would have been the proper way to ensure the existence of those accounts.

5 Top Social Media Tips for Businesses Blog

5 Top Social Media Tips for Businesses Blog 5 Top Social Media Tips for Businesses Most businesses are now on social media. This is because platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer a cheap and easy way to reach millions of potential customers. But how can you make sure your company stands out from the online crowd? We suggest the following: Use the same social media networks as your customers. Use images and infographics to boost the number of views you get. Respond to questions and give followers ways to interact with you. Use competitions and special offers to reward loyal followers. Check your social media messages carefully to avoid typos. Check out our advice below for more social media tips. 1. Cross-Platforming on Social Media So many platforms, so little time From Snapchat to LinkedIn, we have a lot of social media platforms to choose from these days. But trying to maintain a presence on every platform would be a huge drain on time and effort. As such, you may want to concentrate on the platforms most relevant to your business. If you run a craft supplies company, for example, you’ll want to be on Pinterest, which is popular with the arts and crafts community. However, Pinterest may be less relevant to companies that sell industrial mining equipment. It is thus vital to find out which platforms your customers use. To run multiple accounts, meanwhile, you can use a social media management tool. Try to tailor each post to the platform, too, as cross-posting can be off-putting for some followers. 2. Images and Infographics Public domain photos are the best, says President Harding. Posts with images get more views and responses than those without a visual element. It is therefore wise to include images and infographics in your posts whenever possible. Ideally, you should create your own original images for use on social media. But you can also use public domain images. And then there are memes. So many memes. And people seem to like those these days. Whatever you post online, though, make sure to follow all relevant copyright laws for your region. 3. Engagement, Engagement, Engagement Unlike traditional advertising, social media is a two-way street. Yes, you can use it to make announcements or promote your business. But customers can also use it to get in touch with you. The most important factor here is to respond promptly to messages. However, you can also use polls, hashtags, and other techniques to encourage your followers to engage online. 4. Deals and Competitions Getting people to follow you online is only half the battle. The real trick is keeping them interested. And this means you need to reward your loyal followers somehow. You can often do this by running regular competitions, giveaways and special offers. After you’ve done this for a while, people will know they’ll miss out on freebies and discounts if they don’t check your social media accounts. And that should keep them coming back for more! 5. Proofread Carefully! Finally, don’t forget to double check every social media post or message you write. Typos may be common online, and informal English is fine, but spelling or grammar errors on social media could reflect badly on your company. As such, it pays to proofread everything you post online.

Free Essays on Richard Buckminster Fuller

As one of America's engineers, inventors, designers, architects, writers, educators, philosophers, and poets, Richard Buckminster Fuller contributed much to America. He is most notable for his use of innovative technology in dealing with global problems against humanity. Fuller was born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. From 1913- 1915, he attended the prestigious Harvard University. In the early '20's, he helped his father-in-law develop the Stockade Building System. The Stockade produced lightweight, insulated, fireproof, and waterproof housing. Later, this company failed. As a result, Fuller searched for new ways to increase the social benefits from using the earth's energy and material resources. The Dymaxion Corporation, founded by Fuller in 1932, helped him to produce a variety of his innovative designs. For instance, his new innovative house was a doughnut shaped structure which hung from a central mast; he also invented a flat map which could be folded into a globe without too many distortions. In the years of 1947-1948, Fuller developed a "synergetic-energetic" system of geometry. It was an architectural consequence of a geodesic dome. A geodesic dome is a network of interconnected tetrahedrons which form a three-way hemispherical grid. The grid evenly distributes stress to all parts of the structure. This invention led to the mathematical study of space-spanning structures. The Ford Motor Company commissioned Fuller, in 1953, to design the Ford Rotunda Dome in Dearborn, Michigan. Also, he designed domes to house military radar. Fuller eventually developed his own philosophy: "I just invent. Then I wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented." In 1959, Fuller established the World Game research team while teaching at Southern Illinois University. This research team searched for ways to protect people and the earth. In 1972, 11 years before his death, Fuller... Free Essays on Richard Buckminster Fuller Free Essays on Richard Buckminster Fuller As one of America's engineers, inventors, designers, architects, writers, educators, philosophers, and poets, Richard Buckminster Fuller contributed much to America. He is most notable for his use of innovative technology in dealing with global problems against humanity. Fuller was born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. From 1913- 1915, he attended the prestigious Harvard University. In the early '20's, he helped his father-in-law develop the Stockade Building System. The Stockade produced lightweight, insulated, fireproof, and waterproof housing. Later, this company failed. As a result, Fuller searched for new ways to increase the social benefits from using the earth's energy and material resources. The Dymaxion Corporation, founded by Fuller in 1932, helped him to produce a variety of his innovative designs. For instance, his new innovative house was a doughnut shaped structure which hung from a central mast; he also invented a flat map which could be folded into a globe without too many distortions. In the years of 1947-1948, Fuller developed a "synergetic-energetic" system of geometry. It was an architectural consequence of a geodesic dome. A geodesic dome is a network of interconnected tetrahedrons which form a three-way hemispherical grid. The grid evenly distributes stress to all parts of the structure. This invention led to the mathematical study of space-spanning structures. The Ford Motor Company commissioned Fuller, in 1953, to design the Ford Rotunda Dome in Dearborn, Michigan. Also, he designed domes to house military radar. Fuller eventually developed his own philosophy: "I just invent. Then I wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented." In 1959, Fuller established the World Game research team while teaching at Southern Illinois University. This research team searched for ways to protect people and the earth. In 1972, 11 years before his death, Fuller...

A juxtaposition of republican and democratic parties

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Socialological Affects of Drugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Socialological Affects of Drugs - Research Paper Example These assertions were negated by the findings of Allport who emphasized upon the significance of individual thinking in group and referred to the group as lacking psychology. Newcomb conducted a study in the Bennington College. Newcomb observed the girls for four years, and reached the conclusion that girls who ultimately conformed to the values of college had developed similar mindset regarding political liberalism as the faculty and student leaders unlike the girls who had not conformed to the college values. Like these, several researchers’ approaches have been discussed on the subject from the pasty decades. Finally, the researcher tended to find out the trends that are likely to prevail in the future. Technological advancement and individual differences were some of the factors whose impact was considered on the conformity to group. Seven trends were explored in total. It is commonly thought by analysts that the poorest color communities are the biggest consumers of some of the most harmful drugs. In addition to this, the tendency of enforcement of law is generally focused on the drug activity that is conducted outdoors. The two factors jointly encourage the legal prosecutors to arrest people on the basis of racism. Racial disparity is evident in a vast majority of drug arrests. Some people are of the view that mainly the drug war lieutenants’ racism causes them to arrest Latinos and African Americans with the charge of drug use. In the article written by Beckett et al. (2005), a different explanation has been offered with respect to the racial disparity that is usually found in the drug arrests in Seattle.

Anotated bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anotated bibliography - Essay Example stions and how does someone or something get this popular and how does it disseminate globally and what about underdeveloped cultures and I want to look at how popular culture spreads and find a definition The article by author discusses how pop culture is spread in society through college classes used in curriculum primarily in the departments of social science course and humanities in the 1950s. Pop culture classes offered now and later, pop culture not only used of theorists but also became a part of English in mode of pop literature where certain types of popular books were being read by students and . students enjoyed this type of literature and it appealed to instructors because of it was liked that the literature at this level was â€Å"less rigorous† and more interesting to them students in classes. Pop is customarily used in the classroom as part of culture studies and how it is spread because many citizens even use pop culture for methods of creation criticisms. Some of the topics or themes including people, places or things that exist in pop culture are topics that are commonly heard of and then the students in classes c relate better to them and think about the topics that they exposed to in order to rip it apart about it. This then allows students a basis for which to compare thoughts about it. The author attempts to discuss the origin of popular culture and how it crawls across a certain area. His explanation somewhat follows the guide lines that which while some areas were becoming more populated, it was easier for information to spread and therefore, if one person started reading a book, then they could easily pass it on to their buddy friend and share it. Some of the earliest points of the intro of pop culture can be in found when Shakesphere literature started to become popular among different societies and society groups of smaller sizes. Author also discusses who folk culture survived, being passed down through

Ender's Game Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Ender's Game - Research Paper Example While at the Battle School, these children are trained in the art of battle via increasingly tough games. These games include ones that are performed in zero gravity in the Battle Room. This is where the tactical genius of Ender is discovered. According to the book, humanity started to examine the solar system and comprehend interplanetary spaceflight sometime in the near future. During this assessment, they came across an alien species referred to as the Formics, offensively named buggers because of their insect-like features (Elaine 7). These creatures attacked human beings and members of these two species entered into a battle. In spite of political disagreements between the three ruling parties, the Strategos, Polemarch, and Hegemon, a peace was developed and an International Fleet created to deal with the Formics. In anticipation for the return of the buggers, the International Fleet developed the Battle School. This was a program meant to ascertain children of brightest and bes t tactical brains and place them in thorough training to help deal with the Formic concern once and for all (â€Å"Introduction†. Enders Game 26). This paper will analyze and interpret why Ender behaves as he does in the novel by looking at the events or conditions that made him the person he is in the novel. Ender’s game highlights the story of Ender Wiggin. This is a young boy who is taken to the Battle School which is situated in the orbit above the earth. This training institution is created to make the young children become combatants that will fight against the buggers in the future. Ender goes to the training institution, trying his level best to advance in the harsh training program. On the other hand, his sister and brother are attempting to fix the earth and make it a better place. The training is difficult for Ender. Nonetheless, Ender is given an extremely talented instructor, who assists him in becoming a commander who will ultimately

African Americans and the Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

African Americans and the Law - Research Paper Example The discrimination of the African Americans began several centuries ago. As immigrants, they were initially deprived of nearly all rights since they were perceived as underprivileged human beings who should only b enslaved and mistreated. Hence, they could not enjoy rights such as voting, housing, education, assembly and speech because these were exclusively reserved for the whites. As time went by, several efforts were made through constitutional amendments to eliminate any form of racisms in the country. Even though the tireless efforts of the civil rights movements yielded some fruits, discrimination did not completely end. In fact, it still remains a menace up to the present times. Inequality still persists in the country because of the skewness of the law. As it today, the US constitution does not entirely fight racism. The domination of the whites has greatly influenced the formulation and enforcement of policies and laws that are highly selective in nature. Whenever such legis lations are made, focus is always put on the whites who still hold the view that they should be enjoying more privileges than their black counterparts. This has made it possible for the blacks to be mistreated in the country. The ineffectiveness of the anti-racial laws and policies has been evidenced in many situations. It is what has promoted the discrimination of the African Americans across the country. Racial profiling still remains a major challenge in the fight against inequality between the whites and blacks.

Leadership Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership Assessment - Essay Example This will encourage them to work harder as well as take an interest in the goals and ambitions of the organization as they do not wish to be responsible for its failure to achieve them. This leadership style allows for the discussion of various issues and the input of all the employees involved in the making of a decision. The organization operates under a Divisional structure that is designed to enhance team development within the organization. This structure functions through grouping each organizational function into a division that is staffed with the necessary individuals and requirements in order to operate efficiently (Robbins & Judge, 2007). For example, the financial aspects of the organization will be dealt with by the finance division of the organization. This allows for the negation of any potential confusion and allows for an individual to hone their relationship skills within the workplace. This is because every division can be considered to be a team thus the emphasis on team development whereby individuals in the same division need to work together and with other divisions to reach the organization’s goals thus developing the relationship skills of the employees as a result (Robbins & Judge, 2007). The performance of the Company CEO in terms of ethical behavior and communication can be considered to be of a high level as he was successful in getting his employees to understand what he needed from them in a way that motivated the various individuals to give their best in the tasks that they were handed (Deckers, 2010). His ethics were also impressive as at no time did he show favoritism to one particular individual or group and operated on a basis of deserved merit when dealing with his employees. This led to the employees being motivated to improve on their work performance as they were encouraged by the fact that only their hard work would be the basis for recognition by the company meaning that everyone in the organization had a fair ch ance at climbing up the ladder. There are various practices that an organizational leader can use to motivate their employees to improve their work ethic. Some of these practices include the issuing of rewards for jobs well done. This will motivate an employee to give their best in whatever their working on as they try to achieve this award (Deckers, 2010). The reward in itself does not have to be a major gift and could be simple such as an additional off day for the employee, a gift card or any small token of appreciation that makes the individual feel the company has recognized the good work they have done. Another way of motivating employees can be through the hosting of social events for the workers. This could be a way of saying "thank you" for the hard work and will motivate them to make their company proud through the work that they do (Deckers, 2010). These events could be Christmas or other holiday parties or even hosting a birthday party for the longest serving employee in the company for example. A third practice in motivating employees is the issuing of equity shares to the workers that will make them feel like they are part of the company therefore its success will be their success. Diversity is an issue that can bring about a

Ender's Game Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Ender's Game - Research Paper Example While at the Battle School, these children are trained in the art of battle via increasingly tough games. These games include ones that are performed in zero gravity in the Battle Room. This is where the tactical genius of Ender is discovered. According to the book, humanity started to examine the solar system and comprehend interplanetary spaceflight sometime in the near future. During this assessment, they came across an alien species referred to as the Formics, offensively named buggers because of their insect-like features (Elaine 7). These creatures attacked human beings and members of these two species entered into a battle. In spite of political disagreements between the three ruling parties, the Strategos, Polemarch, and Hegemon, a peace was developed and an International Fleet created to deal with the Formics. In anticipation for the return of the buggers, the International Fleet developed the Battle School. This was a program meant to ascertain children of brightest and bes t tactical brains and place them in thorough training to help deal with the Formic concern once and for all (â€Å"Introduction†. Enders Game 26). This paper will analyze and interpret why Ender behaves as he does in the novel by looking at the events or conditions that made him the person he is in the novel. Ender’s game highlights the story of Ender Wiggin. This is a young boy who is taken to the Battle School which is situated in the orbit above the earth. This training institution is created to make the young children become combatants that will fight against the buggers in the future. Ender goes to the training institution, trying his level best to advance in the harsh training program. On the other hand, his sister and brother are attempting to fix the earth and make it a better place. The training is difficult for Ender. Nonetheless, Ender is given an extremely talented instructor, who assists him in becoming a commander who will ultimately

Leadership Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership Assessment - Essay Example This will encourage them to work harder as well as take an interest in the goals and ambitions of the organization as they do not wish to be responsible for its failure to achieve them. This leadership style allows for the discussion of various issues and the input of all the employees involved in the making of a decision. The organization operates under a Divisional structure that is designed to enhance team development within the organization. This structure functions through grouping each organizational function into a division that is staffed with the necessary individuals and requirements in order to operate efficiently (Robbins & Judge, 2007). For example, the financial aspects of the organization will be dealt with by the finance division of the organization. This allows for the negation of any potential confusion and allows for an individual to hone their relationship skills within the workplace. This is because every division can be considered to be a team thus the emphasis on team development whereby individuals in the same division need to work together and with other divisions to reach the organization’s goals thus developing the relationship skills of the employees as a result (Robbins & Judge, 2007). The performance of the Company CEO in terms of ethical behavior and communication can be considered to be of a high level as he was successful in getting his employees to understand what he needed from them in a way that motivated the various individuals to give their best in the tasks that they were handed (Deckers, 2010). His ethics were also impressive as at no time did he show favoritism to one particular individual or group and operated on a basis of deserved merit when dealing with his employees. This led to the employees being motivated to improve on their work performance as they were encouraged by the fact that only their hard work would be the basis for recognition by the company meaning that everyone in the organization had a fair ch ance at climbing up the ladder. There are various practices that an organizational leader can use to motivate their employees to improve their work ethic. Some of these practices include the issuing of rewards for jobs well done. This will motivate an employee to give their best in whatever their working on as they try to achieve this award (Deckers, 2010). The reward in itself does not have to be a major gift and could be simple such as an additional off day for the employee, a gift card or any small token of appreciation that makes the individual feel the company has recognized the good work they have done. Another way of motivating employees can be through the hosting of social events for the workers. This could be a way of saying "thank you" for the hard work and will motivate them to make their company proud through the work that they do (Deckers, 2010). These events could be Christmas or other holiday parties or even hosting a birthday party for the longest serving employee in the company for example. A third practice in motivating employees is the issuing of equity shares to the workers that will make them feel like they are part of the company therefore its success will be their success. Diversity is an issue that can bring about a

Othellos Downfall Essay Example for Free

Othellos Downfall Essay Males within Venetian society maintained a higher status than women and were considered to hold the power and intellect. Throughout women’s lives, they are owned by a male figure; as a young girl they are owned by the father, but once they are married they are then owned by the husband. They were also expected to portray a feminine figure, obey and respect men, remain virtuous and maintain a good status as an Elizabethan wife. Throughout Shakespeare play Othello, Iago leads Othello to believe that his wife Desdemona is being unfaithful towards him with his newly appointed lieutenant Cassio. Without confronting his wife about this accusation, he begins to prematurely punish her by treating her without respect and later on strikes her. This occurs In act 4 scene 1, and Desdemona responds to Othello by saying â€Å"I have not deserved this†. During Venetian times, physical abuse upon wives was emitted, with the wife unable to fight back. Women were also seen as something males owned. The relationship between Iago and Emilia was clearly not built on love and passion; instead it seemed to be built on Iago’s goal to gain status among piers. Iago requests many favours from Emilia such as stealing Desdemona’s handkerchief and follows Iago in a wifely duty. He does not treat her like his wife until he requires something of her. This shows how the women were used in venetian society, there was no relationship with a give and take system. Instead it was merely the men who would take from the women, and the women would just accept that, as it was the way they were raised. In Act 3 scene 3 Emilia says aloud â€Å"my wayward husband hath a hundred times wooed me to steal it†¦ I’ll have the work tane out and give’t Iago† this gives the audience the understanding that Emilia has been requested by Iago to steal the Desdemona’s handkerchief while knowing that it has some link to an evil act ,as she references her husband to a â€Å"wayward husband†. Women being seen as male owned, is also shown in Act 1 scene 3, Desdemona informs her father Brobantio that although she is grateful for all he has done for her; providing life and education. Now however, she has a husband and she will give all her loyalty to him, just as her mother gave her loyalty to Brobantio. In this scene, it is the only time in which we are shown the strong-willed, brave, outspoken and independent side of her. It was also common in Venetian society form men to be trusted over women. In act 4 scene 2, Emilia and Othello discuss of Desdemona and Casio’s relationship. Emilia defends Desdemona’s honesty, claiming â€Å"I heard each syllable that breath made up between them† and that there was nothing suspicious going on between the two of them. However despite the conversation between the two, Othello does not take any of this into account when later on he and his wife are in conversation and he refers to Desdemona as a â€Å"impudent strumpet†. This shows how women were not as trusted as men were through Othello ignoring Emilia’s evidence and choosing to believe Iago’s. The play wright’s criticism of the way women were treated in Venetian society show that they believe that in some cases, Desdemona should have defended herself when she was faced with severe provocation. She doesn’t confess to losing the handkerchief of which Othello presented to her as a token of his love. This is because of the fact that she feared the outcome of the situation if she did, as Othello has power. Her actions in response to Othello’s accusations were merely exemplary behaviour of married women in Venetian society. Desdemona is obedient towards Othello, and herself declares of it in act 3 scene 3 â€Å"I am obedient†. Throughout the play she obeys Othello commands from the early stages of marriage to the later stages of his jealous ravings. She continues to obey Othello in the act 5 when he orders her to go to the bedroom with which she replies â€Å"I will, my lord†. Down to her very last breath she remains true to Othello saying â€Å"commend me to my kind lord†. Desdemona appears to have accepted her role completely as a subordinate and obedient wife. Through the use of the willow song in the Othello, it truly re-enforced Desdemona’s grief as it would stir up the audience to feel the sadness of her as a victim and feeling empathetic towards her. The language in the song really made the audience understand her better, rather than accepting the outcome of the play, as something that was not preventable and should have been expected. In Othello, the Venetian society, moulded on the ideology of Elizabethan England, place women in their position. This is that they behave as men expect, believing this to be ‘natural’. They are considered to possessions of men and are to remain submissive and meek at all times. The only power they possess is their sexual power; however the women must remain loyal towards their husbands. This power must be resisted by men in society as it is considered evil.

Modification of Power Series Expansion

Modification of Power Series Expansion The available methods to compute the logarithm of a number using digital circuits can be divided in two main groups. On the one hand, we have the look-up table based algorithms and, on the other, iterative methods. The first approach is faster and straightforward, but only useful for low precision. For implementing it, requires large amount of memory for increasing the accuracy. This is due to the size of the look-up table. We only evaluated iterative algorithms that need small look-up tables. The second group is slower, but suitable for high precision. Taylors series expansion is among the most popular methods to manually compute logarithms, but it has a slow convergence and requires slow operations like the division. Hence, they are slow when no embedded multipliers are available. Many studies explore hybrid implementations that take advantages from both groups. Our project required an algorithm that could be implemented on FPGAs from any vendor. It should be platform independent. Our algorithm requires less memory and no multiplier at all to implement exponential and logarithm function. To the best of our knowledge there are only two previous works focused on the exponential  function [8] [9], and only one for the logarithm function [10] (from the same authors of [9]). The first one [8], employs an algorithm that does not exploit the FPGA characteristics, and  consequently presents poor performance. The other two implementations [9, 10] are part of  a common work and are designed suiting with FPGA flexibility (using internal tailored fixed  arithmetic and exploiting the parallelism features of the FPGA) achieving much better results. They are parameterizable implementations that, additionally to single f.p. format, also allow  smaller exponent and mantissa bit-widths and are both based on input range reduction and  table-driven methods to calculate the function in the reduced range. Our ex and ln x units,  based on these units, include the following innovative features: Single precision f.p. arithmetic extension. [9, 10] were designed considering only normalized numbers, not denormalized. Additional logic has been introduced to handle  denormalized numbers at the output of ex and the input of ln x.  ² Redesign of units to deal only with single precision. The feature of bit-width config-urability of the base designs has been removed. Thus, the resources needed have been  reduced because specific units, just for single precision, have been developed.  ² Simplification of constant multiplications. As suggested in [9], conventional multipliers  have been removed where the multiplications involved constant coe ±cients, improving  performance and reducing size.  ² Unsigned arithmetic. In [9, 10] internal fixed arithmetic with sign is used. However,  some operations (like the ones involving range reduction and calculation of the exponent  for the result in ex) are consecutive and related, and the sign of the result can be inferred  from the input sign. For such operations signed arithmetic has been replaced by unsigned  arithmetic with the corresponding logic reduction.  ² Improved pipelining. The speed is enhanced by systematically introducing pipeline  stages to the datapath of the exponential and logarithm units and their subunits   The paper [11] explains about the implementation of power and log function based on a simple modification of power series expansion of Taylor series. In power function implementation, the paper aims at reducing the exponent number to a smaller value. It requires a large amount of block ram and hardware multipliers as well. It becomes platform dependent and the clock frequency may vary from vendor to vendor. The degradation in throughput rate is due to the use of 18 X 18 embedded multipliers in it. The powering unit also requires more number of stages which may be reduced further. In the proposed method, we are going to reduce delay and improve the throughput rate by avoiding the embedded multipliers and block RAMs. In this paper, we are not completely avoid look up tables, but any value of logarithm or exponential can be calculated, by adjusting the look up table values to the desired number [8] C. C. Doss and R. L. Riley, FPGA-Based implementation of a robust IEEE-754 ex-ponential unit, in IEEE Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines, 2004, pp.  229{238. [9] J. Detrey and F. de Dinechin, A parameterized  °oating-point exponential function for  FPGAs, in IEEE International Conference Field-Programmable Technology, 2005, pp.27{34. [10] ||, A parameterized  °oating-point logarithm operator for FPGAs, in Signals, Systems and Computers, 2005. Conference Record of the Thirty-Ninth Asilomar Conference,  2005, pp. 1186{1190. [11] Pedro Echeverra, Marisa Lopez-Vallejo,†An FPGA Implementation of the Powering Function with Single Precision Floating-Point Arithmetic† â€Å"An FPGA Implementation of the Powering Function with Single Precision Floating-Point Arithmetic† PROPOSED METHOD The proposed method avoids multiplication and division operations, and is thus suitable for implementation in software on processors that lack such instructions (or where the instructions are slow) or in hardware on a programmable logic device or dedicated chip. This method is suitable when shifters are available in abundant. It is an extension to the implementation of sine and cosine explained in CORDIC. The proposed algorithm evaluates the power functions for both positive and negative values. There are some constants by which it is easy to multiply. For example, multiplying by 2n, where n is a positive or a negative integer, can be achieved by simply shifting a number by n places. The shift will be to the left (division) if n is positive, to the right (multiplication) if n is negative. It is nearly as easy to multiply by numbers of the form  ±2n ±1. These simply involve an add (or) subtract a shift. Implementation of EXP:     Ã‚   For implementing y = exp(x). The algorithm is going to generate a sequence of values for x and y, and we are going to make sure that for each pair K Exp(k) 5.5452 256 2.7726 16 1.3863 4 0.6931 2 0.4055 3/2 0.2231 5/4 0.1178 9/8 0.0606 17/16 0.0308 33/32 0.0155 65/64 0.0078 129/128 y=exp(4) · y†²=exp(4) ·exp(-(xk)) =exp(4) ·exp(-x) ·exp(k) =y ·exp(k). In other words, if we subtractkfromx, we have to multiplyyby exp(k). All we have to do now is make sure that exp(k) is a nice number, so we can multiply by it easily, and the rest is straightforward. Note thatkitself does not have to be nice, as we are only subtracting that, not multiplying by it. Here are some nice values of exp(k) and the corresponding (not necessarily nice) values ofk. The flow of algorithm is as follows for positive powers of x: Here in each iteration, we subtract the input from the nearest value of exp(k) as listed in the table. If the difference is negative, we multiply the output by the corresponding exp(k). The process continues withmore entities in our table of k, finally we get the result. In the same way the flow chart is mentioned for nagative powers of x. K Exp(k) 5.5452 256 2.7726 16 1.3863 4 0.6931 2 0.2877 3/4 0.1335 7/8 0.0645 15/16 0.0317 31/32 0.0157 63/64 0.0078 127/128 0.0039 255/256 The flow of algorithm is as follows for negative powers of x: Here in each iteration, we subtract the input from the nearest value of exp(k) as listed in the table. If the difference is positive, we divide the output by the corresponding exp(k). The process continues withmore entities in our table of k, finally we get the result. Implementation of LOG : For implementing Y=log (x), the procedure is similar to the implementation of exponential function

How Do Pre 1914 Writers Create Mystery And Suspense Essay -- English L

How Do Pre 1914 Writers Create Mystery And Suspense In Their Short Stories? Common themes in the stories of the nineteenth century are horror, mystery and the unexplained. This is because in the Victorian times, people were concerned with problems such as superstition and witchcraft. Common features of Victorian short stories are paranoid characters. The stories ‘The Withered Arm’, ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Signalman’ teach a modern audience the results and consequences of superstition and paranoia. The Withered Arm was written by Thomas Hardy. It is about a woman who is trying to bring up her illegitimate son while she tries to overcome her jealousy as her sons father brings home his new beautiful wife. The main message that Thomas Hardy is trying to get across to the reader is that you should be careful what you wish for as it may come true. Also that what goes around comes around. The main character in this story is Rhoda Brook, the mother of farmer Lodges son. In the story she is described as ‘a thin fading woman of thirty’ this shows that she is slowly wasting away. Rhoda Brooks is a mysterious character because the reader doesn’t know whether Rhoda is a witch or not, Thomas Hardy doesn’t reveal this fact because it makes the story mysterious and leaves the reader wondering. Another reason why Rhoda is mysterious is because of relationship with farmer Lodge and their baby together. Rhoda is also mysterious because she was once beautiful ‘The radiance lit her pale check, and made her dark eyes, that had once been handsome, seem handsome anew.’ The Red Room was written by H.G Wells the story is about a man who is trying to find out whether a room in the Lorraine castle is haunted or not. The mess... ...on, pathetic fallacy and has more descriptions in it. Also because it enables the reader to visualise the settings better. I think that the setting in The Signalman represent loneliness. The setting in The Red Room represents paranoia and terror and the setting in The Withered Arm represent fear and superstition. Therefore, Victorian writers successfully created mysterious short stories through using chapters, less characters and detailed setting. The most effective story is The Withered Arm this is because it has the most imaginative and interesting story line. Also because Thomas Hardy doesn’t reveal everything to the reader as it lets them debate over whether Rhoda is a witch or not. It shows a modern audience the effects and consequences of superstition. The moral or message of the story may have been be careful what you wish for as it may come true.

Memoirs are Not Completely True Essay -- Memoir Literature

Memoirs are a Challenging Sources for Attaining the Truth Memoirs have become an increasingly popular genre of literature. In light of not only their popularity but their influence on the audiences who read them, it is important for readers to consider the various motivations and influences that shape the narrative and the details of these stories. This is especially true of memoirs that are intended to educate the public on the instances of human rights abuse, in situations when the general public may know little else about the subject. When such a book is published with the intention of informing the public and galvanizing support for human rights, the author may have even more of an obligation to stick to the facts than he or she would if the purpose of the book were solely entertainment. This concern will be of particular interest to the readers of the Dean’s Book selection for fall 2006, The Aquariums of Pyongyang, a memoir written by a North Korean defector with the intention of exposing the human rights abuse in the North Korean government’s systematic use of enforced hard labor camps on its people. This memoir and others like it are extremely effective in spreading awareness of human rights violations. At the same time, however, the reader must be aware of numerous factors that shape and complicate the story that is told. According to Kay Schaffer, author of â€Å"Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights,† there is a growing market in America for books marketed as memoirs. Writers such as Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and David Sedaris, author of numerous short story collections that are based on his life experiences, have helped propel the memoir genr... ...(Fall 2000): 543-559. 05 March U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. â€Å"Hidden Gulag, The: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps.† Ed. Richard Hawk. 2003. 16 Feb Walker, Barbara. â€Å"On Reading Soviet Memoirs: A History of the ‘Contemporaries’ Genre as an Institution of Russian Intelligentsia Culture from the 1790’s to the 1970’s.† Russian Review. 59.3 (July 2000): 327-352. 05 March Watson, Jinx Stapleton. â€Å"Reading Memoir to Make Sense of Sensitive Histories: Civil Rights Movement (USA), Apartheid South Africa & Cultural Revolution (China).† 22 Feb Wyatt, Edward. â€Å"Live on 'Oprah,' a Memoirist Is Kicked Out of the Book Club.† The New York Times. 27 January 2006: A1. 05 March com>

A Summary Of Research On Job Retention & Turnover In Child Welfare Service Essay

This article discusses job retention in social welfare. Smith (2004) raises a problem that cannot be dismissed lightly: â€Å"staff turnover in child welfare agencies† with estimated turnover rates within â€Å"23% to 85%† annually. Smith (2004) suggests â€Å"the need to explain, understand, and prevent it. † According to Smith (2004), various business environments have used models to explain employee turnover reflecting perceived organizational support and organizational commitment. Only a few studies applied this model when studying child welfare retention. Data was gathered from two surveys to test organizational support on job retention to include factors such as supervisor support, extrinsic rewards, and intrinsic job values. Smith collected data from child welfare staff on two occasions at various agencies to study job retention in child welfare. First, an in-person survey was given. A couple of months later, information was collected from the participating agencies to examine the percentage of individuals that remained employed at the agency. Twelve counties participated. Staff turnover rates were high in these areas of study. Smith (2004) measured organizational and job satisfaction, supervisor supportiveness and satisfaction, job tenure, workload, time use, and perceptions about job turnover and retention. Smith used the organizational support theory and work place exchange relationship to theoretically examine the perceived effects on job retention. The â€Å"work place exchange relationship†, stated by Smith (2004), looks into the relationship of a â€Å"frontline staff† and a direct supervisor. This relationship suggests that when subordinates perceive their supervisor to be supportive â€Å"they become more committed to the organization† (Smith, 2004) Smith (2004) considers the organizational establishment of arrangements that support work-life balance to be an important form of organizational support. This theory suggests that â€Å"workplace arrangements that facilitate work-life balance will promote employee commitment to the organization. † Another aspect of the organizational support theory is that it highlights the â€Å"roles of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards† in employees’ decision to stay with or to leave their employers. For instance, one study concluded that extrinsic rewards, like, benefits package, are important â€Å"motivator† whereas another study on intrinsic rewards found that the latter is a more powerful motivator than the former. (e. g. , Deci, 1971; Snelders & Lea, 1996). The results of Smith’s study indicated that â€Å"extrinsic rewards such as the facilitation of life-work balance and supervisor support are associated with job retention, but reports of intrinsic job value or not†. According to Smith (2004), a social exchange framework is useful for understanding turnover and retention dynamics in child welfare organizations. In my personal view, I find one weakness of the research having â€Å"study measures. . . not standardized. † This makes the research less scientific and subject to criticisms from the scientific and business communities. On the other hand, I find the strength of the research in its confidence in declaring that its findings â€Å"can appropriately be generalized,† however, â€Å"only to high-turnover agencies in rural areas†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthus, the knowledge obtained from the research can be used by decision-makers in formulating and adopting certain policies on employee retention and turnover.

International Marketing of Ikea Essay

Table of Contents Table of Contents1 1. Executive Summary1 2. Introduction1 3. Internationalization2 4. Foreign Market Segmentation and Targeting3 5. Environmental Analysis5 5.1 SWOT Analysis6 5.2 Environmental Analysis of Host Country- China8 5.3 From the perspective of IKEA International Group10 6. International Marketing Objectives11 7. Foreign Market Entry Strategy11 8. Product/Service Mix Preparation14 8.1 Product adaptation14 8.2 Product publicity15 8.3 Product price15 8.4 New product development16 8.5 Market expansion16 8.6 Service Mix16 9. Conclusion17 Appendices18 1. Executive Summary This report emphasizes on the analysis of the overseas expansion of the global brand named IKEA, who has already built a competitive advantage in the international furniture competition. It has the largest part of market share and got huge success in Europe which leads it to expand to Asia and other market of the world. Analysis of all the environmental aspects in China shows that China is the best country to invest in, although there are still some weaknesses and threats exists. 2. Introduction IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer which founded in 1943. In 2009, the world’s leading marketing research organizations of Interbrand selected into â€Å"Global 100 Most Valuable Brands† list, the IKEA ranked 28th for about 12 billion U.S. dollars in brand value, which is constantly increasing. IKEA stores were founded in the most important shopping areas of 240 stores in Europe, the North America, Asia and Africa. IKEA’s success in the retail industry can be attributed to its vast experience in the retail market, product differentiation, and cost leadership. This report will analysis the international marketing strategy of IKEA as follows aspects: internationalization, foreign market segmentation and targeting, internal and external business environment based PEST and SWOT analysis, international objectives, foreign marketing enter strategy and product/service mix preparation. 3. Internationalization Internationalization appears when the company expands its R&D, production, selling and other business activities into globalization markets (Hollensen, 2004). IKEA group is the most internationalized retailing of furniture worldwide. Chairman Ingvar Kamprad opened his first furniture in 1943. He spent almost ten years on building and developing the brands from mail order business to furniture business in Swedish. In 50’s of last century, forced domestic counterparts extrusion, IKEA was forced to go abroad to find suppliers of raw materials, but to find low cost instead. This is the IKEA’s first globalization of production attempt. Since in 1953, the first abroad store was opened successfully in Danmark. Then IKEA rapidly expanded to the whole European region. With the success of global sourcing, In the early 70s, the Swedish furniture market was stagnant, IKEA naturally turn their attention to the international market. Then IKEA group began a huge globalization of market from that time. In the road of international expansion, IKEA Annual Report (2002) showed that Inter IKEA Systems B.V granted franchises as part of a detailed international expansion scheme. IKEA implemented the brand integration strategy, in order to form the absolute control of the brand. IKEA is not content with merely control of even the world’s largest furniture products channel, IKEA group would hope that their own brands and its own proprietary products can eventually cover the world. IKEA pioneered the â€Å"brand integration† model, which achieve the manufacturer brands and retail brands to fusion of commercial brands  perfectly. Based on this concept, IKEA has been insisted all products by their own personally designed and have the patent, each year more than 100 designers worked in the day and night to ensure that â€Å"all products, all of the patent† in order to achieve all the products are marked â€Å"Design and Quality, IKEA of Sweden† targets. So for IKEA is concerned, it didn’t have the so-called â€Å"upstream manufacturers† pressure, or any manufacturer could give it so-called â€Å"distribution chain management.† In terms of IKEA is the world’s only success of the organization to put up both channel management and product management, its â€Å"integrated brand strategy† is the large key to the successful integration of industrial chain. 4. Foreign Market Segmentation and Targeting Early in this year, IKEA has opened many stores and market was very mature in the Europe. Until 1985 IKEA decided to enter the North America market. Although it didn’t achieve success like experience across the Europe in the beginning of in the USA, IKEA has adopted adaptive strategies according to local actual situation. It got the finally success in the USA market. Forthwith it expended quickly in the Asia. IKEA has six areas in the world until now, which is Europe, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Caribbean. At present, IKEA is developing the Asia market and existed markets have six countries. Three Asia countries are selected to penetrating and expanding by screening process as follows. IKEA had furniture market and wanted to expand in Singapore and China, In addition, Korea is very beneficial market for IKEA while not yet opened. Singapore is the developed country, but come under the world financial crisis and slump in global trade impact, this exceptionally o pen economy (exports of goods and services represent over 200% of GDP) GDP fell by 9.5% from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009(Appendix 1). Private consumption fell from 2008’s levels, which declined by 0.5%. In order to deal with weakness in private consumption, government expenditure accelerated to promote and enhance the public’s consumption of 8.3% (Appendix 2). Korea is also well-developed country in Asia. Despite the world economic deep impact on Korea, Korea staged a strong recovery in 2009. GDP grew by 0.2% in the year (Appendix 3). Weak private consumption rebounded before early 2009 (Appendix 4), which is the most obvious change in durable goods and services. Consumer  sentiment improved during the year. China, the economic rate and consumption rate are the highest over these Asia countries. GDP is forecast to grow by 9.6% in 2010. Growth will be stronger in the first half of 2010.China economic situation is superb (Appendix 5). Private consumption growth is forecast to speed up to 12% in 2010, from 9.0% in 2009, responding to rising incomes and improving consumer confidence (Appendix 6). Based on the above considerations, IKEA should consider expending Asia market. In my opinion, China is worth of investment. Because of large area and population, IKEA should open in all capital cities in China. From opened the first store in 1998, IKEA developed slowly in China. According to the IKEA Web site, China’s market identity is the largest supplier as a worth of 15 billion U.S. dollars market every year, not is the biggest sales market. Currently, IKEA has 350 suppliers in China, 21% of the world’s goods from China. Because of Chinese consumer awareness of its own position with IKEA dislocation, this is precisely an important factor of the slow expansion of IKEA in China. With the rise of local home chains, as well as foreign opponents’ attack, to maintain the position in the Chinese domestic m arket, IKEA must expand. Publicly available data, now IKEA hold home products market in China account for 43% of the share. To sum up, IKEA’s expansion and development is necessary and very beneficial in China. 5. Environmental Analysis IKEA International Group, a furniture group aims to provide customers with variety of good-looking& affordable home products worldwide, is said to be an miracle of business in the last century. Now it has over 200 retail stores in over 30 countries. It needs considerable of analysis before entering foreign markets. 5.1 SWOT Analysis Strengths of IKEA †¢ Well known in China. Chinese consumers knew IKEA as a big brand before it entered China market, so this helps IKEA to enter Chinese market more smoothly. †¢ Highly reputation. As IKEA is a globally brand, Chinese customers regard it more reliable than other furniture companies. †¢ Stable relationship. IKEA could get materials at a reasonable price due to the stable relationships that between IKEA and its suppliers. †¢ Plate packing. By using plate packing, IKEA could reduce cost from transportation and storage. †¢ Environmental protective and healthy material for customers. What material IKEA choose are both environmental protective and healthy, which enable customers use IKEA products without trepidation. Weaknesses of IKEA †¢ Much reliant on Europe Market. 82% IKEA stores located in this region so IKEA will have difficulties to face the Asia market. (Ikea United Kingdom (2005) www.ikea.co.uk Accessed 23rd Nov 2005) †¢ Unreasonable rout design. When shopping in IKEA you have to walk along the only aisle IKEA set and will get no way to go backward. What’s more, you still have to go along the aisle till the item you want although you have decided what to buy. This may cost customers much time on it. †¢ Inflexible promotion. Due to the low price, there is no more room for IKEA to provide with promotions on products. †¢ High price for Chinese consumers. Although products price in Chinese market are almost lowest in the world, many Chinese consumers still can not afford them. IKEA should price the products based on the Chinese actual situation in order to get profit. †¢ Distribution problems. In China, popularization of cars is not high like IKEA other market, so it will take several days for customers to wait for the distribution from IKEA and also they will be charged a high amount of distribution fee for it. Opportunities of IKEA †¢ Variety in goods categories. There are about 9,500 household items in IKEA, which is far more than other furniture companies. Customers will have more chance to choose from when shopping at IKEA. †¢ Green IKEA. What IKEA advocated is that to live a green life so this can be a good point which attracts customers. Threats of IKEA †¢ Professional malls. Some big professional malls such as professional bathe mall, professional kitchen mall maybe one big threat, customers may prefer the professional mall when they just buy bathroom or kitchen products. †¢ Other brands. There are many household brands in Chinese market now, such as B&Q, Macalline, etc. Some of them are local brands so they know Chinese market better than IKEA. †¢ Change of customers needs. Customers needs will  not be the same all year long, IKEA have to research frequently and find out what is profitable in order to make profits. 5.2 Environmental Analysis of Host Country- China Political system China is a socialist country powered by the Communist Party and a new People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. In 1978, China initiated the â€Å"reform and open† policy which emancipated the mind of Chinese people and make them become innovated in the future. The year when IKEA has first entered Chinese market was 1998 and it was just the 20th anniversary since Chinese â€Å"reform and open† policy in 1978. As a developing socialist country, China is fresh to most people and groups in rest of the world and it is really of great potential because it was more and more independent as China is developing day by day, many international groups have realized how potential the China market would be and then started to locate there branch companies in China at that time. As a developing country, China will always persist in taking the positive attitude towards all the advantageous investments from abroad. In the incoming year 2001 China accessed to the World T rade Organization successfully, which makes China a more open country and market. Economical environment in China There are 8 cities (in 6 provinces) (one of the eight is opening soon) in China where IKEA Group located its retail stores. Beijing, Shanghai, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan, etc. The forms below are showing the contrast of economical phenomenon between these locations and the rest. From the appendix 7 we can see the national average of disposable income in 2008 is about 15000yuan per capita, while the disposable income per capita in the six locations are mostly far more than the average figure. This means IKEA positioned itself in a more economic developing area while its target customers have higher total income and disposable income. Appendix 8 is part of the household consumption expenditure by region in 2008. It is clear that the six IKEA retail locations are all at the higher level of the consumption of expenditure than other areas. The high consumption expenditure in these six locations shows more buying potential to products. Appendix 9 is part of the total investment in fixed assets in the whole country by status of  registration and region in 2008.Most of the foreign investment in six provinces (Beijing and Shanghai are direct-controlled municipalities) are higher than other areas where IKEA didn’t locate its retail stores at. This illustrates that the more the foreign investment an area has the more open the area will be, the more easily the people accept the foreign products and ideas. Social environment Demographics †¢ Population and Density China has the largest amount of population in the world. In other world, it is the biggest potential market in the world. The eight cities where IKEA located his stores in all have large amount of population, especially Shanghai& Jiangsu& Guangdong because they are all along the coast in China. Places along the coast in China always have high density of population for there are more chances to get money and good development for individual at those places. Population stands for the purchasing power while more population means more potential purchasing power. †¢ Living standards Youth in China are more open minded than before, they will after whatever they like from abroad. As the development of economic and the quickening pace of life some so-called â€Å"white collars† in China don’t have much time and money to buy some luxurious furniture and IKEA is a good choice for them because what IKEA initiates is simple, durable and affordable furniture. In China, it is a fashion action to buy furniture from IKEA. 5.3 From the perspective of IKEA International Group †¢ IKEA located its Chinese headquarter in Beijing at the beginning when it came to China but in 2003 the headquarters moved to Shanghai because IKEA regards Shanghai a central city of China for it has the convenient sea transportation as well as the air transports which are advantages for IKEA, an international group couldn’t live without transport. †¢ IKEA relocated its Asian headquarter from Singapore to Shanghai which shows the great appreciation to large potential market in China. 6. International Marketing Objectives According to the previous analysis, the advantages and disadvantages for IKEA to develop in China are clear. Now IKEA have to make its marketing objectives in China market according to the analysis above. †¢ IKEA has high reputation among Chinese youth; word of mouth can be a good way of advertising so its targeting audience should be young person. In this case, lower the cost of operating a retail store is what should do next. †¢ The products in IKEA China are good but the delivery fee is terribly high. This will reduce the loyalty of customers. †¢ There are eight (one of the eight is opening soon) IKEA retail stores in China till 2010, as the World Exposition is coming, economic in Shanghai is going to greatly boom, so hope to open 1or 2 more stores outside the central Shanghai next year would be better. As the previous analysis we can see there are still some cities have the potential to run a IKEA retail store so IKEA could take a few cities into account such as Ha ngzhou, Tianjin, etc. 7. Foreign Market Entry Strategy Having done all the analysis about china’s market penetration, we are now facing the decision of which foreign market entry mode to use. Several factors need to be given full scrutiny before we choose from the grouping of entry modes. Internal factors are the deciding roles here in the strategy which should be considered with priority. They are mainly concerned with the firm itself. †¢ Ownership advantages It can be understood as asset-based advantages which include the firm’s resource ability, reputation, origin of country, potential of future growth and so on. Apparently, Ikea Group has both the tangible and intangible resources to enter Chinese market, even the brand name itself is a huge selling point. What the brand stands for are creative design, durability and functionality, and all of the three are not quite transferable, thus the transaction cost here is high, so we recommend joint venture as its entry mode further into Chinese market. †¢ Location How the furniture be shipped from A to B onto the shelf for display is important, since it has much to do with the cost of the business. Since Ikea has entered into china, most of the furniture is imported from Sweden.  Undoubtedly, this approach increases cost dramatically. Cooperate with local partner can help Ikea build good relationship with local suppliers. Further more, furniture manufacturing industry shows the tendency of transfer the production facilities to developing countries which offers relatively low labor cost, huge consuming market and stable political and economic environment (Capdevielle, Li & Nogal 2007) From this point of view, joint venture is a better choice which offer a great time and opportunity for Ikea boost its future plan of turning China into the supply center of in Asia. (Carpell 2006) †¢ Internationalization Experience & Global Strategy toward China According to Ikea website, up until August 2009, it had 267 stores and had trading service offic es in 26 countries and 28 distribution centers and 11 customer distribution centers in 16 countries. (http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/facts_and_figures/index.html). Ikea opened its first store in China in 1998, and in the past 12 years it had up to 7 stores in mainland China, most of which are joint ventures. Shenyang Store is coming soon, planed to open in the middle of the year. Ikea expects to have 10 large stores up and running in China by 2010. (The China business review, 7-8, 2004) It strongly proves that Ikea has confidence and ambition in China. However, it is easier said than done. To accomplish its expectationï ¼Å'Ikea still got two more stores to construct. It should speed up in this plan. Considering this background, China’s market penetration can greatly reduce cost and risk. External factors should also be given careful consideration. They are basically having things to do with the overall target market environment. †¢ Social-cultural Factor When carry out the penetration plan, marketers should be cautious about China’s specific features, such as the diverse cultures which is bred by the vast territory, various kinds of business practice, different consuming philosophies, and all of these are quite difficult for foreigners to grasp on. In entering into a new market, the region size, rate of market and potential purchase power shall be the determinant parameters, so a local helper is needed. †¢ Political/ Economic Factor Before china entered WTO, government requires all foreign company to cooperate with local partner in order to help domestic enterprise to develop  their business and learn the advanced management skills [1]. Although the regulation had already been ended, not many firms shifted from joint venture to wholly owned store. Although the trend for future stores is wholly owned mode, it is still too soon to risk all the Ikea stores switch to this mode. From all the above, we strongly recommend the next few stores to open in the east part of China use the entry mode of joint venture to further expand its market, and strengthen its place in China. 8. Product/Service Mix Preparation Product and service are the essential elements in the development of company, the product of IKEA is designed by the purpose of simplifying, and the service believes the rule of do-it-yourself. However, with the special culture, economy and life style in China, IKEA should take some necessary change on its product, strategy, brand and service. 8.1 Product adaptation First, it is the endurance and practicability of product need to strengthen. Though IKEA has its own requirement and test on the quality of product, according to the latest research (Li 2009), it seems just aim at some special product, such as bedroom furniture, chair. Meanwhile, the equipment of kitchen class and bookcase are not as good as them. Thus, IKEA should pay attention to their entire product, every product needs to be test by certain standard. Second, IKEA has too much product, which makes the table of contents be also long. As there is too much choice for customers, it makes them nervous on how to choose the most suitable one. That is to say, IKEA needs to condense the table of product and makes it clear and simple, the customer would find the product they want first. 8.2 Product publicity IKEA used a lot of advertising in Europe and the United States, but there are so few in China and these ones are simple and bored, it makes large number of people know little about its product. On the other hand, the product of IKEA use environmental protection of materials and advanced ones, but most customers do not know them, because IKEA has few actions to explain it in China, while it is doing enough publicity in Europe. Therefore, IKEA should put more energy and time on advertising and publicity, such as television advertising, as there is a very large population watching TV. Moreover, it  is useful to support some event, for example, Sichuan Earthquake. Also it is important to make them interesting and attractive, it would give the design concept of DIY to the customers. 8.3 Product price IKEA is well known as good quality and cheap price because of its centralized purchasing and professional logistics, and it makes most people have ability to buy them. But in China, the price is higher than others, this makes most customers just look them. So there are some useful ways help IKEA reduce the high price. First, it is necessary to build a new production base in China, as now the production base is in Malaysia, which provides the product to the Asia. This way would avoid the import tariff, because the import tariff in China is a big one. Second, it also helps IKEA reduce the transport costs, whether transport by air or by ship, the cost is not a small number. Third, there are many small finished factories in China, IKEA should take more material from them, not in overseas. What is more, IKEA should give them a certain size of order, this helps make the price lower for competition. 8.4 New product development As it is known that there is a too lager population in China, it makes the house of China be smaller than other countries, it means that there are limited spacing for putting the furniture. Thus, a good idea for IKEA is to develop the new product that can be folded, it saves the space for customers, and this also makes the customers would buy more products due to it needs little space. 8.5 Market expansion In 1998, IKEA came into the Chinese market first in Shanghai, from then to now, it has pasted twelve years, but the number of IKEA place in China is only 7, meanwhile, it has 240 ones in the world. From the data, you can know the speed of its development in China is so slow. It loses much choice. Hence, IKEA should build many new shopping places in the important cities, such as the southeast of China, because the cities in this area develop fast and the consumption capacity of customers is suitable for IKEA. 8.6 Service Mix The service in Europe is do-it-yourself, but the situation is not the same in  China, most people in China do not have cars, so customers need IKEA provide home delivery service, IKEA do it, but the charge of it is high. For example, a customer buys a small chair of 79 yuan, but the cost for delivering is 60 yuan, it is not worth for customers. Therefore, IKEA should reduce the rate of delivering charge, and it is effective to provide the installation for free, as almost all of the competitors support the free installation. Another strategy is using some staffs to introduce and recommend the product for customers, because Chinese people is different from others, they like someone talking the information to them, sometimes they also accept the staffs’ selection on the product. 9. Conclusion To sum up, IKEA has become a successful international company with a wide range of products, and its global experience and unique strategy has led it occupy the large market share. But there are also some problems blocking its development in other countries because of the different culture, economy and lifestyle. So it is time for IKEA to carry out the new strategy on balancing its brand, product, service and management in order to expand new market, and take more advantages in the competition.