When Are Majoritarian Democracies More Representative essays

When Are Majoritarian Democracies More Representative essays When are Majoritarian democracies more representative than Consensual democracies? The past twenty five years has seen the rapid proliferation of democracy. Notably, the areas of Eastern Europe and Latin America have experienced both the demise of autocratic and dictatorial regimes and in turn their replacement with Democratic forms of government. The two most common forms of democratic government are firstly majoritarian democracy, often associated with either presidential systems or Westminster style parliamentary regimes, with single member district or first past the post systems, and secondly Consensus democracies, which are mostly associated with proportional representation electoral systems in parliamentary government. When looking at when majoritarian democracies are more representative than Consensual democracies it is important not only to centre on the electoral or legislative side of democracy, but in addition, the executive representation of the electorate, an equally crucial dimension of the political process and furthermore, other attributes of the electoral system such as district magnitude and the influence of presidential elections on legislative elections. Firstly, by using the Sainte Lague index , from which the formulae is similar to the one utilized in Lijpharts table of average electoral disproportionality (1999) , it is visible that Westminster systems have higher values of disproportionality than systems of proportional representation. For example, Lijpharts table illustrates the countries of Sweden and The Netherlands, both consensus democracies, as scoring an average electoral disproportionality of 2.09% and 1.30% respectively. When comparing this to The United Kingdom and Canada, both majoritarian democracies, who score 10.33% and 11.72% respectively, it is clear that Consensus democracies demonstrate greater levels of representation than majoritarian ...

How to Build an Effective Marketing Schedule (Includes Template)

How to Build an Effective Marketing Schedule (Includes Template) You may believe that spending time getting organized takes time away from getting work done. Variations on this thought are sometimes common among creatives who pride themselves on thriving under chaotic conditions, or just aren’t inclined toward getting organized. The thinking goes that if one focuses on the work itself, everything else can be set aside, and things will somehow work out. This is a dangerous belief. Failing to get organized leads to inefficiency, which leads to less productivity and ultimately less effective work. In fact, according to a survey, marketers who are organized are 397% more likely to report being successful. According to that same survey, only 14% of respondents considered themselves Very Organized. An additional 51% say they’re Somewhat Organized, which is encouraging, yet suggests room for improvement. But, how can marketing teams actually begin getting organized? Developing a clear marketing schedule for projects and campaigns is a good start. This can mean planning everything around a calendar, some sort of list, a kanban board, or whatever format helps your team work best (and as an aside, supports visualizing your work in all three of these ways). In this post, you’ll learn: What goes into scheduling projects. From determining resource availability to actually managing the work. How to get your team on board with process change and getting organized. In case not everyone is willing to buy in right away, or abandon old ways of working. An effective way to plan and manage everything on your schedule. A step-by-step process for putting this advice into practice. Plus, you’ll find a downloadable template to help you get started. What Do We Mean By Marketing Schedule? In simplest terms, a marketing schedule can be anything thats used to track the following: Projects and campaigns your team will work on. Which team members will be responsible for each one. The deadlines and ship dates for deliverables. Plus, it can also include any other information your team might find useful. This may vary depending on what you’re working on. Our template included in this post, then, is intended to be flexible in order to suit your own organizational needs. There are a lot of reasons to use a schedule for all your content, too. Here’s a short list: Stress less. Working without a clear strategy sucks. It leaves team members frantically scrambling to produce directionless content at the last minute. Ultimately, this leaves everyone feeling exasperated and undermines success. Work more efficiently. When you don’t have to think about what you’re going to do in a day, you’re mentally free to focus on what matters. That leads to getting more done in less time. Increasing transparency across your team. Not knowing what the rest of your team is working on can lead to misunderstandings and frustration. Laying out all your projects in one shared space makes it easier for everyone to see what everyone else is doing (and plan projects accordingly). Its important to note were not talking about a public schedule of marketing events (like an event calendar, or something to that effect). Some Tools to Consider Before You Start Whether youre looking for a tool, a scheduling process, or both, youll need capable software to do this right. And there are lots of different options available with different strengths and features to consider. Here are some different types that are out there: Paper Planners: These are great for keeping personal notes and projects. For marketing teams though, they may not be ideal. Spreadsheets:  Theyre not great, but theyre (mostly) free and theyre better than nothing. This is often where marketing teams will start. Dedicated software: Marketing organization software like or other general-purpose project management tools are the premium route. Make Things Easy With This Downloadable Template If you dont have the budget for paid tools, or dont want to build your own spreadsheet, you can use this template to get up and running right away. This post will explain how to use its different fields to map out a complete marketing schedule (and for when youre ready to upgrade, itll also walk through how to use for this purpose). Step 1: Determine Projects to Place on Your Schedule So, you've decided you’re ready to build out a complete marketing schedule for your content. The first thing you’ll need to do is figure out which projects need to go on your schedule. Start by listing out all your recurring project types. Possible content types could include: Blog posts Design projects Videos Podcasts Email newsletters Essentially, what we want to first establish is which recurring types of content do you know you’ll create regularly on an ongoing basis. Once you have this figured out, start planning out the specific ideas for each content type you’ll create. This means developing a list of specific titles and working headlines for each piece. Fill Your Schedule With an Effective Brainstorming Process We’re big believers in group brainstorming here at . If you don’t have any specific ideas for content lined up yet, this quick process may help you change that. Here’s how our 30-minute three-step brainstorming process works: Have everyone on your team spend 10 minutes writing down ideas. Don’t worry if they’re good or not. Just get them down on paper. Then, spend 10 minutes reading those ideas aloud, and have everyone score them silently. Use a three-point scale, where three’s are the best ideas you absolutely need to create, two’s are average ideas that need work, and one’s are duds to be tossed out. Expect to see a mix of ideas that fall into all three buckets. Last, spend ten minutes discussing every idea that everyone agreed was a three. From these, choose the ideas you’ll actually execute on. Depending on how much content you typically produce, you can expect to generate a month’s worth of ideas this way (that’s typically the result we get, but your results may vary). Once you have a list of awesome ideas, hold onto them. These are the content pieces you’ll use to kick off your organized marketing schedule. Recommended Reading: The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Assign Projects to Team Members Next, determine who will be creating each piece of content on your schedule. This means including everyone involved in seeing each project through from ideation to completion. Possible team members could include: Writers Designers Programmers Project Managers And anyone else involved Recommended Reading: How to Boost a Marketing Workflow Process That Will Reduce Work By 30-50% Establish a Color-Coding Scheme Color-coding your schedule makes it easier to tell projects apart at a glance. Assign one color to each type of project. For example, all your blog posts might be green, while videos could be orange, and so on. Alternatively, you might also want to color-code projects based on the teams or individuals they’re assigned to. Tip: If you’re using , you can use Custom Color Labels to color-code everything on your calendar: Step 2: Determine the Steps Required to Complete Each Project If you have recurring project types you create on a regular basis, odds are you have pre-defined workflows for each project. If you don’t, it’s time to consider documenting checklists you can use to make sure every project on your schedule is completed thoroughly. This helps prevent wasting time to fix errors later and enables teams to work more efficiently and effectively. Get out a text editor and lay out your steps like this: Step 1: [INSERT STEP] Step 2: [INSERT STEP] Step 3: [INSERT STEP] For a blog post, a hypothetical checklist might look like this: Step 1: Find a target keyword Step 2: Write 20 headline options Step 3: Craft an outline Step 4: Write your post Step 5: Proofread /  edit Step 6: Schedule publish date Simple stuff. To build your own checklists, ask yourself: Which steps do we usually follow to complete this task? Are there steps we could consider adding, to make this process more effective? Are there unnecessary steps we should remove to increase efficiency? If you’ve never thought about this in detail before, you might discover you’re either missing key steps in your processes, or are wasting time on things you can eliminate. Either way, you can easily boost your productivity this way. Tip: If you’re using , you can easily build reusable checklists called Task Templates: Why Are Checklists Important? Checklists are essential for making your marketing schedule more useful. Planning projects ahead of time loses its value if those projects aren’t completed properly. Plus, if part of our goal is to increase efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring steps aren’t missed is crucial. For more insight into the power of checklists, watch this video of Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto: Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Marketing Campaign Checklist That Will Get You Proactive The Best Content Marketing Checklist to Make You More Successful How to Maximize Your On-Page SEO in 2017 With One Awesome Checklist How to Write Amazing Posts With This Blog Writing Checklist Step 3: Place Projects on Your Marketing Schedule Now that you’ve got all your ducks in a row, it’s time to start dropping your content onto your marketing schedule. Set (Realistic) Deadlines Every project should have a clear and realistic deadline. But, how do you determine what a realistic deadline looks like? There’s a data-backed solution to help you figure out. Start by roughly estimating the amount of time it usually takes you to complete a certain type of task or project. Set your first deadline accordingly. Then, track your actual time spent working on those types of projects over time. Set realistic deadlines by tracking the actual time it takes to complete projects.You can do this by creating a time-tracking spreadsheet (like this simple free Google Drive spreadsheet) and a timer. You can either use a timer on your phone  or the free desktop timer app Timer-Tab.com: Eventually, you’ll start to see a pattern. Once you have about ten completed projects on your time sheet, calculate the average time it took to get from start to finish. You’ll now have a clear idea of how long a project should typically take. Set Up Deadline Alerts What happens if you forget to check your schedule and blow a deadline? Odds are, your boss will look something like this: And you’ll feel something like this: Avoid catastrophe! Use Google Calendar to set up an alert for each deadline. That way, you’ll get an email reminder to make sure you don’t forget. Start by clicking a time on your Google Calendar and give your project a name: Then, click Edit Event to control how frequently you receive reminders. Adjust to your own preference: Now, you won’t have an excuse for blowing that deadline.  If you’re a user, you’ll receive email and in-app notifications to show you when deadlines are approaching. They're all visible upon logging in on your dashboard as well:Now, Finally, Let’s Add Your Projects to Your Marketing Schedule If you haven’t done so yet, download the marketing schedule template included in this blog post. Then, click the Marketing Schedule tab in the lower left: Here’s what you’ll see in there: At first, you’ll see a ton of columns. Let’s break down what each one is for: Title. Self-explanatory. This is your headline. Article Type: For a blog post or article, list the article type. Ex: How-To, News Announcement, etc. Image Type: If your post will include an infographic, image gallery, or other design-intensive graphic, list it here. Deadline: If it’s not done by this date, there had better be a good reason. Step In Process: Update your progress here. Ex: Ideation, Writing, Design, Editing, etc. Subject Matter Expert: If you’re depending on an internal subject matter expert to support and review your content for factual accuracy, include their name here. Designer: Who’s creating your graphics† Author: Who’s writing your content? Notes: Keep miscellaneous notes about your project here. In Edit Folder?: If this content is ready for editing, denote that in this column. That’s it. You can start by filling in the Title field, and then updating your progress as you move along. Next, let’s look under the Workflows tab: Here’s what you’ll see next: To complete this tab, edit the Project Type to reflect the types of content you create (blog posts, social campaigns, videos, etc). Then, fill in each field accordingly: Steps: List out each step to complete that project type. Hours: Include how much time each step should take (on average). Explanation: Write out a short description of what each step entails. This will help you keep each project you create consistently on track. Here's how to keep every content marketing project you create on trackUsing Your Marketing Schedule Template Now you know how to get your spreadsheet set up. The next step is to actually use it. Follow these steps to get the most out of it. Color-Code! This sounds like a simple step, but it makes a big help when you want to look at your schedule and see what’s up fast. Use the Color Key section of your template to keep track of which colors you’re associating with which projects or team members: Decide Who Will Own Your Schedule There are a few approaches you can take here. You can either have everyone on your team add their own projects, or have one person in charge of adding updates and maintaining the document. There’s also a third option, where team leads can manage projects for their respective staff. Stay Consistent By Making Organization a Habit Tools only work as well as your ability to use them. Make it a habit to look at your schedule every day. Once you get into a routine of using a planning schedule, working productively will become something you just do, without having to think about it. In order to build a habit successfully, it helps to understand how habits are developed. According to Duhigg, studies show that repeating processes enough times literally causes your brain to require less effort to complete that same task. To get yourself to keep doing that task, you’ll need to develop a cue to spark that action. This could be sitting down at your desk first thing in the morning, or maybe pouring that first cup of coffee for the day. If you do something at the same time every day, or have something to cue the habitual response in your brain to perform that action (like getting coffee), you’ll start doing it without thinking about it. Eventually, it’ll become a routine, and you’ll feel good about being organized. Your brain will then want to keep those positive vibes flowing, and so you’ll feel a sense of reward each time you use your schedule. And, as author Charles Duhigg says in his book, The Power of Habit: â€Å"Champions don’t do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react. They follow the habits they’ve learned.† So, be a champion. Use your marketing schedule. 'Champions don’t do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things ... too fast for the other team...Scheduling Projects and Campaigns with is an extremely feature-rich marketing organization software suite for marketing teams. Part of that suite is the Marketing Calendar, which allows teams to plan, organize, and schedule every project on one calendar: Now Plan Some Projects on Your Schedule Now you’ve got everything you need to keep all your content and marketing projects planned and organized. That means you’ll be able to: Work with less stress. Hit all your deadlines consistently. Be a marketing rock star. Sound good? Then stop wasting time and get started!

English Film and Literature Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

English Film and Literature Analysis - Essay Example Let us be ignorant to the visual version of the former and instead we are going to examine the key elements of Raymond Chandler’s novel 'The Big Sleep' and John Huston's film 'The Maltese Falcon', and find out, which stands as a single core trait that the American culture holds to be essential in its heroes. The Big sleep, The Maltese Falcon and Humphrey Bogart ‘The Big sleep’ is a crime novel written by detective fiction writer, Raymond Chandler in 1939. The story is known for its intricacy and many secrets being disclosed throughout the narrative. The whole narrative is based upon Los Angles detective, Philip Marlowe’s point of view. ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is a 1941 Warner Bros. film, directed by John Huston. The film was adapted from the novel of the same name written by Dashiell Hammett. The film ‘The Maltese Falcon’ has been named as one of the greatest films of all time by film critics. The screen play is all about a San Franci sco private detective, Sam Spade and his dealings with three corrupt characters all of whom are in pursuit of a jewel encrusted statuette named the Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart, regarded as one of the greatest male star or film hero in the history of American cinema, played the character of Sam Spade. Humphrey Bogart created his own trade mark film persona through his films, which made him, a symbol of the Golden Age of Hollywood and a popular culture icon even after his death. The single core trait Inspection of these two works shows that the multiple core traits that remain as essential in American heroes are being cynical but honest, hardboiled but noble, stoical, wary as well as tough even without a gun. These multiple elements can be combined to form a sort of ‘umbrella’ core trait named idiosyncrasy. This oxymoronic term refers to the peculiarity and individuality in one’s thought and action. Both the main characters in the novel and the film express thi s in enormous amounts. The American culture during the 1940’s was associated with war and the post-war period, which demanded stoical character trait in its heroes. This can be noted in the pre-climax of the movie, when Sam Spade angrily confronts O’Shaughnessy, telling her that he knows that she killed Archer to implicate Thursby. She cannot believe that Spade would turn her over to the police, but he does, despite his feelings for her, thus exhibiting the stoical trait.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If you are good girl, you will be out in 20 years. I will be waiting for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you† (Huston). This also shows Spade’s behavior of accusing or cursing with sweet dialogue. On the other hand, in ‘The Big Sleep’, Marlowe exhibits the stoical trait in a different perspective. That is, he reveals a palpable dread of his own impending death, and struggles to retrace the steps that led him into a life of danger and depravity. Bo th sleuths Marlowe and Spade place a great emphasis on intricate details apart from viewing the larger picture, which also can be linked to the American culture’s perspective of who can be regarded as hero. The below words by Marlow reveal how he exhibits this trait in a effective manner. â€Å"Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree†. (Chandler 1). These words clearly reflect how Marlow being a detective who looks into the details of

Computer Hardware Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Computer Hardware - Essay Example 1-4). Among the many hardware in personal computers the most important part for any PC is the memory part and this includes the RAM, or in other words, the Random access Memory. It is known as the random access memory as the user can access any cell of the memory if the rows and columns to the memory are well known to the user (David, Hennessy, and Ashenden, 2004, p. 33). RAM is the memory chip that has millions of small and minute integrated elector circuits on the chip and these are the circuits that are composed of transistors as well as capacitors. A memory cell is created in the Dynamic RAM by pairing the transistor and the capacitor. The storage unit of the memory cell is in bytes and it has been calculated that the memory cell has the capacity to store a byte of the data. During the manufacturing of the RAM memory cells are attached to the Ram in the form of the rows and the columns. The rows in this case are known as wordlines and the columns are known as bitlines. For the working of the Ram a charge is sent through the column which activates the attached transistor within a time period of nano seconds.

Accounting Theory and Development Essay Example for Free

Accounting Theory and Development Essay The methodology is often be â€Å"going from the general to the specific† as the research must develop a logical structure for accomplishing the objective then, which based on the definition and assumptions. The validity of any theory developed through this process is highly dependent upon the ability of the researcher to correctly identify and relate the various components of the accounting process in a logical manner. Induction is a method of reasoning by which a general law or principle is inferred from observed particular instances. Inductive approach emphasis making observations and drawing conclusions from it and is often be â€Å" going from specific to general, because the research generalizes about the universe on the basis of limited observations of specific situations. The inductivist is to draw theoretical and abstract conclusion from rationalizations of accounting practice. Applied to the accounting, the inductive approach begins with observations about the financial information of business enterprises and proceeds to construct generalizations and principles of accounting from those observations on the basis of recurring relationship. Reading 1. 2 Accounting theory and development Accounting Theory Construction with Inductive and deductive approach Normative theory vs. Positive theory Normative theory attempts to justify what ought to be, rather than what is. The major criticism of normative theories is that they are based on value judgments. Positive (Descriptive) theories attempt to find relationships that actually exist. Deductive systems are normative and inductive systems attempt to be descriptive. The deductive method is basically a closed, non-empirical system. Theory verification Theory verification or validation is an integral part of theory construction. According to Popper, the testing of deductive theories could be carried out along four lines. There is the testing of the theory by way of empirical applications of conclusion, which can be derived from. This step is necessary to determine how the theory stands up to the demand of practice. If its predictions are acceptable, the theory is said to be verified otherwise, the theory is said to be falsified. Aspects of theories, their construction and verification Figure 2 Distinguishing features

Analysis of a Business Problem Essay -- Business Management

Nature of the Problem: The purpose of this paper is to briefly analyze why burrs and rough spots suddenly started to appear on quarter panel parts at an automotive company. Three out of four production lines at an automotive plant facility experienced defects of manufactured panel parts. Also, an analysis of how the panel problem is related to organizational sub-culture, organizational politics and job stress. Although there are several implications of various issues related to organizational culture, organizational politics and job stress is important because it determines how human capital within an organization will demonstrate the capacity to cope with working for the organization, thus determining the success of the organization. â€Å"To illustrate, studies have shown that job stress results from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of the workplace, i.e., the culture (Vigoda, 2002).† â€Å"Likewise, there are studies conducted that found organizational politics to have an advers e effect on psychological issues such as job stress (Ferris, Russ, & Fandt,1989).† Therefore, an organizations most valued asset is its employees. Analysis and Evaluation: In an effort to address the burred and rough spots found by Quality Control on several defective panels, upper management uncovered several poor managerial decisions and employee relations issues. In order to stay competitive within the automotive industry, the company must make some major decisions. A decision to support one of their line supervisors’ decisions of disciplining an employee could cause a potential strike. Although, a decision of not supporting their line supervisor could potentially avoid a strike and paint a positive image in the company. In essence, m... ...d to evaluate this issue. My analysis did not include the new alloy of the material change in the Zenith sheets for this information was not discovered until careful analyzing of the issue by the management team in part two. The management team discovered that there had been a material change in the Zenith sheets which was the root cause of their problem. As stated by the author, this was a very puzzling situation. Works Cited Ferris, G.R., Russ, G.S., and Fandt, P.M. (1989), Politics in organizations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Robbins, S., and Judge, T. (2008), Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Vigoda, E. (2002), Stress-related aftermaths to workplace politics: the relationships among politics, job distress, and aggressive behavior in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23: 571–591. doi: 10.1002/job.160.

Charles Chocolate case Essay

Traelene beals â€Å"9am Friday† First, a formal case analysis – This should be written in a business style format using short paragraphs and sentences, self-explanatory headings, and any figures/tables that would facilitate reading. Reports are to be no longer than 2000 words (excluding appendices Issues to be addressed – No measures of productivity or efficiaency in the plant- no way of telling if the plant was doing a good job. Difficult demand forcasting due to seasonality of sales. 2 new stores had ok type sales. Best clients of Wholesale sales changed focus on cheaper items and also own products. Sales agents could be fired with 90 days notice. Other parts of US haven’t heard of us. Of the 221 wholesale customers purchase just $1000 worth of products. Other 125 purchase between 1000 and 2000 per year. Sales agents, don’t know how to represent the all products. Speculating future orders from wholesale clients to customize boxes and logos-waste of capital. 60% of the total online/phone orders were from existing customers. Online sales haven’t grown – orders processed within 3-4 days. Why ship internationaly(only 5%)—Antartica Really Summer problem at Sandwich heaven – why did staff leave? How to get new staff in this tight labour market. Marketing service – old fashioned — Undefined Target market? Packaging ? (tourists publicatins, seasonal print media and radio spots) How to increase awareness without diluting the brand. Leverage on solid search engine raankings to promote online sales Basic website, reminder service to customers-good/bad? Sales agents dint provide links to top accounts. Companies revenues had grown because of Sandwich heaven(franchising) High reliability on tourism. Corporate gift marketing – 25% discount – market was good – Explore boston ? ice cream sales Increase retail penetration? Acquire a niche chocolate company? What about the tradiotnal brand name? Internal capacity? Relocate factory? Background Charles produced high-quality, hand wrapped chocolates, Portland creams. Best quality, many loyal customers across the world. Huge factory(24000 sq foot)-owned-. Only 75 retail and 35 production employees, 20 in management. Working hours 7am-4pm(each day). – Leverage long shelf life Wholesale production required early planning and online sales required late production†¦ Production planning was completed by data distortions arising from out-of stock and over stock issues. – out of stock-over production – killed the pricing – by discount pricing. Special orders put the whole order on a stand still Retail stores provided 50% of sales. – Wholesale had 30% of sales – Charles is just used as an add on product. Online and phone – online 4% of total sales. –phone is 6% of total sales—60% of all these orders were from regular orders.. Avg sales $138 by phone and $91 from website†¦High growth industry†¦ Sandwich heaven – 10% of sales – Industry High demand for organic/dark chocolate- anti oxidant properties.

Financial assets are made up of securities

Financial assets are made up of securities, stocks and derivatives. These are claims to the cash flow generated by real, tangible assets which are the lands, buildings and machineries we use. These pieces of paper are how citizens of highly developed countries increase their wealth. Wealth generation involves risk, for no business activity is certain to provide returns. Financial markets allow investors to participate in money-making ventures without being physically present in the project site.Most risk tolerant individuals prefer stocks, for it has the potential to yield very high returns, while conservative ones go for bonds which provides a steady, fixed income. In this activity, stock trading is the main focus. Objectives Just like any investor, generating cash flow was the primary goal. The amount of cash to be gained from trading should compensate the risk undertaken. The goal was to achieve steady growth. The expected was return is 40%. After setting the required return, a po rtfolio strategy was chosen.Assets were then selected which would comprise the efficient portfolio– provides the highest return for a given level of risk. Fundamental analysis was the method used to pick the stocks. Diversification was another tactic used to maximize return while spreading the risk. Construct a portfolio Portfolio construction was a tedious task. I had to weigh the risk and returns, and sometimes, to trust my gut feel. Stock prices, as studies have shown follow a random walk movement. The approach used was a top-down portfolio construction. A portfolio is basically a collection of investment assets.The type of assets to be held was first determined. It was then followed by security analysis to pick out the stocks deemed profitable. Diversification was one principle used in choosing the stocks. It simply meant that equities from different industries were held in the portfolio so that risk exposure was limited. Shares from the software industry (RIMM, JAVA), ar ms(SWHC), pharmaceutical (GERN), computer (PALM), insurance (HUM), health care(HMA), power (FL), SAM, metals and mining(AUY, AA) ,oil and gas(IEO), index fund(SWPIX), cement(CX),AXP Asset Analysis Fundamental analysis was mainly used in the decisions undertaken.This approach uses earnings and dividend prospects of the firm, expectations of future interest rates, and risk evaluation of the firm to determine proper stock prices. It relies on the company's financial health indicators. The stocks’ annual growth rate, quarterly earnings records, and P/E (price-to-earnings) ratios were measured. Historical data was also used. One such statistic is the EPS, or earnings-per-share ranking. PALM stocks were bought since the firm’s return on investment was stated at 2470. 70%. Also, on the day that it was traded, it was lower priced. Smith and Weson, SWHC had a P/E ratio of 5. 50%, an ROE of 19.7%. Thus, a total of 4000 shares of SWCH were bought. Alcoa, or AA’s ROE was 16 . 20%. Its EBITDA was 5. 45 B. Meanwhile, its P/E ratio was 11. 60 and its annual dividend was at . 68 per share. Alcoa looks financially healthy, but was expensive, so only 1000 shares were purchased. Similarly, FPL’s ROE was 14. 6%. Its P/E ratio was 12. 7%. Its EBITDA was 4. 47 B. The market values FPL shares highly. But, I found it unsmart to invest in highly valued stocks, because market perceptions fluctuate wildly. Thus, I only acquired 700 shares of FPL. RIMM had an ROE of 30. 60%. Its P/E ratio was 50%. For me, RIMM shares were really costly.In fact, it was has the highest cost per share in my portfolio. But I was attracted to its financial forecast. Furthermore, its 52 week high was at $148 so I found the $80 per share enticing. I thus bought 1000 shares from RIMM. HUM had an ROE of 19. 9% and a P/E ratio of 18. 00. It was quite overpriced, so I only bought 1000 shares. HMA was the lowest priced stock in my portfolio. But, I decided to purchase it believing that dem and for health care services will increase in the near future. CX, compared with its competitor, Heidelberg cement had higher earnings and historically displayed returns higher than the market average.I bought 1000 shares. I also bought SWPIX, an index fund as a comparison for the return of my trading activities. Event Selection One of the most remarkable news was the launching of PALM’s Pre. With the belief that the Pre will be hot in the market, just like Apple’s I-pod, I bought 4,000 shares from PALM. I deem that the future value of PALM will increase more than two-fold once the Pre is introduced. The hype will push the price of its stock. Thereafter, I can sold my shares at a profit. In addition, the popularity of smart phones, or phones which serve more than just talking devices was forecasted to increase steadily in the near future.Aside from purchasing PALM stocks, I decided to buy shares from BlackBerry’s maker, RIMM. News of the global swine flu outbrea k prompted me to purchase HMA shares. HMA , a healthcare provider would have more profits if the flu would become widespread. In addition, Citigroup upgraded HMA shares from hold to buy. Meanwhile, the news on the pending sale of JAVA drove me to sell my 1000 shares. Monster stocks which were identified two weeks in a row included AUY. The information urged me to buy 3000 shares of AUY.

Great Locomotive Chase in the American Civil War

Great Locomotive Chase in the American Civil War The Great Locomotive Chase took place April 12, 1862, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Also known as the Andrews Raid, the mission saw civilian scout James J. Andrews lead a small force of disguised Union soldiers south to Big Shanty (Kennesaw), GA with the goal of stealing a locomotive and sabotaging the Western Atlantic Railroad between Atlanta, GA and Chattanooga, TN. Though they successfully captured the the locomotive General, Andrews and his men were quickly pursued and proved unable to do meaningful damage to the railroad. Forced to abandon General near Ringgold, GA, all of the raiders were ultimately captured by Confederate forces. Background In early 1862, Brigadier General Ormsby Mitchel, commanding Union troops in central Tennessee, began planning to advance on Huntsville, AL before attacking towards the vital transportation hub of Chattanooga, TN. Though eager to take the latter city, he lacked sufficient forces to block any Confederate counterattacks from Atlanta, GA to the south. Moving north from Atlanta, Confederate forces could quickly arrive in the Chattanooga area by using the Western Atlantic Railroad. Aware of this issue, civilian scout James J. Andrews proposed a raid designed sever the rail connection between the two cities. This would see him lead a force south to seize a locomotive. Steaming north, his men would destroy tracks and bridges in their wake. Andrews had proposed a similar plan to Major General Don Carols Buell earlier in the spring which called for a force to destroy railroads in western Tennessee. This had failed when the engineer did not appear at the designated rendezvous. Approving Andrews scheme, Mitchel directed him to select volunteers from Colonel Joshua W. Sills brigade to aid in the mission. Selecting 22 men on April 7, he was also joined by experienced engineers William Knight, Wilson Brown, and John Wilson. Meeting with the men, Andrews directed them to be in Marietta, GA by midnight on April 10. Great Railroad Chase Conflict: American Civil War (1861-1865)Dates: April 12, 1862Forces Commanders:UnionJames J. Andrews26 menConfederacyVariousCasualties:Union: 26 capturedConfederates: None Moving South Over the next three days, the Union men slipped through the Confederate lines disguised in civilian attire. If questioned, they had been provided with a cover story explaining that they were from Fleming County, KY and were looking for a Confederate unit in which to enlist. Due to heavy rains and rough travel, Andrews was forced to delay the raid by a day. All but two of the team arrived and were in a position to begin operations on April 11. Meeting early the next morning, Andrews issued final instructions to his men which called for them to board the train and sit in the same car. They were to do nothing until the train reached Big Shanty at which point Andrews and the engineers would take the locomotive while the others uncoupled most of the trains cars. James J. Andrews. Public Domain Stealing General Departing Marietta, the train arrived in Big Shanty a short time later. Though the depot was surrounded by Confederate Camp McDonald, Andrews had selected it as the point for taking over the train as it did not have a telegraph. As a result, the Confederates at Big Shanty would have to ride to Marietta in order to alert the authorities farther north. Shortly after the passengers disembarked to take breakfast at the Lacey Hotel, Andrews gave the signal. While he and the engineers boarded the locomotive, named General, his men uncoupled the passenger cars and jumped into three box cars. Applying the throttle, Knight began to ease the train out of the yard. As the train pulled out of Big Shanty, its conductor, William A. Fuller, saw it depart through the window of the hotel. The Chase Begins Raising the alarm, Fuller began to organize a pursuit. Up the line, Andrews and his men were nearing Moons Station. Pausing, they cut the nearby telegraph line before proceeding. In an effort not to arouse suspicion, Andrews directed the engineers to move at a normal speed and to maintain the trains normal schedule. After passing through Acworth and Allatoona, Andrews stopped and had his men remove a rail from the tracks. Though time-consuming, they were successful and placed it in one of the box cars. Pushing on, they crossed the large, wooden railroad bridge over the Etowah River. Reaching the other side, they spotted the locomotive Yonah which was on spur line running to nearby iron works. Despite it being surrounded by men, Knight recommended destroying the engine as well as the Etowah bridge. Unwilling to start a fight, Andrews declined this advice despite the bridge being a target of the raid. Fullers Pursuit Having seen General depart, Fuller and other members of the trains crew began running after it. Reaching Moons Station on foot, they were able to obtain a handcar and continued down the line. Derailed at the stretch of damaged track, they were able to place the handcar back on the rails and reached Etowah. Finding Yonah, Fuller took over the locomotive and moved it onto the main line. As Fuller raced north, Andrews and his men paused at Cass Station to refuel. While there, he informed one of the station employees that they were carrying ammunition north for General P.G.T. Beauregards army. To aid the trains progress, the employee gave Andrews the days train schedule. Steaming into Kingston, Andrews, and General were forced to wait for over an hour. This was due to the fact that Mitchel had not delayed his offensive and Confederate trains were racing towards Huntsville. Shortly after General departed, Yonah arrived. Unwilling to wait for the tracks to clear, Fuller and his men switched to the locomotive William R. Smith which was on the other side of the traffic jam. To the north, General paused to cut the telegraph lines and remove another rail. As the Union men finished their work, they heard the whistle of William R. Smith in the distance. Passing a southbound freight train, pulled by the locomotive Texas, at Adairsville, the raiders became concerned about being pursued and increased their speed. Texas Gains To the south, Fuller spotted the damaged tracks and succeeded in halting William R. Smith. Leaving the locomotive, his team moved north on foot until meeting Texas. Taking over the train, Fuller had it move in reverse to Adairsville where the freight cars were uncoupled. He then continued chasing General with just Texas. Stopping again, Andrews cut the telegraph wires north of Calhoun before proceeding to the Oostanaula Bridge. A wood structure, he had hoped to burn the bridge and efforts were made using one of the box cars. Though a fire was started, the heavy rain of past several days prevented it from spreading to the bridge. Leaving the burning box car, they departed. The Mission Fails Shortly thereafter, they saw Texas arrive on the span and push the box car off the bridge. In an attempt to slow Fullers locomotive, Andrews men threw railroad ties on the tracks behind them but with little effect. Though quick fuel stops were made at Greens Wood Station and Tilton for wood and water, the Union men were unable to fully replenish their stocks. After passing through Dalton, they again cut the telegraph lines but were too late to prevent Fuller from getting a message through to Chattanooga. Racing through Tunnel Hill, Andrews was unable to stop to damage it due to the proximity of Texas. With the enemy nearing and Generals fuel nearly depleted, Andrews directed his men to abandon the train just short of Ringgold. Jumping to the ground, they scattered into the wilderness. Aftermath Fleeing the scene, Andrews and all of his men began moving west toward the Union lines. Over the next several days, the entire raiding party was captured by Confederate forces. While the civilian members of Andrews group were considered unlawful combatants and spies, the entire group was charged with acts of unlawful belligerency. Tried in Chattanooga, Andrews was found guilty and hanged in Atlanta on June 7. Seven others were later tried and hanged on June 18. Of the remainder, eight, who were concerned about meeting a similar fate, successfully escaped. Those who remained in Confederate custody were exchanged as prisoners of war on March 17, 1863. Many of the members of the Andrews Raid were among the first to receive the new Medal of Honor. Though a dramatic series of events, the Great Locomotive Chase proved a failure for Union forces. As a result, Chattanooga did not fall to Union forces until September 1863 when it was taken by Major General William S. Rosecrans. Despite this setback, April 1862 saw notable successes for Union forces as Major General Ulysses S. Grant won the Battle of Shiloh and Flag Officer David G. Farragut captured New Orleans.

7 HUGE signs you aced your interview

7 HUGE signs you aced your interview Sometimes it’s all too apparent when a job interview hasn’t gone well- maybe there’s a cringeworthy statement you wish you could take back, or an icy glance from an interviewer who doesn’t seem to find your small talk very charming. But what differentiates an okay job interview from one you’ve just rocked? Here are some key signals that you’ve had a great interview. 1. The interviewer has positive body languageInterviewers are professionals (ideally!), but they’re also human. Sometimes the earliest indicator that things are going well is the immediate physical feedback you get. Is the person engaged in the conversation, or is she just asking rote questions? Are you getting a lot of positive affirmation, like nods and smiles or verbal agreement? This isn’t a foolproof way to gauge your progress (hey, some people are just very friendly), but it’s a great first clue.2. The interviewer asks you about your interest in the jobIf the interviewer asks you point blank if you’d be interested in the job, it’s not quite a job offer, but it’s a very positive sign. It may mean the person thinks that you’re a good candidate and they want to test out whether you’re serious about it before moving you to the next step. If the interviewer asks you about where else you’re interviewing, that’s also a good sign. If they weren’t interested in you, they probably wouldn’t be trying to gauge the competition or scoping out whether you’re likely to accept a potential job offer.3. You set up a second interview on the spotThe signs don’t get much clearer than this one. If they actively invite you back for another round of interviews, you’re in very good shape. But don’t forget that while a second interview is a great omen, it still means another round of prep. Aft er all, there could be other candidates coming back for a second interview as well, so it’s important not to go into the next interview thinking you have a job offer on the table just yet.4. You get a personal tourIf your interviewer brings you around the office to show you the space and introduce you to people, or calls people in to meet you, it shows they’re already thinking of you as a potential member of the team.5. The interview goes longA short interview isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, but if your interview goes longer than the allotted time it likely means that the interviewer is interested enough to have a meaningful, in-depth conversation about the position and your qualifications for it. Particularly if you’re meeting with a single interviewer, a long conversation points to a great level of engagement.6. The interviewer goes into day-to-day job specificsMost interviewers will give an overview of the open position to make sure you understand the job. But if the interviewer takes the time to do a deep dive into the job’s responsibilities and integrates you into the discussion (â€Å"you would be doing X,† â€Å"you would be leading this project,† etc.), it suggests they already see you as a good fit.7. Your thank you note nets a responseNo matter what, you need to send a thank you note as a follow-up to your interview. The interviewer, however, is not obligated to respond in any way. If you send your thank you and you get a response (especially a quick one), it shows that your interviewer is engaged in the process and likely had a positive reaction to your conversation. Bonus points if there are specific references to a point you discussed, because that can help you tell if it’s just an automatic response on their part or a genuinely warm reaction. Tone is everything here.The waiting game after an interview can be one of the most frustrating parts of any job hunt. If you’re able to walk out of the room with any of these positive outcomes behind you, it can help reassure you that things really did go well, and that you’re on the right track for a second interview- or maybe even that job offer.

Reflective Communication Audit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Reflective Communication Audit - Essay Example It determines what is working well, what is not, and what might work better if adjustments are made†. An organization communicates with its stakeholders and public in variety of situations. The strategy of the company in respect of all manners of communication, oral, written or actions needs to be designed to convey its philosophy and values to the stakeholders and public. The purpose of this study is to reflect upon and analyse the communication practices, processes and issues that are evident in TESCO, which is the third largest retail chain in the worth with its head quarters in the UK. Organisational background Started as grocery retail in the UK, TESCO has transformed into a multinational company over the period of time, with retailing in clothing, furniture, electronic goods and many other goods including petrol which are regularly bought by households or businesses. It has also entered into financial services, software and telecom. The company is listed in LSE and includ ed in FTSE 100 Index. Therefore, communication in such a geographically and functionally diversified company needs to be structured to achieve the objectives or goals with limited misunderstanding and conflicts. The slogan â€Å"The Tesco Way† seeks to portray the manner in which the company wants the public to remember its philosophy and values, and in a sense, it is a message to the public. The company’s innovations like installation of camera and self-service tills in the stores could be considered as reactions in tune with the technological developments. Also, these changes communicate a message to the customers about TESCO’s desire to improve the level of service. The Balanced-scorecard system implemented in TESCO unites the group’s resources at all levels. Communication audit would be useful and effective in monitoring of the operations including risk management on a balanced basis in relation to various divisions and the stakeholders could be augme nted. According to the TESCO’s website, the  Ã¢â‚¬ËœVision’  is for Tesco to be: Most highly valued by the customers we serve, the communities in which we operate, our loyal and committed staff and our shareholders A growth company A modern and innovative company Winning locally, applying our skills globally This vision statement and one of its stated strategies ‘to put our responsibilities to the communities we serve at the heart of what we do’ seeks to communicate its commitment to its stakeholders which includes community as well. The intense competition in the retail sector in the UK and globally necessitates advanced planning and formulation of effective strategies in achieving its corporate objectives. The expansion of the business into new products and services calls for coordination of its various activities at all levels. It also underlines the need for an integrated communication policy for a sustained development in the long run. Communicati on in an organization has several dimensions and is complicated unless it is coordinated with high standards of efficiency and audited on a regular basis. Communication audit The standard of living of the people has been increasing over the period of time which results into changes in tastes and fashions and shorter product life cycle. This is an important factor especially in retail business of TESCO and Communication audit would be useful in evaluating the communication strategies adopted by the company to make

Supply Chain and Operations Management of Ferruccio Lamborghini Essay

Supply Chain and Operations Management of Ferruccio Lamborghini - Essay Example From this study it is clear that   Lamborghini produces both engines and cars, Aventador being its latest mainstream product. Named after a well known Spanish bull, Aventador has incorporated Lamborghini’s trademark theme as a product; power and exquisiteness inspired from bulls and bullfighting. Priced at $376,000 and performing a 0-100 km/h acceleration in just 2.9 seconds, Aventador has gotten the interest of many sports car enthusiasts from the start of its production. The sales of the car were high enough to make its 1000th sale within 15 months   Like its predecessors, Aventador has continued to break the records of previous Lamborghini models and has shown the sales to be high enough to beat the model it replaced, Murcielago, within five years. Considering the challenges Lamborghini faces from its rivals, profitability from its expensive cars has to be kept in line with the performance and care has to be taken so as not to compromise the car’s high performanc e for the sake of higher sales. ... With the tight production and delivery schedules of a multitude of produced units, the suppliers get under enormous pressure from the manufacturers who want to keep their products on top of the market. In order to maintain the tight schedule, component suppliers have been pushed to set up their factories with the top commercial vehicle producers by their requisition of geographically feasible regions of Asia. This paper highlights that employing production systems like Kanban to fulfill customer oriented production to achieve just in time production, the commercial manufacturers have driven the market to an unlikely position for sports car manufacturers. Lamborghini’s production facility has 831 employees and is located at Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. As such, the company gets to use the country’s vast automotive production set up and does not get affected by the production dynamics of the domestic usage cars. Yet, the sport car prod uction has its own competition to deal with. The tight schedule and intricate timings make the manufacturers outsource some parts of their supply chain to reduce the load while the rest are carefully managed by the company. Lamborghini also uses the best possible routes to manufacturing often outsourcing some noncore aspects of production or supply chain either to reduce load or to increase efficiency. The high sales, with the first year’s production of Aventador - the first new model introduced in 10 years - all sold out, have put a high demand strain on the company . Lamborghini announced at a press event in Sant’Agata that the production of Aventador had increased its production capacity to 3.5 cars a day.