Campaign Rhetoric

Composition Project 1: Campaign Rhetoric With one of its major focuses on both textual and visual rhetoric, English 102 invites you into an in-depth analysis of how text and image work together. In politics, product advertising, education, business, and many other contexts, we see words, pictures, and even sound coming together in campaigns to send messages to their audiences. Your increasingly sharp ability to analyze the rhetorical situations of such campaigns not only contributes to the strength of your communication, but it also helps to strengthen your ability to â€Å"read† and critique the world around you.This first project invites you to analyze, evaluate, and create an evidence-based argument about a campaign that interests you. Steps in the Process Like any authentic research project, you’ll begin with inquiry: What do I know? What don’t I know? You’ll use research to get to know some campaign(s) in the media around you: Web, TV, print, radio, m obile phone. Once you’ve done that research, you’ll 1. Choose a campaign: an anti-drug campaign for teens? A local Senator’s campaign for re-election? Starbucks’s line of seasonal coffee drinks?A university’s recruiting campaign? 2. Identify the rhetorical situation: the communicator, audience, message and purpose, context 3. Analyze its rhetorical strategies 4. Use this analysis to make an evaluative argument about this campaign Your Audience Your instructor and your peers are part of your audience. But the message you send with this analysis is likely to be of interest to audiences in and out of your field. Thus, it is up to you to decide who you want your audience to be, based on your purpose, message, and context.Form Depending on your audience, purpose, message, and context, this composition may take any one or a hybrid of textual forms: e. g. , an opinion piece, a letter, a memo, a report, a blog. Research and Evidence: Your composition will draw on at least one form of primary research (see Praxis 200-205). ), and at least one form of scholarly research. Additionally, you may feel welcome to draw on other sources (journals, newspapers or magazines, Web sites, images, popular culture) as your audience, purpose, and message require.

Fantasy Story on crazy teachers

It was I who first came up with the thought that teachers at Pemberton High are crazy. In fact, some of them might not even be human! It wouldn't surprise me if I walked into the teacher's lounge one day and saw them slouching in large leather recliners peeling off their faces and talking in some strange alien language. For a start, there's my maths teacher Mr Henman. His real name is Jim Davidson, but due to his love of tennis he calls himself Mr Henman after Tim Henman. Call her anything but Mr Henman and watch out. His face goes all red and he looks like a six-foot brick wall with a bad attitude. His ring finger is about a foot long and when he wags it at you it's as though you're looking at a withering garden snake. He's over six feet tall and towers above the other teachers, even Mr Jones, our P.E teacher: And he's a big old lump! Mr Henman is a retired, yes you guessed it, tennis player! He'll pick you up by your ears and drop you on your head if you talk about Tim Henman or tennis in a bad way. As I said he's a retired tennis player. For sixteen years he tortured other tennis players and umpires alike with his skill and bad attitude. Now he spends his days torturing us. Mr Henman is pure crazy! Last week he asked the class if there was anyone who had not handed in their money for the school trip. No one raised their hand, but, I knew that my friend Timmy Anderson had not. He lives alone with his mum and sister and they sadly can't afford the trip. Mr Henman knew it too! I knew he was trying to make fun of Tim. â€Å"You'd better raise your hand,† I whispered, leaning close to Tim. â€Å"I'm not going,† he said. â€Å"Why?† Tim didn't answer but I knew. â€Å"Don't let him find out,† I said out of the corner of my mouth. â€Å"Otherwise, you know what he's like he'll say something to the whole school!† I could tell that Tim got nervous after that. He shifted in his seat and wouldn't look up front. Mr Henman goggled at Tim in the way a hungry lion would look at a raw steak. I could tell he had some diabolical plan brewing in his head. As the bell rang everyone went for lunch. I was walking with Tim and as we passed the teacher's lounge I noticed that the door was left partially open. This was it this was what I had been waiting for! This was my opportunity, I had to take it. I could sneak inside and listen to the teachers talking. I could prove that they were aliens or something worse. â€Å"Go on I'll catch up,† I told Tim. He jogged and caught up with my sister Nicole. I checked the hallway to make sure no one was coming. When I was certain it was safe, I strolled over to the door. I pulled it back a little and stuck my head inside. I couldn't hear anyone so I quickly slipped in and pulled the door to behind me. A walled coat rack separated me from the actual lounge. Still, it was quiet and I guessed that all of the teachers were down eating their lunch, peered around the corner and saw an empty room. As it was empty I decided that I would try again later and turned to go back out. That's when I heard someone coming. I was almost hysterical as I raced around looking for someplace to hide. I saw a door across the room and hoped it was another way out. I was still thinking when I heard the door open. I sprang across the room like a rabbit and in no time I was on the other side of the door. I pulled it shut and quickly realised that I was in a closet. It wasn't a solid door but one with wooden slats that ran across it. I could see out the door and hoped that whoever had come in wouldn't notice me. I almost fainted when the Headmaster and Mr Henman ambled into the room. Mr Henman sat at the little table and the head poured each of them a cup of coffee. They were only a few feet in front of me. The head sat opposite Mr Henman â€Å"Have you finished collecting for the school trip?† the head enquired. Mr Henman looked at him for a minute and then said, â€Å"Yes. All done. Everyone is going this year.† The principle took a sip of his coffee and said, â€Å"I hope this is not like last year. You can't keep paying for your kids to attend these things.† â€Å"It's not like that at all,† he said. â€Å"The kids raised money this year to help each other out. They're all paid up.† â€Å"You're sure?† he pressed her. â€Å"Last year you paid out of your pocket for almost ten kids, Jim.† â€Å"I'm sure,† he said. The head said, â€Å"Good.† He finished his coffee and left the room. Now I was really curious. What was he trying to pull? Was he trying to set Tim up for something? My ears were burning red. Mr Henman took something from his pocket and put it on the table. I squinted and saw that it was a small calculator, then he pulled out a pencil and a piece of paper. He worked something out on the calculator, wrote it on the paper and then replaced it back in his pocket. Then he pulled out his mobile. Mr Henman dialled a number and I was able to listen in on his call. â€Å"This is Jim Davidson,† he said. He looked around the room as if he was expecting someone. â€Å"Yes, I'm calling about my car payment this month. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it.† There was a long pause and then she spoke again. â€Å"I guess you could come get it at Pemberton High.† That evening as I rode the bus home, I saw Mr Henman walking from school. Earlier, I watched a man tow his car from the car park. And I noticed other things that I guess I just never paid attention to. He didn't have a nice coat like the rest of the teachers. Mrs. Bailey had a real nice pair of suede boots. Mr Henman sported a pair of old tennis shoes. He didn't look mad though, In fact, he had a smile on his face. I don't know if I'd ever seen him smile before. Maybe he was one of those people who weren't concerned about the number of possessions he owned? Maybe he was one of those people who was just happy to be living in such a prosperous area and working to help further children? Or maybe he was just a man with happy thoughts in his mind? I arrived home amazed by the look that had shone from Mr. Henman's face, as I saw him walking from school. Had that been nearly any other human being, but especially the adults that I know, they would have been in tears. Boy did I learn something about teachers that day. Especially Mr Henman. I learnt that he's not as crazy as I first thought he was, but a happy, contented man who was often misunderstood. I don't think I'll tell Tim, though. Sir wouldn't like that very much. He's not crazy, but neither am I!

Accounting Precedures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting Precedures - Essay Example ethod of accounting in recording an income or revenue item records the transaction immediately once the said income or revenue is earned even it not yet realized in money (or cash).2 After there has already been a meeting of the minds between the customer who is the source of the income or revenue and the business entity that a sales deal has been closed, the business entity may already record the transaction. For instance, S is in the business of selling television sets and video recorders which are separately classified in the books of accounts. B orders for one television set and one video recorder respectively priced at 500 dollars and 300 dollars which will be paid in thirty days. S therefore issues a sales invoice for the transaction and delivers the chattels to B together with the accompanying delivery receipt. At that instant, S may record the sales transaction in the accounting books, particularly the sales-book or the sales journal, that is, 500 dollars for the sale of the television set and 300 dollars for the video recorder. Any increase in income or revenue (sale of the appliances here) has a corresponding increase in an asset. In the above illustration, the increase in asset pertains to the collectible in the total amount of 800 dollars (500 dollars plus 300 dollars). In accounting parlance, trade collectibles are commonly termed as accounts receivable. In the ledgers, 500 d ollars will be recorded as a credit item in the television set sales-book or sales journal, and 300 dollars will be recorded in the video recorder sales-book or sales journal likewise under the credit column. The total collectible in the amount of 800 dollars will be recorded in the accounts receivable ledger. This is precisely the essence of the accrual method of accounting. In short, the income or revenue has not yet been actually realized because no cash has yet been collected for the items sold and already delivered out. It is important to state at this point that hard copy

Essentials of Corporate Fraud Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Essentials of Corporate Fraud - Assignment Example Extortion; refers to the deliberate action of a person to commit theft by seeking to obtain property or services through advancing threats to others (Coenen 2008). One specific element of extortion that the credit manager may have participated in is exposing secrets or thought facts, which may be true or untrue with the intention of subjecting anyone to hatred, contempt or mockery or to damage the individual’s credit or business. The manager’s operations can be vetted to detect any instances of fraud. A board of vetting can be hired or instituted to assess the extent of his actions, especially to track his dealings with the applicants. The credit manager’s transactions with the credit applicants can be evaluated through a credit assessment report. It will can a brief description of the two parties’ submission during the process of credit application and evaluation. The report has to be signed by both the manager and the client. It will state whether the client has been subjected to any form of extortion or not. The clients/ customers/ applicants of loans can be given an avenue of reporting their grievances to the company. Such avenues can be in form of a quality check/ control for the services offered to them by the credit manager. Through such avenues, they can reveal instances of extortion or attempts of the same to the company. c. Suppose there was no direct evidence of fraud detected in the credit manager’s operations, there will be no action to be taken on this case, against him. He is well known as a very hard worker, who lives close to the branch and frequently works late into the evening. He also has not taken any vacations in three years in spite of the bank policy that all employees take a least a weeks vacation every year.  

Brand management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Brand management - Assignment Example One of the brand names which has existed over the years is Pura, a milk produced by Lionco in Canberra, Australia. Pura is a milk product by Lionco Company. The company has been in the market for a longer time to build a competing brand like Pura. The company also purchases billion liters of milk from over 500 Australian farmers each year towards processing its milk (Lionco, 2015). Its products range from full-cream, flavored, fresh to UHT milks (Lionco, 2015). Among of its popular brands includes Pura, Dairy Farmers, Dare, Farmers Union, Classic and Big M among others (Lionco, 2015). Pura, the company’s outstanding brand has been in the market since 1935. It has a combination of natural vitamins and minerals and a creamy taste (Lionco, 2015). The products naturally provide nutrients for all family members and very essentially when taken daily. Moreover, the brand comes in nine variants to suit the emerging and every need of the occasion (Lionco, 2015). Pura has been in the market for the last 80 years, it is still doing well, and competing with other products recently introduced in the market. The products success in the market has been facilitated by its brand name. Customers identify the company with its products, hence contributing to the maintenance of their loyalty. Similarly, its continuous stay in the market makes it meets generation, which has preferences, hence has to deal with the new emerging market to remain competitive. However, there are emerging trends in the market that might affect the brand, and there is a need to take measures to counter the effects. First, consumer preferences are changing very fast, and not likely to maintain their loyalty is the product cannot meet their demands. The consumers who were present 80 years ago during the launching of the product are not the consumers of today; today’s consumers have a different need, which they want the

The Film American Beauty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Film American Beauty - Essay Example The philosophical idea of beauty Since the early days of Greek philosophy circa 427 B.C., the question of what is beauty has been asked. And in the earthly yet lofty discussion of the Dialogues, Plato narrates how his teacher Socrates draws them to realize that beauty is not only what is fair in physical form-- such as of a face, hands or other parts of the body --- but also what is fair or good in speech and knowledge. â€Å"Is not the good also the beautiful,† says Socrates (Jowett Translation 204). Apart from what is readily understood, Socrates speaks in more mystical terms as he teaches contemplation as a mental gaze to see â€Å" the very essence of beauty itself, everlasting not growing and decaying, or waxing or waning. . . which if beheld one would look and be with, bringing forth and nourishing true virtue† (118). The vision of Socrates on absolute beauty is not what is commonly known about the beautiful things in everyday life. Ordinarily, beauty is referred to with reference to appeal or loveliness mainly of the physical form, often enough of women. It would therefore be interesting to be clarified on what Socrates means by true, simple and divine beauty which â€Å"when beholden with the eye of the mind enables one to realize realities beyond images or physical form. The movie American Beauty may just have a comparable idea about absolute beauty. What American Beauty is In the movie American Beauty, the idea of beauty or the good is typified by the main characters. Living up to his ideal of the military service, Col. Fitts of the Marine Corps thinks military-like authority and discipline is good or beautiful for his family. He therefore subdued his own wife to full subservience and his son Ricky to outwardly regarding him as a role model and war hero. Next door neighbours are the Burnhams with Caroline Burnham bravely standing for the beauty of America’s economic rat-race which has turned her into a fierce competitor at the expense of her husband Lester, who has become less of a husband and more of a liability in her life. The teenage Angela Hayes typifies the young American beauty, obsessed with the need for attention and popularity among schoolmates. Her best friend Jane, daughter of Lester and Carol Burnham, has become the sounding board to her constant craving for adulation and her unending need to be someone special and not ordinary in school. Central to the movie, however, is not Angela, but Lester Burnham. The movie flows with his off-cam narrative and dramatic solutions to solve a middle-age crisis and discover the good and beautiful in life. Closely helping him in his search for life’s meaning is the young Ricky Fitts who introduced him to life space through drugs until Lester’s life was cut short by an assailant’s gun, that of Ri cky’s own father Col Fitts. The varied objects which appeared good or beautiful to the movie’s characters appear to compose the totality of beauty in the American way of life -- authority drawn from soldiery for Col. Fritts, drive for success at the expense of family for Carolyn, search for life space for Lester Burnham, popularity and attention for the insecure Angela, and the double life of discipline-and-drugs for the young Ricky Fitts. Who is the American Beauty It is easy to say that Angela Hayes, the object of a fleeting attraction of Lester Burnham is

Proposal for Emerging Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Proposal for Emerging Technology - Essay Example The research will provide IT professionals to understand different aspects of cloud technology being used by car manufacturers to allow the drivers to conduct dashboard dialogue. This will allow the cars to be connected to the human- efficient processes. The research will allow different organizations as an aid of content work (Staff, 2011). The research can also be helpful for the business practitioners who aim to undertake cloud technology for manufacturing cars with the dashboard dialogue for staying connected on the go. There has been negligible research done on the possibilities of connectivity through cloud technology. Thus, this research will allow the IT professionals and business enterprises to attain broader spectrum (Staff, 2011). Staff, C. (2011, November 11). Ford Cloud-Connected Car to Make Debut at 2012 International CES. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from CEA:

Final Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Final Exam - Essay Example Powerful and rich people in the society force the poor to adhere to social order and the weak to fulfill their own desires. An example to show how this happens may be illustrated in the perspective of crime management. According to conflict theorists, both the law and crime are products of power struggle. A few powerful groups like the police manipulate the legislative procedure, and forbid acts that intimidate their interests. For instance, regulations that forbid theft, trespassing, and vagrancy are believed to protect the rich from being attacked by the poor. Despite the fact that laws against actions like rape and murder seem not to be so obvious in a single social class’ interest, the powerless and the underprivileged are much more probable than the rich to be detained if they commit these kinds of crime. In addition, ethnic and class exploitation are basic roots of most of the crimes in societies. Failure of the powerful class to give legitimate opportunities to the poor is what results in high crime rates among the subject class. The criminal justice system demonstrates classism and racism, thus crime can only be wiped out only if exploitation and inequality are eliminated from the society. How lobbyists and PACS work Lobbyists direct their efforts basically at the national level, that is, to congress committees that regard administrative agencies and legislation that are mandated to write or enforce laws. They depend on individual relations with executive branch and Congress members who keep regular contact. They give evidence at committee hearings, offer data to the staff, and quite frequently, write the laws. On the other hand, Political Action Committees or simply PACs raise and issue money to political aspirants. They may be associated with prevailing interest groups like trade associations, though can exist independently. PACs do not often operate differently from interest groups, but rather finance campaigns of a larger lobby group. The act ivities lobbyists and PACs do not meet the needs of the middle and lower classes. It is not clear how their contributions really alter policies. Since the contributions by PACs go to the top officials, it has no direct impact to the common citizen. On the other hand, Lobbyists have busy schedules with little time assigned to consider the desires of the lower classes. Further, the influences made by these interest groups are mostly in favor of the executives, who belong to the upper class as compared to the interests of the middle and low classes. Most key politicians and corporations hire professional lobbyists with an aim to endorse their personal interests as intermediaries. This is of no benefit to the local citizen, who may have his interests but no one to represent him at the top ((Moen, McClain, & Walker 121). The story of Emmett Till Emmett’s visit to Money, Mississippi was a tragic one. He was a 14-year old African American boy who was brutality killed following the a llegations that he flirted with a white woman some few days earlier. His eyes were scraped out, his head shot, and his body thrown in a river. Till was brought up in a neighborhood full of working class people on the South part of Chicago. His mother had always warned him to be extremely careful wherever he went due to his race, but Till took it lightly. While at his uncle’s place, Till was accused of grapping a white woman and consequently murdered by the woman’

Swot Crayola Essay Example for Free

Swot Crayola Essay Crayola Manufacturing is a 120 year old company that makes safe, dependable art supplies for children. Because most consumers have never heard of Binney Smith, the Crayola maker changed its name in 2007 to reflect its brand name. Crayola has many different lines of products; as well as services, which vary from just crayons and markers. They produce 3 billion crayons a year, plus craft and character licensed activities. Crayola began as Binney Smith back in 1885 when Joseph Binney partnered with his son and nephew. Binney and Smith sold their first Crayola crayons in 1903, when a box of eight cost only a nickel. The small business began in New York and moved to Easton, Pennsylvania (where they remain today), producing the dustless chalk. In 1958 the Crayola 64-crayon box, which included 16 new colors and a built-in sharpener, made its debut on the Captain Kangaroo Show. This Crayola box became part of the collective history and experiences of generations of Americans, and a symbol of the color and fun of childhood. Crayola estimates that the average U. S. child wears down 730 crayons by age ten. And, in the same spirit, the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of American History placed an actual 1958 Crayola 64-crayon box and an assortment of 20th century Crayola advertising in the permanent collection of the Division of Cultural History. The companys products are packaged in many languages and are sold worldwide. Safety in art materials was the main focus for Crayola resulting in non-toxic colors. Crayola also has a creative factory and offers services for creative minds to run free and party space availability with all of their branded products. In 1984 Hallmark purchased Crayola and has kept the company on top of their industry with products ranging on a wide scale from markers, pencils, chalk, watercolors to silly putty and even ornaments and die cast collectables. Strengths †¢ Crayola is a recognized and highly trusted brand name and logo. In fact, 98 out of every 100 Americans recognize it. Children age 2-10, their target market, love Crayola products and have selective demand for it. Children demand the products and then influence their parents to purchase them. The Crayola brand name is synonymous with high quality and high brand loyalty. They are a global company, with a wide spectrum of individuals who use Crayola products all over the world. †¢ Crayola has built up a highly successful distribution system. Their products are available everywhere, including grocery stores, drug stores, Internet sales, hospitals, doctors offices, schools, gas stations, airports, theme parks, hotels and restaurants. They sell retail and also in bulk to organizational buyers at a lower cost. Schools all over the US and in other countries like The UK, Canada, Australia, and Mexico all utilize Crayola art materials. Crayolas website is geared for children, parents, and educators. They provide free ideas for crafts and printable coloring pages. The website is used for booking, ordering, promotional information, marketing, and more. Crayola even provides advice on how to remove stains on their official website. †¢ Crayola is well-established due to their innovation (keeping the company out of saturation and decline). Crayola has been in service for many years and knows how to cater to the needs of the consumer. Crayola is constantly bui lding new products and the growth targets many individual needs. Crayola also developed art products that emphasized international diversity by launching Crayola My World multicultural crayons. The company hoped that by using crayons, markers, paints, and modeling compounds that reflected the variety of skin tones, children would build a positive sense of self as well as respect for cultural diversity. †¢ Crayolas price range is reflective of their core target market, middle and lower upper class Americans; and their products are priced competitively with their major competitor, Rose Art. The consumer feels that the price reflects the quality. Crayola uses all non-toxic, child-safe materials that are cost effective and efficient. They use a variety of colors with fun memorable names, which appeal to children and adults. Crayola is environmentally friendly as well. They have scented products for sensory skills. They have easy grip products for motor skills. †¢ They have licensing deals with major childrens characters, including all Disney characters, and Nickelodeon characters, which increases their appeal to children. †¢ The majority of their retail promotion consists of television commercials, magazine ads, and point of purchase  displays.  Their promotion impacts and targets children primarily and foremost, however, it is a pull strategy to create an influence purchase by the parents. In most large retail stores, Crayola has their own aisle! Weaknesses †¢ In addition to its Ink Tank line, Crayola serves the professional market with its Portfolio Series collection of color pencils, oil pastels, and acrylic paints. Because they are most well-known for childrens art products, they have yet to achieve high market share in this division, and most art professionals do not use Crayola products. Crayola launched an unsuccessful line of childrens clothing in the 1980s, and it was scaled back to include only newborn layette sets. In 2007 they launched a test market campaign for Crayola branded bottled water, which was also unsuccessful, as consumers were hesitant to buy it because they antic ipated that the water would actually taste like crayons. †¢ Also in the late 1980s sales began to decline due to increased competition and the company began to slip into saturation, they began a campaign to increase demand by urging parents to purchase a fresh box. †¢ Crayolas attempt to build a solar power plant was sidelined in 2008.  They intended the power plant be used to help run their manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, however, they have run into problems finding partners to make it a reality. †¢ Crayola still ranks behind in sales and market share in their marker product line. In 2007, Sanford Sharpie had a 31% market share, with sales (at Wal-Mart) of $56 million, while Crayola had a 22% market share, with sales of $37 million (at Wal-Mart). Opportunities †¢ In 2009 they introduced two innovative lines of products for babies and toddlers; including products that allow babies to explore colors even before they can use a crayon.  The products for toddlers are large enough so that they can grasp them, an d even color in the bathtub, which allows for easy clean up, therefore appealing to the primary purchaser, parents. †¢ In July 2009 Crayola launched a school social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook. It is geared towards moms (their core purchaser) and features innovative ways to be creative and save money during back to school shopping. †¢ In the spring of 2009 they created a summer wellness campaign to encourage children to play outside more. Threats With the advent of computers and web based learning, sales of crayons are projected to decrease as children leave behind hand held art supplies at a younger and younger age. Its called KGOY-kids growing older younger, and many companies have suffered because of it, most recognizable is Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls. In the 1990s the average age of a child in their target market was 10 years old, and in 2000 it dropped to 3 years old. As children reach the age of four and five, old enough to play on the computer, they become less interested in toys and crayons and begin to desire electronics such as cell phones and video games.   Crayola is slowly falling victim to the same phenomena, how will they innovate to overcome this? †¢ In the downturned economy, parents and schools are spending less on school supplies. A survey from Deloitte found that 64% of consumers said they would spend less on school purchases. Nationwide, parents plan to spend an average of $548 to send their children back to school; and estimates range from a decline of 7. 7%, forecast by the National Retail Federation, to as much as 12% in 2009, according to Americas Research Group.

Prevention Program Resource Guide Essay Example for Free

Prevention Program Resource Guide Essay

Effect of Greywater on Plant Growth

Effect of Greywater on Plant Growth Water availability in South Africa is integral to the economy, but South Africa is a water scarce nation. An alternate solution for household waste water, excluding toilet waste commonly known as greywater is to use it for irrigation in rural community gardens. This is likely to decrease the stress on the current potable water supply and simultaneously improve food security. Indigenous African leafy vegetables are a staple diet throughout Africa. A viability trial highlighted three out of six African leafy vegetable species; Amaranthus terere, Corchorus olitorius and Cloeme gynandra. Two treatments were used as suitable for trials of germination and growth under irrigation of tap water and greywater. Greywater treatments throughout the species decreased germination and seedling height was diminished. A. terere was the most robust to both the treatments as well as weather variability. Continuous investigation is needed to address the water scarcity and subsequent food insecurity. Keywords: greywater, irrigation trial, African leafy vegetables, germination and growth Introduction Water scarcity in South Africa is an issue that requires robust discussion and debate. If not addressed, it is likely to have serious consequences for both economic growth and the countrys population (Momba et al., 2006). Agricultural industry constitutes 12% of South Africas GDP. Even though this sector is decreasing, it is still water intensive. Without aviable water source, economic input in this sector is likely to have ramifications on the countrys health (Morel and Diener, 2006). Statistics show 65% of the country receives less than 500mm of rainfall per annum (Schulze, 1997). The level of water insecurity places pressure on the existing water resource for irrigation. This shortage is felt disproportionally by small-scale subsistence farmers and community gardeners. South Africa is one of twelve countries that have safe drinking in the world and is ranked third in this group. However, there are many rural communities with under-developed water supply systems or these communities lack access to potable water sources (Momba et al., 2006 and Mackintosh and Colvin, 2002). While the need is great these small communities, they account a small percentage of the customer base. This then fuels the vicious cycle of supply and demand. As a result alternative water sources need to be acquired to satisfy the demand. Grey water is likely to be a viable prospect to efficiently mitigate this deficiency (Alcamo et al., 2000). It consists of domestic waste water excluding toilet waste. The use of potable water is not needed for all consumptive practices, example irrigation (Alfiya et al., 2011). The main objective of finding alternative and sustainable water usage is to attain water security. Water insecurity is highly interlinked with food insecurity (Al-Jayyousi, 2002 and Blaine, 2012). Thus the use of greywater for small scale agriculture has the potential to address both water insecurity and food insecurity (Rodda et al., 2011). They are most usually harvested from the wild. This practice is a threat to the continued survival of these plants Cultivating African leafy vegetables would also address their conservation need (Momba et al., 2006). Indigenous African leafy vegetables are a part of the staple diet in South Africa (Momba et al., 2006). The challenge is to continue production of these vegetables without jeopardizing potable water supplies, but by utilizing alternate water source such as grey water as a means of irrigation. The concept of grey water had both advantages and disadvantages (Rodda et al., 2011). Reducing stress on the potable supply is a main benefit but there are drawbacks to using waste material to grow plants, households have different proportions of additives, thus may effect plant growth (Roesner et al., 2006). Whereas the risks are divided into three main categories; possible detrimental effects on the environment which decreases the ability for soil to provide plant growth, subsequent effects on plant growth and yield, and risk to human health (Rodda et al., 2011). The aim of this study was to determine whether irrigation with grey water had an effect on seed germination and seedling growth, and whether this effect differed with detergent formulation. The objective was to assess if grey water can replace potable water for irrigation of indigenous plants. It was predicted that seedlings under tap water-irrigated conditions would have a greater growth rate than under greywater conditions. It was further predicted that rate of germination would not be affected by the grey water. Materials and methods This investigation took place in 2 parts. This first was to assess the viability of the seeds and to select the species for further investigation. In the second, seed germination and seedling growth under grey water and tap water treatments irrigation were evaluated. Germination trials Germination trials were performed in the laboratory in the Biology Building at UKZN (Westville Campus). An initial experiment was conducted with six species (Solanum nigrum, Amarathus terere, Corchorus olitorius, Solanum villosum, Amarathus dubois and Cloeme gynandra). Germination was tested. The most viable 3 were chosen to determine the germinability of the three selected species of African leafy vegetables. Only viability was tested for as this was pertinent to the success of the actual trial. The viability criteria were the speed at which germination took place. This indicated the viability of the seeds and validates the ability to germinate under controlled conditions. The germination viability trial was conducted in the laboratory. Each of the three species (Cloeme gynandra; Amaranthus terere; Cochorus olitorius) had six replicates of ten seeds each. Seeds were placed randomly on filter paper in a Petri dish and a smaller piece of filter paper was placed over. They were watered with deionised water until moist. An equal number of seeds were placed under illuminated and dark conditions. These were then monitored every 24 hours and replenished with deionised water as necessary. Once germination had occurred and the radicle was greater than 1 cm, seedlings were moved to the left side of the Petri dish. This prevented recounting and recording. Percentage germination was recorded. Description of Species The initial viability trial revealed that the following three Kenyan species were the most viable. C. gynandra is commonly known as spider plant. It is used as a component of a high fibre diet and, from indigenous knowledge, has medicinal properties (Mauyo et al., 2008). A. terere is another widely grown consumable in East Africa (Nabulo et al., 2011). The final species used was Corchorus olitorius, Jews mallow, a dark green leafy vegetable high in protein which is consumed in most African communities. Irrigation Trial Trails of irrigation with greywater and tap water were then performed in the Biology greenhouse at UKZN (Westville campus). Synthetic greywater (10 l) was made up freshly weekly (Table 1). It was stored in the cold storage to impede bacterial and algal growth. Detergent products used to generate the greywater were representative of solid or powder detergent products typically used in lower income households, which are those most likely to benefit from the use of greywater for irrigation of subsistence crops. The flour, nutrient broth and cooking oil were used to represent carbohydrates, salts and proteins, and greases respectively in the synthetic greywater. Seedling trays (6) were filled with Berea red soil. For three days prior to planting, the seedling trays were watered with tap water and greywater respectively until they were saturated to field capacity. The seeds were then planted into seedling trays. Species were randomized per tray. Sixty seeds of each species were watered with tap water and the other sixty seedlings were watered with the synthetic grey water. For the first 14 days, trays were watered every 24 hours. Each seed was hydrated with 0.25 ml of either synthetic grey water or tap water. Thereafter, trays were watered every second day for the remainder of the trial. The experiment was repeated three time under three treatment groups; the first treatment group was tap water for germination and subsequent growth, tap water for germination and then greywater for growth and the final treatment of grey water throughout the lifespan of the plants. Height was measured weekly. Productivity was measured by destructive harvesting (dry mass production) at end of experiment. However plant height was gauged growth during the experiment. On two occasions there was death of seedlings due to severe weather conditions and this restricted the growth period. Since this investigation was over a short time span. The weather impacted the progress of experiment. Weather variability such as intense heat, humidity and berg winds, and strong rains affected the seedlings. Even though they were protected in the shade house, the extreme elements could have inhibited their germination and growth. Statistical Analysis The data were analyzed using SSPS version 19. Two sets of statistical analyses were performed. The first test was to show the difference between greywater and tap water in terms of growth (height). A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was performed to test for normality. Levenes test for Equality of Variances was performed, the assumption homoscedasticity was violated but all other assumptions were satisfied. Since the data was not normally distributed a more robust Mann-Whitney U test was done, to evaluate the differences in germination for each species under the two conditions (greywater-irrigated and tap water-irrigated). An excel graph was then used to show the rate at which the all three species comparatively germinated in terms of the two treatments (greywater-irrigated and tap water-irrigated). Results Seed germination and seedling growth are gauged by the germination totality and seedling height measured weekly. Initial germination was 70% in tap water-irrigated seeds whereas as 45% in greywater-irrigated seeds. Figure 1 shows the totality of germinated seeds present over time for each of the three species. A. terere and C. olitorius had the highest totality under controlled laboratory conditions; C. gynandra seeds had the lowest survival percentage >40%. A. terere has the highest standard deviation, indicating the data is wide spread. Figure 2 the initial and final number of seedlings present per species and the treatment. Co. olitorius under the grey water treatment had the least number of seedlings that survived. This species also had the greatest difference between the treatments. A. terere had the greatest number of individuals that survived in both the treatments. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test rejected the H0 that there will be no difference between the two treatments, there is a significant difference between height of the three species per treatment. Therefore the distributions of height for each species across the treatments are different. Plant height differed significantly among the treatment (p < 0.05). Greywater -irrigated seedlings consistently attained a lesser height than tap water-irrigated seedlings across all species (Figure 3). Figures 3 indicate the difference in height between tap water irrigated and greywater-irrigated plants for each species. The standard deviation is shown as an error bar. Seedling height 18days after germination was lower in grey-water irrigated plants than in tap water-irrigated plants for all 3 species. A. terere had the largest standard deviation of tap water-irrigation with 10.197 whereas the greywater-irrigation treatment was 9.1197. C. olitorius which had a visibly lower standard deviation than A. terere tap water-irrigated treatment was 5.753186 and the greywater-irrigated treatment was 1.558646. Finally with the lowest standard deviation, C. gynandra tap water-irrigated treatment was 0.588196 and the greywater-irrigated treatment was 0.316563. C. olitorius had the greatest discrepancy for tap water-irrigated and greywater-irrigated. Discussion and Conclusion Africa, according to Morel and Diener (2006) is known as a water insecure continent. As adjustments are discussed on the efficient use of potable water, reusing waste water is seen as a possible solution. Alternative irrigation methods are needed for progress. Greywater is a possible alternative water source, however contrasting evidence in Morel and Diener (2006) indicates that the potential drawbacks, even though greywater is less contaminated than other waste water. Untreated greywater contains solid particles, pathogens, grease and oils, salts, and chemicals. According to Rodda et al. (2011) these impurities could have negative effects on soil quality, ground water supply and human health. With such strong findings there are studies that have shown greywater reuse as a viable alternative to 100% potable water. Greywater has been implemented a cost-effective means to reduce domestic water levels. According to Morel and Diener (2006) greywater reuse produced average yield, with decrease in water usage and fertilizer requirements. In both Cyprus and Israel domestic water used was reduced by effective greywater management schemes (Moral and Diener, 2006). In this study, greywater-irrigated seeds and plants consistently yielded poorer germination (Figure 1 and 2) and growth (Figure 3) of three species of African leafy vegetables. The germination trial (Figure1) yielded a higher percentage of germinated seeds than the outdoor irrigation trial. This is possibly due to the controlled, pathogen-free environment in the laboratory. Cited by Pinto (2010) experiment alternate watering regimes of potable water and greywater resulted in the growth of the plants very similar to 100% potable water. This is a means to mitigate the soil health risks related with greywater reuse. Even though Pinto (2010) had no significant change of plant biomass in the control and treatment, it differed in this investigation. Figure 2 indicates that A. terere were unable to acquire a high germination percentage in grey-water irrigated treatments but acquired the highest tap water-irrigated germination percentage. Hence the treatment of greywater-irrigated seeds affected their ability to germinate, with initial germination at 70% in tapwater-irrigated seedlings whereas as 45% in greywater-irrigated seedlings. The best germination in greywater-irrigation was observed by A. terere, possibly reflecting its resilience under a wide range of conditions as mentioned by Nabulo et al. (2011). Cl. gynandra had an average of  ±7% greater tapwater-irrigated seedling germination than greywater- irrigated seedling germination. Conversely Co.olitorius had the greatest variability between tapwater-irrigated seedling germination than greywater- irrigated seedling germination. Since a significant difference was calculated, greywater does effect the germination of seeds and subsequently the amount of germinated seeds able to grow. A possible factor in poor survival of both tap water- and greywater-irrigated seedlings, in addition to weather conditions, is nutrient depletion. Berea red sand had a composition of 62.68% SiO2 which is generally used and is nutrient poor (Okonta and Manciya, 2010) Since a watering regime observed, nutrients to the plant was not considered. Other nutrients found in soil are needed for healthy growth. Seedling trays were used to separate species and keep difference treatment uncontaminated but after the 2 week germination period, nutrients are need for plant growth. Each seed had  ± 18cm2 of Berea red soil, this soil consists of 12-64% and 15-57% of fine and medium sand respectively (Hamel, 2006). Water holding capacity of the soil is thus diminished due to porosity. This could have exacerbated the depletion of nutrients in the volume of sand thus leading to their inability to withstand weather variability. Soapy residue may have contributed to poor performance of the greywater-irrigated seeds and seedlings. Mataix-Solera et al. (2011) point out that the detergents in greywater cause soil water repellency of soil. It can be argued that greywater might be an interim solution, but posed long-term effects that might not be easily remedied. Soapy soil could cause hydrophobic soil properties which have poor water hold capacity. This could have hampered the germinated seeds shoot from emerging through the soil due to the coagulated surface. An alternate solution can be found according to Pinto (2010), where altering water regimes between grey water and potable resembled the results observes in 100% potable water. The pH levels remains similar between water regimes. In household greywater system the proposal ceramic pot filter is used this eradicates the large particles. Another caveat of this investigation is changing the watering regime. Initially seeds are watered every day until germination which is  ± 10days and then changed to every alternate day. Since plants are sensitive to change, the watering regime should be carefully monitored in conjunction with weather patterns. This ensures a smooth transition for the seedlings. According to Roesner et al. (2006) household waste contains 2500-5000 chemicals which if used as greywater could cause coagulation at the soil surface. More organic products could be used to reduce the amount of chemicals in the greywater (Al-Jayyousi, 2002). Pre-treatment of greywater and limiting its used only to salt-tolerant crops could allow wide use of greywater for irrigation (Al-Jayyousi, 2002). In this investigation germination of all three species was diminished under greywater-irrigated conditions, this being said with calculated changes to the experiment, greywater could possibly be a viable option in the future. An observation was made during the experiment, refer to appendix image 1 and 2 of A. terere, the leaf colour in greywater-irrigated treatment was lighter than the tap water-irrigated treatment. Image 3 and 4 also exhibit the same phenomenon in C. gynandra. Cultivation in Jordan of different crops yielded a similar observation, this was attributed to the solids and increased salinity of the greywater (Al-Jayyousi, 2002). Although the results obtained conclusively show that greywater does effect the both the germinability of the seeds and subsequent growth. It is recommended that seeds should not be irrigated with grey water, possibly increasing the percentage of seed germination. Organizations such as the Water research council are investigating innovative ideas to alleviate the pressure on South Africas stressed water system. Primary greywater systems in community gardens should be not be implement immediately rather as in Pinto et al. (2010) a combination of greywater and tap water should be used. This will relieve the possibility of failing crops. Social and environmental sustainability are interlinked which fuels the economy. Water is an integral part life and therefore should be continuously well-managed. Further research is necessary as water scarcity and availability still threatens food security around Africa.

Causes of the French Revolution Essay -- essays research papers

The Causes Of The French Revolution In the 17th and 18th centuries, France was ruled by an absolute government. The king had all the political power. And the kings who came after him were despots. For example, anyone who criticized the government could be arrested and put in prison without trial. Louis XIV at l east ruled this country efficiently. Last French kings were not good rulers. Louis XIV (1774- 1793) was king at the time of the French Revolution. He was more interested in hunting than governing France. He and his Austrians queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the Palace of Versailles. They did not really care about the state of their country. The government was inefficient, unjust and corrupt. There were too many government departments, different laws in different parts of the country and officials. Many people became angry about the way France was governed. They could do nothing to change it. The French Parliament was called the Estates- General. It was made up of the First Estate- churchmen or clergy, the Second Estate- nobility, the Third Estate- commoners. The Estate- General had not met since 1614. It could not meet without consent of he king. It had no political power. During the 18th century, the French government spent more money than it collected in taxes. By 1788, the country was bankrupt. Because the government spent a lot of money, taxes were high. The tax system was unjust. The nobles and the clergy paid hardly any taxes. The Church owned one-tenth of the land in France. It did not pay taxes. The peasants paid most of the taxes. Yet, they were the people least able to afford them. In the 18th century, France was a feudal country with class division. People were divided into three estates or classes. The First Estate consisted of the clergy. The Second consisted of the nobility, and the Third included the bourgeoisie, the city workers and the peasants. The estate to which he belonged decided a person’’power and rights. The peasants suffered most. Over 80 per cent of the population were made up of peasants. They had to pay heavy taxes. How The Revolution Changed Between 1789 and 1799 In 1789 the king called the estates to a meeting to form a National Assembly where all estates woul... ...;reign of terror." The Jacobins also followed democratic principles and believed in the benefits of the middle class, peasants, and farmers and got to participate for the first time in a political event. The Convention abolished slavery. Many of these reforms were never carried out because of changes made later in the government. Many people of France wanted the "reign of terror", the Jacobin's dictatorship, and the democratic revolution to end. The Convention finally attacked Robesspiere in 1794, and he was executed the following day. The "reign of terror",had finally ended. The Conservatives drove the Jacobins out of power. They replaced the Democratic constitution with the Directory. They started to meet in 1795, but they were troubled by war and economic problems. Bonarpartec a French general, later seized control of France in November 9, 1799, which ended the revolution. The French Revolution brought much discussion into which kind of government was best for their country. Despite all the conflicts, the revolution did create a unified state and a strong central government.

The Impact of Revolutions on the Cold War Essay -- American America Hi

Revolution was an important theme throughout the Cold War. Revolutions begat, molded and then finally brought an end to the Cold War. In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution forced Vladimir Lenin, the new communist leader, to withdraw from World War I on the side of the Western Allies and to sign a separate peace agreement with Germany. The suspicions that this aroused among the Allies were the seeds of the Cold War. In 1949, the New Democratic Revolution of China ended the Kuomintang (KMT) rule and established a communist government, thus guaranteeing the existence of the Cold War. Throughout its existence, the Cold War appeared to be something that was constantly present and unchanging. However, revolutions in Europe and Asia after 1953 continued to shape the Cold War until revolution inevitably destroyed in 1989. In 1954, after failing to contain communism in Korea, America involved itself in the Vietnam Conflict. At this time, France had just lost control of its colonial holdings in Vietnam. After the French were defeated by a communist contingent lead by Vo Nguyen Giap at Dien Bien Phu, the French decided that they could no longer retain their Indochinese colonies. In the summer of 1954, France and Vietnam signed the Geneva Peace Accords. It was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel such that the north would be communist and the south would not be. As a result of this, the United States decided to intervene in the South Vietnamese affairs in an attempt to contain communism as they had in Korea. It was at this time that the American National Security Council (NSC) published its 68th paper (NSC-68) in which they introduced the policy of rollback. NSC-68 guaranteed the liberation of nations under... ...ika into East Germany, but Honecker refused as he was planning instead to stamp out the dissidents. However, an internal plot in the East German Politburo removed him from office before he had the chance. In October of 1989, Egon Krenz was elected to office, replacing Honecker. He offered more freedoms to the East Germans, but they hungered for more. On November 9, it was announced that the wall was to come down. When people heard this news, they rushed to the wall where they overwhelmed the border guards who simply allowed them to pass. The crowd then proceeded to tear down the wall in a revolution that forever changed the Cold War. What followed was an end to the communist governments in the Soviet Satellites then an end to the Soviet Union and the iron curtain. The Cold War ended and the cycle of revolution that had played such an important role came to a close.

Geico Advertising Appeals Essay

Out of the many appeals that companies use to advertise their product or service, the need to achieve is one of the most commonly seen. In our highly competitive society, everybody is trying to get ahead. Everybody is looking for that little advantage that will push them forward. The appeal of achievement correlates with success and winning, ideas that represent the outcomes of hard work on which people like to pride themselves. In many of their ads, Geico likes to tap into our competitive nature by offering us incentives, such as saving time and money, which speak specifically to our consumer culture. Such a tactic proves to be effective because for the most part, consumers in our ambitious society like to be frugal and fiscally responsible. Nobody wants to spend an extra dime if they do not have to. Simultaneously, customers do not want to spend all day looking for the perfect insurance. Read more: The woman I admire the most essay They know that time is a finite resource and it must be spent wisely. In order to persuade customer’s into buying their insurance, Geico effectively utilizes the achievement appeal because it resonates with their goals of saving time and money. In most of Geico’s commercials, they are able to address their audiences need to achieve with a simple slogan: â€Å"15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on your car insurance.† This message that sells their customer’s on their service, however, is not seen until the end of the commercial. For most of the commercial the time is spent entertaining the audience in a humorous way. Take for example the viral â€Å"Hump Day† commercial. Throughout the ad, a camel who can talk walks through an office building asking and bugging the workers about â€Å"What day is it?† Since he is a camel with a ‘humped’ or arched back, the advertisers suggest that that the camel is referring to ‘Hump Day’ or in other words, Wednesday. This is followed up by two men who are playing the guitar with each other. In an attempt to illustrate the point of the commercial, one of them asks the other â€Å"how happy are people who switch their car insurance to Geico?† which is then followed up by â€Å"happier than a camel on ‘Hump Day.† Although the appeal of humor is meant to grab the attention of the target audience, their main reason for choosing to use Geico’s service is the feeling of achievement that they derive. In Jib Fowles’ essay â€Å"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals† he cites ‘the need to achieve’ as one of the 15 strategies which enable advertisers to reach their audience. For most consumers, the market place is seen as a competitive territory where whomever comes out having spent the least amount of money is the victor. Thus, Geico effectively advertises its service by highlighting the opportunity to â€Å"save 15 percent or more on your car insurance† by switching to Geico. Not only do they illustrate the money that can be saved, but also the time. Along with the ’15 percent’ that can be saved, Geico also mentions that this can be done in ’15 minutes;’ a relatively short amount of time . As a consequence, Geico puts their consumers in a win-win situation because â€Å"the person who manages to buy something at fifty percent off is seizing an opportunity and coming out ahead of others† while they enable them to do it in an efficient manner (Fowles). Geico’s use of the ‘need to achieve’ appeal is characterized as the most reasonable way to solicit their service as it takes nothing away from their customer, while it gives them everything in return; they don’t have anything to lose. However, humor, which Fowles labels as a stylistic feature, is most prominent in order to incite the interest of car owners. This commercial, in particular, is known for its comedic success. The ridiculous camel has become a viral sensation as it is now considered amusing to yell out â€Å"Hump Day† on a Wednesday. In fact, the commercial has over 16 million views on Youtube. Ultimately, Geico does a great job of exposing its overall message about achievement sense the build up to their trademark slogan is so appealing in itself. If 16 million people know about a camel yelling â€Å"hump day,† then 16 million people know about the time and money that can be saved by using Geico’s insurance. Jibs’ appeal of achievement is one that correlates completely with our society. We constantly strive to compete and win while we admire those who reach the pentacle of their field or profession; even if it is about something as minimal as saving money . Geico, in particular, gives people the incentive to achieve by offering people them the opportunity to save their time and money, and they respond accordingly. However, it is not the promise of ‘getting ahead’ alone that attracts their target audience; humor, is a fundamental component that is used to grab and keep the customer’s attention. Apparently, Geico does this better than anyone. What better way is there of holding a car owner’s attention then by having an obnoxious, talking camel yell â€Å"Hump Day!†? That was a rhetorical question; there is not a better way. Geico is just the best.

Desperate Times Essay

After a series of measures to remedy the mortgage crisis that has beset the US economy, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and his colleagues are once again looking at cutting the central bank’s key interest rate as they hope that lowering the interest rates will give the economy a boost by encouraging investors and consumers to borrow and spend (Associated Press, n. pag.). The Fed is looking at slashing the interest rate by a full percent however, many economist believe that this is not the appropriate remedy for economic conundrum (Gavin, n. pag).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to many analysts, the issue of the economy regarding the mortgage is the lack of confidence by both the lender and the borrower. Even as the Fed resorts to drastic interest cuts, the first time the central bank has cut a full percentage point in one shot since 1982, this provides little help if lenders are not loaning money out of fear they will not be repaid and the borrowers are reluctant to make loans since they are worried about losing jobs (Gavin, n. pag).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a recent report by the Labor Department, private employers all over the country have cut jobs in each of the past three months. With consumer spending being responsible for over two-thirds of US economic activity, it is unlikely that the interest cut will have a significant effect in the economy (Gavin, n. pag).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Federal Reserve’s move to lower the interest rate aims to stimulate a loan frenzy. By lowering the interest rate, mortgages will be made available to borrowers at more affordable rates. The Fed hopes that the American consumers will once again be enticed to take mortgages and ultimately be able to revive the economy. However, this move is quite a long shot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First, the Fed is banking on the idea that a demand for mortgages will increase if the interest rates are cut. Although this is what a change in demand means in elementary economics, it seems, however that the Fed failed to factor in the trend of the US housing market. According to reports the house prices are continuously plunging while the cases of mortgage defaults and foreclosures are increasing. These causes the investors and more importantly the lenders to lose confidence in the economy (Gavin, n. pag).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Second, this is not the first time the Fed lowered the interest rate. Since last September, the Federal Reserve has cut the interest rate for a total of six times, with the reductions becoming more aggressive since January (Associated Press, n. pag.) and this raises a valid concern. Although the Fed has its own army of experts, this interest-slashing spree might reach the point of diminishing returns if the consumers do not respond favorably to these drastic measures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Last, the Federal Reserve is not really addressing the issue of confidence by cutting the interest rates. One of the biggest reasons why the consumers are reluctant in acquiring mortgages is the fact that private corporations nationwide are practicing massive lay-offs. Lenders on the other hand are gripped by distrust as the business is beset with bad debts (Gavin, n. pag). In both cases, this breeds an atmosphere of fear and doubt which affects the borrowers likelihood of acquiring mortgages and the lenders willingness to approve loans out of fear they will not be repaid.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Personally, the Fed would have been better off if it had taken measures that would have addressed the issue of employment and bad debt. Works Cited Associated Press. â€Å"Fed cuts key rates three-quarters of a point.† March 18, 2008. The msnbc website. 27 March 2008. Gavin, Robert. â€Å"Economic quicksand.† March 18, 2008. The Boston Globe website. 27 March 2008.  

How the Reccession Has Effected the Fast Food Sector

The business I have chosen is KFC as KFC is a worldwide business and very popular inside of the fast food industry behind fast food giants McDonald’s and burger king and operates in over 110 countries throughout the world as it is a worldwide business it will be affected in different ways in different places. Here are some factors which could have affected them in the recession: People have less disposable income As of the recession many people have less disposable income to spend on fast food as will be sticking to the essentials and their individual necessities in order for them to live.Many people were made redundant in the recession which will have of impacted KFC’s business as not a lot of people will be buying their products. Also if people have less money than they will pick the cheaper brand which will impact less on their spending or they will just cut out fast food all together this will impact KFC as it will be drawing less customers as the week goes on which will force the organisation to buy cheaper and lower quality products to sell the public which will make them lose customers as well as the quality wouldn’t be what it used to be. Unemployment increasesAs the unemployment rate throughout the world increases then less people will not have a sufficient amount of money to spend on high brand fast food restaurants and will have to cut out the spending for fast food altogether as it can be very expensive and overpriced. Unemployment will affect KFC as well as they will be getting rid of people in a way to decrease their main costs in the business in order for them to continue being one of the top high priced fast food restaurants in the fast food market becoming one of the top 5 fast food restaurants in the world behind the fast food giant which is McDonald’s and Burger King.Reduce in profit As KFC is a well-known American fast food restaurant which sells worldwide they sell millions or products globally. The loss of profi t will make them have to reduce all of the costs inside of the business for example: lower the amount of employees in the business to cut the cost of the wages to lower the risk of a loss in the business and also lower the quality of the produce used in the products as the price of the raw materials have gone up.As the price of the raw materials go up then the business will be release a lower quality product which will make them lose their customers if they continue to sell a product which does not meet the customer’s needs which will make them go down in the market and will make customers go to KFC’s main competitors for example McDonald’s.

Sunwind Ab Case

2) Draw the schematic flow diagram for Sunwind and all Volvo plants. (Draw at abstract level not detailed level). Provides detail of distances and demand (quantity based on 1987 forecast) flow. Ans) Demand of Sunwind is 1250/week = 1250*45 = 56250 units The following table gives us the demand of each plant yearly for the year 1985 Plant|   | Torslando | Kalmar| Ghent| Total| Year| 1985| 17050| 4525| 12090| 33665| | %| 50. 65%| 13. 44%| 35. 1%| 100%| Year| 1987| 32919. 947| 8736. 819| 23343. 23| 65000| Depending on the percentage of share of each plant of the total in 1985, the same percentage is used to calculate the demand of each plant in 1987, as we know the total production of Volvo from all the plants put together in 1987. 3) What are the challenges facing Sunwind? Do they need a change in strategy by Sunwind? Why? Ans The challenges faced by SUNWIND are as follows : The main problem is to meet the increase in the demand from Volvo which is around 650 per week in 1985 to 1200 per week in 1986 * There is also a problem of meeting the quality of the finished products supplied by them, some of the machines like gluing machine had proved particularly troublesome and has increased rejects. * Some other bothering issues would be the off-spec plywood blanks received from Finnish supplier. * The rejection of the batches by Volvo as they haven’t met the quality constraints imposed by them. The demand for the finished goods is around 1400 units/week while the ideal capacity of plant excluding wastages is only 1250 units/week; this mismatch is of a greatest concern for the Sunwind in the present scenario. * The trend of the major manufacturers like Toyota who are working on â€Å"Less† suppliers’ model to increase the efficiency is of a big threat as Volvo might even persuade it. * The system of JIT which is being implemented recently by the Volvo group, the Belgian manufacturer is turning out to be major competitor to Sunwood on this perspecti ve. The batch size if we see for different operations varies from 2500 to 500, such a huge amount of batch size might lead to having no control over the quality issues i. e. in case of any damage done its hard to find out and the who batch has to be set off which is of a huge loss for the plant. * This large batch size might also increases the MLT hence leads to a lot of inventory which has a lot of adverse effects. For the other part of the question whether they need to change the strategy of the Sunwind or not, yes they have to change indeed to so as to protect themselves from Volvo by meeting their demand needs.At the same time the technological aspects of Sunwind are at a ground level, they need to compete with the competitors and have to go for new machinery. Right now they are not following the JIT method while Volvo has gone for it, In that case to meet the Volvo demands it might have to put a huge pile of raw materials instead if it makes itself a JIT system it could save it self from one of the competitors. Their batch size as mentioned before is also very large, hence they need to change this strategy too. There is a quality issue also being faced hence they a need a new strategy which can address all these issues in a very efficient way. ) What are the benefits to implement JIT for Sunwind? How Volvo will get benefited if Sunwind goes for JIT production and delivery? Ans) The benefits to implement JIT for Sunwind are 1. The main advantage would be saving on inventory i. e. there is no need to spend a lot of money in storing the inventory for huge number of days until it is used instead JIT takes care of inventory only when needed hence there is no idle inventory. 2. The JIT system will take care of the batch size this will help increasing the frequency and also easy transportation and on time as the batch size is small 3.In case of any defects the wastage would be in a small scale 4. The quality issue can be addressed, if we have the batch size to be small there is an every chance to make strict quality checks and reject the rest. 5. This helps in cutting the waste by cutting the excess capacity or inventory and removing the non value-added activities. 6. This will develop a close relationship with their suppliers, in a way they will get suppliers as a partner in the venture. 7. This will also encourage the suppliers to get themselves placed in and around the Sunwood plant so as to deliver the raw materials on time. 8.This system gets an in-plant representative who will be onsite in Sunwind on behalf of the suppliers whose main purpose is to plan and schedule the replenishment of the materials from the supplier hence even the forecasting is also taken care by him. 9. He also helps in designing ideas to help reducing cost and improve manufacturing processes and managing production schedules for suppliers, materials contractors and other subcontractors. 10. It also provides the best organizational structure needed to improve the supplier coordination by integrating the logistics, production and purchasing processes together.The advantages of the Volvo if Sunwind go for JIT is same as the ones enjoyed by Sunwind on behalf of their supplies * This will develop a close relationship with Sunwind. * This system gets an in-plant representative who will be onsite in Volvo on behalf of the Sunwind whose main purpose is to plan and schedule the replenishment of the materials from the supplier hence even the forecasting is also taken care by him. * He also helps in designing ideas to help reducing cost and improve manufacturing processes and managing production schedules for suppliers, materials contractors and other subcontractors. It also provides the best organizational structure needed to improve the supplier coordination by integrating the logistics, production and purchasing processes together. 6) How many varieties of products does the Sunwind manufacture for Volvo? How does this information help to design pro duction and delivery? Ans) Sunwind was the only supplier for the floorlid for the 5-door 700 series station wagon. These were offered in several carpet/ colour combinations. The lid comprised of 4 separate items – front panel, rear panel, left panel and the right panel.The carpeting could be any of four different colour choices – beige, blue, black and burgundy. The carpeting could be either needle felt or tufted. Thus 32 part numbers were needed to specify a particular part/ colour/ carpet combination 4 parts x 4 colours x 2 carpets = 32 This data of the variety of products being manufacture will give us an advantage of designing the production through JIT. One of the process considerations in lean systems â€Å"Uniform workstation loads â€Å" comes into the picture. This in turn would decrease the big lots there by decreasing the average inventory level.We can follow the production model of â€Å"heijunka† which is the levelling of production load by both v olume and product mix. Using this what we can do is to form batches in a way so that each batch gives us 32 varieties of different materials instead of having the same variety in a batch. This would help workers to get acquaintance of all the products and also though there is any wastage in a batch the other batch can cover up for it, if a batch has all the products of same kind it would be a problem if there is any defect or quality issues.Thus this data of the variety of products gives us the division of batches in an efficient way which reduces the extra non value added costs. 8) Provides details of some critical characteristics of one of the Volvo operations (Customer interface point) between Volvo and Sunwind. How does may this information be helpful to get advance intimation to prepare the next JIT delivery? Ans) Sunwind’s interface with Volvo parts at the order placement. Every 4 weeks Volvo send an order form indication the requirement over a 60 week planning horizon. This was broken into seven 4 week periods and one 32 week period. The next interface was at the loading stage of the shipping process. Volvo mandated that it suppliers use Volvo’s wholly owned transport company, use standard containers and ship one part per container. Sunwind ordered transportation and empty containers as required. Post shipping, the next interface would be at the inspection upon receipt of parts by Volvo. If the randomly chosen container did not pass the stringent quality control criteria, the entire shipment would be rejected and the supplier would be called.Sunwind could then either replace the entire shipment ot come to Torslanda to check the rejected shipments and replace the defective parts. Rejected parts were either scrapped or sent back to the supplier at the supplier’s expense. The fault would be officially notified and the next shipment would be subjected to 100% inspection. The interface points are at various stages in the part procurement process. Continuous communication between supplier and vendor enables updation of records on both ends and real time flow of information.The 4 week periodical order placement can help Sunwind plan its production such that they complete production just in time for shipment and the shipment occurs just in time for assembly at Volvo. Shipping is done through Volvo’s own transport system. Knowledge of the production schedules of Volvo in advance will enable Sunwind to request transport and containers in advance so that they arrive just in time for loading. This makes for efficient operations as the production can then be planned to meet the shipment schedule.Inspection procedure is well defined and knowledge of this can help Sunwind optimize its production to avoidrejection upon shipment. Rejection of shipments can be costly and they run the risk of not being able to meet the just in time production schedule. 9) How KANBAN, facilitator of JIT inventory Design be used for Sunwind operations? Show few sample calculations. Ans) In order to avoid the stock outs or overproduction Kanban can be used as a facilitator of JIT system. According to Kanban system, there is a card which contains the requirement or the supply of units written on it.Once if the card reaches the supplier depending on the requirements the desired date the supplier manufactures or prepare the goods and then they will be put in the same box with the card in place. The same process is done when the units reach the ordered company it will crosscheck the number of units in the box with the required in the card, once it matches it will then proceed to the operations. The best use of this comes when the manufacturing process has lots of operations involved in it with different batch sizes and cycle time and lead time.For example if we take Sunwind it has 8 operations with different batch sizes hence by using this it can send the Kanban cards at will according to the lead time to the respective sup pliers and they can receive the desired goods right on time and can verify it also accordingly. The basic formulae to calculate the number of Kanban cards is Kanban quantity = Daily Demand x Lead time (in days) x Safety factor Container quantity Here the daily demand can be calculated as we know that the demand per week is 1250 and there are 5 working days per week thus the daily demand is 250 unitsThe lead time here as it is not mentioned clearly anywhere in the case we have taken the sentence† the production is planned two weeks before†. Using that we can get the lead time as 2 weeks i. e. 14 days (including working and non-working days) Safety factor: we are taking a standard 10%(assumption) hence the whole quantity is multiplied by 1. 1 Container quantity is given in the case as 20 units Hence Kanban quantity = 250*14*1. 1 = 192. 5 20 Thus using this estimate this will give us a forecast of how many Kanban cards are in place for the JIT beforehand and would make the process efficient enough. 1) Repeat Q10 for Volvo’s Kalmar and Ghent plants. Write only short discussion and detailed calculation and diagram is not expected as in Q10. Ans) The distance plays a major role when it comes to Kalmar and Ghent plants as for us to make a JIT delivery of 4 times a day, the transportation including all logistics plays the deciding factor. Similarly if we look into this case the distances are shown below Save to Kalmar —– 179. 82 Miles or 289. 39 KM (Source : http://www. mapcrow. info) Save to Ghent —– 1284 KM (source : Google Maps)For both the plants if we see there is no feasibility to do the JIT supply 4 times a day as the distance is so large that the transportation becomes a problem and even though if pains are taken and the things are meeting the deadline, the efficiency decreases as this will in no way an add on for the current existing process in terms of the ROI ( Return on Investment ). Q 5 ) Draw the process flo w diagram of Sunwind operations. Perform capacity analysis Sunwind’s operations. Is the capacity at plant sufficient to meet the requirement (Demand and any other) of all VOLVO plants?How would you interpret the capacity calculations? (Consider a batch size and process time information in Exhibit 8). What is the Manufacturing Lead time? Do you think it is right or a long MLT in line with JIT requirement? If it is short or long, what is cause of such short/Long MLT? Ans. Operation 2- Painting Cycle time: 1. 15 min Operation 3&4-batterns, riveting inserting studs Cycle time: 6. 85 min mins Operation 1-Shaping plywood panel Cycle time-2. 8 min Raw material (plywood) Operation 7- Attaching metal and carpet fixturesCycle Time: 2. 2 min Operation 6-Gluing Carpet Cycle Time: 4. 25 min Operation 5-Mounting hinges Cycle Time: 0. 95 min Operation 8-Assembly of left and right units Operation 3 is the bottleneck with maximum cycle time of 6. 85 mins. So it becomes the cycle time for the entire process. The working time for a personnel/week = 40. 7 hours. So, effective working hours/day= 8. 14 hours. Therefore, total no. of units produced/ day=8. 14*60/6. 85= 71 units. ( considering 100 % capacity utilisation) So at 100 % utilization,output/week= 71*5= 355 units/ weekMonthly production= 1420 units. Starting from January 1985 Volvo’s maximum demand per month till July was 1115 units. So Sunwind was able to meet the demand . In August 1985 when demand of Volvo’s three plants surmounted to 4000 units / month Sunwind was unable to supply the required quantity. In 1986 when the forecasted demand of Volve stands 1387 units/ week present capacity of Sunwind ( 355 units/ week) is not sufficient to meet the demand . Direct labor content ( parts fabrication + operations 1-9 ) =18. 8+25. 2+5. 15= 49. 15 mins/ shirt (excluding set up time)If we consider batch sizes of 500 (operation 6 has the minimum batch size of 500) the changed cycle time for each operation are as follows: Operation 4 with zero set up time still remains the bottle neck time and hence the cycle time. So the batch size does not influence the process cycle time. To meet the average forecasted demand of 1400 units/week in 1986 the cycle time of the entire process should be 1. 4 min assuming the plant operates at 80 % efficiency level. Since different operations have different WIPs( according to batches as shown below):Manufacturing lead time is given by MLT= WIP * Cycle time At current plant capacity, considering lids are produced in batches of 500 MLT= (2500+1500+1000+1500+500+500)* 6. 85 = 51375 mins =856. 25 hrs= 21 weeks (considering working hours of 40. 7 /week as bottleneck operation is run in 1 shift only) The lead time is very high and the primary cause for this is large lot size used for production. A high MLT cannot go hand in hand with JIT production. The JIT philosophy is timely delivery of customer order . To meet the delivery deadline for a JIT e need to start t he production as soon as the order is booked. For this we need to maintain a minimum Manufacturing Lead Time as products are produced in batches. Q 7) Should Lars Olav were to design a JIT programme at Sunwind, what should be its elements? Give details about the current status and future requirement of few essential ingredients of JIT/Lean elements requiring improvement/change in Sunwind. Please suggest/show your improved/changed version of the Sunwind operations process to meet the requirement (Demand and any other) to all Volvo plants.Hint: You may like to meet the new demand (1987 forecast) by balancing the capacity of Sunwind operations. Ans. The elements of a JIT programme would be as follows: 1) Make to order strategy and not make to stock. This will reduce over production which not only creates excessive lead times and inventory but also makes it difficult to detect defects. 2) Reduction of inventory level so as to identify quality issues more promptly and effectively thereby correcting at source instead of creating rejections at end. ) Setting a plant layout such that the distance between adjacent workstation is minimum. This will reduce material handling cost and time. Excessive movement of products can at times cause damage and deterioration of product quality. 4) Manufacturing lead time to be minimum so as to reduce waiting time for starting production when an order is booked. 5) Close ties with supplier making sure they are located in close geographic proximity in order to promote strong partnerships and better synchronise product flows.Current status and requirements for adopting JIT in Sunwind: 1) High raw material and WIP inventory level. High batch sizes don’t allow problems to surface immediately. This hinders quality check at source. Few of the quality control procedures were followed in practice. Processes were not monitored formally. Defects were inspected by customers after delivery instead of identification in-house. Defective mate rials were rejected by eliminating the problem but no summary statements were available in Sunwind concerning the rejects.Sun Wind needs to reduce its inventory level and present MLT so as to identify defects at source thereby reducing cost as rejection rate comes down. 2) Presently in Sun wind due to extended delivery lead time of some items (eg. Carpeting) the purchasing department uses a 3-6 months planning horizon. On the contrary the production planning department focuses on first four weeks of delivery schedule which unnecessarily increases the inventory level. As a result raw material inventory unnecessarily goes up.Sun Wind should ask it supplier to reduce this lead time as it is planning to go for JIT. The benefits of a successful JIT can only be realized if your inventory levels are low. Considering suppliers as partners in venture can build long term profitable relationship wherein there is a win-win situation for everyone. 3) Sun Wind is presently operating in moderate b atches which is giving a very high Manufacturing lead time which is not acceptable for a JIT . To meet the increased demand for Volvo Sunwind needs to improve its cycle time as well as reduce its MLT by reducing batch size.Only operation 6 has a significant set up time which has to be reduced for going to JIT by enacting machine controls or preparing for changeovers while a job currently in production is still being processed. 4) In Sunwind the workstation load at different operations is not uniform. The cycle time at different processes vary considerably. As a result there is inventory pile up at workstations with high cycle time. Capacity planning and line balancing are to be used to meet the changed requirement of Volvo plant in 1987. In 1987, Volvo needs 65000 units of 700 series 5-door station wagons.To meet this demand Sunwind needs to produce =65000/52= 1250 units/week. At current capacity Sunwind can only produce 350 units/week. To meet the demand Sunwind needs to produce=12 50/5=250 units/day. We propose change in number of workers and number of shifts to meet the required demand(considering Save plant of Sunwind alone will be producing for all Volvo plants) as shown below. Present Situation Proposed Capacity Planning and line balancing to meet new requirement In this changed line balancing the bottleneck operation is Operation 6 with a cycle time of 2. 83 mins.Since operation 6 has got maximum set up time and Sunwind is producing 32 combinations of part/color/carpet, we assume Japanese concept of heijunka for a JIT, a batch of 32 each wherein all the varieties will be there per batch. Assuming a reduced set up time of 15 mins /batch for JIT achieved by machine control , we get a cycle time of 2. 83+0. 47= 3. 3 mins. Since this operation is run for two shifts the daily production will be = 2*8*60/3. 3= 290 units/day. Operation 7 which has a lower cycle time becomes the bottle neck as the process is run for 1 shift only. No of units produced /day = 8*60 /1. 3=262 units. Hence we can say the actual bottleneck is operation 7 with a cycle time of 1. 83 mins which run for single shift. Hence this becomes the cycle time for the entire batch process. To meet this requirement 3 additional workers at Sun wind’s Save factory are needed as per changed capacity planning. In this scenario of JIT an operational efficiency of above 95 % will be needed to meet the demand requirement of 250 units/day or 1250 units/week (assuming 5 days week) If each batch of JIT is 32 units, in that case per day no of batches produced will be =250/32=7. Hence a JIT will shorten the Manufacturing lead time thereby reducing the inventory level and lumpy requirements on different workstations. This will help identify defects immediately and strengthen quality control measures and help achieve higher efficiency. MLT for JIT= WIP* Cycle time = 32*6*1. 83=351. 4 mins=5. 86 hours. Q 10 Assuming that Sunwind is now ready for JIT delivery (hope so, based on your Q1 to 9 analysis and suggested improvement), how to synchronize the delivery of product 4 times a day to Volvo’s Torslanda Plant? For this you may require the one day demand of Torsdland plant) Ans. The actual demand of 5 door model 700 for Volvo’s Torslanda Plant is 1985 is 17050. The total demand for Volvo isn 1985 is 33665. So Torslanda plant produced around 51 % of total Volvo’s production. Considering the same percentage production of total Volvo’s requirement, by using the overall forecasted demand of Volvo plant in 1986, Torslanda plant will require to produce =51% of 62400= 31824 units annually.Hence per week demand is calculated to be=31824/52= 612 units. Since Sunwind runs 5 days a week, daily production requirement will be=612/5= 122 units. Considering new Capacity planning and line balancing for Sunwind as in Q7, our cycle time is 1. 83 mins ( bottleneck process 7 running for single shift). As the bottleneck operation is for single shift, in orde r to synchronise the delivery of products 4 times a day to Volvo’s Torslanda plant we need to have an MLT which will be atleast= 8*60/4= 120 mins.Considering the previously arrived cycle time of 1. 83 mins in Q7 There will be WIP of equal size at 6 different work stations (Operation 1 to 7) where processing will be done in batches. Hence maximum batch size that can be allowed so as to make a just in time delivery of new order booked 4 times a day =120/(6*1. 83)=11 Lot sizes of 11 units if produced in JIT system can enable us to deliver products 4 times a day, if the product criteria and combination is known beforehand.

Aldi Inc Strategic Swot Analysis Review Essay Example for Free

Aldi Inc Strategic Swot Analysis Review Essay Summary Aldi, Inc. (Aldi) is a grocery retailing company. The company’s stores supply various food and general merchandise such as fresh meat and produce; refrigerated and frozen foods; snacks and sweets; bakery, dairy, pantry items and beverages. In addition, it also offers skincare and beauty products, house hold must have products, and beer and wines. Aldi operates over 1,200 stores in the US and sells over 1,400 of the most frequently purchased grocery and household items in manageable, non-bulk packaging. It operates as a subsidiary of ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG. The company is headquartered in Batavia, Illinois, the US Our Aldi, Inc. provides a comprehensive insight into the company’s history, corporate strategy, business structure and operations. The report contains a detailed SWOT analysis, information on the company’s key employees, key competitors and major products and services. This up-to-the-minute company report will help you to formulate strategies to drive your business by enabling you to understand your partners, customers and competitors better. Scope – Business description – A detailed description of the company’s operations and business divisions. – Corporate strategy – Our summarization of the company’s business strategy. – SWOT analysis – A detailed analysis of the company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. – Company history – Progression of key events associated with the company. – Major products and services – A list of major products, services and brands of the company. – Key competitors – A list of key competitors to the company. – Key employees – A list of the key executives of the company. – Executive biographies – A brief summary of the executives’ employment history. – Key operational heads – A list of personnel heading key departments/functions. – Important locations and subsidiaries – A list of key locations and subsidiaries of the company, including contact details. Note: Some sections may be missing if data is unavailable for the company. – Gain key insights into the company for academic or business research purposes. Key elements such as SWOT analysis and corporate strategy are incorporated in the profile to assist your academic or business research needs. – Identify potential customers and suppliers with this report’s analysis of the company’s business structure, operations, major products and services and business strategy. – Understand and respond to your competitors’ business structure and strategies with Our detailed SWOT analysis. In this, the company’s core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are analyzed, providing you with an up to date objective view of the company. – Examine potential investment and acquisition targets with this report’s detailed insight into the company’s strategic, business and operational performance. Aldi Inc Strategic Swot Analysis Review. (2016, Sep 18).

Belief in People and Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Belief in People and Team - Essay Example As a leader, one realizes that one has to focus on that common interest to make sure that the organization functioned effectively. As Dr. Bennis has pointed out in his writings, it is essential that the leader create a sense of mission (ASAE Foundation, 2004). That is exactly what one did to keep the organization to a good start. The group started out by defining the mission and vision statements. One had to make sure that everyone in the organization believed in the objectives that were set. One knew that as the leader of the group, one has to rally them towards the attainment of the goals. The next step was to engage and motivate the members (ASAE Foundation, 2004). The problem that one faced is how to motivate each one of them. One realized that to be able to motivate them it is essential that one gets acquainted with each individual and uncover what drives them into action. One has to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each member to be able to assign them to jobs which wi ll put their talents and skills to their best use. This is a point which Dr. Bennis emphasized in his book, that is, a leader should determine the highest potential of each member (1994). One did this by letting each member fill out a questionnaire where they were asked their qualifications, interests, talents and hobbies. After going through the form, one got an idea which person may be appointed to do a certain duty. As a leader, one got to know his members better and identified the things that motivate them. Another unforgettable experience that one had about leading the organization was when one had to introduce changes in the previous system established by the past president. The past president required that each member report directly to him about the donations that were gathered for the projects of the group. One believed that the organization would function better if they were divided into groups which were

[Communication spread-Internet] How has the spread of communications Essay

[Communication spread-Internet] How has the spread of communications technology afected cultures around the world Asess the extent to which the Internet is a medium for Western culture alone - Essay Example The most immediate and obvious result of the spread of the internet and communications technologies in recent years has been the political destabilizing effects they can have for despotic regimes across the world. As with so much in history, this all boils down to a question of power. Much of late industrial society was witness to the atomization of individuals with respect to their position in society. Consumerism broke down social bonds and links. The internet has somewhat reversed that trend. It has allowed people, not just for political reasons but also for cultural or religious ones, to unite and â€Å"re-connect† with one another. â€Å"Information Age gurus claim the Internet will alleviate global poverty, empower individuals, revolutionize commerce, and spread the light of democracy to far corners of the globe†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shapiro 1999). One well-known example was the case of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. When the government sought to crackdown on protesters, the internet allowed many to network with one another. Freedom loving peoples from cultures around the world have found in the internet a means of connecting. Just before the Olympics, Chinese human-rights activist Hu Jia was able to testify via the internet to the European Parliamentà ¢â‚¬â„¢s Subcommittee on Human Rights and â€Å"[deplore] the ‘human-rights disaster’ in China† (Billitteri 2008). Aside from bringing people together, the internet has exposed people to values and cultures other than their own in a way which was hitherto only possible with international travel. People can communicate across oceans and continents. A great part of this â€Å"exposure† has been the spread of democratic ideals and Western cultural values about freedom. For much of human history, the de facto system of government was almost always tyranny of one form or another. In recent centuries, beginning in the West, there developed the idea that the public should have a