Early Cold War Essay

The term Cold War was first introduced by Bernard Baruch, an American businessman and political adviser to every President from Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy (â€Å"Bernard Baruch†). It was a time of mutual distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies which begun after World War II. From Democracy in America’s author, Alexis de Tocqueville, â€Å"There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. . . . Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world† (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). The primary concern of the United States during the early years of the Cold War was the political threat of the spread of Communist ideology from the Soviet Union (Zinn, 1980). Further back in its history, Russia exhibited radical tendencies by overthrowing Tsar Nicholas, followed by the Bolshevik Revolution, the unification under Lenin where Communism’s seed began to sprout and continued by Stalin (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). A history of military intervention in Eastern Europe climaxing in 1948 in the overthrow of the democratic government in Czechoslovakia by a communist coup were thrown as examples of Soviet expansionism. This reminded the American public of the atrocities of Hitler (Zinn, 1980). And with him in mind the United States and its western European allies began to see Stalin as a threat (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). The more fearful concern was the Soviet Union’s revitalizing industry after badly scathed by the aftermath of World War II and its increasing military strength (Zinn, 1980). The United States slowly exercised its economic might by refusing to aid any post-war reconstruction in Russia as approved by the U. S. Congress in 1945, a major about face in policy under the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 wherein the U. S. shipped huge amounts of war equipments to Russia (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Coming from the huge gains of World War II, the United States was also wary of regimes opposed to its capitalist structure. That fear was best exhibited by the emergence of Soviet Union as a global power with an ideology opposed to democratic and industrial capitalist principles of the United States (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Americans generally fear revolution. They fear â€Å"change — real, fundamental social, economic and political change† (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Fro all its democratic talk, America has a history of suppressing true liberalism and radicalism. The Soviets also had their share of fears in the early years of the Cold War. After World War II, Stalin feared that democratic principles would be forced upon the Communist tenets of the Soviet Union. He believed the two principles cannot co-exist. As he warned in his speech, capitalism and imperialism made future wars inevitable (â€Å"Episode 2: Iron Curtain 1945-1947†). Stalin also was aware of the United States expanding influence all over the world. He was wary of this move and pressured Turkey, a country located strategically on the southern borders of Soviet Union, for a Soviet military presence in the Darnanelles and the Bosporus. Turkey was then influenced by Great Britain and eventually aided by the United States. The atomic bomb that was dropped in Japan started the concept of the nuclear arms race which the Soviet Union was interested to join. But Stalin received intelligence reports that the Americans â€Å"would not share atomic secrets with the Soviet Union† (Zubok, â€Å"Cold War Chat†). The mutual distrust and fears of both the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in actions that further shaped the history of the Cold War. The United States’s fear of the possible spread of Soviet Communist ideology led to their policy of containment. What is now known as the Truman Doctrine paved the way to the formal declaration of cold war against the Soviet Union. This was the famous speech of President Truman to the U. S. Congress asking for $400 million to aid Greece and Turkey’s fight against communism (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). The containment policy of the United States involves military interventions to countries where Communism was viewed to thrive. The most famous display of the containment policy was the Vietnam War which started in 1950 under President Truman’s administration. Armed with the U. S. Congress resolution named Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson further escalated the war by bombing North Vietnam and continuing to send as many as 540,000 troops by the end of 1968. As more Americans left and died in Vietnam, the anti-war sentiments back home put pressure on the government. The Nixon years saw the continuance of the Vietnam War with the expansion of hostilities in Laos and Cambodia. Nixon’s Vietnamization policy of providing military aid but not troops proved to be a temporary success. A 1972 preliminary peace draft in Paris was initially rejected. By 1973, Nixon convinced Hanoi and Saigon’s President Nguyen van Thieu to sign the Paris Peace Agreement which ended the hostilities between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The containment policy also played a role in the creation on April 4, 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), currently an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe. This was the outcome of Europe’s fears of another Soviet aggression in the guise of Stalin when they were just about to rebuild after Hitler’s dictatorship. Western Europe also needed the assurance of the United States’s protection while they started to rebuild from the ruins of World War II. NATO members’ common grounds are said to include the same democratic ideology and capitalist structure of economy (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). In the late 1940s to 1950s both the United States and Soviet Union sought to build their military arsenal. For the United States, this gave way to military integration, the passing by Congress of the National Security Act in 1947 which created the Department of Defence, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). On the Soviet side, they detonated an atomic bomb of their own in 1949. The first H-bomb was also detonated by the United States in 1952. Not to be outdone, the Soviets detonated a fusion bomb in 1953 (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). NSC-68, a policy the United States adopted in 1950 raised defense spending to staggering amounts, up to $60 billion dollars, â€Å"a symbol of America’s determination to win the cold war regardless of cost (Kreis, â€Å"The Origins of the Cold War†). Although the Cold War has now officially ended, the United States, the only legitimate superpower left, continues to establish a world order that caters to its capitalist structure. Military interventions have been part of its policy if it serves U. S. interests. During the Cold War, the goal was the containment of Communism. At the present, terrorism is the new battle cry. It is said the United States owns a very large percentage of the world’s wealth while it tries to suppress those who oppose to its capitalistic tenets. Currently, we are seeing the emergence of a possible superpower like China. It has been known as the sleeping giant and could be a contender to displace the United States from its current status. Whether there will be another Cold War by any other name, only time will tell. References Bernard Baruch. Answers. com. Retrieved 10 December 2006 from the Web: http://www. answers. com/topic/bernard-baruch Cold War (1998). CNN. com. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/cold. war/episodes/02/ The Origins of the Cold War (2006). TheHistory Guide Website. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www. historyguide. org/europe/lecture14. html Zinn, Howard. (1980). A People’s History of the United States. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www. writing. upenn. edu/~afilreis/50s/zinn-chap16. html Zubok, Vladislav Dr. (1998, October 4). [COLD WAR chat moderated by COLD WAR reporter Bruce Kennedy for CNN’s COLD WAR series]. COLD War Chat: Dr. Vladislav Zubok, Historian. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the Web: http://www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/cold. war/guides/debate/chats/zubok/

StockTrak

If we compare our Bear and Bull spreads to short and long stock positions respectively we can actually show how options are highly levered financial instruments, increasing profits, but also losses tremendously. If we had shorted a Cataracts stock our profit from the price decline would have been 6. 50% per share, while with our Bear Spread we made a profit of ten times the cost of building the spread. On the other hand, If we had held a Nikkei stock we would have had a loss of 6. 27% per share from the price cline, whereas our loss with the bull spread was 74. 8% if we compare it to the cost of building the spread. This figures show how option trading is cheaper relative to stock trading, but profits or losses are much higher in percentage terms. For our Butterfly, Strangle and Straddle strategies we chose Pfizer, which based on our analysis, presented Itself as a very stable stock, with a 6-months average price of $30. 66 and a current price of $31. 12 (March 13th). We wanted to be t on very low volatility and make a profit from very low fluctuations from Pfizer stock.Our Butterfly parade consisted on shorting two 32-strike calls and taking a long position on 31- strike and 33-strike calls. The center strike price of our butterfly was the exercise price of the Straddle and also lied exactly in the middle of the $31. 5-strike put and $32. 5-strike call for our Strangle. In the end, our Butterfly spread turned out to be for our spread (see Graph 3). 2. ) The article posted referrers to â€Å"covered call writing† as taking a long position on stock and writing a call that is significantly out-of-the money.With his strategy, if the call option is exercised and the investor has to sell his hares, he is covered by holding the underlying. If we compared the covered call strategy to a short naked call we can clearly see that the risk for the naked position is unlimited if the price of the stock increases. With the covered call, by going long on the underlying, we cap our profit but we also limit our loss, whereas with the naked short call we are completely exposed. The analog position using puts, I. E â€Å"covered put writing† would mean writing a put and shorting the underlying.To execute such a strategy is possible, but the risk embedded in it is very high, because the potential asses from a price increase in the stock are unlimited. The premium gained from the put writing might not be large enough to cover the losses from the short position if the price increase is high. 3. ) For our collar strategy we selected Apple stock. To execute such a trade we bought 1,000 shares at $527. 49, went long one thousand 535-strike puts and shorted the same number of 540-strike calls; both option contracts expired on April 25.Our collar was as close to zero as possible, where the put options had a price of $16. 5 and the call options were priced at $17. 25. If the rice of Apple had stayed between the two designated strikes, our profit would ha ve been the value of the stock plus the $0. 75-differential between the option prices. At maturity Apple closed at $571. 94, meaning that the call option was exercised and we lost $41. 94, but we also gained $44. 45 on the price appreciation of the shares, leaving us with a net profit of (44. 45 – 41. 94 + 0. 75) $3. 26 per share. 4. To execute the stop- loss and delta-hedge strategies we wrote 100 at-the-money call option contracts on Backbone and Google. Our initial position to hedge both strategies was long the hares of both companies. For Backbone we used the stop-loss strategy and set arbitrary times to check our positions and hedge it. The initial cash inflow of shorting these options was $35,500 and the cost of hedging this position went up to $174,312. 51. On the other hand, with the Google options we used the delta-hedge strategy and checked the stock price 3 times a day.The initial cash inflow from shorting the calls was $54,000 and the costs related to hedging reac hed a total of $1 The amount spent for hedging the FEB.. Shares was 5 times larger than he value of the options we sold, while for Google the ratio was 20 to 1 . After seeing these figures we can observe that hedging strategies are extremely costly, but are essential to protect short positions against risk and prevent higher losses. 5. ) To create the â€Å"synthetic† rep we bought Gold at spot price of $1,296 on March 27 and shorted Gold futures expiring in April; the average of the ask and bid prices for this contract was $1 ,302.Executing this transaction, we locked in our prices for a return of 0. 463%. The I-month treasury bills from the U. S. Federal Reserve website is quoted at 0. 0167%, which is essentially 0%. Comparing the return rate from our futures contract with the I-month T-bill rate, there is an arbitrage opportunity. To exploit this opportunity we would borrow money at the T-bill rate of and use it to buy gold at the spot price, in addition to these transacti ons, we would short Gold futures to make a final profit of 0. 613%. 6. ) current pence of BIBB: $ 290. 54 price of put @ 290: 10. 30 price of call @ 290: 13. 00 Deep in the money calls: price of call 0280: 9. 40 pence of put 0280: 5. 42 Deep in the money puts: price of call @300: 7. 72 pence of put 0300: 16. 8 If we look at at-the-money options and, considering that the risk free rate is essentially zero, the stock price and the present value of the strike price are practically equal, so in order for UT Call Parity to obey, the put and call price should be identical.As we can see in the quoted prices above, parity doesn't hold; the call price is higher than the put. We could exploit this opportunity by going long on the put and the share, shorting the call and borrowing the present value of K. When it comes to deep in-the-money calls the share price is higher than the present value of K, so the call price should be higher than the put price by the same amount as the price differenti al between S and IV (K). We can see from the prices above that the call is undervalued in relation to the put.To exploit this arbitrage opportunity we would buy a call, invest IV (K) and short the put and the share. Finally, for deep in-the- money puts, the share price is lower than the present value of K, so the put price should be higher than the call price by the same amount as the price differential between S and IV (K). We can see that the put is undervalued in relation to the call. To exploit this arbitrage opportunity we would buy the put and the share, borrow IV (K) and short the call. 7. When looking at the overall performance of our portfolio and its relative risk we can conclude that it was much riskier relative to the S and also had a lower return. If we look at the summary figures of our portfolio we can see that it had an overall return of 0. 63%, whereas the SPY IETF had a percentage return of 1 . 19% (see Graph 4). We believe that the reason for the lower return and higher risk of our portfolio comes from several trades involving silver and platinum futures entrants that we performed to experiment with the platform and observe how these contracts behaved.In general we think that such a project is a very useful and enjoyable way to get to know the trading world. Performing actual trades allowed us to â€Å"get our hands dirty' and truly understand how to build spreads and implement investment strategies. This project gave us the opportunity to go beyond the theory and realize that trading can sometimes be more complicated that it seems on paper, but can also become much clearer once the theory is implemented in a â€Å"real world† setting. We very much enjoyed working on this project.

Capital Aasset Pricing Model and Techniques

Before understanding the relationship of sensitivity analysis to capital budgeting it is very important to understand the concept of capital budgeting and sensitivity analysis. Capital budgeting is a procedure which helps the businesses to take decisions with regards investing into a project or not. Basically it helps to determine the investment that an entity has to make in a particular project and the expected revenue and income that the project will generate in future for the entity. Sensitivity analysis is nothing but a method which helps to analyse the same in detail so that a more sound decision can be taken with regards the same. Sensitivity analysis helps the organization to gauge into various scenarios and circumstances with regards the project in case the estimates and circumstances do not fall into place and become undependable. It is basically changing the assumptions and applying a hit and trial method to the calculations basis the changed assumptions so as to find out the expected result out of such a change. Thus in this manner the decision makers can give a second thought before investing in their money (Koening, 2015). They can come to know what losses they may have to suffer by investing in any project basis this assumptions and estimate. The said analysis highlights upon the modification in the input that would affect the net result from any project. Change is constant and hence variations will happen to the base suppositions and it is this alteration which the sensitivity analysis details about. It helps to find out the most favourable levels of inputs in a project. Therefore this is a statistical analysis of the data basis changes in the numbers such as quantity and prices. Thus sensitivity analysis details about finding the extent to which changes can be made to the input factors so that the ultimate result remains unchanged. Thus sensitivity analysis helps in capital budgeting because of the following reasons: Helps in taking a more sound decision and thus testing the results in a more detailed manner. Helps to detect errors and thus try to mitigate the same Helps to develop the model more accurately by detecting errors and trying to find solution to mitigate those errors. Develop a will knitted linkage between the input and the output variables. Therefore it is understood that the main purpose of this analysis is not assess risk but to make certain the receptiveness of the NPVs to the various variables which help to calculate it. The same is because NPV is calculated basis assumptions which is why the scenario in which capital budgeting decisions are taken is uncertain (Zhamoida, & Matsiuk, 2011). It is the most acceptable method of analysis of various changes one by one in the variables and the assumptions being made which would in turn have a bearing on the cash flow and the return from a project. As the name suggest, scenario analysis helps in taking capital budgeting decisions and techniques by taking into account unconventional possible results. The analysis is conducted in a fashion which would help to find out the net result due to an action or activity under various other set of factors such as how an NPV of a project would differ if the inflation shoots up or down. However it is equally important to know that scenario should be such which can exist in actual sense and not fictional in nature. Generally three kinds of scenarios are considered good, base and worst for computing the NPVs of a project (Boundless.com., 2012). It is an analytical tool unlike the sensitivity analysis which uses statistical tool. After the NPVs are computed then a probability of occurrence of such a scenario is allotted to ease situation and then the expected NPV and standard deviation of the NPV is calculated. This is known as coefficient variation and a CV of 1 is considered to be ideal. However on comparing the two CV basis the scenario then the one with a lower CV is considered to be more preferable than the one with a higher CV. Thus it can be said that scenario analysis although is also a behavioural approach similar to sensitivity analysis yet the former defines the capital budgeting techniques more broadly. It takes into consideration various variables together such as cash inflows, outflows and cost associated with capital invested. For example an entity should take into consideration both high and low inflationary factors and compute the implication of the same on the project’s Net present value. Each situation will affect all the above mentioned variables at the same time thus resulting into differing levels of NPV. Thus giving the decision makers a more detailed method of analysing the capital budgeting techniques used by organizations before investing into a project. Furthermore scenario analysis used in various capital budgeting techniques helps to give a summary about the risk associated with the various assets wherein the assets with higher risk will have more volatile values and vice versa. Scenario analysis entails how much economic sense does it make in investing into any project for an organization. Further by doing the analysis taking into consideration the worst scenario as well, one can take proactive measures to try to reduce the risks associated with the worst scenario   (Kengatharan, 2016). Thus on a summarizing note one can say that scenario analysis helps in detailing investments during situations which are even unfavourable in nature. It helps to find solutions during worst cases also thus trying to consider investment in various projects minutely. Definition of the Capital Asset Pricing Model: The said model is built on the Markowitz’s mean-variance-efficiency model where the patrons who are reluctant towards taking risk on investments are concerned only about the returns and the profits they expect from their investment and the difference of returns and risk. Thus the said model defines the linkage between the return and risk associated with an asset. It enables determination of the appropriate required rate of return of an asset but only in theory. It helps to take calls about addition of assets or more investment securities to an already diversified portfolio (Fama & French, 2004). The graphical representation of the formulae of CAPM is known as the security market line. Definition of Capital Market line: The Capital Market Line is plotted on the capital asset pricing model which helps to illustrate the rate of return that could be expected to receive from a well built portfolio but depending upon the level of risk associated with the portfolio of the entire market and the risk free rate of return. It is a digression from the point of interception found on the efficient frontier stretched towards the return expected from an investment which is equivalent to the risk free rate of return. There lie a number of differences between the two mentioned terms. Similarities also exist but the same is very few in comparison to the differences. The similarities between a CAPM and CML would be discussed in the form of a relationship that exists between the Capital market line and the Security market line which is a graphical representation of the CAPM. The SML is considered to be an integral part of the CML in a Capital Asset Pricing Model specifically when the risk attached to a security or an investment is computed. Their relationship depicts the similarity as one shows the risk associated with individual securities whereas the other considers these individual securities and forms the entire portfolio.   Thus performance of a single security will impact the performance of the portfolio as well. Therefore we can say that both these help to depict the association of risk with various investment securities as well as portfolio as a whole. Thus the similarity is such that both the CML and SML hypothesize a straight line association between risk and return. The CML and SML also talks about systematic risks and portfolios whic h are risk free although the SML also includes the inefficient portfolios as well. Just as their exists a relationship between CAPM and CML due to similarities between the two, similarly the two concepts differ amongst each other for various reasons illustrated below. The CML is a line that depicts the rate of return which is dependent upon the rate of return which is free from adequate risk and the level of risk for various investment groups. However CAPM or the SML line used to represent the CAPM formulae is a graphical presentation of the risk and return in a market at a particular point of time. The measurement of risk factors is another difference between the two concepts. The CML uses standard deviation to gauge risk whereas for CAPM the risk factors are firmed via the beta coefficients. Therefore the former is a measurement basis which risk is calculated in totality whereas the later tells about the contribution of the security or the investment towards the risk on the entire portfolio. CML portrays only portfolios which are competent and proficient whereas the Security Market Line used to depict the CAPM, portrays both competent and non-competent portfolios. While calculating the return, the Y Axis depicts the return anticipated from a portfolio in case of a CML and the return that the individual investments gives are shown by the Y axis in case of the SML. The X axis of CML depicts the standard deviation whereas the X axis of the SML depicts the Beta of the shares and individual investments. The two axis is well depicted in the graphs below of both CML and SML wherein the horizontal axis of the SML depicts the methodical risk and that of CML is overall risk. The CML establishes the portfolio of the entire market and such assets which are free from any risks, SML establishes all the factors associated with investments made (Campbell, 2013). Boundless.com., (2012), Scenario Analysis, Available at https://www.boundless.com/finance/textbooks/boundless-finance-textbook/the-role-of-risk-in-capital-budgeting-12/scenario-and-simulation-assessments-99/scenario-analysis-427-7232/ (Accessed 19 th January 2017) Campbell, B., (2013), CAL vs. CML vs. SML., Available at https://luckyhy.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/3/2/39328787/cal_vs._cml_vs.pdf (Accessed 19th January 2017) Fama, E.F., & French, K.R., (2004), The Capital Asset Pricing Model: Theory and Evidence, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol.18, no. 3, pp. 49-51 Kengatharan, L., (2016), Capital Budgeting Theory and Practice: A Review and Agenda for Future Research, Applied Economics and Finance, Vol. 3, no.2, pp.15-38 Koening, E., (2015), Sensitivity Analysis for Capital Budgeting, Available at https://smallbusiness.chron.com/sensitivity-analysis-capital-budgeting-10153.html (Accessed 19th January 2017) Zhamoida, O.A., & Matsiuk, M.S., (2011), Sensitivity Analysis in Capital Budgeting, Economic Herald of the Donbas, vol.4, no.26, pp.132-136

Read instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Read instruction - Essay Example The Baroque architects, gardeners and artists including the chief designer Louis Le Vau and the artist Charles Le Brun undertook a responsible mission in order to erect a palace suitable and grand enough to host the whole royal family and the large court (EAH). One of the most remarkable fragments of Versailles is the Hall of Mirrors built and decorated under the king Louis XIV in the period when absolutism was on its peak. The 73-meters-long gallery was created with intention to glorify the victory of France in the war and symbolize political, economic and cultural success of France (en.chateauversailles.fr). Marble, gilding, mirrors, crystal chandeliers and lavish decoration tell the spectator of the glory and prestige of the French court. The political achievements were depicted by Le Brun on the arches of the gallery referring to ancient allegories. The economic power of the country was transparently stated through the number of mirrors located in front of each window of the gall ery and – thus – making the hall even more spacious. The key idea of such lavish mirror use was to demonstrate the production potential of France in mirror-making (mirrors were the objects of luxury at that time). Moreover, the Hall of Mirrors adorned with splendid Baroque paintings alluding to ancient mythology and marble sculptures of the ancient Greek gods was a brilliant specimen of the best cultural and artistic tendencies of the 17th century. To my thinking, the primary purpose is achieved successfully as Versailles and – particularly – the Hall of Mirrors inspires awe even nowadays: no wonder that the hall was often used as a waiting room for visitors because it is a perfect piece to be the â€Å"face† of the court and suggest the power and splendor of the King. In this respect, it should be also mentioned that the palace must have elevated the Crown in the eyes of the people of France: the suggestive

Descartes epistemology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Descartes epistemology - Essay Example These ones are often the forerunners of methodology of modern science. It seems that Descartes' epistemology is one of the most significant systems which made (of course, along with other thinkers) philosophic background for modern science, skeptical and highly rational. Both the rise of modern science and the rediscovery of skepticism were key influences on Descartes' epistemology (Stroll; Newman). While Descartes believed that humans were capable of knowledge and certainty and that modern science was developing the superstructure of knowledge, he thought that skepticism presented a legitimate challenge that needed an answer. Thus, the rational cognition was Descartes' answer, but with the number of stipulations. Descartes considered the supposition that all of one's beliefs are false. But Descartes claimed that it is not possible for all of one's beliefs to be false, for anyone who has false beliefs is thinking and knows that he is thinking, and if the person is thinking, then that person exists (Garza). Also, it was obvious that nonexistent things cannot think. So, "Cogito, ergo sum", i.e. "I think; therefore, I am".

Dynasty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dynasty - Essay Example ty came to an abrupt ending because of its expensive military expansions and political unrest due to its autocratic and tyrannical form of government. Though principles of Confucius were respected and followed to some extent in state affairs but more emphasis was paid on Buddhism and Taoism. Education system was over-hauled. Civil service exams were introduced a long time back during the Han dynasty and during this time period, this system was revived. The economy of China improved due to developments and engineering works such as canals, roads and cities- which were undertaken on a large scale. Special attention was paid to irrigation and agriculture. The Grand Canal was built to promote speedy communication and transportation between the northern and the southern parts of China. The Great Wall of China was also fortified. 1 In 617, the Sui dynasty was overthrown by Tangs. It promoted Taoism in the religious and social lives of the people. The government was centralized and it managed to rule for about 300 years. Major changes in the political, economical and social structures were witnessed during this time. Printing was invented and Art and literature flourished. Arab, Persian and foreign traders expanded their activities during the eighth century and set up factories at the Canon Delta, Fu-chien and Chiang-su2. The government held large areas of land particularly for the breeding of horses for the government officials; and military-agricultural colonies were established along the northern border as a means to protect the frontier3. The Tang dynasty managed to establish peace and stability in the empire and during 715-56 AD, prices were low and merchants could undertake long journeys without the fear of robbery.4 Transport of luxury goods and grains from the southern parts of China was made easy with the intricate web of highways and the canal system.5 This state of wealth and prosperity could not last longer because land holding policies of the government

Protecting the House of Under Armour Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Protecting the House of Under Armour - Article Example Kraft and Lee involve an evaluation of the company’s dealings in its bid to ensure success upon its product portfolio. Findings from the article indicate that the company engaged on production with a capital base amounting to $310,000 after Kevin Plank realized the need to enhance sports through manufacturing the ideal wears for each sports activity. The authors account on the initial capital base of the company as sourced from three bodies for example, $20,000 from private equity, $30,000 from borrowed finances, and $250,000 loan for small business enterprises. Eventually, the article establishes that the founders’ zeal propelled the success of the company to reach its goals in becoming a competent producer of sports equipment. Despite the variations of managing the Under Armour products to become a brand, the company’s successes remain interrelated to the strategic involvement and the indulged passion of Kevin Plank in his quest to facilitate sports. The articl e articulates that the company’s focus on the current culture, the target market share, and the involvement in brand placement are the constituent propellants to its success. The two authors successfully ascertain that the engaged programs guaranteed Under Armour to acquire its current market share and beneficial outcomes. CRITIQUE Protecting the house of under armour The article’s title, â€Å"Protecting the house of Under Armour† seeks to analyze the Under Armour brand management beginning from the initial foundation to the current state of the company. Kraft and Lee authored the article purporting to enable readers derive necessary knowledge concerning the development of products and protection of brands. The article establishes that Kevin Plank’s initial intention emanated from the urge and desire to manufacture athletes’ wears that suited their psychological and physical purposes. The article’s title entails protection of a house of und er armour. However, the article contains managerial and production activities of the Under Armour brand (Kraft and Lee, 2009, p, 113). This is a distractive course taken upon by the authors since the readers find it confusing since they have to understand the correlations of protecting and managing the brand. After the title of the article, the authors directly address the issue of the initial manufacturing processing and sourcing of capital under a subtopic named building the house. Normally, the reader would expect to read the abstract of the article in order to be certain of the context and relevance. The authors fail to acknowledge the salient need of the introduction as they engage on establishing various subtopics, which tend to be independent from each other (Kraft and Lee, 2009, p, 115). Arguably, the method of writing tends to be ill since the avoidance of introduction serves as a deception for the reader lacks an overview of the items contains in the article. The article a ccounts on Kevin’s resolutions to establish a longtime remedy to the problems that befell athletes during sports. Kraft and Lee establish the founder who is also the company’s head embarked on the production plan to help his teammates after realizing the psychological discomfort they all experienced from their sportswear. However, the article fails to account on the founder’

Can you control the competition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Can you control the competition - Assignment Example The firms progress in this race of competition. However, competition has been observed to be unethical at times. Firms resort to the most down trodden ways and methods to knock out their competitors. For example, the telecommunications industry today is highly competitive. Each firm knows what it needs to sell. From advertisements to deals and offers, everything by each of the firms, is highly organized and planned. However, these firms have a factor of unhealthy competition existing between them. Instead of welcoming the competition and struggling harder, they prefer demeaning their competitors through aggressive advertisements. The media has been a large shareholder of the unethical competition that firms receive. However, it cannot be criticized too much since it is also a source of healthy competition. As long as the telecommunications industry is concerned, competition cannot be avoided since a lot of profits lie with these firms. These extra profits attract new firms. The food industry has long been a competitive market. There are lots of firms making cereals but cornflakes have been a trademark of Kellogg’s alone. This is purely due to healthy competition. If this competition was controlled and other firms were disallowed from entering the cereal market, maybe Kellogg’s products wouldn’t have been this flawless (Dranove, David). Maybe it would have sit back and enjoyed its monopoly and never even tried the flavored cornflakes and those with resins and nuts. It is just competition that keeps on driving the firms to experiment. Thus competition is needed for the firm to grow. As far as the question of whether competition can be controlled is concerned, it is pretty simple to answer that in the food industry. As long as there would be demand for food, which there would be forever, there would be providers of food. As long as the providers will gain, new providers will continue to enter the market and thus there would be no way to control

Sustainable engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Sustainable engineering - Essay Example employed schemes are the building research establishment environmental assessment method(BREEAM) and leadership in energy and environmental design(LEED). BREEAM was officially launched by the building research establishment(BRE) and consequently adopted by the United Kingdom as one of its systems. LEED was by us institution United States green building council (USGBC) and officially accepted as the benchmark for green building practices. All these two schemes are based on effective system for collecting credits that are used for a wide of building, both the existing buildings and the new buildings. These systems cover a wide range of issues that include energy, pollution, building site, water indoor environmental quality and materials one of the most important in both the two schemes that is the key sustainable development is energy consumption expressed in another language as resulting to carbon emissions from the buildings. It is therefore clear that robust building environmental assessment schemes will possibly play a very critical role in assessing the building energy performance. According to Lee and Bumet(2008) it is important to understand this schemes interms of their scopes, performance criteria, credit scales and methodologies. Lee et al conducted a comparison of the baseline buildings, their performance criteria, credit scales and their simulative tools between a number of schemes while Asdrubali et al (2008) undertook a comparative study of energy regulations in Spain and Italy based on a semi-detached house. In this study more emphasis is put on the assessment of energy performance of new building within the BREEAM and LEED. For easy assessment of the energy performance of buildings and effective calculation of the corresponding energy rating in BREEAM and LEED schemes, a computational simulation was applied. Even though there are many energy simulation software that are available in the market, there is need to choose the one that suits the aim of

The Difference Maker Essay Example for Free

The Difference Maker Essay One of the main goals of all human beings is to want achieve success in all areas of our life, work, family, social and are always in search of that success so longed happiness handed us dream. There are thousands of books and authors who speak of matter, where we teach key tips to achieve excellent development of our goals and achievements. One of those great authors who have dedicated their entire life to write and teach route form and order to achieve those goals is Jhon C. Maxwell, great motivator that has worked to lecture within organizations to promote extraordinary leaders. Maxwell in one of his books entitled The Difference Marker teaches us to turn our attitude as the most valuable asset for achieving all of our objectives and goals. He tells us that a great attitude is all that you need to be successful, but not enough just to have a good attitude, you also need to possess skills and integrated both accompany success. The attitude that you have positive and negative situations would make a difference and Maxwell mentions five obstacles encountered: discouragement, change, problems, fears and losses, he also believes that attitude is an internal feeling, which is influenced by your experiences past, is the power of your true self, is unconscious, is your best friend or enemy, and that attitude is manifested through our conduct, is the spokesman for your present and your future prophet. The big question, Where do we get that attitude really?, Your environment where and how you grew up, the expressions of others and how they perceive you, as you will perceive yourself, the opportunities are not equal for all the world, the partner with people with the same interests, the strongly you have to believe in your thoughts, how you decide how you will do things, in order while more you live more moldable are your decisions. We can not disconnect the attitude of the reality in which we live, and think we will get success only by our dreams. The attitude that we develop make a difference, but it is all we have to prepare because there are things she can not compensate: Attitude can not replace the aptitude, the latter is the ability you have to do things, Maxwell says, that if you think you can do something thats confidence, the ability to do it, and both are necessary for success; The attitude can not substitute for experience, and usually get until after you need it. First comes the test and after the experience, this one does not learn is acquired, so it is important to hire people with experience (aptitude) and this combined with the positive attitude, will give the winning formula; Your attitude can not change the events, you can handle them and accepting in good shape, if you can not change, then accept it in a good way, how? Changing your attitude;- Your attitude can not substitute personal grow th, you have to feed the mind and soul to become the person you want;- Your attitude will remain the same all the time, unless you work at it every day, trying to get the daily control of the attitude should be one of our main objectives. We need to understand that we need to experience in our lives, ripen, grow them, believe in yourself and have a persevering attitude to succeed. When we asked why we have to have a good attitude in our lives, and that will bring benefits, Maxwell explains: external events can not be controlled by us, but the internal are the opposite, and the attitude that I developed before these events I can control, make the difference. The positive or negative attitude I have in a given situation will change the way that I can see things and therefore my behavior. If I want to emphasize the negative, my situation is black, clouded, however if I want to emphasize the positive perception will be glad in hope. The basic principle of working with people and be successful is in: The principle of the glasses, as we see other people and this has more to do with our attitude that the characteristics of individuals; Beginning of sorrow, when a person is hurtful, hurts others, the negative experiences we can have other relationships affect personal relationships can come to exist, even if they are not harmful; Top of the elevator, we go up and down to people according to their limitations and weaknesses; Learning principle, every person we meet gives us a lesson, something new, some people determine that they can learn something from them, others not simply because they have nothing to offer. It is so important to keep a positive attitude in any event, that many doctors assert that creates a direct effect on the bodys cells, causing delay the advance of disease. Psychoneuroimmunology is the science in charge the emotional and mental activity, and the welfare of the individual, and indicates that patients may have a higher recovery if there is a relationship between feelings and emotions. Plato said that our mind was our home, and we can make it heaven or hell. Life is 95% mental and the other 5% is physical these are words of Yogi Berra, baseball player New York Yankee team, and this affirmation is true. The attitude that we develop in situations of our lives make a difference. But what would these actions we should take to have a great attitude: 1-Take responsibility for your attitude, the first rule is not to feel defeated because your attitude is not right, take action to improve it. 2-Evaluate your attitude in this, look at yourself to see whats causing this, and you have to make positive changes to achieve this transformation. There are several steps: Identify how you feel about yourself, how you feel in relation to others the problem youre thinking, we are the sum of our thoughts. It is therefore important to think positive because we will never change our attitude but start first with our thoughts. 3-Build the change you wish. 4-Change your attitude, change your thoughts, to be able to control your thoughts can control your attitude.You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.5-Build good habits. 6-Manege daily attitude, successful people make decisions once the work every day. The five biggest obstacles attitude are:-discouragement, change, the problems, the fear failure. If you allow discouragement invade your life, you will never get the success you want. Do not confuse one passenger discouragement, we can have a day for any situation and overcome it, to when we refer to a constant discouragement in all our actions. The key is to focus on the positive things and learn to live with the bad or negative. There are several points that teach us to work effectively against discouragement. 1-Get the right perspective on the situation, not refute the facts how?: Having a good view of the entire film have a look at the problem, Observe yourself when you turn your face to discouragement know what you are facing and find new opportunities that in this situation presented to you; Notes profoundly successful people, See the positive possibilities that it can bring this situation. 2-Go, meet the right people, we have to try to spend more time with positive people, those that help us have hope, faith, confidence in ourselves. 3-Pronounce right words, do not talk badly about yourself, use positive words. 4-Develop right expectations, it is important to create realistic expectations, you can achieve, considering that you submit obstacles in the way, which get over. 5-Take the right decisions, when we take wrong decisions, we are worn because we chose the wrong way, so it is important to know when and how we will make decisions. Maxwell explains that when we are at the top of the mountain and will take decisions when we are in the valley, that is down need to develop persistence. If we can develop and maintain perspective can overcome discouragement and move forward. We humans although we like the change, we resist on. Change is hard for everyone, but we are also aware that there is no progress without change, there are several reasons that make us resist them: fear of the unknown, because they believe it is not the time to do it, because they feel uncomfortable, probably because different from what they know, not that it is bad or wrong, just not what theyre used, for established traditions. We try to get things done in every area of our lives, and in most of the times, we have to do it in the mist of difficulties. We simply cannot avoid problem, no one is exempt of them. But our perspective on the problem usually determines our success or failure, not the problem itself. The key is to focus on what you learning, not on what you are losing. If you do that, then you will open the door to future possibilities. Fear is part of the human condition and all of us experience some kind of fear, defined as a false expectation appearing real. It has destructive effects when our own thoughts create potential danger for cause inaction, and us when taking action will require us to move into the unknown. Fear and anxiety are debilitating emotions than let us undermine faith in ourselves, in others, and in God. Also is a waste of energy when unfounded fear can turn into a real problem and keeps a person and others around him from reaching their potential. In order to handle fear you must admit your fears, recognizing the source of them and how your fears can limit you. The only place we really have any power is in the present and it require give today our attention, not yesterday because is waste of energy and nothing can change it, not tomorrow because can cause us miss present opportunities. The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of a response to failure, which is determined for the attitude, the difference maker. When we face failure, we have to change our attitude. We have to change our vocabulary for example instead of using â€Å"If only† the way to correct that mind set is to change by â€Å"Next time†. The success people do not use the word failure to describe their mistakes, instead they referred to learning experiences, tuition paid or opportunity for grows. The difference maker, your attitude is not everything, but it is one thing that can make a difference in your life. When we allow the difference maker to make an impact in our lives, we can help others. Actually this is the mean purpose of the difference maker; if we apply as leaders the power of a positive attitude starting in us, we can spread to the employees in the organization and achieve personal and corporate goals. In this book John Maxwell destroys the common myths relating to the attitude: what can and can not do for you. By showing how to overcome the five main barriers of attitude, Maxwell teaches the skills needed to turn the attitude in the most valuable possession. What is more important, the book teaches not only develop an attitude that will have a tremendous impact on career, family and everyday life, but also to maintain that attitude for the rest of life.

Entity Relationship Data Model And Normalization Computer Science Essay

Entity Relationship Data Model And Normalization Computer Science Essay Draw an Entity Relationship Data Model that describes the content and structure of the data held by Petcare. Specify the cardinality ratio and participation constraint of each relationship type. Answer: Draw an Entity Relationship Data Model To design the database system for Petcare, we need to draw and Entity Relationship Diagram to show all and entities and the relationship between the enteritis. The ERD models the static relationships amongst this information that are preserved and maintained by the database. The ERD shows how items of data relate, statically, to each other. 1.1.1 Entities of the ERD First step, we need to define the entities in the database. According the requirement of the Petcare, the below entities should be involved in the database system to record the Petcares information; Information of the pet included the type, breed, sex, age and their owner Information of the pet owner included their name, address, home telephone number and mobile telephone number Information included the pet the appointment is for, the owner of the pet, the particular branches of Petcare, the attending veterinary Veterinarian and the date and time of the appointment. Information of the veterinary Veterinarian included their name, address, home telephone number, mobile telephone number, which branch they report to and their specialize. The outcome of the appointment which included the prescription and the charge made. 1.1.2 Entities relationship Next step is to define the relationship of each entity. The relationship included Participation Constraint and Cardinality Ratio. Participation Constraint There are two types of participation constraint named Total and Partial participation. A Total participation (mandatory participation) constraint specifies that every member in the entity must participate as a member of another linked entity in the generalization. A Partial participation (optional participation) constraint specifies that a member of the entity does not belong to any member of another linked entity in the generalization. Cardinality Ratio Three types of cardinality is described as below: One-to-one (1:1) Relation between two entities which is linked each other with their primary key(s) only. Many-to-many (M:N) Relation between two entities which is linked each other without any primary key. It also have the chance to create the redundancy error. Therefore it is better to break into two relations such as one-to-many and many-to-one. One-to-many (1:M) or Many-to-one (M:1) Relation between two entities which is linked each other from the primary key(s) to foreign key(s). The relationship of Pet The pet was raised by the owner; each pet should only have 1 owner but the owner can keep more then 1 pet. The owner also can keep difference kind of pets. There fore, the relationship of Pet and Owner is Total and one to many. Relationship of Owner The pet owner would make appointment with the Veterinarian. In the real case, an owner would make more then 1 appointment, also the Veterinarian also not handle 1 case only. A relational database is not allowed this condition. To solve the issue another entity Appointment was added between Owner and Veterinarian. The Owner may make the appointment before visit the veterinarian, also they also can walk-in but without appointment. In order to simple the database design, we see the walk-in also as a new appointment. Therefore, the relationship of Owner and Appointment is Total and one to many. Relationship of Appointment the appointment was created by the pet owner and was handled be the Veterinarian. However, some Veterinarian may respond to the special case and would not handle the appointment. Therefore, the relationship of Appointment and Veterinarian is Partial and many to one relationship. Relationship of Veterinarian On the above we already mentioned a Veterinarian would attend more then one appointment. Also the Veterinarian would issue more then 1 diagnosis. Diagnosis is the outcome of the appointment which was issued by the veterinarian. The relationship of Veterinarian and Diagnosis is Total and one to many. 1.1.3 Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) According the above entities and relationship design we got the first ERD as below; The ERD was showed the logical database design of the Petcare. The ERD identifies a list of data elements that must be included in the database. Fig. 1. The ERD of Petcare. Task 2 Produce the resulting normalized tables clearly indicating the primary and foreign keys. Answer: Normalization After complete the logical design of the database and draw the ERD, we can start the physical design of the database. The first thing is to create the table and define the data-set need to store in the database. A good database design should make the content of each table is only related to its own entity. In order to meet this requirement, normalization process should be implemented. The normalization process needs step by step to transform the database and each step have specify name, called; Un-normal Form UNF First Normal Form 1NF Second Normal Form 2NF Third Normal Form 3NF Boyce-Codd Normal Form BCNF The below steps should be carried out for the normalization. Collect the data-set Transform the un-normalized form tables into first normal form Transform the first normal form tables to second normal form Transform the second normal form tables to third normal form First Normal Form (1NF) According the ERD design and the requirement of Petcare, the Tables of the database were created as below; also some attributes were added to indentify the data-sets, e.g. PetID, which attributes also the Primary of the table. Fig. 2. The Un-normal Form table The above tables were included all requested data and information requested by Petcare. However, some of attributes are the same in difference tables. The tables are a un-normal form table. We need to make the content of each table is only related to its own entity. Therefore the normalization process should be implemented. The first step is transforming the un-nornalized form table into first normal form. The definition of first normal form is all non-key attributes in relation is if, and only if, functionally dependent upon primary key. According the definition of first normal form, we should avulse the non-key attributes which are not relate to the primary key and create another table for this attribute. For example; in the table Veterinarian, the Branch and Specialise are not related to the Primary key, so we need avulse these attributes and create another table, Branch Specialise. Another table Diagnosis also the same issue. Fig. 3. Normalized table Fig. 4 Normalized table 2 After the process of first normalized, we got the First Normal Form table as below; Fig. 5. First Normal Form table Second Normal Form (2NF) The second step is transfer first normal form to second normal form. The definition of second normal form is all relations are, and only if, it is in first normal form and every non-key attribute are fully functionally dependent on the primary key. After second normalization, we got the below tables; Fig. 6. Second Normalized tables Third Normal Form (3NF) The definition of third normal form is all relations are if, and only if, it is in second normal form and every non-key attributes in nor-transitively dependent on the primary key. Because the second normalized tables already meet the equipment. Therefore, it is third normal form. Primary Key and Foreign Key The next step to design the physical database is defining the Primary Key and the Foreign key. This step also defining the relationship of each table. The Primary Key is used to identify the record in each table. The Foreign Key is the key attribute to link other table. The final normalized table with details relationship, Primary key and Foreign key were showed on the below diagram. Fig. 7. Final table design Data Dictionary The last step of design the database is define the property of each attribute. The property of attribute is design the coding of the attribute. A good coding design is very important because a good coding design can let use easy to understand and take less mistake when input the data, and also determined the usability and extensibility of the database. A good coding design should meet below requirements; Uniqueness only one value of the code may be applied to an entity. Expandability must have sufficient space for the entry of new items. Conciseness should use the minimum number of characters to define each item. Uniform size format no addition of prefixes or suffixes. Simplicity simple to apply and understand. Versatility easy to modify for changes in conditions. Sortability may not be the code itself as long as it can be correlated with a sortable code. Stability should not need regular updating as this is costly. Meaningful in some circumstances it is useful for the code to reflect the characteristics of the coded entities. Operability the code should be sufficient to meet the current and future needs of data identification but also minimise the clerical and system resources required to operate it. Other then the coding design, the sequence of table create also very important as the table may has relation with other tables. We should first create the table which has not relate to other tables, then create the table relate to this table. The sequence of table create list as the sequence of the Data dictionary. According the above requirements, the tables and attributes were created and the details were listed on the Data Dictionary below; Data Dictionary of Petcard Table Name Field Name Type Size Status Description Owner OwnerID char 6 PK The ID of owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ O_Name char 30 Not NULL Name of owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ O_Address varchar 100 NULL Address of owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ O_Phone char 15 NULL Phone number of owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ O_Mobile char 15 NULL Mobile number of owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ PetType TypeID char 1 PK The ID of pet type à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ P_Type char 15 Not NULL name of pet type à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Breed BreedID char 2 PK The ID of breed type à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ B_type char 15 Not NULL Name of Breed type à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ TypeID char 1 FK relate to PetType à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Pet PetID char 6 PK The ID of the Pet à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ OwnerID char 6 FK relate to Owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ PetName char 20 Not NULL Name of the pet à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Sex char 1 Not NULL sex of the pet à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Age numeric 2 Not NULL age of the pet à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Breedid char 2 FK relate to Breed à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Branch BranchID char 1 PK The ID of branch à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ B_Name char 15 Not NULL Name of branch à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ B_Address char 50 Not NULL Address of branch à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ B_Phone char 15 Not NULL Phone number of branch à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Specialisation SpeID char 2 PK The ID of specialize à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Specialise char 10 Not NULL Name of the specialization à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Veterinarian VetID char 3 PK The ID of veterinaria à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ V_Name char 30 Not NULL Name of veterinaria à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ V_Address varchar 100 Not NULL Address of veterinaria à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ V-Phone char 15 Not NULL Phone number of veterinaria à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ V_Mobile char 15 Not NULL Mobile number of veterinaria à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ SpecID char 2 FK relate to Specialisation à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ BranchID char 1 Not NULL The branch of the veterinaria is working à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Appointment AppID char 10 PK The ID of appointment à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ VetID char 3 FK relate to Veterinarian à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ OwnerID char 6 FK relate to owner à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ BranchID char 1 FK relate to Branch à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ PetID char 6 FK relate to Pet à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Date date 8 Not NULL date of appointment à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Time time 4 Not NULL time of appointment à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Drug Type D_TypeID char 2 PK The ID of Drug Type à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ D_Type char 20 Not NULL Name of drug type à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Drug DrugID char 4 PK The ID of drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ D_typeID char 2 FK relate to DrugType à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ DrugName char 30 Not NULL Name of the drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Category char 20 Not NULL How to use the drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Period char 2 Not NULL Number of day to use the drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Prescription PrescID char 10 PK The ID of Prescription à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Drug1 char 4 FK relate to Drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Drug2 char 4 FK relate to Drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Drug3 char 4 FK relate to Drug à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Diagnosis DiagID char 6 PK The ID of diagnosis à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ VelID char 3 FK relate to Velerinarian à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ PrescID char 10 FK relate to Prescription Price Numeric 6 Not NULL The price of diagnosis Task 3 Using a Database Management System (DBMS) set-up all of the above normalized tables, and populate them with well-designed test data.. Answer: Create tables on DBMS After completely designed the database, we should start to create it. Concerning to popularity and easy to use, we determined to use Microsoft Access as the Database Management System (DBMS) of the Petcare database. We should use SQL command to create the tables, attributes and relationships of tables. Create tables The SQL command of create tables was lists below; Create the table Owner CREATE TABLE Owner (OwnerID CHAR(6) PRIMARY KEY, O_Name CHAR(30), O_Address VARCHAR(100), O_Phone CHAR(15), O_Mobile CHAR(15) ); Create the table PetType CREATE TABLE PetType (TypeID CHAR(1) PRIMARY KEY, P_Type CHAR(15) ); Create the table Breed CREATE TABLE Breed (BreedID CHAR(2) PRIMARY KEY, B_type CHAR(15), TypeID CHAR(1) REFERENCES PetType(TypeID) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE ); Create the table PetType CREATE TABLE Pet (PetID CHAR(6) PRIMARY KEY, OwnerID CHAR(6) REFERENCES Owner(OwnerID) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE, PetName CHAR(20), Sex CHAR(1), Age NUMERIC(2) BreedID CHAR(2) REFERENCES Breed(BreedID) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE ); All the tables also used the similar SQL command to create, we would not repeat all there. After all tables, attributes and relationships were created. The whole table diagram was showed as below figure;. Fig. 8. Tables in MS Access Test Data After the table creation finished. We should input the test data to the database to test the database functioned as expended. We would input at least 5 records to each table. The below screen showed the test data of all tables; Fig. 9. Table Owner, Pet, PetType, Breed Fig. 10. Table Veterinarian, Specialization, Appointment, Branch Fig. 11. Table Prescription, Diagnosis, Drug, DrugType The Printout of tables please refers to appendix. Task 4 Set-up and test all of the following queries using Structured Query Language (SQL). Answer: Set-up test queries In order to test the database design and data input correct, we need to query the data form the database. The below 2 case can test the database meet the Petcares requirements. Query 1 Requirement: Display the names and addresses of the branches of Petcare and the names of all the veterinary doctors working at each of the branches. Any specialism(s) of the veterinary doctors should also be shown. This is a very general query in database, to goal the requirement we need to the join the Branch, Veterinarian and Specialization 3 tables and select the requested data. The query statement and result were listed below; SELECT Branch.b_name AS Branch, Branch.b_address AS Address, Veterinarian.v_name AS VetName, Specialization.specialise AS Specialization FROM (Branch INNER JOIN Veterinarian ON Branch.branchid=Veterinarian.branchid) INNER JOIN Specialization ON Veterinarian.SpecID=Specialization.SpecID ORDER BY Branch.b_name; Fig. 12. Result of Query 1. Query 2 Requirement: Display all the appointments for the whole of the Petcare organization. This should be ordered by date. The result should display the branch the appointment is at, the name of the veterinary doctor the appointment is with, the date and time of the appointment, the name of the animal the appointment is for, the type of animal and the breed of the animal. Case two is more difficulty; we need to join Appointment, Branch, Veterinary, Pet, PetType and Breed total 6 tables. The query is very complex and easy to make mistake. The query statement and query results were showed below; SELECT Branch.b_name AS Branch, Veterinarian.v_name AS VetName, Appointment.date, Appointment.time, Pet.petname AS PetName, PetType.P_Type AS Type, Breed.breed AS Breed FROM ((((Appointment INNER JOIN Veterinarian ON Appointment.vetid=Veterinarian.vetid) INNER JOIN Branch ON Veterinarian.branchid=Branch.branchid) INNER JOIN Pet ON Appointment.petid=Pet.petid) INNER JOIN Breed ON Pet.breedid=Breed.breedid) INNER JOIN PetType ON Breed.TypeID=PetType.TypeID) ORDER BY Appointment.date; Fig. 13. Result of query 2 Task 5 Explain any assumptions you have made when analyzing, designing and implementing the above database.. Answer: Assumption and alternative Each appointment ID is for one pet only. Same owner bring more than 1 pets to Petcare whould see as a new appointment. One prescription maximum list 3 drugs. Normally 3 drugs are enough for 1 case. If the pet has more than 1 issue need more then 3 drugs, veterinary should open multi prescription for difference type of drugs. E.g. need skin medication Painkiller. Walk-in also sees as a new appointment. Work Improvement In this assignment, the database system for PatCare has not included the user interface. The database system is used for store data and the DBMS is used for manager the database or it can be sees as a bridge of Database and User interface. DBMS is not designed for user, it mainly use command line to manager the database and query the data. Even some new DBMS; system such as MS Access and SQL have GUI but also hard for a normal user to use the database and query data. In order to let users easy to use the database, User Interface is a must. The user interface let user easy to input data, update records and check the records. And also we can per-set some forms and reports for user print out. The user interface not need very gorgeous or complex. A good user interface is simple, convenient and easy to understand and easy to use. We should design a web base interface because the web base interface is simple and easy to manage. The most important is the web base interface does not need install additional programs, therefore not additional budget for buy other applications.

The Contrariety Of Two Friends Essay -- Compare Contrast Friends Frien

The Contrariety Of Two Friends Everyone has friends. Some are so alike that it is shocking. They seem to walk, talk and even eat the same. But others are so very different that it is an absolute wonder that they can even stand each other, let alone be friends. That is how it is in the friendship of Sandra and Nancy. They differ in everything from their views on cleaning, their views on fun and even in their views on religion. The two girls are the best of friends but they are very different, even in the views on how they clean. Sandra is very neat and tidy. Everything must be in its place at all times. Nancy on the other hand is extremely messy. Wherever things happen to land is where they should belong. Sandra cleans her room at least once a day. While Nancy's room is lucky to be cleaned once a month. When Sandra cleans, it is a lengthy procedure. Sometimes she will spend hours just cleaning her room. When Nancy cleans, it is done as quickly as humanly possible. If she can get everything shoved under her bed in five minutes then she is happy. The thought of even sleeping in a messy room makes Sandra extremely uncomfortable. Though Nancy can't stand to be in a spotless room, with out the urge to mess something up. Since the two girls can hardly stand to be in each other's rooms, they frequently go out. But even in their choices of a good time, they have severe differences. Sandra is very quiet and shy. She doesn't like to be around a lot of people that she doesn'...

Womens Freedom during Chinas Revolutionary Period Essay -- Asian His

Women's Freedom during China's Revolutionary Period During the revolutionary period in China from 1921 to 1934, although there were undercurrents of an actual feminist movement, according to Kay Ann Johnson in Women, the Family & Peasant Revolution in China, women’s progress resulted more as a necessity of the war than the leadership’s commitment to emancipate women. Furthermore, when tension arose between men and women, the leadership usually appeased men over women. By not discussing the mentality of the political parties and the dynamics of the war, Hughes and Hughes’ critique lacks an explanation of the underlying motives that drove these parties to sometimes support women and other times reject women’s interests. Hughes and Hughes explain that â€Å"male educators and members of the KMT now proclaimed Chinese women emancipated† (H&H 237). However, Johnson’s critique paints quite a different and more complex emancipation. The philosophies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reflected undertones of feminist thought and consideration. The CCP’s ideology developed in the early twentieth century as a result of a radical intellectual movement in urban areas composed of disillusioned students and professors. The CCP did recognize women’s progressive demands and desires for equal rights. In 1922, at the Second National Congress, the Party established the Women’s Department which aided women’s revolutionary political activity (Johnson 41). The Manifesto of the Second Congress responded to women’s groups such as the Woman Suffrage Alliance and the Alliance for the Women’s Rights Movements by including objectives such as â€Å"the limited right to vote for all workers and peasants, regardless of sex, [and] protect... ...ower in the war. Thus, it is difficult to assess whether women did attain emancipation since emancipation under such a politically charged atmosphere seems rather tainted. In addition, when conflict arose between men and women, politics usually supported male interests. Hughes and Hughes do not fully illustrate the complex motives that drove these parties to either support or abandon women’s interests in order to maintain political unity. Thus, it is problematic to only read Hughes and Hughes critique because it lacks an in-depth discussion of the complex dynamics during the revolution. Works Cited Hughes, Sarah Shaver and Brady Hughes. Women in World History: Readings from 1500 to the Present. Vol 2. New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1997. Johnson, Kay Ann. Women, the Family and Peasant Revolution in China. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1983.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Essay -- Healthcar

The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, better known as the Privacy Rule, that took effect in April 2003 for large entities and a year later for small ones, was established as the first set of national standards for the protection of health information. This rule was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to meet the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The Privacy Rule was born out of a need for health information to be appropriately protected yet still allowing the health information to be shared to ensure quality health care and to protect the public’s health and well being. It allows for the protection of the privacy of the patient and yet it also permits vital uses of information. The Privacy Rule established a category of health information that a covered entity may only use or disclose to others in certain circumstances and under certain conditions. According to the National Institute of Health Publication Number 03-5388, the protected information is known as Protected Health Information (PHI) and includes individually identifiable health information transmitted by electronic media, maintained in electronic media, or transmitted or maintained in any other form or medium. However, it excludes education records covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, records described at 20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(4)(B)(iv), and employment records held by a covered entity in its role as employer. Covered entities are organizations that are subject to the Privacy Rule. Three types of covered entities are 1) Health Plans - which are individual or group plans that provide or pay the cost of medi... ... and HIPAA, Does instant access and availability from mobile technology jeopardize patient privacy? [Electronic version] Nursing Management, June 2007, 38-40 Martin, J. (2008). Who’s looking at your medical records? COPDConnection.com Retrieved November 12, 2011, from http://www.healthcentral.com/copd/c/19257/30481/comments Robertson, L. (2008). Who’s looking at your medical records? [Electronic version] Saturday Evening Post, 280.3, 54-92, Consumer Health Complete. Protecting Personal Health Information in Research: Understanding the HIPAA Privacy Rule, NIH Publication Number 03-5388. Retrieved November 12, 2011 from http://privacyruleandresearch.nih.gov/pr_02.asp Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, Office of Civil Rights Privacy Rule Summary, (2003). Retrieved November 12, 2011 from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/privacysummary.pdf

A Soul Built Through Pain and Suffering Essay

Similar to imprints on sand or carvings in wood, character is moulded and developed by indents – through pain and suffrage. In the novel, The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga explores the dark realities of India’s caste system with a story of a man who broke through the division. The quote by Helen Keller, â€Å"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved,† is seen through Balram’s journey as he overcomes obstacles to achieve his success. Adiga illustrates that one cannot see true light of a strong soul, inspired ambition and success, without the struggles of being in true darkness and the disadvantages that come along with it. Balram Halwai is raised in the lower-social caste town of Laxmangarh, India, where he is forced to deal with indignities caused by his family’s poverty. Balram witness’s the death of both of his parents, from illnesses in both of which could have been cured had he been in a higher-caste system of society. His father, Vikram Halwai, died of mistreated tuberculosis. Balram exclaims the ignorance of the government as they failed to appropriately care for his father’s condition and death: The ward boys made us clean up our Father before we could remove the body. A goat came in and sniffed as we were mopping the blood off the floor. The ward boys petter her and fed her a plump carrot as we mopped our father’s infected blood off the floor. (Adiga 42) The lack of care exhibited by the hospital emphasizes the harsh reality of just how terrible life is for the impoverished in India. Balram spoke in high honor of his father and mentions that his father â€Å"never crouched,† like the servants were expected to on his job – that he â€Å"preferred to stand† (Adiga 20). A life of a man that Balram respected and loved, a life that protected him against his worst fear of lizards, and taught him how to have pride in everything he does – a life Balram held with the utmost importance and praise – was the same life that later had to be mopped off the floor by his very own son. The negligence of human life desensitized Balram at a young age and strengthened his soul by realizing the dog-eat-dog society he lives in. Following his father’s death, Balram soon realizes he doesn’t only live in a dog-eat-dog society, but a dog-eat-dog home, too. Balram reminisces on his encounter with his brother and notes: I couldn’t stop thinking of Kishan’s body. They were eating him alive in there! They would do the same thing to him that they did to father – scoop him out from the inside and leave him weak and helpless until he got tuberculosis and died on the floor of a government hospital†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Adiga 74) Balram recognizes that the women he used to live with before becoming a driver – especially his grandmother – use the men for hard labour to provide for the family, wearing them down to the bone. His grandmother’s further letters of blackmail demanding money from Balram are another clear example of selfishness within the family. This realization strengthens Balram’s soul even more by teaching him that he is truly alone and that no one – not even his own family – is willing or wanting to help guide him forward. If he is going to make it out of the darkness, Balram knows it will have to be on his own. Consequently, the pain and suffering triggered Balram’s ambition to veer the direction of his predetermined life of poverty into something more. Balram uses the rooster coop as his analogy of life for the low-caste system in India. He explains: Hundreds of pale hens and brightly coloured roosters stuffed tightly into wire-mesh cages, packed as tightly as worms in a belly, pecking each other and shitting on each other, jostling just for breathing space; the whole cage giving off a horrible stench†¦The roosters in the coop smell the blood from above. They see the organs of their brothers lying around them. (Adiga 147) He compares the chickens to the people in his country as neither of them are attempting to escape their cages, â€Å"The very same thing is done with human beings in this country† (Adiga 148). He details how the coop is self-trapping and comes to a conclusion that only through individual action can one break out of the coop. This realization gives Balram a will and determination to escape the rooster coop. As Mr. Ashok’s personal driver, Balram is forced to partake on more roles in the job such as giving the Stork foot massages, cooking, cleaning, and almost having to be framed for a murder he did not commit. When Balram finally starts cheating his master off his money, he expresses that, â€Å"Instead of guilt, what did I feel? Rage. The more I stole from him, the more I realized how much he had stolen from me.† (Adiga 196). This is a milestone in Balram’s life as he finally changes from the quiet, hard worker but begins to realize that he was facing numerous unnecessary humiliations, none of which were part of the job. He knows that the rich are treating him like an animal and that is a feeling that no amount of rupees can compensate for. Through the disloyalty towards his master, Balram demonstrates ambition by taking action in getting closer to his dream of escaping his servant status which is done by escaping the rooster coop. As a result of taking action to liberate himself from the rooster coop, he achieves success. Balram murders his master, Mr. Ashok, and steals his bag enclosed with thousands of rupees. He uses his reoccurring analogy of the rooster coop to validate the murder of his master by stating, â€Å"I think the Rooster Coop needs people like me to break out of it. It needs masters like Mr. Ashok – who, for all his numerous virtues, was not much of a master – to be weeded out, and exceptional servants like me to replace them† (Adiga 257). The murder of Mr. Ashok was the final action that all of his previous small acts of cheating and stealing led up to. The money Balram gained from the murder provided him a chance at a new life filled with endless opportunities. He chooses to start his own taxi business and explains, â€Å"Once I was a driver to a master, but now I am a master of drivers. I don’t treat them like servants – I don’t slap, or bully, or mock anyone. I don’t insult any of them by calling them â€Å"family,† either. They’re my employees; I’m their boss, that’s all.† (Adiga 259). This shows the contrast of his life and how far he has come. His life takes a complete turn, as he changes roles from servant to master. It also foils the characters of the rich and corrupted masters Balram encounters in his life, as it emphasizes his moral character. Balram achieves his success but still remains a fair, professional boss – nothing like the other masters in India. His struggles drove Balram to fight for a life of freedom and dignity. He re-evaluates the actions he had to take in order to achieve this success and questions, â€Å"Are you a man or a demon?† and quickly justifies it with, â€Å"Neither, I say. I have woken up, and the rest of you are still sleeping and that is the only difference between us† (Adiga 271). Balram realized the dog-eat-dog world he was faced with and knew from a young age that it was every man for himself. He had no advantages above any single other person living in the low-social caste. He was equally impoverished but woke up and broke free. Throughout the course of his life, there’s not a minute where Balram does not see suffering. Pushed by his dark life of having watched his parents die, and being stripped of his dignity by the rich, Balram becomes determined to raise himself up from the darkness and into the light. He takes the necessary action of murdering his master to carry out his plan of escaping the rooster coop. His hardships are finally rewarded by the honest taxi company he establishes. Had Balram never been encaged, he would not appreciate the beauty of his freedom as much as he does now. One who has never seen a sunset cannot fully appreciate the sunrise, and one who’s never felt the storm cannot fully appreciate the sun. Balram’s seen both dusk and dawn and rain and sun which allows him to appreciate the light a little more than ever.

Mcdonald’s Market Structure

Introduction By the late- 1990s fast-food chain McDonalds had enjoyed 40 years of exceptional performance. McDonald's brand mission is to be a customers' favorite place and way to eat. McDonald's worldwide operations are aligned around a global strategy called the Plan to Win, which center on an exceptional customer experience – People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. They are committed to continuously improving theirs operations and enhancing customers' experience. McDonalds place the customer experience at the core of all they do. McDonald’s customers are the reason for their existence.So, McDonalds’s demonstrate appreciation by providing them with high quality food and superior service in a clean, welcoming environment, at a great value. Their goal is quality, service, cleanliness and value for each and every customer, each and every time. McDonalds are committed to people. They provide opportunity, nurture talent, develop leaders and reward achievement. They believe that a team of well-trained individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, working together in an environment that fosters respect and drives high levels of engagement, is essential to continued success.McDonald’s business model, depicted by three-legged stool of owner or operators, suppliers, and company employees, is foundation, and balancing the interests of all three groups is a key. McDonalds operate their business ethically. Sound ethics is good business. At McDonald’s, they hold their selves and conduct the business to high standards of fairness, honesty, and integrity. McDonalds are individually accountable and collectively responsible. McDonalds give back to our communities.They take seriously the responsibilities that come with being a leader. McDonald’s help their customers build better communities, support Ronald McDonald House Charities, and leverage their size, scope and resources to help make the world a better place. McDonald s grow their business profitably. McDonald’s is a publicly traded company. As such, they work to provide sustained profitable growth for their shareholders. This requires a continuous focus on McDonald’s customers and the health of our system. McDonalds strive continually to improve.They are a learning organization that aims to anticipate and respond to changing customer, employee and system needs through constant evolution and innovation. Task 1 History of McDonalds The  McDonald's  restaurant concept was introduced in  San Bernardino, California  by  Dick and Mac McDonald  of  Manchester, New Hampshire. It was modified and expanded by their business partner,  Ray Kroc, of  Oak Park, Illinois, who later bought out the business interests of the McDonald brothers in the concept and went on to found  McDonald's Corporation.In October 1948, after the McDonald brothers realized that most of their profits came from selling hamburgers, they closed down th eir successful carhop  drive-in to establish a streamlined system with a simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, shakes, soft drinks, and apple pie. The carhops were eliminated to make McDonald's a  self-serve  operation. Mac and Dick McDonald had taken great care in setting up their kitchen like an  assembly line  to ensure maximum efficiency. The restaurant's name was again changed, this time to simply â€Å"McDonald's,† and reopened its doors on December 12, 1948.In 1960, the McDonald's advertising campaign â€Å"Look for the  Golden Arches† gave sales a big boost. Kroc believed that advertising was an investment that would in the end come back many times over and advertising has always played a key role in the development of the McDonald's Corporation. Indeed, McDonald's ads have been some of the most identifiable over the years. In 1962, McDonald's introduced its now world-famous Golden Arches logo. A year later, the company sold i ts billionth hamburger and introduced  Ronald McDonald, a red-haired clown designed to appeal to children.Arise of Burger King In the late 1970s, competition from other hamburger chains such as  Burger King began to intensify. Experts believed that the fast-food industry had become as big as it ever would, so the companies began to battle fiercely for market share. A period of aggressive advertising campaigns and price slashing in the early 1980s became known as the â€Å"burger wars. † Burger King suggested to customers: â€Å"have it your way† and had attracted many customer and affected McDonald's sales and market share.The predecessor to what is now the international fast food restaurant chain Burger King was founded in 1953 in  Jacksonville, Florida, as Insta-Burger King. Inspired by the  McDonald brothers'  original store location in  San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners, Keith J. Kramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns, began searchi ng for a concept to open a new restaurant around. After purchasing the rights to two pieces of equipment called â€Å"Insta† machines, the two opened their first stores around a cooking device known as the Insta-Broiler.The Insta-Broiler oven proved so successful at cooking burgers, they required all of their franchises to carry the device. After the original company began to falter in 1959, it was purchased by its Miami, Florida, franchisees James McLamore and David R. Edgerton. The two initiated a corporate restructuring of the chain; the first step was to rename the company Burger King. The duo ran the company as an independent entity for eight years, eventually expanding to over 250 locations in the United States, when they sold it to the Pillsbury Company in 1967. |McDonalds| Burger King| The first original McDonalds opened in 1948, a restaurant created by Mac & Dick McDonalds in St. Bernandino| Burger King was founded in 1953 in  Jacksonville, Florida, as Insta-Burger King by , Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns| Establish a streamlined system with a simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, shakes, soft drinks, and apple pie. |   Equipment called â€Å"Insta† machines, the two opened their first stores around a cooking device known as the Insta-Broiler| In 1962, McDonald's introduced its now world-famous Golden Arches logo. Expanding to over 250 locations in the United States| Delight each customer with unmatched quality, service, cleanliness and value every time| Dedicated to supporting and investing in our people – employees, franchisees, suppliers and restaurant guests  | Place the customer experience at the core| â€Å"Customers always right†Ã‚  | Comparison of purposes of McDonalds & Burger King Task 2 McDonalds Internal Environment The most important factor comes from the internal company or precisely the management itself.Managers must work closely with other department to come out with a strong marketing plan to boost McDonalds sales and efficiency of the operation. For example, the company management has a clear goals regarding importance of retaining customers by offering satisfaction to all its customers. Supplier Supplier is an important factor in the relation with McDonalds and its consumer. To have a good, continuous and no disruption supply, McDonalds must build a strong relationship with the suppliers. McDonalds must also consider that in the business market environment, it is competing with other fast food operators.Any strike, supply shortages and increasing of prices in market must be monitored closely by McDonalds to ensure it will not affect its bottom line performance. Simple economic rules, the more the input cost, the more the company’s overall cost and pricing will be and thus it affect the volume of sales to customers. However, pricing is not as important as close relationship and integration that McDonalds must achieve with vendors to ensure sust ainability of supplier. Distributers Marketing intermediaries are company that helps other company to promote, sell and distribute the goods to final buyers.McDonalds is a franchise-based business, which headquartered in United States and with franchisee around the world. Franchise system is part of marketing intermediaries to actual corporate McDonalds in United States, which helps to popularize, distribute and expand McDonald’s business concept around the globe. However, in the midst to expand the marketing of its brand around the world it must choose a strong creditable franchisee to ensure their business performance is in line with standards set by corporate. McDonalds also need logistic or physical distribution firm especially to help in distribution nd transportation of goods and materials around the country to its restaurant. Customers Customers whether it is business or household buyer are important factor in microenvironment where McDonalds operates. For McDonalds it is more on household consumers, which is changing fast in the market trend. McDonalds must have a clear market segmentation to differentiate the consumers group and has a special marketing attention to each of them such as kiddies, adult, working professional and teenagers with different taste of its food.Every consumer’s trend will affect the company bottom-line performance and if McDonalds cannot change or adapt to the changes of consumer behavior it might risk losing the market. Competitors Fast food industry has a wide range of competitors from small to big size in term of financial capabilities. For example in Malaysia, we have Kenny Roger’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W and Marry Brown and to smaller scale, we have Ramli burger stall around the street corner serving the niche market. These are competitors of McDonalds, which McDonalds must compete by offering a differentiation in term of value and satisfaction to its customers.Any values and benefits that McDonalds can u tilize to differentiate it apart from all can be a strong marketing point to reach and conquer the market. Marketer must constantly understand ever-changing customer’s needs, needs by special group and develop strategies to strengthen the company positioning in domestic market. Employers The good things for this company is it provide a good training to all staff and especially to those involve in management level. Even in Malaysia, many management staff sent to Chicago to training on managing the operation of McDonald’s outlet.Hamburger University in Illinois Chicago has graduated more than 70,000 managers who leads and manage the operation of McDonald’s outlet in the standard push upon them. Culture of training also prevails at McDonalds with over 32 hours of training for all new employees to ensure they understand the requirement and aspiration of McDonalds for continuation of best fast food restaurant service provider to the customers. McDonalds keen to train its own people and mission to be the best talent developer of people with the most committed individuals to Quality Service, Cleanliness and Value (QSC&V) in the world.Task 3 McDonald’s Pestle Analysis McDonald’s is comprised of more than 30,000 local restaurants and serves 52 million people in more than 100 countries each day. The company is the largest food retailer in the world and is part of the current way of life. In order to remain competitive and an iconic, McDonald’s has developed programs and strategies for organizational behavior in its market environment. As a result, McDonald’s presented an excellent opportunity to observe external macro environment which called Pestle. Pestle stands for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors.POLITICAL FACTOR The international operations of McDonald’s are highly influenced by the individual country’s policies enforced by each government. For instance, there are certain groups in Malaysia, Europe and the United States that take actions pertaining to the health implications of eating fast food. They have indicated that harmful elements like cholesterol and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products. On the other hand, the company is controlled by the individual policies and regulations of operations.Specific markets focus on different areas of concern such as that of health, worker protection, and environment. All these elements are seen in the government control of the licensing of the restaurants in the respective states of the country. For instance, there is an impending legal dispute in the McDonald’s franchise in Malaysia where certain infringement of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food. There are also other studies those points to the infringement of McDonald’s Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market.Like an y business venture, these McDonald’s stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market like Malaysia. Since it is apparent that the company is expanding continuously, it is wise to deal directly with the proper authorities in the respective markets that they intend to operate in. This way, the company can adopt a good way of establishing good relationship with the government. It is advisable that the company rests on the good graces of the government on which they will be penetrating.To do this, all they have to do is accomplish all the prescribed acts and satisfy all the prerequisites for doing business. The company must also be acquainted with the law in order to know what their responsibilities and their possible liabilities. Also McDonalds should protect its workers by ensuring all the hiring, compensation, training or repatriation in accordance to the labour laws. ECONOMICAL FACTOR Orga nizations in the fast food industry are not excused from any disputes and troubles. Specifically, they do have their individual concerns involving economic factors.Branches and franchises of McDonald’s have the tendency to experience hardship in instances where the economies of the respective countries are hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rates. The customers consequently are faced with a stalemate of going over their individual budgets whether or not they should use up more on these foreign fast food chains like McDonalds. Hence, these chains may have to put up with the issues of the effects of the economic environment. Particularly, their problem depends on the response of the consumers on these fundamentals and how it could influence their general sales.In regarding the operations of the company, McDonald’s tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific country’s territories if there is a dearth of supply. Exchange rate fluctuations wi ll also play a significant role in the operations of the company. The company’s international supply as well as the existing exchange rates is merely a part of the overall components needed to guarantee success for the foreign operations of McDonald’s. Moreover, it is imperative that the company be cognizant of the existing tax requirements needed by the individual governments on which they operate.This basically ensures the smooth operations of the McDonald’s franchises. In the same regard, the company will also have to consider the economic standing of the country on which they operate on. The rate at which the economy of that particular country grows determines the purchasing power of the consumers in that country. Hence, if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak country, their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, then these franchises must take on certain adjustments to maintain the economies of scale.I deally before penetrating the market, the company must carry out a well conducted market research, especially in the movements in the economic environment which McDonalds had done before entering the global market due to which the company has been able to bear the frequency of the shifts in the inflation rate as well as the fluctuations in the exchange rates which affects the operations of any company. SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS Articles on the international strategies of McDonald’s seem to function on several fields to guarantee lucrative returns for the organization.To illustrate, the organization improves on establishing a positive mind-set from their core consumers. McDonald’s indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. It has also been noted that the company have given the markets such as the United Kingdom and Malaysia, an option with regards to their dining needs. McDonald’s has launched a sensibly valued set of food that t enders a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates.Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonald’s franchises. The multifaceted character of business nowadays is reflected in the harsh significance of the information on the subject of the existing market. This procedure is essentially identified in the field as market research. Information with regards to the appeal and potential fields of the market would double as obstructions to the success of the company if this area of the operations is neglected.In the case of McDonald’s they establish a good system in determining the needs of the market. The company uses concepts of consumer behavior product personality and purchasing decisions to its advantage which is clearly evident in case of Malaysia as the company was quick in removing their Pork products from Malaysia’s menu. It is said to have a major influe nce on the understanding of the prospective performance of the organization in a particular market. McDonalds should obtain the relevant information from the target market in addition to the individual customers of the organization.It is imperative that before a franchise is granted to a particular market, a well drafted and comprehensive market research should be conducted initially so as to establish the acts that would conform to good customs, public policies, and morals of the said Country’s society. Similarly, the company should find out the shifts in areas like the consumer behavior and purchasing patterns of the market. Fundamentally, this is the key condition for executing a suitable customer relationship management system.Also the company should constantly survey and learn about local culture to better understand and design the best product for them. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS McDonald’s generates a demand for its own products. The company’s key tool for mar keting is by means of Online Facebook and Google ads, Collaboration with these websites to promote sales in India, television advertisements, banners and hoardings. There are similarly some claims that McDonald’s are inclined to interest the younger populations more. Other demonstration of such a marketing strategy is apparent in the commercials they use.They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace, Ronald and Ham burglar. Other advertising operations employ popular celebrities to promote their products. The ‘like’ has become endorsers for McDonald’s worldwide â€Å"I’m loving it† campaign. Moreover, the operations of McDonald’s have significantly been infused with new technology. Elements like the inventory system and the management of the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with.The integration of technolog y in the operations of McDonalds tends to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context McDonalds use the internet to their advantage. The cost-effectiveness, interactivity and real- time effects of the communications are a good way to find suppliers. It is also a good way to correspond with the respective McDonald’s headquarters in every Country.The company must also look into the use of IT to enhance their inventory operations. As the operations in its inbound and outbound logistics improve, the company will expect significant savings and reduction of costs in the operations. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS The social responsibilities of McDonald’s on the country are influential to the operations of the company. These involve accusations of environmental damage. Among the reasons why they are charged with such claims is the employ of non-biodegradable substances for their drinks glasses and Styrofoam coffers for the meals.Several civic groups in Malaysia have made actions to make the McDonald’s franchises in Malaysia aware of the rather abundant use of Styrofoam containers and the resultant abuse of the environment. The company should find out the environmental regime that governs the operations in every market. It should also monitor the waste disposal of the company. McDonald’s should minimize the use of Styrofoam materials and plastic cups. Constant updating of the social corporate responsibility is imperative and implements â€Å"Go Green†.This should also entail that the headquarters should take in hand, a manner of internal control of those that would infringe upon this company objective. LEGAL FACTORS There has been the recurrent bellowing in opposition to the fast food industry. This has similarly made McDonald’s apply a more careful considera tion on their corporate social responsibilities. On the whole, this addressed the need of the company to form its corporate reputation to a more positive one and a more socially responsible company. The reputation of McDonald’s is apparently a huge matter.Seen on the website of the company, it seems that they have acquired strides to take in hand the key social censures that they have been berating them in the past decades. The company has provided their customers the relevant data that they need with reference to the nutritional substances of their products. This is to attend to the arguments of obesity charged against the products of the company. In the same way, the consumers provided freedom in choosing whether or not they want to purchase their meals. This is tied up with the socio-cultural attributes of the market on which they operate.For instance, operations in predominantly Muslim countries require their meat to conform to the Halal requirements of the law. In the sa me regard, those that operate in countries in the European Union should conform to the existing laws banning the use of genetically modified meat products in their food. This was prime reason which forced McDonalds to eliminate beef, pork and Mutton out of India’s product menu. Other legal concepts like tax obligations, employment standards, and quality requirements are only a few of important elements on which the company has to take into consideration.Otherwise, smooth operations shall be hard to achieve. As a certified fast food operator, there are many regulations and procedures that McDonalds should follow. McDonalds should protect its integrity and consumer confidence by ensuring all materials and process are as claimed or must followed. Other legal requirement that the business owner should follow as stipulated in laws are such as operating hours, business registration, tax requirement, labour and employment laws and quality & environment certification (such as ISO) in which the outlet has been certified.The legal requirement is important because the offenders will be fined or have their business prohibited from operating which can be disastrous. The company should hire local counsels to deal with the legal conflicts in individual markets on which the company may encounter. This shall ensure the company that the lawyers that will handle their legal affairs are more versed with the legal regime that would ease out certain problems on their operations. Task 4 Impact of European Union’s Policies on McDonald The European Union (EU) is a unification of  27 member states united to create a political and economic community throughout Europe.Though the idea of the EU might sound simple at the outset, the European Union has a rich history and a unique organization, both of which aid in its current success and its ability to fulfill its mission for the 21st Century. The European Union Policies have an impact on McDonald’s market environment . Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Cooperation on economic and political matters is based on several forms of cooperation procedures. A fundamental principle when coordinating their economic policies is that Member States are responsible for their national economic policy.As a result of the crisis, Member States have strengthened the coordination of economic policy. However, Member States continue to place strong emphasis on national sovereignty in economic matters while adhering to common rules. McDonalds Cooperation is registered under (ECOFIN) and has to seek for consultation or in co-decision with the European Council every year. Although each EU Member State is responsible for determining its own tax policy, the EU still cooperates on relevant aspects of taxation. This applies especially to policies which affect international trade and trade among the Member States.The Member States therefore cooperate on certain aspects of taxation with cross-border effects. For instanc e, McDonalds have differentiated taxation rate in various country based on the country exchange rate. Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) From the very beginning, the free movement for workers has  been one of the basic rights within the European Community and this was the focal point of the first social and employment policy of the EU. The McDonald normally makes decisions in co-decision with the European Council.This procedure applies for instance when the Council passes legislation about the working environment, conditions at work, and the free movement of workers of McDonalds. The EU has the mandate to compliment McDonald’s initiatives in the area of health for the purpose of protecting people from health threats and diseases, promoting healthy lifestyles and helping national authorities in the EU to cooperate on health issues. This is especially relevant when it comes to burgers of McDonalds which is high in cholesterol and may lead to heart disease.Therefore, McDonalds have to modify the ingredient of the burgers. Competitiveness (COMPET) The McDonalds has to follow with industrial policy since the establishment of the EU. A milestone in the EU industrial policy is the establishment of the Single Market, which created a large home market for industry providing businesses with the opportunity to mass produce and profit from large-scale operation like McDonalds. Today, industrial policy is subject to the co-decision procedure, meaning that Competitiveness in business is legalistic. For an example, Burger King is legal competitor for McDonalds.The European research and innovation cooperation and the close connection between research, innovation and education play a decisive role in securing future growth. Therefore, the EU gives high priority to this area and allocates considerable funds annually to finance the McDonalds research programmer. Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRI) Through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the EU wants to ensure an economically viable agricultural sector that produces safe, high-quality food based on environmentally sustainable production. Moreover, the CAP contributes to ensuring good business and living conditions in rural areas.By requiring farmers to deliver public goods in return for the financial support, the Common Agricultural Policy is to ensure that beneficiaries deliver public goods on a range of relevant aspects, such as an improved environment and climate, innovation, technology and food quality of McDonalds. EU consumers should be confident that the foods on the market are healthy, safe, of high quality and produced with respect for animal welfare. Improvements of food safety levels in the EU through the harmonization of standards will be of high importance of McDonalds.EU countries have adopted common rules for McDonald’s hygiene and self-monitoring and common rules for authorities’ monitoring of the food industry. An EU inspectorate also mon itors whether the McDonalds implement food legislation correctly. Task 5 Global Factors That Affect McDonalds Businesses are affected by an external environment as much as they are affected by the competitors. Global factors influencing business are legal, political, social, technological and economic. Understanding of these factors is important while developing a business strategy. Social factorsThese factors are related to changes in social structures. These factors provide insights into behavior, tastes, and lifestyles patterns of a population. Buying patterns are greatly influenced by the changes in the structure of the population, and in consumer lifestyles. Age, gender, etc. all determine the buying patterns and understanding of such changes is critical for developing strategies which are in line with the market situations. In a global environment it is important that McDonald’s business strategies are designed keeping in mind the social and cultural differences that va ry from country to country.Consumer religion, language, lifestyle patterns are all important information for successful business management. Legal factors These factors that influence McDonalds business strategies are related to changes in government laws and regulations. For a successful business operation it is important that the businesses consider the legal issues involved in a particular situation and should have the capability to anticipate ways in which changes in laws will affect the way they must behave. Laws keep changing over a period of time.From the point of view of business it is important that they are aware of these changes in the areas of consumer protection legislation, environmental legislation, health & safety and employment law, etc. Economic factors These factors involve changes in the global economy. A rise in living standards would ultimately imply an increase in demand for products thereby, providing greater opportunities for McDonald to make profits. An eco nomy witnesses fluctuations in economic activities. This would imply that in case of a rise in economic activity the demand of the product will increase and hence the price will increase.In case of reduction in demand the prices will go down. Business strategies should be developed keeping in mind these fluctuations. Other economic changes that affect business include changes in the interest rate, wage rates, and the rate of inflation. In case of low interest rates and increase in demand McDonald will be encouraged to expand and take risks. Therefore, business strategies should have room for such fluctuations. Political factors This refers to the changes in government and government policies. Political factors greatly influence the operation of McDonald. This has gained significant importance off late.For example: McDonalds is operated in the European Union have to adopt directives and regulations created by the EU. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of bus inesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. Business must consider the stability of the political environment, government’s policy on the economy. Technological factors These factors greatly influence McDonald’s strategies as they provide opportunities for businesses to adopt new innovations, and inventions. This helps the McDonalds to reduce costs and develop new products.With the advent of modern communication technologies, technological factors have gained great impetus in the business arena. Huge volumes of information can be securely shared by means of databases thereby enabling vast cost reductions, and improvements in service. Organizations need to consider the latest relevant technological advancements for their business and to stay competitive. Technology helps business to gain competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. While designing the business strategies firms must consider if use of technology will allow the fir m to manufacture products and services at a lower cost.Firms can select new modes of distributions with the help of technology. It has become easier for companies to communicate with their customer in any part of the world. Conclusion From the beginning in 1948 as a fast food restaurant in Southern California, McDonalds grew by the end of the twentieth century into the world’s largest food service organization, having served up more than 100 billion hamburgers in half a century of operation. In conclusion, McDonalds are executing all these customers’ service improvement programs to constantly portraying itself as a friendly, healthy and quality food provider to customers.McDonalds is trying to build long-term relationship with customers to ensure the retention rate in the market where competition is tough between all the fast food restaurant operators. The purpose of this paper work is to analyze McDonald’s with its competitor; Burger King, internal microenviron ment, Pestle analyze, impact of EU Policies and global factors on McDonalds. Hereby, I strongly believe that I have reached your expectation on this case study. References McDonald (2012). A short history of McDonald. Available from: http://www. articlesbase. com/a-short-histoty-of-mcdonalds03920. tml [Accessed on 20/2/13] Frank Newman (2009). Burger King: A short Story. Available from: http://www. 21e5-11e4-dsas3-00134fascesds04. html. [Accessed on 20/2/13] Edita Novana (2003). McDonald’s Cooperation Analyze. 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