Ultimate career catch Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ultimate career catch - Research Paper Example Our main resource is your career preference. We use it to identify careers that best fit you and your current situation. We will take care of the research and analyze the pros and cons for each choice. This report will reflect different career choices, salary ranges, location areas, benefits, education requirements, and job description. Our research will provide tables and guides that will help you reach a conclusion. By the end of this report we will give our recommendation through strategic planning, researching, and analyzing of report to a rewarding career that will fit your career needs and wants. In this report, we utilize the average income from the last two years to determine what income expectation you can expect. Along with that, we compiled our findings in a table that will establish trends of each career movement and developed a wide-range of opportunities to help us determine the important benefits for each career. This will eliminate the unnecessary careers so we can se lect the ultimate career catch. The salary of financial managers basically depends on the type of industry and location. But the figures for May 2008 for the earnings of financial managers were $ 99,330 and the managers who weren’t at very high posts or at a very low post earned between $ 72030 and $ 135 070. Big organizations often pay more than small ones. Most of the financial managers also receive additional compensation from their companies. These compensations are in the form of bonuses, and they vary according to the size of company.

Does age matter in reltionships Essay Example for Free

Does age matter in reltionships Essay Relationships shape our lives. People can fall in love without considering nothing at that time. When it comes to the age, sometimes no matter for them how old or how young the partners are. Even if they do not consider about the age, but society criticizes and judges easily. As long as the partners satisfy and bless each other who cares about the age except our society. Mi (2011) explains When it comes to love age is just a number. Many couples who have a large age difference, they are so happy with their relationships(para. 6). Age may cause problems for a lot of people in their relationships sometimes not. However, our society affects most of the time. If older women date with younger   men, the women will be frowned directly in our society. According to Mastery (2013) No matter how common it may already sound, dating scenarios such as; older women dating with younger men are still frowned upon by society. People have heard whining from their family. For example; you cannot date with him, he is too old or too young and if people date with young or old people then everybody says about them. It really influences you and makes you guilty however there is nothing wrong to worry. Curley (2013) says What matters love is love, no matter what age or circumstance with more love in your life, there will be more life in your love.. For example; if people have young partner, they can take care of each other better than having old partner. If you have same age partners then partners will definitely need help because they will not be as energetic as before. For example; if you have young partner, he or she can take care of you better than having old partner. If you have same age partner you and your partner will definitely need help because you and your partner will not be as energetic as before. In conclusion, many people might think the different ages cause so many problems in their relationships. I agree, it might be true, but problem is everywhere in relationships does not matter about age even though people are in the same age still they will have different problems. As long as people are happy with their relationships, there is no necessary to say anything. Schilling (2007) explains When it comes to love, age is just a number

Legalization Of Cannibalism :: essays research papers

Virginia Woolf once said, â€Å"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.† This is one of the many arguments behind legalizing cannibalism. If the act of eating other human beings was legalized and regulated it will solve all the problems of modern society. Cannibalism has been around since the Neolithic times. It is not currently practiced, but I think a revival of this age-old practice would benefit everyone. Cannibalism can solve world hunger. It can improve our criminal justice system. Cannibalism will also put an end to over population and spice up some of the current cooking shows. The legalization of cannibalism is what our modern world needs to turn itself around.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The common idea behind using cannibalism to end world hunger is that we can kill half the people in the world and feed them to the other half. I disagree with that. Humans can live without their pinkey fingers, appendixes, and tonsils. This amounts to more than four hundred grams of useable meat per person. If the entire world donated those body parts, we would have 2, 400, 000, 000, 000 grams of meat or 2, 400, 000 metric tons or 3, 779, 250 cows worth of meat. These figures do not include the number of people who die and who would be edible. This, combined with the other foods currently available would help feed all the hungry people of the world. By legalizing and encouraging organized cannibalism we can help hungry and malnourished people everywhere.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If cannibalism is legalized the world will be much better behaved. I do not think that the majority of criminals would commit crimes if they knew that their appendages would end up in the supermarket if they were caught. This would also apply to schools. Detentions do not work, but I think that if you break a rule you will have to give a limb to be eaten. If you are late five times, it is a toe. If you skip an English class, the punishment is a pound of flesh. The Young Offenders Act should also be altered. The punishment for young offenders would just be less than the punishment for adults. My improved correctional system would completely significantly reduce crime from our streets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cannibalism would provide economically viable solutions to the problems of modern society. Today there is a large homeless problem. Some have suggested feeding half the homeless to the other half.

Problems and Solutions Internet Addiction.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS INTERNET ADDICTION. A long with the development of society is the development of scientific and technical, including the development and popularity of the internet. Beside the undeniable benefit is the tremendous impact that the internet bring. With most teens and adolescents, there is a thin line between casual Internet use and addiction. The first cause make person is addicted to the Internet is the family’s management. From that, they have much time to spend to do something on the Internet.Initially, you only use Internet when you have spare time. Gradually, you spend more and more time on it. And you are addicted. Internet addiction brings a lot of bad effects. When you use too much time to use the Internet, you lost your valuable time to do other things. We can see that the first harm is waste of time. Every time when someone require you shut down or out internet you will say â€Å"just for minutes†, right? Second, it is bad influence on your health. If you use it for along time, day to day you will fatigue, your brain will be damaged.And your studying? Of course it will decline, too. It leads to damage your eyes, west your money, neglected education†¦ It terrible! And then, it is internet addiction that the risk of your health or education and more other thing being negatively impacted by internet addiction need to stop immediately. For those reasons, we have to have a using internet timetable reasonablely. Especially, we should go outside and do more something useful. When we attend outside activities, you will not enough time to online.

College and Herb Block Foundation

Of all your courses, activities, internships, and work experience, which one did you ? nd most rewarding or personally satisfying? Explain why. The most rewarding work experience that I have had was to work as a volunteer for the International office at Northern Virginia Community College. Personally, I considered volunteering responsible work because it requires time effort and commitment. Working as a volunteer with the International Office was meaningful to me because I was able to assist so many students in achieving their dream of obtaining an American college education.I was able to help the International Students and to give them a better understanding of the resources that NOVA offers to international students. Furthermore, my responsibility was to arrange student get-togethers and in so doing build a sense of community and cohesion. My purpose for volunteering was to assist international students, many of whom are away from home with very little support at a very young age, with making a smooth transition in to a new coulter. This is particularly important to me because I am a dual citizen of America and Pakistan and understand the difficulty of assimilating into a new culture.FUTURE GOALS Based on your current achievements and interests, describe the kind of work that you plan to be doing in 10 years, both in your career and in your community. My goal is to get my Masters in Information System and Operation Management (ISOM). I chose this major because I have strong curiosity to learn about Information System Technology. However, I am also interested in business. I am excited about my major because ISOM, which is a mixture of IT and business, will prepare me to be successful in the future.Furthermore, in 10 years, I hope to be working with Multi Complex Corporations well established in a successful career, after earning Masters in (ISOM) Information System and Operational Management. I am very confident that in next 10 years, I will be in a position t hat will to utilize my talents and use my skills to solve important problems facing our world today. I see myself inviting new and exciting challenges in ISOM field. Also, I believe that throughout my study I will be able to help my community by providing them information about IT skills and about its advantages which would encourage young people to learn more about it.How has a family member, mentor, or personal experience been in? uential in your life? My personal experience and family background have a strong influence on me and on my education. I am motivated to graduate college because neither of my parents graduated from college. I am only the second person in my family to attend college and hopping to achieve my goal of obtaining my Associates of Science in Information Technology and then attending a four years institution. Moreover, the hard work of my parents has always inspires me.In addition, I am very thankful to them for supporting me in my efforts in of obtaining an ed ucation. Form my cultural background perspective, very often girls are not allowed to get an education but I really appreciate my family for providing me the opportunity to get a good education so I can have a brighter future. In 2012, I graduated with 3. 8 GPA form T. C Willims’s high school and last semester at NOVA I finished with a 3. 4 GPA. I am very passionate about my studies.However, my financial situation has proven to be an obstacle in my pursuit of academic success. My financial situation does not allow me to focus solely on my academics; this is why I am applying for the Herb Block Foundation Scholarships. I hope through this scholarship, I will be able to finish my community college career without finances being a barrier to my success. With the help of the Herb Block Foundation I will forge a brighter future my family my community and myself and ultimately the world at large.

Summary Virtual Meeting Analyzer A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L.

Summary Virtual Meeting Analyzer A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. This article details the aspects of a Virtual Meeting Analyzer. This is an upcoming web application that can be used to analyze the dynamics of a social meeting. According to the article, evaluating the social networks that result from meetings could help in improving communication in social meetings.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Summary: â€Å"Virtual Meeting Analyzer: A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings† by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the article notes that there are many complexities involved in this process (Privitera, Martino Gamberini, 2012). The Virtual Meeting Analyzer (VMA) is a web application that is modeled to overcome such complexities. The article begins by noting that prior to VMA social meetings were analyzed using arcs and nodes. The nodes in this case represent the social agents whil e the arcs represent the nodes’ interrelationships. According to the article, social network analysis is currently used in psychological research activities. For instance, it can be used to monitor social groups or initiate organizational interventions. VMA simplifies the analysis of small social meetings of less than thirty participants. There is no expertise in social network analysis or computer science that is required when using VMA. Other software programs that were previously used for this task did not have this element of simplicity. These programs also incorporated manual coding and this left room for errors. According to the article, VMA has four modules. Each of these four modules corresponds with the activity being performed. The four modules include configuration, recording, meeting creation, and temporal analysis. The meeting creation module allows the user to create a new meeting or load a previous one. The configuration module accounts for characteristics of t he meeting’s environment. The recording module allows the user to record all the communication events in a meeting. This module is instantaneous.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The temporal analysis module provides a temporary description of the social network. When the network develops, the temporal analysis module updates these developments. The article then outlines the considerations that were made during the development of the VMA web application program. The most important developmental consideration was that VMA could be accessed through any internet-enabled device. The article continues by claiming that VMA web applications can work with a wide range of browsers (Borgatti, Everett Freeman, 2001). The next part of the article details the application’s evaluation. According to the article, the evaluation’s main objective was meant to prove that VMA could be used by users with no technical background. The evaluation was conducted using two different scenarios to guarantee effectiveness. In the first scenario, a VMA user was presented with thirty-five questions. The questions investigated the device’s navigability, design, visibility, comprehensibility, and error handling. This second scenario investigated the effectiveness of the application’s inner workings. The article notes that both evaluations revealed positive feedback from the participants. Among the highest rated components of VMA included the application’s meeting creation and participant positioning modules. In the second scenario, participants were able to discover who the leader of the network was using VMA. The results of the evaluations have since been used to develop updates for the application. The article continues to note that most of these updates will focus on the interoperability between the application and web browsers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Summary: â€Å"Virtual Meeting Analyzer: A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings† by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The article concludes by posting the results of the evaluation conducted through the questionnaire. The replies for most of the thirty-five questions asked were positive. Impact of VMA on Psychological Research VMA technology is used as a tool of social network analysis. Social network analysis (SNA) is one of the methods used in psychological research. SNA was first used as a research methodology in 1989 (Fogg Tseng, 1999). Before that, a book published in 1934 touted for SNA’s inclusion in the research methodologies regimen. VMA represents the current trend that uses SNA methodology. The tool employs the latest technological advancements especially the advent of high-speed i nternet. VMA will have quite a significant impact on how research is conducted in the psychology field. Most of the existing SNA tools feature backdated technology that does not match the current trends. VMA is the exception to this trend. VMA will feature simplified architecture that will simplify research activities. Currently, most psychological research is not funded by external sources. This means that most psychologists have to fund their own projects (Martino, Spagnolli Gamberini, 2009). Therefore, VMA is going to assist researchers in cutting research costs. The tool also cuts back on the number of personnel required to undertake a research project.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition, the tool does not require researchers to engage in further training. All these aspects are cost cutting and this could translate to more research projects in the future. For instance, the above article takes note of the ease of operation that comes with the new VMA. Another aspect of VMA that will affect research is its efficiency. According to research conducted on the VMA, it was discovered that the tool is over three times more efficient than its viable alternative. This translates into reliable research findings because of the reduced incidences of human error. The tool also includes several new components that will make researchers’ work easy. For example, VMA allows users to add notes, new participants, and even modify the content of earlier notes (Cross, Borgatti Parker, 2002). VMA is a trending research tool in psychological research. Over the next few months, its impact will start being felt. The tool will simplify current research and open avenues for futuristic research. List of References Borgatti, P., Everett, G. Freeman, C. (2001). UCINET V Network Analysis Software  Manual. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies. Cross, R., Borgatti, P. Parker, A. (2002). Making Invisible work visible: using social network analysis to support strategic collaboration. California  Management Review, 44(2), 25-46. Fogg, J. Tseng, S. (1999). Credibility and computing technology.  Communications of the ACM, 42(5), 39-44. Martino, F., Spagnolli, A. Gamberini, L. (2009). Presence in the age of social networks: augmenting mediated environments with feedback on group activity. Virtual Reality, 13(3), 183-194. Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. (2012). Virtual Meeting Analyzer: A Web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings. PsychNology Journal, 10(1), 39-51.

Term Paper Writing Mistakes

Term Paper Writing Mistakes Typical mistakes in writing term papers include the most simple of all things – spelling and grammar errors, but also include running with topics not associated with course materials, failing to cover essential aspects from the course, and topic sentences that are not explained in the material. Most students will make typical mistakes in writing term papers due to fear and concern for the work they must complete, particularly if the work is a large portion of the student’s grade. The first step in avoiding the typical mistakes in writing term papers is just to relax and think about what the course has covered. While thinking, write a short list of important things you have learned in the course and how they relate to each other. Also, remember to write the outline, the outline is there to help you stay on track while writing the paper. Begin very simply – Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. Following this, you can begin to add in the primary topic sentence and then topic sentences for each paragraph. Write at least three sentences for each paragraph – preferably four. Remember to provide evidence for your information from reliable sources such as textbooks and peer-reviewed sources. Finally, no matter how much trouble you have with your term paper, you can avoid the typical mistakes in writing term papers just by remembering to use your â€Å"Spelling Grammar† checker found in the review section of MS Word. This function will prevent the more common errors found in papers and even provide you with a clear knowledge of how many words you have written for the assignment. Your writing will take time to develop, most students will not have college level writing skills straight out of high school, but with time and practice, you can have these skills.

Your checklist for establishing salary ranges

Your checklist for establishing salary ranges Outwardly, your company probably has a standard line when it comes to describing employee salaries- something along the lines of â€Å"salary commensurate with performance and experience,† perhaps. Internally, it’s essential to have a close eye on what you’re paying particular employees, whether this aligns with industry standards, and what a particular position is worth to your company. Establishing pay ranges or set salary boundaries is essential to getting a handle on this information and managing salary moving forward. Let’s look at how you can approach the task for your company.Determine the value of each position within your organization.It would be nice to think that you can’t put a dollar number on an employee’s worth, but†¦the accountants beg to differ. This isn’t personal to whomever holds the job. Each position within your company has, realistically, a minimum and maximum value. Figuring out that value depends first on determining what the market value is for a given position. Your jobs may not match other companies’ jobs 1:1, but matching approximate job duties and levels of seniority can give you a pretty good idea of what others are paying for similar work. Sites like PayScale offer glimpses into position salaries, but the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics can really be your gold standard of salary data.Re-evaluate current employees.This is likely the most painful part of the process because it could uncover some uncomfortable realities. Are your current employees making salaries in line with their market value? If they’re making less, this is a relatively easy fix- you can increase base salary until it’s aligned. If they’re making more, it’s tougher. Cutting someone’s pay is going to negatively affect morale and employee engagement. What you can do is determine that a particular employee won’t be eligible for base pay increases, but rather bon uses or other compensation.Review and rank all the jobs in your organization.By figuring out the most essential jobs in your organization and assigning value based on seniority, job complexity, education required, training necessary, and other aspects, you can start establishing a hierarchy of salary ranges.Review your job descriptions.Once you start considering the relative value of each position, it’s important to make sure that your recruitment materials are realistic. Are your job descriptions reflective of the actual job? If you’re going to assign a specific value range to a position based on the job tasks, experience and skills necessary, etc., then you’ll be able to manage the salary process better, and earlier in the process.hbspt.cta.load(2785852, '9e52c197-5b5b-45e6-af34-d56403f973c5', {});Determine the specific ranges.Once you’ve gone through the work of assigning relative value to each position in your company, it’s time to start attach ing real numbers to each position. A salary range should have a minimum, a midpoint, and a maximum. Most salary ranges are 30-40% apart, from minimum to maximum.Communicate your salary philosophy.Then, after you’ve established ranges throughout your company, it’s important to be clear about what the salary expectations are for each role. This doesn’t mean publishing the specific dollar ranges (given the confidentiality of individual employees’ salary information), but employees should know if you’re planning to compensate them with bonuses instead of base pay increases, or how you determine base bay raises. If employees are totally in the dark about how salaries are determined and why, it leaves the door open for negativity and speculation. It can also help you in disputes over employee pay, if the salary philosophy and methodology is at least somewhat transparent.Don’t get complacent.Keep monitoring your ranges, perhaps auditing them annual ly, to make sure that your salary ranges are keeping pace with the market standards.Setting salary ranges makes your organization run more efficiently when it comes to hiring, developing existing talent, and adhering to financial best practices. It’s also a way to make sure you have a strong handle on what’s going on at every level your organization, and to inform how you can continue to meet organizational goals while supporting employees in a data-driven way.

Social Penetration Theory of Irwin Altman & Dalmas Taylor Term Paper

Social Penetration Theory of Irwin Altman & Dalmas Taylor - Term Paper Example Similar to Altman and Taylor’s Social Penetration Theory of exposing more of themselves as levels of intimacy grew over time and interaction, the study of the Taiwanese adolescents indicated some similar patterns but some differences as well. As in the case of the popular onion peel model, the group comprised of males and females primarily teenagers, stated that they did engage more fully with members of the opposite sex as time progressed. Thus, as is the case where people go from revealing basic information to more and more personal information about themselves as they share degrees of companionship, so did the adolescents involved in the test. The results were comparable in real life to the Social Penetration Model. The results differed though with female participants compared to their male counterparts in cyberspace. The males progressed gradually, increasing as time and nature of the relationship grew. The females however, at first establishing a guarded level of self dis closure, gradually revealed more about themselves but then once again became more guarded when the relationship became that of a romantic or sexual one. The interaction performed solely in the realm of cyberspace was done only on the computer so physical and non-verbal communications were absent. While interacting with only a still photograph and written communication, the interaction between the participants would be far less intense than if they were together in person. Still another point that should be made, is that with the degree of anonymity and less vulnerability, the participants may have engaged in more forthright communication. The results also vary according to social norms, customs and cultural background. The females in Taiwan may have retreated when the degree of interaction became one of a sexual nature because of their upbringing and ideas about sexual involvement before marriage. This may not necessarily be the case among adolescents from other countries and cultur es where promiscuity and sexual interaction are more widely accepted. Methods Used to Conduct this Research The survey used to compare the adolescents’ self-disclosure both in real life and in cyberspace consisted of a variety of questions about their desire to engage in conversation about different sexual topics at varying degrees of intimacy. Due to the anonymity, a deindividuated state is induced in cyberspace. The individuals then seem to be more apt to engage in sexual self-disclosure in cyberspace than in real life (Chiou andWan 2006). Therefore, sexual disclosure on the Internet may not be dependent on the level of intimacy in a relationship as it is in real life. The Taiwanese adolescents were divided into three groups from different demographic areas: Northern, Central and Southern Taiwan. An equal proportion of male and female subjects were used and also pertaining to the region they lived in. Therefore a broad cross section represented the participants in the study . The questionnaire used an 11-point scale and was comprised of 15 questions pertaining to feelings about pornography, sexually transmitted diseases, masturbation, sexual harassment and cybersex among others (Chiou and Wan 2006). Conclusions Found in the Study The researchers used mathematical formulas and computations to analyze the results. The

Corporate governance reform of listed company in china Essay

Corporate governance reform of listed company in china - Essay Example In addition, the corporate governance of a company is indispensible in influencing how the company is functioning. According to Development Institute (2005), â€Å"the presence of strong governance standards provides better access to capital and aids economic growth.† Thus good corporate governance ascertains that the business operation of a company is transparent and fair and simultaneously enables the controlling authorities to hold companies accountable for their actions in the market. On the contrary, weak corporate governance leads a company towards corruption, mismanagement as well as waste of useful resources (Lin, 2001). Centre for Financial Market Integrity (2007) mentioned that â€Å"Corporate governance is critically important to a country’s economic growth and stability, because it provides the credibility and confidence that is fundamental to capital markets.† Hence, from the discussion it is evident that corporate governance is an important subject for a nation’s economy. The recent history of corporate governance and economic reforms in China has been marked as one of the important phases of the country as it started to focus more on the development of private enterprises and capitalism (Bebchuk and Hamdani, 2009). Moreover, China also succeeded to align itself with the international economy and has further sought to espouse Western-style administration mechanisms and legal principles pertaining to the function of its companies (Rand Corporation, 2008). The chronological development of the corporate governance in China has passed through four major stages. The first stage was from 1949 to 1983, where state-owned enterprises (SOEs) subjugated the Chinese economy and as a result, the state controlled and commanded almost every economical aspect (Bhagat, Bolton and Romano, 2008). During this era, the Western-style corporate governance also did not existed in the country. The second stage was from 1984 to 1993. This phase is characterised by commencement of the separation of enterprise and government in China. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) was also established in this epoch. Alongside this, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was also established as a government body to regulate the stock market. The third stage continued from 1994 to 2005, which is marked by the commencement of trialling the modern enterprise structures. The company law was also passed which mentioned the responsibilities and rights for the companies operating in China. Despite, the passage of company law, it had a far-reaching affect on the Chinese Economy and corporate governance and as a consequence, the state shareholders enjoyed overwhelming favouritism over single investors (Roe, 2002; Development Institute, 2005). The fourth stage as is currently in progress from 2006 onwards. During this phase corporate governance has witnessed colossal growths in China. It encompassed legislation that was aimed to form equilibrium of the power asymmetry among the individual or single shareholders and state shareholders. The current corporate governance system of china lacks credibility. This can be said from the fact that many of the Chinese companies are not aligning to the standard policies and regulations of the business as well as government

Lesson plan on critique Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lesson plan on critique - Assignment Example Moreover, the activities listed in the lesson plan maximize the engagement of the students and assess the mastery of objectives by the students â€Å"Students are provided this time to begin reading the text and prepare questions†. Variety of activities that are in the lesson plan are all addressed to different styles of learning as well as providing enough time for the instructions â€Å"Students will watch this short five-minute extract from a documentary†. The lesson plan provides a clear evidence of insufficient, minimum information to the students and planning that is poor. To start with, the lesson plan lacks activities that are appropriate to reach the objectives concerning the lessons actual content. The lesson plan also has failed to provide enough time for learning to give more time for instruction versus the student’s independent learning and practice. There are insufficient ways of student’s assessment of the mastery of the objectives, and there are no questions listed that the teacher can use to elicit the attention and test the understanding of the students. The references and the sources of information’s are not listed adequately. The students assessment should be immediate and not done come the following day as outlined in the lesson

Julie Taymor Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Julie Taymor - Movie Review Example She also moved to Japan where she studied puppetry, Japanese plays and general theatre. Julie has stood up as an iconic figure in the film industry, she is among the first female film directors to have a successive conversion of pieces in theatre to film. She has won many awards due to her immense ability. She directed different classic operas in Japan and in the United States. Notable was the â€Å"Oedipus Rex† which earned her an Emmy award; the lion king which earned a Toni’s award and many others that have earned her a place in history books. She is an all round director working well in theatre, operas and films. Titus Titus originally was a play; that is, Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare. It was adapted and crafted into a movie by the famous and artistic producer; Julie taymor. The movie was released in the year 2000 by Julie. Titus Andronicus is one of the bloodiest and the most gruesome play ever written by Shakespeare. It is a story of betrayal and vengea nce (Berardenelli, 21). In this particular film, it is easy to understand the artistic ability in Julie as she takes to task one of the relatively most unloved plays by Shakespeare and creates it into a huge movie success. There is fusion of times all depicted in the props in use. The costume take us back into the ancient Roman Empire and brings us back to the modern day Italy with an ease that may not be usually simple to depict by most directors. The story which is based on Titus Andronicus who is an aged commander of the Roman Empire’s army return to Rome. He returns after a finished conquering expedition on the Goths. This introductory part has the most artistic directorial ability being manifest; first the idea of casting, Julie here chose to have Anthony Hopkins play the part. Anthony with his powerful voice and steady posture depicts the legendary command in a near perfect way. The role played by his brother Marcus (Colm Feore) was intelligently done as the physical si milarities of the two people is not of great dispute. Titus returns and his brother wants to install him as emperor but he refuses and supports the candidature of one Sartunius who is quickly confirmed and announces that he will get married to his benefactors’ daughter Laviniah. Sartunius’ own brother rejects the claims by Sartunius that he has already been engaged to Laviniah (Titus’ daughter). The emperor chooses another girl and the lucky one being Tamora the Queen of the Goths who had been captured. She schemes’ her way a round to get revenge against Titus who had been responsible for the death of her son. With the help of her lover she causes the death of Bassiunus, allows Laviniah to be raped and mutilated, and further causes the abduction of Titus’ two sons. This revives the violent spirit of Titus. The rage and vengeance creates the subject matter of the film. Julie portrays the reality of the situation without having to make the viewers go through the agony of seeing the violent scenes. She on the contrary indicates the aftermath of the violent scenes perfectly and leaves the rest to imagination without leaving out the nity gritty’s of the script (Holden, 23). Taymor sets pace for the other filmmakers, giving a platform to showcase any script without having to include aspects that may injure the viewer of acts that may not in essence do justice to the piece and their removal does not affect the

Assignment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment - Research Proposal Example Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injuries are the most rare injuries.(1- JM) Most suspected knee disorders become diagnosed first through conventional radiographs (X-rays). These radiographs are effective in demonstrating fractures because the show bones and joint spaces. Their sensitivity to soft tissue conditions remains low except in conditions where the tissues contain mush calcium or fat. X-rays are also relatively insensitive to destruction of medullary bone and loss of cartilage as well. The basic examination consists of lateral and ante posterior (AP) projections of the knee.(Carmen MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Herva ´s) Radiographs and CTs remain effective modalities for post-operative imaging following ACL reconstruction. CTs, however, depict femoral tunnel in more accurate manner than radiographs. The radiation dosage however, is almost double that of the radiographs and this should be effective considered when utilizing CTs over radiographs ( Anagha et al). Plain radiographs provide limited assistance in dealing with sports related injuries. They can only be indicated in circumstances where there is significant impact injury. Positive findings are however, occasionally demonstrated in ACL disruptions, where there is depression of the lateral femoral notch, and segond fracture. Computed Tomography (CT) provides effective analysis for categorizing fracture of the tibia plateau. Ultrasound imaging is utilized minimally together with magnetic resonance imaging when analyzing many knee injuries. Ultrasound becomes reliable in assessment of quadriceps and patellar tendons, when symptoms of injury are located within the anterior joint, and are focal. Ultrasound easily identifies collateral ligaments. Injuries to these ligaments are however associated with derangement and MRI becomes essential in demonstrating the full spectrum of the injury (12- EUGENE G). MRI utilizes high soft tissue contrast and multiplanar capability in

GDP Comparisons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

GDP Comparisons - Essay Example The GDP of all 22 countries of the Arab League including West Bank and Gaza Strip is around $2.309 trillion for the year 2011(CIA fact book, 2013). The country with the highest GDP is Saudi Arabia with $587 billion. As compared to the countries of Arab League the GDP of Italy is $2.164 trillion, the GDP of France is $2.734 trillion, GDP of Germany is $3.55 trillion, GDP of United States $14.83 trillion, and GDP of Japan is $5.773 trillion for the year 2011 (CIA Fact book, 2013). Except Italy, all the countries mentioned above have a GDP that is greater than the combined GDP of all Arab League countries. The difference between Italy’s GDP and Arab League’s GDP is also very small. The GDP of West Bank and Gaza Strip is $6.64 billion, while the GDP of Israel in $239.8 billion (CIA Fact book, 2013). This comparative analysis tells us about the dominance of Western developed world over the Third World Countries of Arab. The industrial setup of Arab countries is very weak and therefore they have to rely on natural resources. Lack of local industries and inefficient governments are the main reason for such great difference between GDPs of Arab League countries and that of the developed world.

Assignment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment - Research Proposal Example Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injuries are the most rare injuries.(1- JM) Most suspected knee disorders become diagnosed first through conventional radiographs (X-rays). These radiographs are effective in demonstrating fractures because the show bones and joint spaces. Their sensitivity to soft tissue conditions remains low except in conditions where the tissues contain mush calcium or fat. X-rays are also relatively insensitive to destruction of medullary bone and loss of cartilage as well. The basic examination consists of lateral and ante posterior (AP) projections of the knee.(Carmen MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Herva ´s) Radiographs and CTs remain effective modalities for post-operative imaging following ACL reconstruction. CTs, however, depict femoral tunnel in more accurate manner than radiographs. The radiation dosage however, is almost double that of the radiographs and this should be effective considered when utilizing CTs over radiographs ( Anagha et al). Plain radiographs provide limited assistance in dealing with sports related injuries. They can only be indicated in circumstances where there is significant impact injury. Positive findings are however, occasionally demonstrated in ACL disruptions, where there is depression of the lateral femoral notch, and segond fracture. Computed Tomography (CT) provides effective analysis for categorizing fracture of the tibia plateau. Ultrasound imaging is utilized minimally together with magnetic resonance imaging when analyzing many knee injuries. Ultrasound becomes reliable in assessment of quadriceps and patellar tendons, when symptoms of injury are located within the anterior joint, and are focal. Ultrasound easily identifies collateral ligaments. Injuries to these ligaments are however associated with derangement and MRI becomes essential in demonstrating the full spectrum of the injury (12- EUGENE G). MRI utilizes high soft tissue contrast and multiplanar capability in

Partnership - Assignment Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Partnership - Assignment Paper - Essay Example A partnership is different from a company on the grounds that it is not incorporated and thus cannot be called a separate legal entity. However, a firm may be sued, or sue other partners if it is registered. Every partner is an agent representing the partnership firm and this function begins as soon as the partners agree to form a partnership with each other, irrespective of the fact that they began trading or not. Thus, each partner will be liable to his full extent for the debts of the firm. A partnership agreement arises out of a contract among the various partners which may be either expressed or implied in nature. There are various kinds of partners, dormant and active, in some cases, an individual might hold himself a partner only to the outside world and thus becomes liable for any debts that the firm must manage in due course. Various articles of partnership including a Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association etc must be laid down as part of the contractual agreeme nts which contain relevant information including the names of the partners, extent of capital provided, nature of the firm’s business, the ratio of sharing profits and losses, as well as the regulations for admission and retirement of partners. The main difference between a partnership and a company is that a company is a type of a corporation and is a separate legal entity except for cases where the company has been proved to be illegal in which case the corporate veil may be lifted. However, Limited Liability Partnerships are corporate bodies having a separate legal personality from their members. A partnership is a mere unity of ownership and control and may be dissolved however a company goes on even after the death of the directors. Each partner in a partnership firms has a certain liability to pay the debts because of his position within the firm if he retires, dies, or is a new partner altogether, just as he is equipped to receive the profits too. In a company however, each director or member who has subscribed is entitled to a small dividend as per the subscription. The audits of a partnership are not available for the scrutiny of the rest of the society whereas a company’s audits and shares are part of the public proceedings as well and thus open to all. When a company is formed as a subsidiary of another company, then the questions are raised whether the company which is the subsidiary of the other company works as an individual entity or on the basis of its parent’s company. In the case of Solomon vs Solomon the question raised was whether a company is an original entity in itself, and the decision mentioned that the company is indeed an individual entity in itself and operates on its own accord. Any company which is formed has the power and the ability to work on its feasibility without the interference from another company. However, nowadays the concept of veil has overshadowed the Solomon case where there is a common understa nding that a subsidiary often is run by its parent company. A partnership can be terminated in many ways. One of the most common ways of terminating the partnership is when the partnership goes bankrupt and

Virtual Meeting Scenario Essay Example for Free

Virtual Meeting Scenario Essay In the past, a meeting for many global companies and organizations with largely distributed partakers was challenging. For example, previously if a company called a meeting and attendees were in different locations, the business would either fly those in attendance to a central location, or hold conference calls. Today companies take advantage of technology by holding virtual meetings. According to Educause Learning Initiative â€Å"A virtual meeting is Online virtual meetings are real-time interactions that take place over the Internet using features such as audio and video, chat tools, and application sharing† (Educase Learning Initiative, 2006). In other words a virtual meeting can link meeting participants without him or her ever leaving his or her workplace. From this new innovation businesses can expand businesses and make decisions faster; however, all meeting attendees should learn to respect each other, communicate, and appreciate each other’s differences. There are several types of teams, from sports teams to debate teams and workplace teams. Workplace teams is the focus of this paper, specifically virtual teams, the individual who are a part of the team must be there to create a cooperative effort for teamwork to be present. Different obstacles can be created by virtual meetings because the individuals involved in the meeting are not face to face and only have what each other say to make his or her impressions and perceptions. The teams involved in the virtual meetings have to be open to learn, share, discuss, and seek information and knowledge. The virtual meeting scenario with Pablo, Sam and Lifang Lin, they all are from different regions and cultures. The simulation is provided by University of Phoenix (2009). The obstacles and difficulties that each individual in the simulation endures include accents, stereotypes, culture, ego and gender. There are remarks made based on one’s culture and stereotypes brought up. In the simulation it is understood that because Lifang Lin is a female that the two males seems to leave her out of conversation and not recognize that she is a part of the team. Sam, an American, made offensive comments that are very derogatory and rude. He also made a prejudice comment to Pablo that he wants to â€Å"build a higher wall along the border there so y’all meaning Mexican don’t keep coming over into America and ruining things for the rest of us,† (University of Phoenix, 2009). Sam also talks about taking â€Å"siestas† and calling him â€Å"Senor Pablo† and that he â€Å"don’t hablo espanol or anything like that. † Even though Pablo is an educated man Sam comments still make seems like he is superior to Pablo and Pablo in inferior to him. Sam is an unethical, prejudice, self-absorb, and bias person. I would not have let it the conservation get far. I would have told Sam he was unprofessional and we are here to conduct business. Pablo is from Mexico and third world country. Pablo has a big ego and he always singing his own praises and building his self-up. He always wants to take the lead, talk about how handsome he is, talk about a lot about his accomplishments, and feel he is superior to everyone else. Pablo appears to be self-centered and arrogant just from his introduction. He did show have some hostility toward Sam regarding his remarks, Pablo told Sam the topic is sensitive to him. Pablo is an egotistical person despite the how Sam stereotyped him. I would have did the same with Pablo stopped him before he made everything about himself and not the business. Lifang Lin is from China. Lifang Lin is the most professional out of them all. She needs to talk up some to Sam and Pablo and not let them bully her. She is submissive, maybe because of her culture. She appears to be somewhat shy and laid back, but she is respectful of other. She tries to makes things peaceful between everyone. She is more of a peacemaker and leader than Sam and Pablo. If I was Lifang Lin I would have ask Sam and Pablo to conduct themselves professionally and treat each other with respect.

Public Transportation | Construction Essay

Public Transportation | Construction Essay Public transportation is an essential service that must be provided by the government to its citizen. Yet, it still an issue faced by most of developing countries all over the world including Malaysia. As it begins to transform itself to become a developed country in 2020, it is a crucial to have comfortable, reliable and affordable world-class public transportation system to meet the target. According to Ministry of Transportation (2012), by having efficient transport network, several main transport issues faced by urban populations such as high traffic congestion during peak periods, cancellations and frequent delays of service and poor access to public transport services and network can be solved immediately. As part of government commitment to develop better system for public transportation, Malaysia has invested in many public transportation planning and development program over the years. For example under 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), RM 31.8 billion was allocated to improve the public transportation performance. (Government of Malaysia, 2006). An additional RM 35 billion was further allocated under Budget 2009 (2009 2014) to enhance the public transportation services in Malaysia, for the allocation of new buses and provision of better infrastructure facilities (Bernama, 2008). However, the utilization rate of public transportation is still poor and the use of private vehicles is continuously rising. This scenario indicates that there are probably several flaws within the previous and current approach (PEMANDU, 2012). Since public transportation is very important to the social and economic life of the citizens, a new plan of massive improvement under Government Transformation (GTP) Program, the National Key Result Area (NKRA) has been launched in November 2009. There are 6 initiatives under this program and one of them is UPT-NKRA. It stands for NKRA Urban Public Transportation. The objective of UPT-NKRA may different based on the phase of its implementation. Below are several objectives that need to be achieved in 2010 and 2012. Improving the public transport modal share from 11% to 15% by the end of 2010 and to 25% by the end of 2012 during the morning peak period of 7am to 9pm in the Klang Valley and will subsequently adapt and apply successful initiatives to Penang and Johor Bahru; Improving reliability and journey times;   Enhancing commuters comfort and convenience; and   Improving accessibility and connectivity so that the percentage of the population living within 400 metres of a public transport route increases from 63% to 80% in 2012. (Source: Ministry of Transport Malaysia 2012) In the real world, government policies may not achieve the target and the actual needs. Most of developing countries have contributed so many efforts towards providing better public transportation. However, the implementation always faced with many difficulties. In Pakistan for instance, it was found that, factors like overstated role of the private sector, lack capacity among public transport organizations, negligence in the development of high-capacity public transport, failure to use existing land and integration difficulty had been identified as major problems led to the unsuccessful of their policies (Imran, 2009). The continuous failure to serve the demand of citizens to enjoy better public transportation service is not good for a developed country to be. In Malaysia, proper planning and significant improvement only had been seen in several main cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Klang Valley and Penang. On the other hand, Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah that is experiencing rapid population growth and tremendous economic activities still have to depend on bus to bring them into their destinations. This research will try to analyse the impact of public transportation policy on public bus transportation in Kota Kinabalu. Government policy at federal, state and local level will be analysed together with several issue in public transportation. Besides, the feedback of various stakeholders mainly from the government and respective authoritative body, private bus-operators as well as the public users will be taken into account. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN MALAYSIA Kota Kinabalu and its Public Transportation Kota Kinabalu is the capital city of Sabah which is populated by people from various ethnics, races and religions. It is located within the rapidly developing West Coast Division  [1]  . Over the years, this city is experiencing several infrastructure developments. Many shopping complexes and commercial buildings had been erected and these have encouraged more business and trade activities. Kota Kinabalu is considered as an urbanizing city due to its economy and population growth. In 2010, the total estimate number of population in Kota Kinabalu is 452, 058 (Statistics Department, 2011) with average household income RM 2487 per month (Economic Planning Unit, 2011). Apart from becoming a centre for education, business and social activities, Kota Kinabalu also have a number of attractive destinations for the local and international tourists. It was reported that, domestic and foreign visitors entered Sabah through Kota Kinabalu is 100,000 in 2004 and increased to 600, 000 in 2010 ( Sabah Tourism Board). To date, bus (includes express bus, minibuses and vans) still served as the main mode of public transportation to the local residents of Kota Kinabalu. The public bus system is operated by various private companies featured with variable quality. They provide travelling network and service in the urban, sub-urban and intercity areas. The main terminal is located in front of Wawasan Plaza Building where the urban and suburban buses pick and drop their passenger all over again. Another terminal is located in Inanam provides intercity buses service towards long distance travels such as Kudat, Ranau, Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu and Semporna. Taxicabs also still operate in this city but the service focus at the several main areas only such as at the airport, hospitals and terminal bus. Besides, a railway system known as Sabah State Railway also operated in this city. However, the destination coverage is limit to several areas where it connects Kota Kinabalu with Tenom and several other to wns in between this railway it provides daily services for commuters, travelers, as well as for cargo transportation. Players in Public Transportation: Government Entity Government entity is the important stakeholders in public transportation. Any policy formulated by the government will affect the whole public transportation system in our country. Based on the interpretation provided by Land Public Transport Act 2010, government entity defined as the federal government, or any state government, state authority or local government; and any ministry, department, office, agency, authority, commission, committee, board, council or other body, corporate or unincorporate, of the Federal Government, or of any State Government or local government, whether established under written law or otherwise. In Malaysia, federal government is most responsible party to ensure the better performance of public transportation throughout the country. Only this level of government able has the power to approve and grant funding to any plan and project suggested by the subordinates governments. This is clearly mentioned in the Laws of Malaysia (1997) where the responsibilit y for financial allocation to regional authorities or local authorities lies with the central government (Vigar et al, 2000). Not only responsible in allocate money to be distributed to the subordinates government but also federal have the power to approve or disapprove any project and program proposed by the lower governments. As transport matters are a federal listed responsibility under the Constitution of Malaysia., the improvement of the public transport system can only be carried out with central governments approval since the Transport Ministry holds absolute power over transport planning (Laws of Malaysia, 1997). There are several department and unit under the federal administration works for public transportation namely Land Public Transport Commission, Road Transport Department Commercial Licensing Vehicle Board in Sabah and Sarawak and many more. Land Public Transport Commission (LPTC) Land Public Transport Commission is established on 3 June 2010 after the formulation of Land Public Transport Commission Act 2010 by Parliament in May 2010. This commission gained its full powers under the Land Public Transport Act 2010 and coming into force on 31 January 2011. By the establishment of this commission, the functions of Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board, Department of Railways and the tourism vehicles licensing function of the Ministry of Tourism in Peninsular Malaysia have been made inapplicable. However, LPTC only have jurisdiction power over peninsular Malaysia. The commercial Vehicles Licensing Board, Department of Railways and the Ministry of Tourism still continue to exercise their respective powers in Sabah and Sarawak. The table shown below summarize the power description of LPTC. Powers Descriptions Planning Master plan to ensure comprehensive, integrated and sustainable infrastructure development. SPAD shall propose policies and plans in relation to or affecting land public transport, and develop strategies in line with the approved policies and plans with a view to achieving a safe, reliable, efficient, responsive, accessible, planned, integrated and sustainable land public transport, while ensuring the provision of affordable services for the carriage of passengers and competitive services for the carriage of goods.(The Land Public Transport Act 2010) Regulatory Monitoring and regulate standard of performance of operators through licensing. Regulating all matters pertaining land vehicles such as train, bus and taxi services as well as road and rail-based freight transport Enforcement Enhanced powers encompassing powers to audit, investigate, suspend/revoke license, seize vehicles, and penalise operators. Carry out with close cooperation with other enforcement agencies such as the Royal Malaysian Police and the Road Transport Department. Source: Land Public Transportation Commission Official Website, 2012 Road Transport Department This department is established on 1 April 1946 with the purpose to synchronize all aspects related to transportation all over the states. In line with the establishment of this department, various acts relating to land transportation had been formulated for example Road Traffic Ordinance 1958 and Land Transportation Act 1987. Both aim to uniform and standardize the national transportation law as well as to provide guideline to the department officers in exercising their duties. This department is under the Land Unit of Ministry of Transportation in Malaysia. It is responsible to provide counter service for vehicle and driving licensing as well as to enforce Land Transportation Act 1987 to ensure well behaved drivers and safety of the roads users. Commercial Licensing Vehicle Board Sabah (CLVB) Commercial Licensing Vehicle Board in Sabah is established under Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987. As stated in the act, the member of the board in Sabah must be appointed by the Minister and shall consist the a chairman, a deputy chairman, a representative of the State Ministry charged with the responsibility for transport, a representative of the Road Transport Department, a representative of the Federal Ministry charged with the responsibility for matters relating to the licensing of commercial vehicles and not more than six persons who in the opinion of the Minister have had wide experience or special knowledge in matters relating to transport. CVLB is set up to assist the development of commercial transport industry by establishing policies to ensure a sufficient and efficient commercial transport service (ww.malaysia.gov.my) Local Government The position of local government in Malaysia is stated in Federal Constitution. By virtue of items 4 and 5 of Ninth Schedule of Federal Constitution, local government outside the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya is a subject under the State List. All local authorities outside the Federal Territories will be under the exclusive jurisdiction of States Government. There are 146 local councils in Malaysia made up of city councils, municipal councils, district councils, and special authorities and Kota Kinabalu City Hall is among of them. KKCH is only responsible to provide bus terminals, provide road lighting in their territory Problem Statement Since the last three decades, government at the federal and state as well as at the local level had created various policies and plans to improve public transportation especially in urban areas. To date, significant improvement on public transportation had only been seen in several main cities such as Kuala Lumpur. The difference of this city from the others is that, apart from having various mode of modern transportation such as Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Monorail System, Kuala Lumpur also have an integrated public bus system namely RapidKL which is characterized with attractive appearance, safety, standardization and reliable schedule of journeys. Kota Kinabalu, one of the developing cities in Malaysia relies predominantly on buses for public transport since the past until present time and it will likely to continue to be so for years. However, it is still not well-developed and people still perceived it as inadequate, less comfortable, less physically-attractive, non-punctual an d unsafe. The only noticeable changes is the introduction of city bus service in 2009 which is still not give big implication to the performance of public bus transportation. As an effort to make continuous improvement on public transportation, UPT-NKRA is then launched in 2009. After almost 3 years of its implementation, certain cities begin to show the improvement on their public transportation services. Based on the GTP Annual Report 2011, 470 RapidKL buses were introduced, which increased the frequency of buses across the Klang Valley. As of 31 December 2011, up to 4.04 million more passengers used the RapidKL bus service in comparison to the preceding year. According to the prime minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, results of the NKRA of improving urban public transport have been promising as more people are taking the bus as their mode of transport (Bernama, May 18, 2012). Recently, the coordinator of the working group on public transportation in Malaysia, Mr. A. Sivarajan urged the government to re-evaluate national public transport policy in order to provide a more effective and efficient system to consumers (Bernama, October 25, 2012). According to the working group, several main problem as the concentration of bus service within Kuala Lumpur, the unsafe locations of bus stops, the non-passing of bus at certain bus stops area and poor network connectivity had been identified. The above-mentioned scenario convinced the researcher of the need to analyse the government public transportation policy. Based on the assumption that the public transportation policy is vague and implicit to the other states and cities, there is a need to critically assess the policy in the context of public bus transportation in Kota Kinabalu. In trying to critically analyse the policy, it is equally important to explore the issues in public transportation and to examine the feedback of the various stakeholders regarding government effort to improve public transportation though its policy implementation. Research Objectives To analyse the public transportation policy regarding the public busin Kota Kinabalu To scrutinize the public transportation policy at federal, state and local level To examine the feedback of main stakeholders regarding government policy and public bus improvement in Kota Kinabalu To explore the issues associate with public transportation To recommend solutions for policy improvement purpose Research Questions In respond to the listed objectives, several questions had been formulated and will be answered through the research. The questions that take into account are: What are the government policies regarding public transportation in Kota Kinabalu? What is the position of bus in public transportation policy? How public bus transportation in Kota Kinabalu develops from the policy implementation? What is the stakeholders feedback towards the implementation of public transportation policy in Kota Kinabalu? How the issues affect the implementation of public transportation policy in Kota Kinabalu? Scope of Study This study will be conducted in Kota Kinabalu. The focus is to analyse how the government policy affects public bus transportation in Kota Kinabalu. For the purpose of policy analysis, it will cover the period since 1990 to present. The respondents of this study will be the representative from government and other authoritative bodies such Kota Kinabalu City Hall (KKCH), Road Transport Departments, Commercial Licensing Vehicle Board (CLVB), and private bus-operators as well as public bus users. This study would be conducted from February 2012 to June 2013. Limitation of Study The first obstacle that will be confronted by the researcher is limited accessibility to the desired data. Since this research employed historical method, the access to some existed data may not be granted. For example, government documents such as budget and policy plan that is perceived consist of confidential information will not be easily given. Besides, some of required data may not be available due to poor record system such as ineffective newspaper cutting service. The absence of these sources creates difficulty in tracing the chronology and meaningful trend of the public transportation policy and progress in Kota Kinabalu. Therefore, in order to get sufficient information, the data findings will not focus to one single area only. Several places need to be visited and more key actors need to be interviewed. The second obstacle is the availability of the key person (respondent). In qualitative research that used interview method to collect the data, difficulty will arises when the respondents cancel the interview appointment due to other commitments. Some of the respondents especially those at the top level management usually busy and often going outstations. This situation will possibly caused the problem to collect and analyse the data within the time framework. Therefore, the researcher must always follow up with the respective respondents and plan the interview schedule in organized manner together with the backup plan. Significance of Study The finding of this research is important for future planning purpose. It acts as a feedback to the current public transportation policy. The policy makers will be able to decide whether to change or to maintain the status quo of the policy based on the information provided. Besides, it also will contribute to the body knowledge of public transportation literature especially in the context of Sabah. It was found that here were few studies done to analyse the public transportation policy and none of them found to discuss the topic in regards with the public bus transportation. Thus, it creates difficulty to the researchers to find convincing and strong statement to support the findings. At the same time, it will serve as a source of reference to the future researchers who seek information regarding this topic. The findings also will offer valuable information to public users as they will get cleared pictures and more understanding about the policy progress and how to improve the public bus transportation in Kota Kinabalu. Definition of Terms and Concepts Policy According to Dye (1984), public policy is defined as whatever government choose to do or not do. Dye definition is too broad to be really meaningful but by defining policy in such a way, it is possible to determine the actual or working policy of a government based on what government do or not do (Gunggut, 2006), As for him , it is not enough to look at the written documents such as laws and cabinet decisions but what is actually being done or not being done by the government. In this paper, policy refers to any action and effort the government want to do and not to do including any program, plan and project that being formulated to serve the public interest. Policy Analysis Dye (2000: 4) defined policy analysis as the description and explanation of the causes and consequences of government activities. For him, an analysis of a public policy should be exhibit a primary concern with explanation rather than prescription which is means the policy analyst should attempt to develop or test general propositions about the causes and consequences of public policy and to accumulate reliable search findings of general relevance. Public Transportation Public transportation is defined as transportation by a conveyance that provides continuing general or special transportation to the public (Tran Kleiner, 2005). It excludes school buses, charter and sightseeing service and includes various modes such as buses, subways, rail, trolleys and ferry boats (Ibid) Unilever Case Study Analysis: SWOT Unilever Case Study Analysis: SWOT INTRODUCTION: There are many kinds of business everywhere; where there are many issues related to the growth of the company and Different strategies will enable different companies to reach those goals. Unilever is a company started in 1930 formed of Dutch Margarine Company and British based lever brothers. Unilever holds a wide range of products which include food, personal care, beverages, canned foods, ice creams and many more which are worlds best consumer brands. The case study describes a lot of information regarding Unilevers business strategies, key elements of Unilevers path to growth, how they rejuvenated and restructured the companies slow moving performance to wide range of brands across the world. BRIEF CASE STUDY: Unilever was created in 1930 as an outcome of merger with dual chairpersons and headquarters one in Netherlands and other in United Kingdom. This is of one the giant and best competitors in the industry which holds wide range of products. The two chairpersons have launched a strategy in early 2000 to recover the companys performance which was said to be lackluster. With the new strategies the company showed a significant progress and has gone through many dealings over the next years, this made the company to open 20 new acquisitions worldwide and increased the sales of the company. Thus the companys business was restructured, renovated and improved through its acquisitions. Then their came companies likes nestle which effecting the growth of Unilever. Unilever then started efforts to attract and motivate young, talented and innovative managers from outside its company. TASK 1: SWOT : A planning technique which is used for summarizing the key issues and evaluates the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) in any business is called an SWOT analysis. Analysis is the brief study of any case how they are going to be obtained, who are responsible for causing it and solving it by planning which involves internal and external factors of a business or an organization; internal factors are classified as strengths(S) or weaknesses (W) and external factors are classified as Opportunities (O) or Threats (T). Strengths are those characteristics of a person or a company that are useful to achieve the goals. Weaknesses are the characteristics of a person or a company that is destructive to achieve the objective. Opportunities and threats are the external factors that are helpful in achieving and damaging the business performance respectively. The figure1 show the illustrative diagram of SWOT analysis. The internal factors include personal, finance, manufacturing capabilities, etc and the external factors may include technological changes which may cause changes in products and processes that is inventing a new product or making the product better which include quality of the product and the consumer desire, market influences due to unemployment rates effect the company and price factors is one of the important thing to keep in mind , market place is one more thing which is very important that is the company or a business should be located in a convenient environment to the consumers to attract and the product should be user friendly. Another important factor is that its external appearance the packing and the name of the products should be eye catchy. At last he customer relations should be friendly and consumer satisfaction is very necessary. Other than these there are some more factors which may be changing due to econ omic and social factors and competitive positions which may create new opportunities or threats. SWOT analysis is useful in decision making when most wanted these include nonprofit organizations, individuals. It is the only method for classification and has its own weaknesses. A SWOT which produces no strategies is of no use whereas which generates important strategies is useful. Unilever had a very tough competition during that time when it was bringing about the changes it was probably at this stage that these companies had moved forward with there various strategies. Skills, assets, finance, facilities are the resources which are used in any business to compete in the industry. In the same way Unilever used their own resources to grow as giant company. They have implemented SWOT analysis and implemented new business strategies and rejuvenated their company from lack lust to significant progress in sales. It has concentrated on marketing and advertising its business and gained increased pricing with supermarket vendors. Unilever was lagging in sales when compared with nestle, Procter Gamble, Kelloggs etc its path of growth strategy which met considerable uncertainty which made Unilever to undertake a series of actions by cutting the companies profile to reach corporate goals and introduced 20 new acquisitions worldwide and restructured the company into two divisions one includes all food products and other household and personal care. Then started other two new businesses across the world. The external market factors such as technological changes, social factors, and other companies growth made a very big impact on the consumer preferences and Unilever had to cut its revenue growth. Later it continued to obtain more products across the world and these products gave managers to make their own decision making to set priorities by introducing new initiatives. Unilever has even motivated and attracted young talented managers from outside the company to join their company. According to Unilevers SWOT analysis the strengths of the company are recognized as it is a global company with strong brand profile with worlds best brands and maintains strong relation with its retailers. But coming to its weaknesses it has insufficient management of brands and doesnt not connect with customers. And inability to maximize acquisitions has reduced spending for R D. Thought it has got many opportunities by introducing many products by changing customer preferences and increase in productio n of quality goods. There are threats equally which cause decrease in revenues with high market competition, increasing the number brands and exchange rates. There are many growth expectations, risks, profit margins in food and house hold industry which is composed of many sectors and sub sectors by challenging the change of customers preferences with challenging rival firms to gain market shares. Then with competitive achievement by creating attractive products through acquisitions and with capability of growing sales of the brands which existed and improve margins. For all this the many key to success was advertising the products. By improving the profits of the company not only included shifting sales of the products but also boosting efficiency and unit costs. There were three factors which worried in 2000, the consolidation pressures in food industry which bothered were slower growth rates in food industries, rapid consolidation among grocery markets that is between branded manufactures and private manufactures for good self space in the grocery stores. In the United States for several years the food industry was miserable and was expected to continue for few more years due to more women working and decreasing house hold sizes, single parents and singles. But the food industry in Europe, Asia, Africa and other less developed countries were attractive. Thought the competition between branded and private manufactures was a never ending issue, private manufactures improved their quality of products by growing market shares. Then there came many giant super markets and gave an opportunity for private brands with attractive prices below branded products and even provided checkout scanners to help the customers know price difference which tempt them to BRIEF SWOT ANALYSIS OF UNILEVERS CASE STUDY STRENGHTS WEAKNESSESS Global company. Reduced spending for R D. Best Brands. Inability to maximize acquisitions. Strong relation with retailers. Insufficient management of brands. Dual Leadership. OPPURTUNITIES THREATS Increasing in need of quality products. Decrease in revenues. Changing customer preferences. Strong competition. Increase in brands. shift to the private brands. Due to the heavy competition among them manufactures had to cut down the costs of the products, number of versions of the products and weed out weak brands and concentrate on those brands which were popular among the customers and those could develop into global brands. Introducing dual headquarters by dividing the food industry which consisted of 6 categories and household industry which consisted of 8 categories there were many benefits such as improving food and household industry by focusing more on them regionally and globally. Accelerating decision making and successful integration of R D though there were some critics that Unilever has been paying more for some of its acquisitions such as acquire Amora Maille. Unilever as of then in 2003 had been seen as a growing organization which probably had all the necessary requirements to make it a force to recon with, during the Path to Growth strategy many aspects of the company had come out some of them included the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths, probably the biggest strength that the company had at that time was the correct selection of the brands and the products it had in store unilever had done many researches and had to make many decisions to get the right combinations products that where to be sold it also had the right ideas to increase the sales and all the leading brands to help its cause. Unilever was very good at that time even if the financial aspect was taken into consideration it could experiment with various aspects of its store cause had the financial backup which was required at that time to help it implement various ideas and deal with the market pressures, for any company to improve its sales marke ting always plays a very important role this was probably there biggest strength as the marketing strategy applied by them managed to grab peoples attention as they easy to be connected to and much more simplistic and realistic. Unilever did manage all its clients very well considering that during a phase when they where cutting on the brands it would have been a risk to out anything at that time but it was very well managed by the company. Mainly the fact that unilever was now looking to make the higher range or the brands which where more famous as there core brands which made it much easier for them to advertise considering that it is much easier to promote a very well known and a trusted brand rather than a normal or new brand to increase the sales. Weaknesses, though unilever had a very good policy and all the right objectives to make a difference in the industry it couldnt happen basically due to the lack of proper organization, it was actually much like a bureaucratic organization where things where divided between too many people and it had become difficult to get the ideas moving due to the lack of proper organization, it probably all started with the fact that the company had to deal with too many brands in the first place it would obviously have the impact when the Path to Growth strategy came up cause of the then 1600 brands only 400 brands where retained and rest all where either removed or replaced, that shows that due the lack of proper organization and too many brands being part of it didnt help it in making the changes it wanted to in a better and quickest way. The organization was probably one field in which the company was lacking because it was felt that at the top of the company as there were too many people mak ing decisions and these decisions had to be put forward and this delayed the process of improvement for the company. Opportunities, during this phase of development and renewing it content and upgrading of the stock it turned out to be very fruitful as it provided many working opportunities for people it was at that time that many people where starting to get full time work, during this phase a lot of acquisition also took place with the major brands which resulted in some alterations in plans to that which were planned. SlimFast which is a private company is another acquisition of Unilever after implementing path to growth strategy in 2000 the company bargained an agreement to purchase slimfast diet foods. It had strong sales and network and has a special space in every super market and drugstores these products were made from natural ingredients and added vitamins and minerals to provide good nutritional profile. It also maintained a very good relationship with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies. Unilever has concentrated more on this Slimfast since the company was growing fast and attracted the customers to buy more of it for healthier and long living life .Management of Unilever utilized the opportunity to globalize the product in other countries like Europe, Australia due to increase in the percent of obese. According to the world health organization percent of the obese was increasing gradually. UNILEVERS TOP COMPETITORS ? Figure: Competitors Performance Comparison http://finance.aol.com/company/unilever-plc-amer/ul/nys/top-competitors Ben Jerrys acquisitions which produces one of the finest ice creams anywhere in pint cartons and wholesale at groceries. Their sales slogan was Vermont finest All Natural Ice cream. They never use any artificial flavors thought the cost is little more it is worth the price. According to the time magazine Vermont makes the best ice cream in the world with 29 flavors in pint cartons and 45 flavors in bulk cartons. There products were distributed throughout the world. On demand Ben jerry operated three manufacturing plants where Vermont plant produces super premier ice cream and frozen yogurts where as spring field produces ice cream, lot fat ice creams in bulk, pint cartons and half gallons. Dreyers and Haagen-Dazs were the two major competitors of Ben jerry and other competitors were Colombo frozen yogurts, Kemps ice cream and star bucks. Ben Jerry produces a wide range of ice creams products like sticks, bars, frozen yogurt pops etc. Though Haagen- Dazs was the global market leader followed by Ben jerry it had an insignificant market share in United States where as Haagen- Dazs was more significantly sold in foreign markets. Both Ben jerry and Haagen-Dazs produced ice creams with cookies and candies in it. Bestfoods was a global company across the world almost in 60 countries which was busy in manufacturing and marketing the food products. Bestfoods profits are almost from outside of the United States that is almost 60 percent of its profits. It is one of the best managed food companies among United States who has much number of employees working with in their company in which half of them were at non US locations. The company increased payments for 14 successive years has its revenues grow by7.8 percent annual rate and suddenly slow downed during the period of 1997 and 1999. Then the company introduced a strategy with four core elements. Globalization of the companys core consumers: Products which are new in the market are needed to be globalized that is the products which are less popular among the consumers, are needed to be advertised and market those products to increase its sales and profits of those products. Few such products are knorr product line, salad dressing and food service operations. The advertising of such kind of products was done very well in order to get those products globally recognized and be accepted among many big brands and soon they became household names. Improvement in cost effectiveness: With changing customer preference the quality of the products must be improved and therefore there should also be improvement in cost effectiveness as the quality improves cost increases. Cost effectiveness is nothing but it is a way by which you show to a customer that a certain is product is worth using or is better than other product or the money u spend on it is worth it. Cost effectiveness in simple would be defined as showing the worth of the product. Looking for new market opportunities: Extending the product sales all over the world via new product introductions and extending sales of the products which are existed in the market. It is very important for any company to be always alert and look for opportunities to extend the business to a large scale and see it in a bigger picture based on the opportunities it gets. Using free cash to make new acquisition: With expanding the products and brands company has created 60 acquisitions in the global market. After struggling a lot in June 2000 best foods agreed to be acquired by Unilever. Best foods were the largest acquisition undertaken by Unilever by as far as concerned and which makes a largest combination of food companies in 12 years. Management of Unilever believed that combining and assimilating bestfoods would result in pre tax cost saving, better efficiencies in business process, synergy in distribution marketing, reformation of general and administrative functions and improved economies of scale. By creating robust business in United States market, increasing strengths of Unilever and best foods in Europe, building of best foods in Latin America to speed up the growth of Unilever brands, by distributing strengths in Asia- pacific to grow and sped up Bestfoods brands and increasing the sales of Unilever products by food service channel of Bestfoods. The work culture was so casual to make the atmosphere fun and lively with communication between the management and employees. The company respected the employees suggestions and respected them even paid the employees a reasonable salary Finally Unilever has announced sale of Bestfoods Backing Company to Canadian food and super market group known as George Weston for $ 1.76billion though Unilever declared to divest Bestfoods Baking Company and Unilever other products and bakery products does not exit any more at Unilever. Bestfoods has 19plans across the United States with a strong management team and was entirely US based. It was one of the best distributing for delivering the baked products which are really baked fresh and sent directly to the retail stores. With its dedication and hard work Bestfoods sales has increased its profit margins by 8 percent. Later again Unilever announced to sell 19 Bestfood brands across North America to ACH food companies which is a supplementary of Associated British Food. By successfully combining the operations of bestfoods with Unilever by the year end of 2003 the two companies had been merged in 63countries across the world TASK 2: Path to Growth: Path to growth strategy was initiated in 2000 and was restructured for several years for better and significant results. The key elements of this Unilevers path to growth strategy were cutting down its brands from 1600 brands to 400core brands to achieve top line sales and increase profits by advertising the brands which are more popular and leading brands across the world and concentrating on R D. Another important key element was divesting underperforming brands and theirs companies and introducing more innovated things to enhance the internal development of the organization and making new acquisitions. Unilevers years of slow performance and its lack of corporate strategy in the competition industry with low number of brands and ordinary performance in growing markets with a little global presence made to create a path to growth strategy which was a 5 year growth plan which made them to concentrate on more brands and product innovations for internal and external growth of the company. And made the company to grow with acquisitions. According to FitzGerald and Bergmans path to growth strategy they predicted to manufacture double digit wages per share growth and superior positions. Focusing on the key brands by advertising and marketing made business grow higher and build brand value and increased brands prices. The case study shows Unilever as a global company according to SOWT analysis after introducing the path to growth strategy the company had really increased its sales and with introducing more number of acquisitions and cutting down the cost of revenues. As the acquisitions like Slimfast, Ben jerry and best foods were rapidly growing their market across the world building a very strong profile and providing customers attractive products and offers. Slim fast has 20%anual growth rate with strong sales and distribution all over the world and also maintained good customer relation. Where Ben jerry was worlds giant ice cream products and yogurt maker with strong brand equity. Bestfoods was USs 10 largest foo d products company with a strong global position. The two key elements of the Unilevers new business strategy was to cut down on the number of brands that were being sold or being marketed by the company, at that time Unilever was operating with as many as 1600 brands and much more products due to this the cut down on the number of products and brands was considered, the 1600 brands that where part of the company were cut down to as many as 400 core brands, the core brands mostly included all the famous and popular brands which are generally very popular among people, this idea came up as to make sure that the products where sold and by doing this it would not be much of a problem for the marketi8ng of these products as most of these brands where already day to day and very famous brands which people would generally prefer buying, which would mean that it would take much less an effort to connect to the people and more over the marketing was also done in such a way that people where able to connect to it very easily, the other key e lement of the unilevers strategy was to remove all the underperforming companies or brands and introduce some other new brands or companies in order to enhance the internal development of the organization and make new acquisitions which would enhance the sales of the company and make it more likable for the people this strategy was designed to increase the sales of the company and get rid of the companies which where not much in demand . Weaknesses according to SWOT analysis showed the company has dual leadership, insufficient management of brands and reduced R D after all this slow performance and small global presence the management has introduced path to growth strategy, which increased the company sales with cutting down it costs and introducing more acquisitions resulted in globalizing the company. As a result there were few expectations to achieve a double digit growth and securing a better position in global market for food and household products by increasing the quality of the product to gain pricing power and attract more customers. But according to the strategy plan the targets which were set was really high that is top line sales growth of 5-6 percent annually, increasing profits, and plan to complete by the end of 2004. If we look and analyze the path to growth strategy we can tell whether the strategy is working or not, we can say that it is working by its success rates and increase in profits and increase in brands and acquisitions that is the consumer preferences have changed due to which the products quality has changed and prices have changed the leading brands sales have increased from 75 percent to 93 percent. Food and personal care industry have increased its profits consistently. Operating assets have also improved by 9 percent. Acquisitions like slim fast, Ben jerry and best foods have gradually improved its growth and established its acquisitions all over the world. But the other side it is completely not yes, Unilever was gaining profits significantly after introducing new strategies but it was losing too yes it reported a net loss of $318M as the competitions was increasing and new brands were coming in to the market and rivals were introducing new strategies to compete Unilever. In th e year 2004 sales grew only by .4 percent leading brands by .9 percent so this proves that Unilever was lagging behind competitors in terms of innovation and advertising. Unilevers lack of advertising and marketing failed to improve sales. The company was small and not globalized. In this case Unilever attracted the new young talented manages to join their company with innovated ideas to increase its company profits by new methods of advertising and marketing. To justify Unilever strategies it maintained dual headquarters and dual chairpersons which reduced effective thinking and slow downed the decision making. Unilever is divided into Unilever Plc and Unilever NV. This made Unilever to focus on the needs of the customers and increase its sales profits in various industries like food, personal case, and household industries all over the world. As customers demand the products which are of the best quality and branded but at the same time convenient, cheap and attractive. The market for household products have been decreased its profits as the numbers of single parents have been increased and the rate of females working out have been increased and the demand for the healthy and high quality food has been increased. The consumers preference of the products such as its look, quality of the product and nutritional values has been increased by providing a strong competition against its giant competitors and private manufactures. This allows Unilever to focus on the need of its customers by increasing its sales. In 2003 Unilever executing its path to growth strategy by increasing its operating margins to over 15percent, but the sales of the leading brands growth as slowdown and raised questions among the investors and retailers that whether company brands could deliver some 5-6 percent of growth in revenues in the next coming years. TASK 3: Unilevers current business Strategies: Ever since the ‘Path to Growth strategy ended in 2005 there has been a 15% increase in the sales and development in the overall progress of Unilever. After the ‘Path to Growth came to an end a new process was developed by Unilever called as the Brand Imprint which helped the marketing teams in understanding how the business could face risks as well as opportunities from the social, economic and environmental issues. In this process each brand was scrutinized by a team looking into various aspects of it such as the direct as well the indirect impacts of the product, it also checked how the brand would go ahead in the future looking at the products possibilities of growth both from a customer and a stakeholders point of view. The outcome of the Brand Imprint is that the process has helped in making important decisions for the company keeping the future in perspective it also developed in addressing social missions, social and environmental issues. The Brand Imprint provided a perfect experience to find some systematic and measurable ways to explore different brands and improve the brands by addressing social issues, helping people the product well and reducing the environmental issues. When the S.W.O.T analysis was done on the ‘Path to Growth strategy many different aspects of the strategy where scrutinized using the SWOT analysis in which it dealt with many aspects such as the strength, weakness, opportunities and the threats that are being faced. After the analysis it came out that it had been very useful to determine the various aspects attached to it. Unilever for years had been a slow developing company, though the company had the right infrastructure and the capital but it couldnt utilize it properly that was basically the reason why the path to growth and various other strategies where starting to come up to help the company to increase the sales of the products and improve the business. Path to growth played a major part in the development of the company. The Path to Growth strategy did prove to be quite a useful thing considering the fact that during this period almost all of the unsuccessful brands where removed or replaced and the brands which where trusted and kept managed to increase the sales by 75% to 93%. Unilevers growth was considerably slow during this phase because the company was at that stage making very drastic changes and for these changes to come up and make a difference was something unexpected but the companys growth was obvious in certain fields thanks to the new strategies that had come in to improve the sales of the company so as to improve the business of the company. It was due to the fact that the company probably took way too much time u started and implement its plans that it caused the success to be not as higher as expected. Many business analysts and commentators felt that most of the strategies of the path to growth where working fine but there was always a speculation that what ever progress was talking place was happening too slow considering the competition the market was in with at that time, it was also felt that as the basic functionality of the business was spread among way too many people made the management way to complex and it would have been better off if it was simpler. It did work out fine when it came to the advertising of the product and getting it known to the people as it was more public oriented and it used the sources to the full extent to connect to the people. It did experience a drastic growth during that period as the analysis had proved that the company had the highest growth percentage as compared to any other company during that period it did bring in high profits to the company but looking at the whole picture it did prove to be a huge loss for the company considering the fa ct that they faced a countable loss in the revenue margin and that proved to be the difference, though it did have the right amount of sales and customers due to the slowness of there analysis to sort out and remove or replace the stuff did make a difference to analysis in the larger picture. But the company did grow during that time which might as well have effected the revenue cause many new store where started and large number of employees where starting to be employed on a full time basis. It did do quite well on the international market as well. By looking at the way the company had grown during this stage is quite remarkable many business analysts and commentators had felt that they probably had the right scheme of action because during that time they where handling 1600 brands and which was way too much and among those were quit few brands which hardly made any diff to the company so then the whole idea of brands cut based on the market outlook and sales reports was looked into to classify as to which of the products or brands where fast selling and which had the scope to sell more. It was that idea to cut down on the number of brands and start promoting only few brands which where much easier to be marketed and which where more likable by the people by which it would increase the sales and also make the marketing of these products easier cause when you are promoting bigger brands which are often very well known to public would mean that u don have to spend much on the marketing. Did the company experience growth during this period? Yes, would be the right thing to say voiding the minor things which might effect the outcome but it did see the light of success though slowly and there process and ideas where starting to get implemented in a better way and in a more successful way to deal with the growth of the company, the process of cutting down on the under selling companies was probably the decision that started to turn the tide for the company as it was when the losses where starting to be covered and it was mor