TREASURY & RISK MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

TREASURY & RISK MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The TMEM’s president had to come up with a proposal, on how to reduce and even eliminate the losses, and present it to the company CEO in Japan. Therefore, this case analysis will seek to provide possible reasons that could have forced the company to delay shifting its manufacturing centers for European market to Europe. Also, analysis of both the effects that could have been experienced if the Euro had joined European Monetary Union and other factors on the company’s situation will be provided. Next, possible problems leading to the losses being experienced by the company will be categorized into either short term or long term. The final part of analysis will provide recommendation of appropriate measures that the company should have taken to resolve the problems. There are a number of reasons that might have forced Toyota to delay in moving its manufacturing for European sales to Europe. The most probable reasons could be associated with the depreciation of Euro against major currencies, the expected costs of setting up the plant, availability of labor, anticipated risks of either losing their intellectual property as a result of theft, need for up-to-date innovations, strategic problems as well as feeling of being unprepared. To begin with off shoring manufacturing to Europe without a clear thought of plan could have resulted into two strategic problems (Wood 2009). One of the strategic problems is logistical issues. Spreading out manufacturing activities without having a good plan in place could expose the company to unexpected disruption of important supplies. Although the need to offshore manufacturing to Europe could have been appropriate in enabling the company to compete with its rivals, responding to customers’ needs could hav e been a problem (Bessis 2011). The other reason that could have resulted to a delay in shifting manufacturing to Europe

21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay Example for Free

21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay 1 Introduction This is not a research paper. Rather, it is a teaching report in which I describe the use of the so called beer distribution game (or beergame) – a logistics and supply chain simulation game – in teaching business-to-business eCommerce. The aim of the paper is twofold: First, I want to demonstrate how the beergame can be used to provide students with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in contemporary supply chains to exchange information and to facilitate collaboration. Second, I want to share both my experiences and my materials for using the beergame in eCommerce courses with the IS community, i.e. those scholars that teach (business-to-business) eCommerce or supply chain management courses. The beergame is a role-play simulation game in which students enact a four stage supply chain. The task of this supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the beer units until it reaches the customer at the downstream end of the chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple: each of the four groups has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer by placing orders with the next upstream party. Since communication and collaboration is not allowed between supply chain stages, the players invaria588 bly create the so called bullwhip effect. With ‘bullwhip’ we refer to the effect that the amount of periodical orders amplifies upstream in the supply chain towards the production end, thus causing a range of operational problems. The bullwhip effect is a well-known phenomenon and a prominent symptom of coordination problems in supply chains. In using the beergame to create the bullwhip effect students experience first hand, not only the problems of lack of information sharing and collaboration in supply chains, but also the main causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Henceforth, in introducing eCommerce measures in the later sessions of the course, students can relate to these topics through their own experiences. The paper ties in with a recent discussion on the ISWorld eMail list on â€Å"how to make relevant IS teaching for students with little or no practical experience†. In teaching information systems (IS) and specifically B2B eCommerce we frequent ly experience problems of making relevant those topics for students. The challenge is to get them to appreciate the relevance of IS and also to provide them, not only with a superficial knowledge of the topics, but with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in practice. Against this backdrop I want to show how the beergame can help demonstrating the role and need of eCommerce technologies in a topic area in which the students not only lack practical knowledge (i.e. with regards to supply chains), but typically also do not have their own frame of reference to be able to relate to the topics we teach. To this end, I will introduce the beergame, demonstrate its use in a classroom setting, present typical results created by playing the game and show how I embed the game in a typical B2B eCommerce syllabus. I begin with introducing the game and the bullwhip effect (in section 2). In section 3, I then describe the application of the beergame in a classroom setting; I give an overview of a beergame session and present typical results. Section 4 demonstrates how typical supply chain problems (and the causes of the bullwhip effect) can be deduced from the beergame experience in order to motivate the introduction of eCommerce measures for improving supply chain coordination. The section is concluded by a synopsis of typical eCommerce topics that can follow the beergame in a typical B2B syllabus (section 4.3). 2 The Beergame In the following I will first give a brief introduction to the bullwhip effect before I introduce the beergame itself, i.e. its history, structural setup and the rules of the game. 2.1 Bullwhip effect as symptom of typical supply chain problems The bullwhip effect is a well-known symptom of typical coordination problems in (traditional) supply chains. It refers to the effect that the amount of periodical orders amplifies as one moves upstream in the supply chain towards the production end (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a). Even in the face of stable customer demand small variations in demand at the retail end tend to dramatically amplify upstream the supply chain with the effect that order amounts are very erratic, and can be very high in one week and almost zero in the next week. This phenomenon was discovered and first described by Forrester (1961) who did research into the relationship between ordering and stock keeping patterns using simulation models (Warburton 2004). The term itself was first coined around 1990 when ProcterGamble perceived erratic and amplified order patters in its supply chain for 589 baby diapers. The effect is also known by the names whiplash or whipsaw effect (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a), which refers metaphorically to the visualisation of order patterns moving upstream the supply chain (see figure 3). As a consequence of the bullwhip effect a range of inefficiencies occur throughout the supply chain, e.g. high (safety) stock levels, poor customer service levels, poor capacity utilisation, aggravated problems with demand forecasting, and ultimately high cost and low levels of inter-firm trust (Chopra Meindl 2001; Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a). While the effect is not new and a lot of research has been conducted and supply chain projects have been initiated since its discovery, it is still a timely and pressing problem in contemporary supply chains. Various research studies have quantified the effect and estimate that profitability in most supply chains might improve by up to 30% by eliminating the bullwhip effect (Metters 1997; McCullen Towill 2002). 2.2 Beergame setup and rules Having introduced the bullwhip effect and its implications for the supply chain and its players I will now introduce the beergame, its setup and rules. I begin by providing a brief history of the game before I present the general structure and the rules of the game. 2.2.1 History of the beergame The beergame (or beer distribution game) was originally invented in the 1960s by Jay Forrester at MIT as a result of his work on system dynamics (see Forrester 1957). While the original goal of the simulation game was to research the effect of systems structures on the behaviour of people (â€Å"structure creates behaviour†), the game can also be used to demonstrate the benefits of information sharing, supply chain management, and eCollaboration in the supply chain (Li Simchi-Levi 2002). A range of different versions of the beergame have emerged over the years. The original beergame was realised as a board game (Sterman 1989). Meanwhile a table version (Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002 ) and also computerised simulations (Hieber Hartel 2003) have been developed. In this paper I predominantly draw on a table version, which I adapted from the so called Klagenfurt design (cp. Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002); the structural setup of the table version is shown in figures 1 and 2. I will briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different game versions in chapter 3.1 where I discuss the administration of the beergame in a classroom setting. 2.2.2 General structure of the game The beergame simulates a supply chain that consists of four stages (retailer, wholesaler, distributer and factory), each of which is played by one or better two or three players (Goodwin Franklin Sr. 1994). Hence, a supply chain is typically played by 8 to 12 people, while more than one supply chain can be administered in one class at the same time. The task of each supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the beer un its until it reaches the external customer at the downstream end of the supply chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple: each sub group has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer. The retailer receives an externally predetermined customer demand and places orders with the wholesaler; the wholesaler sends orders to the distributor, who orders from the factory; the factory finally 590 produces the beer. Hence, orders flow in the upstream direction, while deliveries flow in the downstream direction of the supply chain. An important structural aspect of the game is delay (i.e. time lag) in order to account for logistics and production time. Each delivery (and production order) requires two rounds until they are finally delivered to the next stage. In the structural setup of the game this is represented by two shipping delay fields located in between the supply chain stages as well as at the production end (figure 1). Order flow Delay Delay Delay Delay Factory Factory Distributor Distributor Wholesaler Wholesaler Retailer Retailer Product flow Figure 1: Supply chain setup in the beergame table version Student Outgoing order Play sheet Incoming order Wholesaler Delay Distributor Distributor Outgoing delivery Delay Factory Incoming delivery Student Student Figure 2: Detailed table layout 2.2.3 Rules of the game The game is played in rounds, which simulates weeks. In each round the following steps have to be carried out by the players: 1) receive incoming orders, 2) receive incoming deliveries, 3) update play sheets (outstanding deliveries and inventory), 4) send out deliveries, and finally 5) decide on the amount to be ordered. In doing so, deciding on each round’s order amount is effectively the only decision that players are able to make throughout the game; everything else follows a set of fixed rules. The first rule is that every order has to be fulfilled, either directly (should the players’ inventory be large enough) or later in subsequent rounds. In the latter case, players have to keep track of their backlog (backorder) (Coakley et al. 1998). Secondly, inventory and backlog incur cost – each item in stock costs EUR 0.50 per week, while each item on backlog costs EUR 1.00. Consequently, the primary aim of ea ch subgroup is to keep their costs low. Hence, the optimal strategy for the players is to run their business with as little stock as possible without being forced to â€Å"move into backorder†. Thirdly, players are not allowed to communicate. The only information they are allowed to exchange is the order amount; there is no transparency as to what stock levels or actual customer demand is; only the retailer knows the external demand (Rafaeli et al. 2003). Moreover, the game is based on the simplification of unlimited capacity (in stock keep591 ing, production and transportation) and unlimited access to raw materials at the production end (Hieber Hartel 2003). 2.2.4 The external demand In playing the game the external demand is predetermined and usually does not vary greatly. In the beginning, the supply chain is pre-initialised with inventory levels (e.g. 15 units), orders (e.g. 5 units) and beer units in the shipping delay fields (e.g. 5 units). In order to induce the bullwhip effect to the supply chain the external demand remains stable for a few rounds (e.g. 5 units for 5 rounds) before it suddenly shows one steep increase (jumps to 9 units) before it remains stable again at this higher level for the remainder of the game (usually 40 to 50 rounds in total). However, the one increase in external demand is enough to induce variance into the supply chain, which will inevitably lead to the creation of the bullwhip effect and to a destabilisation of ordering patterns throughout the supply chain. 3 Using the beergame in class Having described the idea, the structural setup, and the rules of the beergame, I will now discuss the administration of the game in a classroom setting. This is followed by the presentation of typical results generated by beergame applications in eCommerces courses. These results are very useful for deriving the causes of the bullwhip effect in discussions with students in a so-called debriefing session (see section 4). For a session outline of a B2B course that uses the beergame please refer to appendix 2; the experiences shared in the following sections are more or less based on this session outline. 3.1 Administering the beergame 3.1.1 Choosing a beergame version As mentioned above, different versions of the beergame exist for use in classroom settings. The traditional version is a board game in which tokens are physically moved on the board to represent orders and stock. The upside of the board version is that people relate well to moving actual objects. However, there are two downsides: firstly, the board game is too slow, cumbersome and complex to administer; secondly and more importantly, because physical objects are used to represent inventory on the board, people enjoy an unwanted transparency of inventory levels of other supply chain stages and can thus strategically act upon their knowledge of incoming stock. The table version of the beergame was originally developed by a team at the University of Klagenfurt (Ossimitz, Kreisler Zoltan 2002). It shows several improvements to the original design such as a leaner and more pragmatic approach to moving orders and stock in the supply chain. Essentially this is done by using paper slips on which numbers are written by the players. However, it still shows some administrative overhead such as a bookkeeping pe rson that takes stock of all things happening within the supply chain using a computer. While this functions as a built-in safety net in case something goes wrong, it is still a hurdle to the application in a classroom setting and it also slows down the game, which results in long sessions and the students being bored throughout the game. Henceforth, I have adapted the table version and essentially eliminated the bookkeeper in order to achieve a more straightforward progression of the game. The 592 risk however is that students make mistakes in calculating order amounts or stock levels using the paper play sheet. While it helps to start slowly and to doublecheck the play sheet calculations during the first few rounds, in a few of my first beergame applications some people indeed miscalculated stock levels, which led to problems with interpreting the data later on. For this reason, today I use MS Excel and a laptop computer on each table for people to fill in their play sheets; this effectively eliminates the risk and ensures a quick progression of the game (see appendix 1 for a play sheet example). 3.1.2 Schedule of a beergame session The first step in administering the beergame is the preparations of the tables. As is illustrated in figure 2, four fields have to be marked on each table, which is done by fixing to the table 4 sheets of paper using sticky tape. The same is done with the delay fields. Furthermore, cardboard boxes (or plastic cups) and envelopes have to be filled with small paper slips to pre-initialise the supply chain with orders and deliveries. Then, every table has to be prepared with a stack of order and delivery slips that will be used by the players during the game. Finally, paper slips with the external demand progression (see above) have to be prepared that are handed to the retailer groups during the game. Also, for administering more than one supply chain, (student) assistants are needed to help with moving boxes and envelopes during the game. The second step is briefing the students; in doing so I provide a short introduction to the idea of the game, its history, structure, and rules (see above). When playing in more than one supply chain I stress the fact that groups of each stage are competing with one another (e.g. retailer vs. retailer), in order to get the students to take playing seriously. The third step is to start playing some initial trial rounds with the pre-initialised supply chain and to make sure that everyone gets used to filling in play sheets and order/delivery slips. Then, in the fourth step, the speed of playing the game is increased and the game is played for a number of 40 to 50 rounds. The game is then stopped abruptly so that the students do not have time to react strategically to the coming end of the game. The fifth and final part of the session is a short discussion directly after the game, where I ask students how they felt throughout the game and what they think the average customer demand was. The next session after the beergame session is the debriefing session, for which the data that the groups produced throughout the game has to be consolidated, plotted and analysed. Typical beergame results and their creation are presented in the next section; the debriefing session is described in section 4. 3.2 Typical progression and results of a beergame session Every beergame session follows roughly the same scheme, so that the progression of the game shows a recurring pattern. I usually start playing the game at a slow pace for people to get used to moving objects, taking stock and filling in the play sheets. What typically happens during these first few rounds is that people try to get rid of some of the inventory (e.g. 15 units) in order to manage their costs; hence they often only place small orders in the beginning (for an example see weeks 1-7 in figure 3). Consequently, when the customer demand jumps to the higher level in round 6 the supply chain has adjusted to a low demand scenario. After the steep increase many retailer groups tend to wait one or two rounds in order to see if the increase is permanent (as in figure 3). When they then place the first large order they invariably initiate a bullwhip effect that perpetuates through593 out the chain. Typically, the order amount increases with every stage in the supply chain (as in figure 3). What happens then is that the groups move deeply into backorder (see figure 4), because due to the delivery delays it takes quite some time for the beer to move through the supply chain to the retail end. Getting increasingly desperate players often try to send signals and place more large orders; in the end they typically lose track of what they have ordered and order way too much. The consequence is that the supply chain is flooded with beer and the inventories overflow (see weeks 2035 in figure 4). The effect is that people cease ordering entirely; e.g. a lot of very small orders are placed. This is especially true for the higher stages of the supply chain (see table 1). In the end, while the retailer groups often manage to stabilise their business, the higher stages have no idea of the actual customer demand and are left frustrated. Bullwhip Effect 70 60 50 Customer Orders 40 30 20 10 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 Week Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory Figure 3: Plot of order distribution, visualising the bullwhip effect Figure 3 shows the order distribution over 40 weeks and a typical bullwhip effect. Figure 4 shows the inventory fluctuation, with negative inventory representing back order. Table 1 finally shows the decrease in customer demand information upstream visualised by the average order amount by the four stages of the supply chain in this example. More importantly, the increase in order fluctuation upstream the supply chain is illustrated by the largest amount having been ordered in each stage and the number of small orders that were placed. This translates into an increase in inventory fluctuation as well. All this information is being used in the following debriefing session to discuss the bullwhip effect, its implications and the reasons for its existence. 594 Out of stock = Serious lack of service level! 200 150 100 Inventory 50 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 -50 -100 -150 Week Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory Figure 4: Example of inventory fluctuation (negative inventory = backorder) Key figures Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory ∅ order amount (units of beer) 8.33 8.68 8.75 9.95 Largest order amount 25 40 50 60 No of small orders (0-2 units) 4 11 14 18 Inventory fluctuation range 84 81 170 165 Table 1: Example of key figures derived from the beergame 4 Learning from the beergame results Having presented the way in which the beergame is administered and a typical progression of the game and its results, I will now first show how a debriefing session can be used to illustrate supply chain coordination problems and to derive typical causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Based on these causes one can then quite easily motivate eCommerce measures and ICT-based supply chain reform initiatives that aim at reducing the bullwhip effect and improving supply chain coordination. 4.1 The debriefing session The debriefing session follows the beergame session (see appendix 2). I usually begin the session with a brief discussion of students’ experiences throughout the game. Typically, the following questions are being discussed: Did you feel yourself controlled by forces in the system from time to time? Or did you feel in control? Did you find yourself blaming the groups next to you for your problems? Did you feel desperation at any time? This discussion typically shows that people indeed were blaming their neighbouring supply chain partners for not doing their jobs right (either not ordering in a 595 sensible way or not being able to deliver); desperation and frustration are common feelings during the last rounds of the game. A first learning from this discussion is that it is the structure of the game (i.e. the supply chain) that causes the behaviour. This is precisely what its inventor (Forrester) intended to achieve and what is referred to as the effects of systems dynamics. A second set of questions can then be discussed in order to reflect upon the beergame itself and its degree of simulating real world conditions: What, if anything, is unrealistic about this game? Why are there order delays? Why are there production delays? Shipping delays? Why have both distributor and wholesalers; why not ship beer directly from the factory to the retailer? Must the brewer be concerned with the management of the raw materials suppliers? Using these questions and by stressing the fact that real-life supply chains are much more complex (a huge variety of products and supply chain partners e xist, as well as complex criss-crossing networks of relationships) the students can quickly be convinced that real-life conditions favour the emergence of the bullwhip to a much greater extent and that the beergame is indeed a good vehicle to simulate the creation of the effect. Having established this necessary bit of legitimisation, the session can then proceed with presenting the beergame results and with identifying the underlying causes. Hence, the next step essentially is to present, for all supply chain groups, the data (table 1) and figures (3 and 4) presented above. In doing so, I typically have a very interactive and lively discussion. I ask what people thought while playing the game and what led them to, for example, place a huge order at a particular point in the game. In discussing the extreme examples, the class usually shares a laugh, which, as a nice by-product, leads to a more casual atmosphere and contributes to setting an open tone for the remainder of the course. I also honour the winning supply chain teams at this point in time. This is also the time where I introduce the concept of ‘cumulated supply chain cost’, e.g. by pointing ou t that the product at the customer end has to earn all (cumulated) costs of all supply chain parties; this insight serves as a first step in establishing the idea of global thinking and chainwide optimization, which essentially requires eCollaboration technologies. At this point in the session one can then either go straight to identifying the causes and effects of the bullwhip effect (see below), or take a little (useful) detour in discussing a teaching case to corroborate the results and to give the results of the beergame some more credibility. In doing so, I use the case of Italian pasta manufacturer Barilla, one of the first documented cases in which a company launched a project to identify the causes of the bullwhip effect and to introduce some countermeasures (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003, p. 91). 4.2 Identifying the causes of the bullwhip effect The bullwhip effect, as simulated in the beergame, is mainly caused by three underlying problems: 1) a lack of information, 2) the structure of the supply chain and 3) a lack of collaboration and global optimisation. These three causes can be identified in an interactive session with the students by discussing the beergame experiences and then be corroborated with insights from practice and the literature. 596 4.2.1 Lack of information In the beergame no information except for the order amount is perpetuated up the supply chain. Henceforth, most information about customer demand is quickly lost upstream in the supply chain. Moreover, no other information is being shared. With these characteristics the beergame simulates supply chains with low levels of trust, where only little information is being shared between the parties. Without actual customer demand data, all forecasting has to rely solely on the incoming orders at each supply chain stage. In reality, in such a situation traditional forecasting methods and stock keeping strategies contribute to creating the bullwhip effect (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997a; Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky SimchiLevi 2003). Unexpected increases in orders from downstream partners translate into even higher order increases upstream, because when players regard the increase to be permanent and want to avoid running out of stock, they need to update their safety stock levels; hence they place an even larger order. Later, when it turns ou t that an increase was only temporary, safety stock levels are lowered and players might order nothing for a while, hence contributing to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.2 Supply chain structure The supply chain structure, with its design as separate stages and the long lead times, contributes to the bullwhip effect. The longer the lead time, i.e. the longer it takes for an order to travel upstream and the subsequent delivery to travel downstream, the more aggravated the bullwhip effect is likely to be. With traditional ordering, the point in time where an order is typically placed (the order point) is usually calculated by multiplying the forecasted demand with the lead time plus the safety stock amount, so that an order is placed so far in advance as to ensure service level during the time until the delivery is expected to arrive (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003). Hence, the longer the lead time is, the more pronounced an order will be as an reaction to an increase in forecasted demand (especially in conjunction with updating the safety stock levels, see above), which again contributes to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.3 Local optimisation Local optimisation, in terms of local forecasting and individual cost optimisation, and a lack of cooperation are at the heart of the bullwhip problem. A good example for local optimisation is the batch order phenomenon. In practice, ordering entails fix cost, e.g. ordering in full truck loads is cheaper then ordering smaller amounts. Furthermore, many suppliers offer volume discounts when ordering larger amounts. Hence, there is a certain incentive for individual players to hold back orders and only place aggregate orders. This behaviour however aggravates the problem of demand forecasting, because very little information about actual demand is transported in such batch orders. And batch ordering, of course, contributes directly to the bullwhip effect by unnecessarily inflating the orders. This might lead to lower local cost in the short term, but translates into higher overall cost at the chain level. 4.3 eCommerce measures to tackle the bullwhip effect Having identified and discussed the three problem areas with regard to both the beergame and their real-world counterparts, I then present three areas of improvement that directly correspond to the three problem areas: 1) information sharing in terms of electronic data interchange, 2) ICT-enabled supply chain re597 design, and 3) supply chain collaboration for global optimisation (see figure 5). In terms of teaching, these three bundles of eCommerce measures and initiatives can then be briefly introduced in one session (see appendix 3) or in more (technical and organisational) detail in three separate sessions (see appendix 2). In the following sections I give a brief overview of what can be part of those sessions. 1 Information loss upstream the supply chain Without direct communication, forecasting is based on aggregated, inaccurate information. This causes large stock, high cost, poor service levels. Improvement Efficient communication and information sharing 2 Supply chain structure Long lead times lead to increasing variability upstream making planning nearly impossible: large safety stock is required, variability increased. Slow downstream product flow causes poor service levels. Improvement Supply chain redesign: processes, tasks roles 3 Local optimization Independent planning and local optimization lead to inefficiencies, such as local forecasting, batch ordering, inflated orders, etc. Improvement Cooperation to achieve global optimization Figure 5: Summary of bullwhip causes and areas of improvement 4.3.1 Efficient communication One of the most basic learnings from the beergame is to improve information sharing along the supply chain (e.g. of point-of-sale customer demand data); information sharing is the first step towards more advanced supply chain coordination (Muckstadt et al. 2001). Henceforth, the first step in teaching eCommerce measures is to present the principles and technologies of electronic data interchange. In doing so, I first of all discuss with the students the â€Å"principles of digitally mediated replenishment of goods† by Johnston (1999), essentially a collection of principles for effective inter-organisational electronic data interchange, such as the â€Å"once-only data entry principle† or the â€Å"synchronicity principle†. Based on these fundamental principles I discuss the ways in which traditional document-based ordering can be reformed using electronic data interchange. While these topics might seem to be outdated from a modern information systems perspective, it lays the foundation for a step-by-step increase of complexity that aims at providing the students with a more substantial knowledge of the problems and ideas behind ICT-enabled supply chain reform than can be achieved by a simple presentation of the latest communication technologies. The next step in this endeavour is to introduce technologies that are needed to enable effective inter-firm data interchange and electronic ordering, such as product numbering schemes and automatic product identification technologies. In most supply chains physical products have to be handled; hence ways are needed to attach information to these objects. Consequently, I introduce the following technologies: †¢ Standardised product numbering schemes: Here, the history, proliferation, functioning and impact of numbering schemes such as the Universal Product Code (UPC), the European Article Numbering (EAN) code and more special598 ised codes like for example container codes (SSCC) are introduced. Most of these codes today are administered by the standardisation organisation GS1 (2005). †¢ Automated product identification technologies: The technology with the greatest diffusion in the market is the barcode; while specialised barcodes exist in some industries, the most common one is the UCC/EAN-128 (Coyle, Bardi Langley 1996). The second, much newer technology to be discussed here is Radio Frequency based Identification (RFID). †¢ Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): EDI is the basis for electronic ordering. Here, traditional EDI standards, such as the UN/EDIFACT, which was jointly developed by ISO and the UN (Coyle, Bardi Langley 1996), can be discussed, as well as newer techniques such as Internet-based WebEDI and XML-enabled order exchange. In discussions with the students these enabling communication and data exchange technologies can then be related back to the beergame experience in that they 1) speed up the order process, thus reducing lead time and 2) enable more sophisticated information sharing of POS data. Moreover, they are the basis for the next step, the ICT-enabled redesign of supply chain structures. 4.3.2 ICT-enabled supply chain reform initiatives The second building block in dealing with the bullwhip effect comprises a range of different supply chain reform initiatives that can be subsumed under the concept of efficient replenishment. As such, two distinct types of measures can be distinguished: 1) inventory management concepts that aim at changing the ways in which actors in the supply chain carry out their roles of stock keeping and ordering and 2) logistics concepts that aim at improving actual material and information flow. Efficient inventory management is based on the idea that suppliers have timely access to POS data and can thus eliminate traditional forecasting and change the way ordering and inventory management is carried out (Lee, Padmanabhan Whang 1997b). Three concepts with increasing degrees of complexity can be distinguished: †¢ Quick Response: The idea behind this concept is for the supplier to become more responsive to changes in customer demand through the sharing of POS data. Retailers still prepare individual orders, but suppliers are better prepared. †¢ Continuous Replenishment: Suppliers continually receive POS data from retailers to prepare shipments at agreed-upon levels. †¢ Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI): Under this initiative the suppliers manage all inventory aspects for their own products at the retailer end. Suppliers decide on shipment levels without any orders from the retail end to be placed. In fact, the retailer has very little to do with the operational aspects in VMI (Waller, Johnson Davis 1999). The second type of efficient replenishment measures is efficient logistics (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky Simchi-Levi 2003). Here, two main building blocks can be discussed: †¢ Warehousing and delivery concepts: Depending on the kinds of goods that are moved along the supply chain, different kinds of warehousing and delivery can be applied in order to achieve an optimal flow of goods. Cross docking is a concept i n which warehouses function as inventory coordination points rather than actual inventory storage points; hence, goods are only re-shuffled 599 between trucks coming in from suppliers and trucks leaving for stores. This instrument can be used for fast selling products. For bulk products central warehousing can be used; while fresh products benefit from direct delivery. †¢ Full-blown just-in-time delivery (JIT): Most commonly found in the automotive industry, ‘just-in-time’ describes a concept, whereby supplier and manufacturer align their logistics and production processes to a degree that no (or very little) inventory is needed. Goods can be directly delivered from the production at the supplier to arrive just in time to be used in production at the manufacturer end (e.g. Johnson Wood 1996). Changing the way in which inventory is managed means to effectively change the supply chain structure. For example, by implementing VMI the supply chain partners eliminate one stage of ordering, thus eradicating one step in the typical bullwhip chain of events. Moreover, by speeding up product flows using the logistic s concepts lead time is being reduced, which in turn softens the bullwhip effect. Consequently, all measures discussed in this section can be directly motivated by the beergame. In presenting this block to the students I also point out, for every singly concept, the role of information systems and eBusiness technologies. 4.3.3 eCollaboration: joint planning and global optimisation The third block of eBusiness measures for tackling the bullwhip effect is the most sophisticated one and builds on the first two blocks. Global optimisation of supply chain processes can only be achieved through the collaboration of supply chain partners under a joint initiative. I present the Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) initiative as an example from the Grocery industry (VICS 2001) and also discuss (sometimes only briefly) joint product development initiatives in the automotive industry. CPFR as a concept builds on and extends concepts such as VMI by aiming at establishing a long-term planning of joint promotion activities. CPFR is based on the observation that a combination of inventory management and logistics concepts (see section 4.3.2 above) can reduce the bullwhip effect for day-to-day deliveries, but that these concepts still can not cope with demand variations induced by promotion activities. Hence, CPFR aims a t jointly planning promotions and to create transparency as to the expected demand increases induced by these promotions. The concept is based on the use of shared eMarketplace infrastructures, which I also discuss in some detail in this section. Again, the application of eCommerce technologies can be nicely illustrated using the beergame. 4.3.4 Summary The discussion of the three building blocks of eCommerce measures culminates in the development and presentation of an integrated model of eCommerce-based supply chain management informed by the key learnings from the beergame. The model is presented in figure 6. Following the line of argument in the last sections, it becomes obvious that the beergame can be used to motivate and substantiate large parts of a typical eCommerce masters course (as in appendix 2). In the next section I draw some final conclusions and briefly reflect upon the use of the beergame in a classroom setting. 600 Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Tactics Operations Infrastructure Improvements Improvements Suppy Chain Suppy Chain problems problems trade-offs trade-offs Information loss Joint Planning CPFR (promotions, product introduction), Category Mgmt, Production scheduling Collaboration Strategic alliances for global optimization Efficient Replenishment Inventory Management: Quick Response, CRP, VMI, SBT Redesign ICT-enabled supply Chain re-structuring S.C. structure Materials information flow: Direct delivery, Warehousing, X-docking Local optimization Communication Information sharing, Electronic ordering Efficient Communications Infrastructure, EDI, AutoID, Product numbering, Process simplifications Figure 6: A comprehensive eCommerce and supply chain model 5 Conclusion and outlook I have introduced the beergame and demonstrated its usefulness in teaching B2B eCommerce and supply chain management. To the present day, I have used the beergame mainly in eCommerce masters courses at different Universities in different national contexts. The experiences and also the teaching evaluations have always been positive and very encouraging. While I believe that the beergame, and the way it is embedded in my B2B eCommerce syllabus, works well in providing students with both a profound understanding of the underlying wisdoms of eCommerce, as well as with a good overview of eCommerce measures, there is more to it than that. Playing the beergame is great fun, for the teacher and for the students, and it is always a good experience in itself. As such, the beergame is also very helpful for the general course atmosphere and the creation of positive team dynamics in the group. For the future, we are working on a software version of the beergame, which can be used in a classroom setting in the same interactive role-play style, but avoid some of the still remaining problems of the table version. While software versions today only provide a simulation (instead of role-play) mode and are not built for classroom use, a client-server software version of the game might replace the cumbersome logistics aspects (the moving of boxes) and help in gathering data that can be used for debriefing straight away. Moreover, it would be great to be able to play the beergame with different setups, e.g. with implementing effective sharing of (customer demand and inventory) data in order to demonstrate, in a second round of play, the usefulness of information sharing in reducing the bullwhip effect. To this end, our software will be flexible enough to incorporate such exploration of different supply chain modalities.1 1 For further information please see: http://www.beergame.org. 601 Appendix 1: Beergame play sheet The following table shows the play sheet of a retailer group that was filled in during a beergame session. The ‘incoming order’ column shows the external customer demand with its increase in round 6. During the game the students only have to fill in the white columns – the ‘incoming delivery’ and the ‘incoming order’ are taken from the incoming paper slips, while in the ‘your order’ column the students have to fill in their order decision for the respective weeks. Having done that, the play sheet shows exactly what has to be written on the outgoing order and delivery slips (in the dark columns). All orange columns are calculated automatically, so that students can easily keep track of their inventory and cost progression. After the beergame this data is then put together and consolidated with the data that was collected in the play sheets of the other groups of the same supply chain. It is then plotted to create figures 3 and 4 and table 1 (see above). Week Incoming Delivery Available Incoming Order Your Delivery Backorder Inventory Cost 7,5 15 22,5 30 35 37 40 45 49 52 64 78 86 100 118 137 159 180 201 223 244 265 283 295 303 316 317,5 321 324,5 328 331,5 335 338,5 342 345,5 348,5 351 353 355 357 Your Order Please fill out play slips: Delivery Order 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 5 5 5 5 0 3 2 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 13 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 20 20 20 20 15 13 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 13 13 13 5 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 4 3 12 14 8 14 18 19 22 21 21 22 21 21 18 12 8 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 15 15 15 15 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 5 4 4 4 0 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 602 Appendix 2: Syllabus for a beergame-based B2B course The following table gives an overview of how the beergame can be incorporated in a typical (B2B) eCommerce (masters) course (e.g. 12 weeks with 3 hour sessions). The beergame and the subsequent modules can cover up to 6 sessions. After presenting the three blocks with eCommerce improvements, an additional session can be used to discuss management challenges of inter-firm collaboration, covering issues such as trust, managing interfaces, ICT standards etc. Throughout the course, cases from the grocery and the automotive industries might be used for illustration purposes and to facilitate discussions. Depending on the setting, background readings might also be handed out to the students. Sessions (3 hours) Topics / session contents 1. Beergame session a. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40-50 rounds) d. Brief discussion afterwards 2. Debriefing a. Discussion of experiences and game setup b. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) c. Teaching case Barilla: bullwhip causes [optional] d. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect e. Short presentation of three areas of improvement and the schedule for the next three sessions 3. Information sharing a. Short discussion: why is information sharing important? b. Principles of electronic data sharing c. Attaching information to physical goods: standardised product numbering, Automated product identification technologies: barcodes, RFID d. Electronic Data Interchange: EDI, WebEDI, XML-based ordering 4. Supply chain reform a. Overview: efficient replenishment initiatives b. Efficient inventory management: Quick Response, Continuous Replenishment, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) c. Efficient Logistics: Warehousing, Direct Delivery, CrossDocking d. Just-in-Time Delivery in the automotive industry [Kanban] 5. eCollaboration a. eCollaboration in the supply chain: idea and philosophy b. Collaborative Planning Forecasting Replenishment (CPFR) c. Joint product development in the automotive industry 6. Management of inter-firm collaboration a. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives b. The role of trust and social capital in inter-firm relationships c. Interoperability of ICT d. Managing inter-firm interfaces 603 Appendix 3: Session outline for a beergame-based workshop The following table shows a short workshop format based on the beergame. Such a workshop can be incorporated in other (general IS) courses or be a stand-alone event, for example as an executive teaching offering. The workshop is essentially made up of two sessions – the actual beergame session and a combined debriefing and learnings session. As an example industry the Grocery industry can be used to illustrate the application of the eCommerce initiatives and technologies. Sessions (~3 hours) Topics / session contents 1. Beergame session a. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40 rounds) d. Discussion of experiences and game setup 2. Debriefing eCommerce initiatives a. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) b. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect c. Discussion of three areas of improvement: a. Information sharing: Product numbering, AutoID, EDI b. Supply chain reform: Inventory management logistics concepts c. eCollaboration: CPFR d. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives 604 References Chopra, S., Meindl, P. (2001): Supply-Chain Management, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Coakley, J. R., Drexler Jr., J. A., Larson, E. W., Kircher, A. E. (1998): Using a computer-based version of the beer game: Lessons learned, Journal of Management Education, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 416-424. Coyle, J. J., Bardi, E. J., Langley, C. J. (1996): The Management of Business Logistics (6th Ed.), St. Paul. Forrester, J. W. (1957): Industrial Dynamics. A major breakthrough for decision makers, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 37-66. Forrester, J. W. (1961): Industrial Dynamics, Cambride, MA. Goodwin, J. S., Franklin Sr., S. E. (1994): The Beer Distribution Game: Using Simulation to Teach Systems Thinking, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 13, No. 8, pp. 7-15. GS1 (2005): About the EAN/UCC System, Available: [http://www.ean-ucc.org] (2007-12-13). Hieber, R., Hartel, I. (2003): Impacts of SCM order strategies evaluated by simulation-based ‘Beer-Game’ approach: the model, concept and initial experiences, Production, Planning Control, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 122-134. Johnson, J. C., Wood, D. F. (1996): Contemporary Logistics (6th Ed), Upper Saddle River. Johnston, R. B. (1999): Principles of Digitally Mediated Replenishment of Goods. Electronic Commerce and Supply-Chain Reform, in Electronic Commerce: Opportunities and Challenges, S. M. Rahman M. Raisinghani, (eds.), Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, pp. 41-64. Lee, H., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S. (1997a): The Bullwhip Effect in SupplyChains, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 93-102. Lee, H., Padmanabhan, V., Whang, S. (1997b): Information Distortion in a Supply-Chain: The Bullwhip Effect, Management Science, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 546-558. Li, M., Simchi-Levi, D. (2002): The Web Based Beer Game Demonstrating the Value of Integrated Supply-Chain Management, Available: [http://beergame.mit.edu/guide.htm] (2007-08-25). McCullen, P., Towill, D. (2002): Diagnosing and reduction of bullwhip in supply chains, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 164-179. Metters, R. (1997): Quantifying the bullwhip effect in supply chains, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 89-100. Muckstadt, J., Murray, D., Rappold, J., Collins, D. (2001): Guidelines for Collaborative Supply-Chain System Design and Operation, in Technical Report of the Cornell University School of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Nr. 1286, Ithaca, NY. Ossimitz, G., Kreisler, B., Zoltan, M. (2002): Simulation von Supply-ChainManagement Systemen, Available: [http://www.uniklu.ac.at/~gossimit/pap/bg_endbericht.pdf] (2007-02-11). Rafaeli, S., Raban, D. R., Ravid, G., Noy, A. (2003): Online Simulations in Management Education about Information and Its Uses, in Educating Manag- 605 ers with Tomorrows Technologies, C. Wankel R. DeFillippi, (eds.), Greenwich, pp. 53-80. Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., Simchi-Levi, E. (2003): Designing Managing the Supply-Chain (2nd ed), Boston, MA. Sterman, J. D. (1989): Modeling Managerial Behaviour: Misperceptions of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision Making Experiment, Management Science, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 321-339. VICS (2001): Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), Version 2, Available: [http://www.vics.org/committees/cpfr/voluntary_v2/CPFR_Tabs_061802. pdf] (2008-01-07). Waller, M., Johnson, M. E., Davis, T. (1999): Vendor Managed Inventory in the Retail Supply-Chain, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 183-203. Warburton, R. (2004): An Analytical Investigation of the Bullwhip Effect, Production and Operations Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 150–160.

Review of Stearns’ Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West :: essays research papers

Wow, I mean, your sister, she’s so fat that when she wears a yellow raincoat, people shout out, â€Å"Taxi!† Your brother, gosh, he’s so fat that his driver’s license says, â€Å"Picture continued on the other side!† About your mother, well, she’s so fat that when she walks in front of the television, you miss out on three commercials! I’m tellin’ ya! Fat!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Those humorous one-liners are just a few of the many out there. In the United States today, we are obviously obsessed with weight, but how did this cultural craze with heaviness start? When and why, even? Are we the only ones? Peter N. Stearns is a Carnegie Mellon history professor and dean, and in his book Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West, he explores and compares the weight-consciousness over the past century in both the United States (arguably the most obese Western country today) and France (arguably the slimmest); he also attempts at explaining why such contrariety exists between these two countries, despite both being heavily infatuated with body and beauty. It is Stearns’ stance that this modern struggle against fat is actually very deeply rooted within our American culture, and dieting and rampant hostility toward the obese continue to become one of the underlying themes in our society today. He also notes the differences in attitud es toward the obese in both countries. He does not really believe that the French approach to obesity could so readily be adopted in the United States, but possibly recognizing a different attitude may help to later reshape the views and opinions that have been formed this past century in our society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With respect to the United States, Stearns reveals that before the 1890s plumpness was healthy and in fact preferred over frailness; full-figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s were linked to successful motherhood and were indeed quite fashionable. In the decade just before 1900, however, as we became more sedentary, fashion changed, and dress sizes became standardized, greater attention was drawn toward the more oddly shaped bodies, possibly creating a new public concern for body weight, especially for women. Fat-controlling devices like â€Å"reducing corsets†, dieting gimmicks such as Kissiengen water, and other advertisements for products to help against weight also began to spread during this time period. Morality even came into play, as obese individuals were seen to not only be lazy and weak but also on their way toward what one may call â€Å"fat hell†. Review of Stearns’ Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West :: essays research papers Wow, I mean, your sister, she’s so fat that when she wears a yellow raincoat, people shout out, â€Å"Taxi!† Your brother, gosh, he’s so fat that his driver’s license says, â€Å"Picture continued on the other side!† About your mother, well, she’s so fat that when she walks in front of the television, you miss out on three commercials! I’m tellin’ ya! Fat!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Those humorous one-liners are just a few of the many out there. In the United States today, we are obviously obsessed with weight, but how did this cultural craze with heaviness start? When and why, even? Are we the only ones? Peter N. Stearns is a Carnegie Mellon history professor and dean, and in his book Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West, he explores and compares the weight-consciousness over the past century in both the United States (arguably the most obese Western country today) and France (arguably the slimmest); he also attempts at explaining why such contrariety exists between these two countries, despite both being heavily infatuated with body and beauty. It is Stearns’ stance that this modern struggle against fat is actually very deeply rooted within our American culture, and dieting and rampant hostility toward the obese continue to become one of the underlying themes in our society today. He also notes the differences in attitud es toward the obese in both countries. He does not really believe that the French approach to obesity could so readily be adopted in the United States, but possibly recognizing a different attitude may help to later reshape the views and opinions that have been formed this past century in our society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With respect to the United States, Stearns reveals that before the 1890s plumpness was healthy and in fact preferred over frailness; full-figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s were linked to successful motherhood and were indeed quite fashionable. In the decade just before 1900, however, as we became more sedentary, fashion changed, and dress sizes became standardized, greater attention was drawn toward the more oddly shaped bodies, possibly creating a new public concern for body weight, especially for women. Fat-controlling devices like â€Å"reducing corsets†, dieting gimmicks such as Kissiengen water, and other advertisements for products to help against weight also began to spread during this time period. Morality even came into play, as obese individuals were seen to not only be lazy and weak but also on their way toward what one may call â€Å"fat hell†.

Microanatomy Is Important In The Medical Field Education Essay

Histology or the survey of microanatomy is of great importance in the medical field. Accuracy of disease diagnosings or tracking the effectivity of a intervention regimen is dependent on the reading of a slide specimen under the lens of a microscope. It is a needed class for freshman medical and dental pupils in most wellness scientific discipline centres ( Ogilvie, 1995 ) . The traditional attack used in learning this subject is to present photomicrographic images of constructions to pupils in talk utilizing 35 mm slides of Fieldss seen through the microscope. It is good known that a topic that demands excess involvement and clip for both instruction and acquisition of histology ( Goubran and Vinjamury, 2007 ) . The pupils so spend many hours sing and analyzing specimens of tissues utilizing a light microscope in a research lab scene. In a typical research lab scene pupils are expected to analyze micrographs at low and higher power magnifications in order to place exact Fieldss in the tissue subdivision. However due to the ocular complexness of microscopic anatomy, this can be disputing for some pupils in footings of hold oning the context and relevancy of the topic. Students in traditional classs of histology spend an inordinate sum of clip larning the constituent constructions by trying to happen and place them in tissue subdivisions utilizing a microscope, where the construction being sought is surrounded by a battalion of other constructions with which they are besides non familiar. Furthermore, trouble in utilizing the equipment in the first case, even before the slide is viewed and when the right aperture and focal point is achieved, a complex histological image appears before their eyes ( Brisbourne et. Al, 2002 ) . The usage of the microscope has been the primary tool of histology instruction. The past decennary has brought the outgrowth of digital slide scanners. This has made possible promotions in both the professional and educational field ( May, 2010 ( a better lens on disease article ) . made available the digital microscope where slides With the recent handiness of videodisk stored image libraries of histological samples, it is now possible to analyze histological rules without the usage of the microscope as the primary learning tool. A videodisk entitled â€Å" Histology: A Photographic Atlas † by S. Downing ( published by Image Premastering Services Limited, Minneapolis, MN, 1991 ) has been incorporated into our histology class. Fifteen videodisc participant Stationss are provided for 150 pupils. Images are retrieved by pupils utilizing a saloon codification scanner attached to a videodisk participant ( Pioneer CLD-2400 ) . Using this sort of image library, pupils can now larn basic histological construction, such as cell and tissue types, without the usage of a microscope or as a tool for easing microscopy. The usage of a videodisc library of randomly accessible images simplifies larning the basic constituents which all variety meats are composed of by showing the scholar with distinct illustrations to avoid confusion with other constructions. However, videodisk participants and Television proctors are still non suitably priced for every pupil to have. This presents a job in that the same images studied in category are non available to analyze and reexamine outside of category. There is a demand for resources for extra survey outside of the institutional scene, for pupils to hold and interact with to reenforce the acquisition experience in the instruction research lab. A difficult transcript manual was created and is being used in our class ; it incorporates exposures captured from the videodisk. The images displayed in the manual are chosen to give the pupil one illustration of each histological constituent. Extra labeling is added to the images, and each image is accompanied by a saloon codification that may be used at a videodisk participant with a saloon codification reader to recover the same colour image from the phonograph record displayed in larger format on a Television proctor. Each subject in the manual is accompanied by larning aims and a statement of clinical relevancy. Following the presentation of the images in each subdivision of the manual, the pupils are encouraged to pattern by sing multiple illustrations of each structural constituent presented in the lesson. They can make this by utilizing the bar-coded catalog supplied with each phonograph record. The presentation of each subject concludes with a quiz composed of inquiries about images that the pupil can recover from the videodisk utilizing barcodes in the text of the manual. Some of the images on the quiz are printed in illumination in the manual to supply the pupil with an chance for personal reappraisal at place when hardware to obtain and expose images from a picture phonograph record is non available. This manual provides an reply to the quandary faced by the scholar when entree to hardware is non available ; support is hence facilitated outside the teaching research lab. This allows larning to go on outside of the schoolroom, utilizing the same stuffs. ( abstract truncated ) Building mental theoretical accounts With equal mental modeling, the ‘scaffolding ‘ that is required with which to construct new cognition. associating inactive two dimensional constructions to dynamic three dimensional maps. Histology instruction and acquisition is an active country of research, particularly with recent engineering promotions such as the outgrowth of slide scanners. Traditional slide readying Traditional pathology vs. digital pathology Since the attitude of pupils for holding merely microscopic slides for larning histology is uneffective and literature provinces this, this is obvious research that I would non hold to carry on myself. If you can mention the literature so it is all right to set up this in your background/introduction, yes.A specify the method of learning here at this university, and province that Im proving a multimedia synergistic tutorial to find the participants response and attitudes? ( hope this makes sense! ) Its that since Im non making aA comparing survey, I was acquiring somewhat confused as to how I can word my hypothesis. Yes.A I would mention some literature to endorse up the hypothesis that the add-on of synergistic ocular AIDSs better acquisition and so depict what you have made taking this into history. In response to this demand, legion surveies compare pupil ‘s rating of the utility of instruction and acquisition with and without the support of a computerised histology instruction assistance ( Farah and Maybury, 2009, Rosenberg et al 2006, Weaker and Herbert 2009 ) . Indications are that although the passage from traditional microscopic slides may non needfully better on pupils ‘ trial tonss, the enthusiasm in their attack to histology has been greatly improved. These findings suggest that possibly transference from two dimensional picture-like microscopic images and application of some signifier of interactivity holds ocular entreaty to the user. This evidently has an impact on their return on the topic, which indicates that traditional methods of being placed with a set of slides and a light microscope is non prosecuting adequate to be appealing to pupils. Further to this, different applications have been made to histology to invigorate up the two-dimensionality of the stained microscopic slide. The most basic attack but non rather effectual have been the efforts of many universities to do available their histological resources to pupils anytime and anyplace ( weaker and Herbert, 2009, Rosenberg et. Al 2006, Salajan and Mount, 2008 ) . The Dentistry section of University of Dundee has their ain aggregation made available via the Virtual Learning Environment ( VLE ) for pupils to entree and utilise as they like. As the ruin of many virtually available histology, the degree of interactivity is merely limited to the show of labelling of the cardinal constructions in a slide image. This lone aids the pupils to some point ; they can accomplish the ‘laboratory experience ‘ but at a location of their pick. More conventional methods of incorporating histology to a more learner-friendly format include the use of the current and most recent engineering that are soon available in this fast traveling technological industry. Three-dimensional modeling, practical world and sharp visual image of biological constructions in peculiar, is one major way where instruction has been steadily heading ( Trelease, 2002 ) . Brisbourne et Al. ( 2002 ) innovatively collaborated lifes into the instructions of histology, utilizing a web-based multimedia acquisition assistance called HistoQuest. Their lifes aim to incorporate the existent maps of the cells to a histological slide and assistance pupils in understanding the major constructs and physiological maps, non merely to recognize and label a construction. Mental modeling is the theory and aim behind their work. Mental modeling is described as the procedure of incorporating a cognition platform on which the pupils can so construct up on. This is the underlying thought of this research proposal ; can seting the scenario of which the tissues were cultured from, i.e. for illustration a glomeruli of a uriniferous tubule from the kidney, enable the pupil to later execute better academically? The Inner life of the cell life by Bio Visions from Harvard University is a alone illustration of life created with a ‘digital visual aspect ‘ of the cells where the microscopic universe is rendered into three dimensions. Sandberg ( 2002 ) created a series of computing machine aided synergistic histology over a figure of old ages and through the experience commented on the fact that long distance acquisition, immediate feedback and holding a merriment interface was greatly appreciated by pupils. Having been able to run into pupils and lectors involved in learning and larning histology at this university, their sentiment on the proposal at manus was priceless. There decidedly seems to be a niche for an improved histological instruction assistance, surely at this university. as image acknowledgment expertness is an art that can merely be developed through clip, preparation and experience. Recent promotions in engineering has facilitated instruction and acquisition of histology. There has been legion histology Atlass and etc, by far the effectivity of a tutorial that incorporates 3D histology slides and Reconstruction of 2D slides into 3D tissue theoretical accounts alongside 3D variety meats has non been addressed. Research is missing in this peculiar country. Students require aid in placing Merely by looking at a slide you can merely recognize the forms, which is 2D but retracing 2d images from slides into rotatable 3d images will assist construct the pupils to understand the microscopic specimen. The transference of the survey stuff will be facilitated by the 3D theoretical accounts as visualizing aid the pupils understand the topic easier Students frequently express troubles larning with the traditional microscope and slide set. histology is a capable country that has been germinating. Histology instruction is an active country of research that has been spread outing due promotions of engineerings. Health scientific discipline topics that require ocular acquisition can be supplemented to with ocular idea procedure required. This research survey is concerned with planing a multimedia interactive ( MMI ) Purposes and aims: This survey will be designed to analyze whether the degree of interactivity and presence of visually appealing 3D cellular modeling can better apprehension and memory keeping of histology. The e-learning tutorial will be based around an introductory histology practical on colon malignant neoplastic disease that first twelvemonth medical pupils undertake. Before the practical category, they will hold minimum or no experience of histology and after the few hours spent in practical, do non revisit histology once more until later old ages in the class. the tutorial that contains 3D cellular theoretical accounts alongside the histology slides and will be necessitate them to be more synergistic e.g. prompted to snap more links on the page to voyage through the tutorial, options provided to travel the 3D cellular theoretical accounts around 360 grades etc. Both groups will be asked to finish a brief pre-tutorial questionnaire ( see terminal of papers for an illustration ) to find whether they have any old experience with utilizing microscopes and histology. At the terminal of the e-tutorial, the survey groups will be quizzed on what they experienced on the tutorial to prove the effectivity of the tutorial in helping memory keeping ( see terminal of this papers for sample questionnaire ) .

Couch Potato

The couch Potato† Lifestyle â€Å"Couch potato†, a slang term to describe a person who spends most of the time sitting or lying on a couch. However, sedentary lifestyle is another term which commonly used as a medical term to describe a lifestyle with irregular psychical activities or exercise. People intend to spend more time sitting, surfing the Internet, working on a computer, watching television, and other activities that do not require much psychical movement or activities. Hence, this lifestyle Is more likely to bring harm to the society rather than benefits.This lifestyle Is most likely discovered In plopped and developing countries. People of all ages Like adult, teenagers, and children whom they live a sedentary lifestyle could be negatively Impacting each Individual lives. As an effect of sedentary lifestyle, children and teenagers are more likely to exhibit poor motor coordination. They often spent most of their time for their electronic gadgets. As we can see , It Is so common that children and teenagers carrying at least one electronic gadget regardless of what they are doing and where they are going, either they are in the washroom, during a meal, and even before their timed.Hence, a lack of physical activity leads to poor motor coordination: almost all of their time was allocated for their sedentary behavior. Childhood is a critical time for the development of motor coordination skills that will enhance a healthier psychically and mentally development. Therefore, it is important to educate them in setting up a proper daily routine, likewise, encourage children and teenagers to increase their amount of physical activities. On the other hand, sedentary lifestyle also has a variety of negative impacts on adults, especially working adults.Living a denary lifestyle is not necessarily means living a lazy or inactive life; somehow it can be very busy with work and family which caused them without inherent opportunities for physical activitie s. They often find difficulties in allocation of time for some exercise, thus, they feel energetic, body and mind become inactive, and as a result they fall into depression. Worst come to worst, once depression settles, they will be too depressed to carry out physical activities. Slowly, it leads to other diseases and illnesses. Sedentary lifestyle contributes to high risk sickness to people f all ages.Anxiety, obesity, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, colon cancer, and kidney stones are all the major diseases and illnesses which risk the health of all people. Besides, premature death is increasing every year. Do not be surprise that the study has shown that Just by sitting still could cause premature death. The more we sit, the higher the risk of premature death. In conclusion, adapting to a sedentary lifestyle can be as harmful as Heroin. Although It Is now with the increasing number of people living In a sedentary lifestyle which goes not seem to be much hope moving away from It, but we are what we choose to be.Is Just a question of how â€Å"hunger† are we of resettling from sedentary lifestyle. Couch Potato By Lo-Nathan The â€Å"Couch Potato† Lifestyle â€Å"Couch potato', a slang term to describe a person who spends most of the time activities or exercise. People intend to spend more time sitting, surfing the internet, much psychical movement or activities. Hence, this lifestyle is more likely to bring harm to the society rather than benefits. This lifestyle is most likely discovered in developed and developing countries.People of all ages like adult, teenagers, and children whom they live a sedentary lifestyle could be negatively impacting each individual lives. As an effect of sedentary lifestyle, children and teenagers are more electronic gadgets. As we can see, it is so common that children and teenagers bedtime. Hence, a lack of physical activity leads to poor motor coordination; almost all conclusion, adapt ing to a sedentary lifestyle can be as harmful as Heroin. Although it is now with the increasing number of people living in a sedentary lifestyle which does not seem to be much hope moving away from it, but we are what we choose to

Bioethics Case Study Review essays

Bioethics Case Study Review essays Family Wishes and Harm to the Patient We are aware of the following facts in Katherine's case: 1.Katherine is in a comatose state. After arresting several times, she remained comatose and presumably irreversibly unconscious. After other complications, her state progressed to slow multisystem failure. She was beyond the capability of experiencing the burden of pain by her vegetative state 2.Katherine had not made it clear by written directives nor communicated any specific instructions to her family (evident by the fact they are in disagreement) about withdrawing life-sustaining treatments if she ever became irreversibly unconscious and lost decision-making capacity. 3.The proxy, in this case the family, must rely on the reasonable treatment standard because Katherine's wishes were never clearly communicated. Following the third resuscitation and development of multisystem failure, the family disagreed on further treatment determinations. The consultation committee clarified options, but indecisiveness persisted. Agreement was eventually reached. 4.Proxy decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments were as follows: a. After second resuscitation and comatose state: ventilation, tube-feed dependency, and long-term care facility for full treatment b. Remained comatose and developed slow multisystem failure (slow dying process): cessation of invasive treatment but continued ventilation and feeding c. Development of paralysis of the gut: continue feeding 5.The provider complied with the family's determinations. 6.Katherine died from feculent emesis and massive aspiration after only ventilation was exercised and all other treatment terminated. We are also aware of the following good and bad features of the case: 1.Without the life sustaining treatment (i.e. ventilator, tube feeding) Katherine would die, and death is always bad. However, Katherine is comatose and the bad associated with death is reduced by t...

Free Essays on Shock Program

In our era of high criminal activity something had to be done to eliminate the vast over crowding of today’s prisons. A military type â€Å"boot camp† was created to alter offenders’ behavior and deter them from any future criminal activity. This program is said to provide a therapeutic environment and meet the needs of offenders that can still become law-abiding citizens. The Shock Incarceration Program meets those needs and at the same time meets its goals which are â€Å"reducing the demand for bed space in the Department of Correctional Services and treat and release selected state prisoners earlier than court-mandated minimum sentences without compromising community safety†(Nieto). The paper will discuss the program’s origination, guidelines, eligibility, screening process, and daily activities. An interview with a shock graduate will give a first hand view on the realities of the program. The New York State Shock Incarceration program was established on July 13, 1987. It was designed for young inmates who could benefit from an intense six month program of incarceration. The legislative bill states â€Å"the program would be provided to certain inmates institutionalized to the State Department of Correctional Services who are in need of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. The program is an alternative form of incarceration that highly stresses discipline, considerable physical work, exercise, and drug rehabilitation therapy. It would build character, gradually implant a sense of maturity and responsibility and promote a positive self image, so they can return to society as law-abiding citizens.† Four facilities were established. The first Monterey Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility (SICF) received their first inmates on September 10, 1987. Summit SICF received their first inmates on April 12, 1988, and their female component began in De cember of 1988. Moriah SICF received its first platoon on Mar... Free Essays on Shock Program Free Essays on Shock Program In our era of high criminal activity something had to be done to eliminate the vast over crowding of today’s prisons. A military type â€Å"boot camp† was created to alter offenders’ behavior and deter them from any future criminal activity. This program is said to provide a therapeutic environment and meet the needs of offenders that can still become law-abiding citizens. The Shock Incarceration Program meets those needs and at the same time meets its goals which are â€Å"reducing the demand for bed space in the Department of Correctional Services and treat and release selected state prisoners earlier than court-mandated minimum sentences without compromising community safety†(Nieto). The paper will discuss the program’s origination, guidelines, eligibility, screening process, and daily activities. An interview with a shock graduate will give a first hand view on the realities of the program. The New York State Shock Incarceration program was established on July 13, 1987. It was designed for young inmates who could benefit from an intense six month program of incarceration. The legislative bill states â€Å"the program would be provided to certain inmates institutionalized to the State Department of Correctional Services who are in need of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. The program is an alternative form of incarceration that highly stresses discipline, considerable physical work, exercise, and drug rehabilitation therapy. It would build character, gradually implant a sense of maturity and responsibility and promote a positive self image, so they can return to society as law-abiding citizens.† Four facilities were established. The first Monterey Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility (SICF) received their first inmates on September 10, 1987. Summit SICF received their first inmates on April 12, 1988, and their female component began in De cember of 1988. Moriah SICF received its first platoon on Mar...

ACT Hand Scoring Should You Order It

ACT Hand Scoring Should You Order It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Did your ACT scores seem way out of whack? Enough that you think there was an error in the scoring process? It’s possible to get your test rescored manually for a fee. Read on to find out why you might decide to use ACT Score Verification (also known as ACT Hand Scoring) and how you can order it. What Is Hand Scoring? The multiple choice sections on the ACT are scored with scantron machines, which is why there's so much emphasis on filling in the answer sheet accurately with dark marks.Machines may interpret a stray mark as an answer or penalize you because you accidentally skipped a question and bubbled in a string of answers in the wrong spots.If you order score verification, your test will be reviewed again by a human being to see if there was a problem in the original scoring process or if you made an obvious bubbling error that would be apparent to a human grader but not a scantron. ACT score verification is available for both the multiple choice and essay sections of the test (if you did ACT Writing).It’s a $50 fee for the multiple-choice section, $40 for the essay section, or $90 for both.If you're at all familiar withSAT Hand Score Verificationor have ordered it before, you should know thatACT Score Verification differs in one important way.For SAT Hand Scoring, there's the risk tha t your score will go down if mistakes in scoring are found that aren’t in your favor.For the ACT, your score will either stay the same or go up- ordering hand scoring can’t hurt your score, it can only hurt your wallet.If the ACT does find a scoring mistake that works in your favor, your scores will be changed and the fee will be refunded. Special note: In past years, ordering ACT essay score verification meant that your essay was reread and rescored (if your score was higher; otherwise, your score stayed the same). Now, however, getting score verification for your ACT essay only gets you confirmation your essay was scored by two independent graders (or by a third grader if the two scores differed by more than a point in any domain) and that your essay was scanned correctly. When Should You Use Score Verification? Here are a couple of scenarios where you might consider Hand Scoring as a score verification method: Scenario 1: Your Overall Score Was Very Different from What You Expected How different is â€Å"very different†?If you get a score on one or more of your ACT sections that is five or more points lower than the score you consistently earned in practice sessions, you might consider hand scoring. With this much of a discrepancy, it’s likely that something weird happened in the scoring process or you did something on the answer sheet that caused your answers to be read inaccurately. Scenario 2: You Missed Many â€Å"Easy† Questions That You Would Normally Get Right If you look at your score report and notice that you got a bunch of questions wrong in subjects that you usually ace, you might start to question your scores.However, you should consider ordering the Test Information Release, described in my next point, to verify the difficulty level of the questions you missed before jumping to any conclusions. Scenario 3: You’ve Investigated Other Score Verification Options The ACT Test Information Releaseprovides a more comprehensive view of the test. It includes all the questions, a list of your answers, the answer key, scoring instructions, and the writing prompt and scoring rubric along with your scores (if you took the ACT with Writing).You can order the Test Information Release for $20 (per test date). This will either clear up confusion about your scores or verify that something went wrong and you need to order ACT Score Verification (hand scoring). When Should You NOT Use Hand Scoring? You shouldn't jump right to hand scoring if your score is only a little lower than you expected it to be. Say you get your scores back and you did about four points worse than you expected on one or more sections. Do you order hand scoring?I would say that’s the tipping point. A discrepancy between expectations and reality of four points or less is probably not significant enough to indicate an error in scoring. If you're still concerned, you should go ahead and order the Test Information Release so you can understand your scores better.Try not to jump right to blaming the test if you score a couple points lower than you expected- it’s not going to help you learn from your mistakes! The best place to learn is on top of a pile of past mistakes. How to Request Hand Scoring To have your test hand scored, just fill out this form and mail it to the ACT within 12 months of your test date.Include your name (the original one that you wrote on the test), address, and date of birth along withthe ACT ID, testing location, and test date from your original score report. You should also include a check made out to ACT Student Services with the applicable fees for whichever part of the test you want hand scored.Remember, multiple choice is $50, essay is $40, and it’s $90 for both. Mail everything to this address: ACT Student ServicesP.O. Box 414Iowa City, IA 52243-0414 You can also request to be in the room for the hand scoring process for your multiple choice questions (but without access to the test questions) at a location designated by the ACT. If you would like to do this you should mail this request in writing along with everything else, although I would say that unless you are super paranoid about them messing up the scoring again you probably don’t want to bother with it. The ACT says that additional fees apply, but the information they give about it is very vague- you may want to call them to find out more details before you decide to put in a request. The number for ACT Customer Service is 319-337-1270. After you mail your score verification request, you should get a letter back from the ACT in three to five weeks. It will tell you whether your original scores were confirmed or changed due to an error in the original scoring process. If they were changed, you and all your designated colleges will get new score reports free of charge. What's Next? Are you wondering whether you should take the ACT again? Learn how many times you can take the ACT and how to decide whether you should retake it. Are you just unsure of when you should take the ACT? Use this guide to the best test dates to make an informed decision. If you need to go over your mistakes on your last ACT to prepare for the next test date, check out this article for advice on the best way to review. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Managerical stats problem Speech or Presentation

Managerical stats problem - Speech or Presentation Example The National Football League (NFL)records a variety data for individuals and team (http://www.nfl.com).Some of the year-end performance data for the 2005 season appear on the data disk in the file NFL Stats. Each row of the data set corresponds to an NFL team, and the teams are ranked by winning percentage. Descriptions for data follow: WinPct : Percentage of games won, DefYds/G: Average number of yards per gam given up on defense, Rush Yds/G: Average number of rushing yards per game PassYds/G: Average number of passing yards per game, FGPct: Percentage of field goals, TakeInt: Takeaway interceptions; the total number of interceptions made by the teams defense, Takefum: Takeaway fumbles; the total number of fumbles recovered by the teams defense, GiveInt: Giveaway interceptions; the total number of interceptions thrown by the teams offense, GiveFum; Giveaway fumbles; the total number of fumbles lost by the teams offense 6.Starting with the estimated regression equation developed in question 1, delete any independent variables that are not useful (i.e., the variable with p_value bigger than 0.05). Use the variables left, run the regression (Y variable is the same). 3. r2 = 0.419 meaning that 42 % of the dependent variable (Winpact) can be explained by the independent variables: DefYds/G, RushYds/G, PassYds/G and FGPct. This means that about 58 % cannot be explained as a result the equation is not very useful. 4. From the regression equation it seems the independent variable, RushYds/G has the largest positive effect on the independent variable by 0.004249, DefYds/G decreases the dependent variable by a multiple of 0.00333 while PassYds/G has a positive multiple effect by 0.000375 and finally FGPct decreases the independent variable by a scale of – 0.00064 7. r2 = 0.266 meaning that 26 % of the dependent variable (Winpact) can be explained by the independent variables:

Bioinformatics and molecular modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bioinformatics and molecular modelling - Essay Example Plant lipases are often considered to be involved in regulating certain plant growths and developments (Bos and Laxminarayan, 2011; 42). They are mainly found in seeds where triglycerides are stored in the form of intracellular structures or the oil bodies. Lipases usually hydrolyze triglycerides to fatty acids and glycerol that produces energy needed for seed germination. The plant lapses are usually classified into three main groups with the first group consisting of the triacylglycerol hydrolases that are mainly found in seeds. Their study is vital since they are responsible for seed alteration especially during storage. The second group is the acylhydrolases that are found in various plant tissues. They often exhibit limited specificity for their substrates; therefore, they are unable to hydrolyze triglycerides. However, they are cable to catalyze some esterification processes or reactions (Appel and Feytmans, 2009; p. 68). The profound acylhydrolases include phospholipases A and B, sulfolipases, glycolipases, and monoglyceride lipases. The last group in this category is the phosphorlipases that involve plant metabolism, degradation, and rearrangement. Other than the above classification, the recent studies have led to different classification of lipases based on comparison of the sequences of their amino acid among other fundamental biological and physicochemical properties (Gupta, 2007; 34). This modern classification led to eleven subfamilies. Despite being a member of many protein families, the lipases often have similar architecture that is described by the ?-hydrolase fold. The activities of all lipases often rely on the catalytic triad that is usually fromed by the Asp, Ser, and His residues. In the sequence of the amino acid especially involving ?/? hydrolases, these three residues often follow the user-Asp-His order. Additionally, lipases often share the consensus sequence defined by the Gly-Xaa-Ser-Xaa-Gly where X may be a residue of an amino acid (Bos and Laxminarayan, 2011; p. 33). The three dimensional structure of any protein molecule often provides valuable insight into the molecular function, organization, docking stimulation, and the effective designing of drug experiments. The lack of an experimentally determined crystal structure, the homology modeling may be used to provide an opportunity in obtaining a reasonable 3D model. Currently, the 3D models often provide a perfect means of predicting the structure of biomolecules since it yields models that are suitable for a wide application spectrum that are structurally based thereby providing molecular design for mechanism investigation. The 3D approach is capable of providing a reasonable structure model that is often related to template that shares more than 25 percent sequence identity. An Arabidopsis thaliana lipase model is greatly proposed to investigate the model organism mainly in the plant biology since it is relatively small and and it is genetically tractable genome. Methods The Target and Template Proteins The model is perfect in determining adequate template for the homology modeling for the Arabidopsis thaliana. This sequence allows the alignment of amino acid sequence against the protein data bank (PDB) and this is performed by means of BLAST algorithm. According to the sequence algorithm, both the template (1HLG) and the target share 31 percent of the sequence identity.

Whity (1971) by Rainer Werner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Whity (1971) by Rainer Werner - Essay Example The movie remains fresh in the minds of the viewers long after his death in 1982. Until his death, Fassbinder had written a number of movies including Avant-garde, Katzelmacher, The American Soldier, Beware of a Holy Whore, World on a Wire, just to name but a few. It shows how talented the film writer was though he died at an early age of thirty-seven years. The stars in the movie include Ron Randell, Hanna Schygulla and Katrin Schaake (Itchload 29). The film begins in the midst of one of the key actors by the name Gunther Kaufmann who appears to lie on the ground holding something reddish in hands. At first sight, one may think he is dead. A song plays in the background, and from its words, the actor claims to require only five bullets to use to finish a family. A woman black in color follows chopping off the head of a fish. Whity is the main character in the movie. He belongs to the illegal family of Nicholson. All the family members are, in one way or the other, crazy people who w ear face makeup, which are grey in color (Itchload 29). Ron Randel, the father, is an extremely cruel one and convinces his wife that he may die so soon. His aim is to make her assume she is inheriting his husband’s property, which is not the case. ... This obsession carries the viewer up to the last part of the film. Fassbinder uses this shared obsession by all members of the family to develop the theme of the film (Pipolo 18). The contribution is represented by repeatedly stated episodes which dominate the plot of the story. The role played by each of the actors, their sexuality and the known economical relationships also help in plot development. In addition, the effects of fate in growing impacts of love the actors have in the movie make the viewer understand what the writer wants to put across (Mathews and Charles 5). This shows the society’s behavior in the whole context. These issues get even more complicated when the viewer realizes that Fassbinder’s lover plays Whity. To make matters even worse, Whity’s senior punishes him as the other members of the family watch. This is truly an embarrassing scene and shows how that community’s morality has deteriorated. As all these scenarios take place, Fass binder watches all the unfolding from his dictatorial chair. Pipolo reviews that the complicated relationship of Fassbinder and the other actors was also evident in the writer’s other movie, Beware of a Holy Whore (29). The same author also indicates that it was necessary to include Whity in Fassbinder’s other acted movie, Despair, equally celebrated by many viewers because of its creativity and complexity. The writer also demonstrates a number of customs that natives from different societies follow. As one of the most highly polished films that Fassbinder produced, Whity has quite a number of scenes that explain much about people’s behavior. As one watches the film, one will realize that there is a lot of flagellating, sexual low tones, prostitution and other fascinating styles,

Personal letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal letter - Essay Example Different games would be Operation, Sorry, and CSI board games. The Beatles, The Bee Gees, and Korn are music from different generations. I had to research online about different generations. American schooling was another aspect of the book I read. American schooling is easier that in my homeland. American children also do not go year round. The texts are not as expansive as I am used to. The chapter of Living in a Postcolonial World was enlightening. This chapter showed how American society is made up of many cultures. Every major culture can be found in America. Globalization has made American borders less daunting. The Internet has also promoted globalization in America. In The Buddha of Suburbia, I learned a person does not have to be classified. Karim was Indian and British; gay and straight. Karim faced prejudices because he did not belong to one group or culture. The sex was a bit graphic, but it made the point clearer. This story also shows how post colonialism confuses identities. This story also shows that every individual has a unique story. Not all Indians have to be the same. Due to my cultural differences, I like to work alone. This way no one can see how I struggle with the English language. I can use the library and other methods to check my work. Spell check and hours at the library have helped some. When I did work with others, the experience was pleasant and beneficial. I like my classmates. They are friendly and helpful. My tutors are also very patient. The schools environment is good to learn in. The academia I have learned in America is altered from the schools in my homeland. I thought American schools would be very easy. I could not have been more wrong. Even though I took English courses back home, the courses here are more difficult. Due to my limited English, my need for a tutor, and my performance in class, I deserve no more than a C. I wish I could recommend

Corporate Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate Governance - Essay Example This essay discusses that although the need for fresh blood or expertise has been recognized at the onset, an effective way of dealing with replacing board members remains a constant problem for most types of board of directors. According to Kelvin Westbrook, the role of the board has shifted from long term strategy development to governance and compliance. However, a complete departure of the board from long term strategy making will not likely to happen since both are not only essential functions of the board, but the two need to be balanced as well in every decision a board has to face. He said that boards as a matter of necessity must continue to evolve. Board of directors’ in order to mature needs to have a diversity of viewpoints. Kelvin Westbrook also spoke about how director candidates are screened, because it is important to understand the company’s strategy and direction. The challenges, issues and risks confronting the board should also be known. This will en able searches to be much more focused on the kind of skills, experience and background needed by the company in the boardroom to support the execution of the strategic plan and direction. To illustrate Kelvin Westbrook identified the need for directors with international background if the organization is heading towards expanding offshore. However, while international operation expertise is an invaluable requirement, the candidate’s knowledge of the US’ corporate law should not only be passable but a requirement. Stuart Scott Stuart Scott talked about the proper way of relieving directors of their posts without necessarily evoking hostility or discomfort to all involved. Directors are expected to have a modicum of awareness with regards to their duties and responsibilities when they attend board meetings. These expectations are borne from their responsibilities which they should be aware of. Even though directors are not bounded by the normal standards expected from or dinary employee, their actions and conduct inside the board room are expected to be beyond par. Thus, when directors display acts that are inimical to the overall mission of the board it is necessary to expect that the improper decorum will be met with enmity from the other board of directors. To maintain the integrity of the board including its effectiveness the offending directors must be relieved of their post. However, the process should be carried out with due respect to the position and to the person, no matter how undeserving he might have been. Mike Miles Mike Miles talked about the four qualities that every board of directors should be looking for, to replace or to populate their board rooms. First is a good grasp of the US business practices, laws, regulations, ethical standards principles of corporate governance: SOX, principles of accounting, ability to read a profit and loss balance sheet, familiarity with strategic planning and so on. Secondly, there must be a firm gra sp of how the boardroom game is played. This would include his roles and responsibilities, the dynamics in the board room and the overall sensitivities of the board of directors in general. Third, the candidate should be able to detect BS when it is being presented to him.