U.S. general john buford Essays - Military Personnel, John Buford

U.S. general john buford John buford was a U.S. general who was a cavalry leader, he graduated at West Point Military Academy in 1848. He was best known for being in the first battle at gettysburg. In november of 1861 he was promoted to Assistant Inspector General with the rank as a major. He died december 16 1863, at 2 p.m from typhoid. When they buried him Abraham lincoln was one of the people who was at his funeral, But his wife could not attend his funeral due to an illness that she had. In 1862 during the second battle of bull run he was wounded in his knee by a spent bullet when he got hit and the word got to the union the newspaper said he died but he was actually fine and went on to fight in many wars and did great deeds. In 1863 he went outside of gettysburg and dismounted his men to block the push onto A.P hill, He served in texas against the sioux in the utah war and bleeding kansas. He had fought in many wars sometimes even against his best friends. In the retreat of gettysburg he chased the confederate all the way to Warrenton Virginia and had many battles there. The town of buford wyoming was sold to a Vietnamese man for $900,000. John buford saw his first action at Chancellorsville campaign. He was often seen at the frontlines encouraging his men to get up and fight, he was often referred as old steadfast. Hooker relieved john buford of his cavalry commander and put in his place alfred pleasonton but later regretted his decision so he put john buford in command of the 1st division. After a day long fight at brandy station they won and his division provided key information where the enemy was going to be he also ordered a general withdraw.

Service blueprinting Essay Example

Service blueprinting Essay Example Service blueprinting Essay Service blueprinting Essay Group Fernando Simoom Group Fernando Simoom noticed that they had some inefficiencies at one of their dealerships. When they took a closer look they found out that only 60% of the jobs were finished on time. In terms of value-creation for the customer It Is clear that this has to Improve. If they took a look to the value-creation for the company their biggest struggle was that there was only value-creation during 40% of their paid work. To solve these problems SGF decided to make a Service Blueprint. This Is a model that ascribes the nature and the characteristics of the service Interaction. The process of the customer is the most Important and everything of the service blueprint Is build around this. The emphasis Lies on the customer experience. Making a blueprint can lead to some Important Insights. Firstly It provides you a platform that shows you how your company Is working on the level of services. It makes clear to every employee what his role In the process Is. It also makes It easier to deliberate with your co- workers. Another advantage is that everyone in De company can see how the customer experiences the process. By comparing the as is Service Blueprint with the blueprint of what you want to achieve you can see the adaptations that need to be made. The moments of truth become visible and show you at which points during the process it is very important to be committed with your customer. The service blueprint of SGF shows that a lot of things can be improved. A first problem is that the front-office workers have no idea what the problem with the car might be. This ensures that when the porter brings the car to the technician he has to determine he problem, then he has to inform the front-office worker who has to call the customer to ask if the technician may repair the car. In the mean time the porter brings the car back to the car storage so the technician can work on another car while waiting on the response of the front-office worker. This is a serious waste of time. A possible solution for this might be that the front-office worker gets a training so that he already can determine the problem. By doing this the front-office worker also doesnt have to wait to order the needed components. Another problem is the eating time of the customer. When he arrives and he asks for a loaner car he has to Walt a while. To eliminate this, the front-office worker can ask the customer if he will need a loaner car when he calls for an appointment. In this way the porter can ensure that the loaner car is ready when the customer arrives. By providing an online platform to make your appointment we can reduce the work of the front-office worker. You can also adapt some little things that can make a huge deference for your customers. For example to make the walling process more pleasant you can offer a room with a nice set-up where customers can Walt and drink a cup a coffee. To Improve the process It might be a good Idea for SGF to do a customer survey. By doing this It will become clear which other things that can be Improved. Service blueprinting By Solids dealerships. When they took a closer look they found out that only 60% of the Jobs were finished on time. In terms of value-creation for the customer it is clear that this has to improve. If they took a look to the value-creation for the company their biggest love these problems SGF decided to make a Service Blueprint. This is a model that describes the nature and the characteristics of the service interaction. The process of the customer is the most important and everything of the service blueprint is build around this. The emphasis lies on the customer experience. Making a blueprint can lead to some important insights. Firstly it provides you a platform that shows you how your company is working on the level of services. It makes clear to every employee what his role in the process is. It also makes it easier to deliberate with your co- also doesnt have to wait to order the needed components. Another problem is the wait a while. To eliminate this, the front-office worker can ask the customer if he will worker. You can also adapt some little things that can make a huge difference for your customers. For example to make the waiting process more pleasant you can offer a room with a nice set-up where customers can wait and drink a cup a coffee. To improve the process it might be a good idea for SGF to do a customer survey. By doing this it will become clear which other things that can be improved.

Avoiding Fallacies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Avoiding Fallacies - Essay Example From the reasoning presented by the characters in the book, there are different approaches to the issue of women and publicity. One of the fallacies would be that she would be putting on pants all over her time. Another one would be that Bill Clinton I never wore pants and that would lead us to question what he used to put on. Blair, one of the characters party to the question believes that there is an issue of economic status and women ability that would drive a woman to remain confident even in the face of controversy. Erin Bruno believes that the choice of such a slogan would be based on publicity that is required. The media, according to him reports stories with the audience in mind. When the perceived audience is large, then the chances that the, media will multiply publicity of the aspect in mind is very high. David Bositis presented an issue with the opinion polls not favoring the minorities. Clinton in this case would be described as a minority based on her being a woman. The refore, the fallacies about her slogans were purely meant to publicize her to the

The Biography Of Blue Jeans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Biography Of Blue Jeans - Essay Example The basic motive of this project is to show that the blue jean, which had been widely used by working class individuals as an inexpensive and long-lasting piece of clothing, saw a boom in interest from all classes of society when it began appearing in Hollywood films as the clothing of choice for the era’s biggest heroes, the cowboys. â€Å"Western movies from Hollywood elevated ‘authentic’ cowboys, who were often portrayed wearing the garment, to mythic status. Just as Easterners were beginning to appreciate the tremendous comfort and durability of the new clothing style, World War II forced changes in manufacturing techniques. However, soldiers preferring to wear blue jeans while relaxing overseas helped further change the image of the blue jean from a working class, working style pant to one of relaxation and leisure, as well as of the natural abundance and enviable condition of the American lifestyle. After the war, Hollywood again helped to spread the popula rity of the blue jean by clothing their popular ‘bad boys’ such as James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Elvis Presley, in the popular garment, immediately associating it with the rebellious youth. Today blue jeans enjoy an unequaled status among the clothing styles of the world. Blue jeans have become the comfort clothing of the world. Recognized as an art form and enjoying numerous types of treatments from painting, stonewashed, acid dying and fancy stitching, blue jeans have proven themselves to be as versatile as they are long-lasting.

Strategic Management Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Strategic Management Analysis - Essay Example This kind of transformation has led to Better Place establishing a paradigm shift; whereby in the business model, sales are shifted from products to services. Mission and Vision The company’s mission is to reduce the social and environmental impacts in relying on petroleum by the transportation sector. The Better Place case highlights the automotive industry history in brief offers an overview of numerous automotive technologies such as hybrids and demonstrates consequences brought forth by its expansion (Romero, 2009: p.155-159). Industry Analysis The Better Place case highlights numerous aspects of the company, its shortcomings and advantages. It as well examines the rollout strategy of the company, which is an entrepreneurial that is trying to expand and grow globally at a quick pace. Its key challenges include a complex business model on the economy particularly on the wide upfront investments that are dispersed in various locations internationally, how infrastructure is c oordinated, how consumers can be convinced to switch to electric cars as well as ways of convincing automotive producers that EVs are a better option. Porter’s five Porter’s five looks at the five forces that act on Better Place Company and are the determinants of the company’s profitability. 1. Threats of new entrants This is a low threat in Better Place Company being in the automobile industry. ... 2. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers always bargain before buying cars, and so dealers gives out great deals to the buyers so as to move the industry. In this case, the buyers usually have a considerable bargaining power even if they purchase a single car at any given time which is a good factor that determines this force. 3. Threat of substitute products When buyers look at other products compared to those of Better Place, as well as competition, and are able to switch with ease, then the company can have a high threat of force. This is because the cost of switching can be high as one cannot sell a car for the sum paid for. In the differentiation of product, cars could be particularly similar in various ways but if choosing the amphibious cars, the threat of substitute products can be of low. 4. The bargaining power of suppliers This involves suppliers of electronics, parts, components and tires as well as the assembly workers. The auto unions are powerful in a tremendous way. On th e other hand, suppliers can be of small firms who often depend on carmakers and can have a single carmaker as a customer. Therefore, this force can be either low or high. 5. Competitive rivalry Better Place is a company that has a fierce competition in terms of price cut, product development and ad campaigns, which drives it to the profitability and innovation edge. This leads to low margins and a high pressure on rivals. However, if there is less pressure from rivals, the pressure on imports becomes high although there will be a difference in profitability because the business models will vary (Pickard, 2010.p.125). Sources and Capabilities SWOT Analysis of Better Place a. Strengths

Chinese Communists and Guomindang Forces Relationship

Chinese Communists and Guomindang Forces Relationship This paper seeks to analyze the political situation in the formative years of the Chinese republic in order to understand reasons for a breakdown of the relationship between the Chinese communists and the Guomintang forces. This paper will examine from the collapse of Qing dynasty, the early days of the major political parties, the role played by Russia and the eventual breakout of war to conclude three reasons behind the failed relationship between the Chinese Communists and Guomindang forces , which are difference in ideology, the power hungry nature of the leaders and the suspicion and mistrust between the leadership. The last dynasty of chinas ruling monarchy collapsed in the year 1912, this dynasty was referred to as the Qing dynasty. The main reason for the collapse was lack of popular support from the people and pressure from the public who wanted change .This resulted in rebellion that was later joined by political leaders and the army. The ruler at the time, known as Pu Yi, finally stepped down; an action that signified the end of the monarchy. After the end of the Qing dynasty, China was left with a chaotic situation where separate regions were controlled by army generals who were particularly strong in the Northern region. These generals were referred to as warlords. What made Chinas situation critical at that point was that there but no national leader who could unify the country. None of these army generals was strong enough to control the entire country and thus their sphere of influence was limited to the geographical regions where they were located.  [1]   During the chaotic years of warlord rule many young Chinese joined the different movements such as the Northern campaign, the Fourth of May movement and Communism. The leaders of these movements wanted to bring changes to China at whatever cost and some of the options they had at the time, included adopting foreign ideas. One of the main ideas that gained popularity was communism as the idea of a classless society at the time seemed very appealing to most Chinese revolutionaries and political leaders. Mao Zedong then a librarian at the University of Beijing formed a society through which interested parties could study and discuss Marxist ideals, this society became hugely popular and the members later formed the Chinese communist party  [2]  . At about the same time, Sun Yat-sen a politician and Chinas foremost nationalist leader at the time was organizing his party known as Guomindang or the Peoples National Party. Suns ideals for the new Chinese republic were of a democratic government for the people, National freedom and livelihood for the nations poor. In order to defeat and overthrow the warlords who held most of the country, Sun Yat-sen, using his political party Kuomintang, sought for assistance from major foreign powers of the time, his efforts were however ignored by western countries. Thus in 1921 he turned to Russia where a communist government had taken over power. 2 Russia responded by offering support to both Guomindang and the communist party an act which was the essence of the struggle for political power between the two parties. As a way of boosting both parties Russia sent representatives to help re organize Guomindang and the communist party of china along the lines of the Russian communist party.1 These efforts culminated in the declaration of 1923 where Russia pledged her support for the unification of China and the two political parties declared their cooperation. The coming together of Guomindang and the communist party of China gave birth to what was referred to as the First United Front. 8 With Russias help Sun Yat-sen reorganized his party along the lines of Russian communist party. The party Guomindang grew into a mass party, where all decisions made by the party leaders were final. It was also run along very strict disciplinary lines. 3 Sun invited members of the communist party then still a small party to join Guomindang in their individual capacity, as both parties had a common goal. During this time Russia also offered military support to Guomindang. They brought in officers to train party members and those of the communist party who had joined suns Guomindang.3 Russia also offered weapons and ammunitions. Later a military academy was also developed to train and impart military skills to officers. 1 This Military academy was headed by Chiang Kai-shek who had risen to prominence in the party and was Sun Yat -Sens likely successor. The purpose of the Military support offered by Russia, was to help their two allies the communist party and Guomindang, to defeat the warlords who were mainly located in the North of the country and in the process to unify China into one Republic. But before an attack on the warlords could be launched Sun Yat-sen died of heart attack in 1925.  [3]   A few months after the Death of Sun, Chiang Kai-shek who was the commander of the revolutionary army launched the Northern campaign. However at the same time the Guomindang party was facing tumultuous times, the party had split into two factions, one left wing and the other right wing. The influence of the communist party was also growing within the Guomindang. In response to this and other happenings, Chiang Kai-shek curtailed the participation of communist party members in the leadership of Kuomintang. He also imposed himself as the leader of the revolutionary army. 6 The campaign against the Northern warlords was quite successful; within a few months the revolutionary army had captured most of the northern territory and imposed governments there. Most of the poor peasants in the country side welcomed the revolutionaries as the believed they represented the chance of better days ahead. But as the power of the Guomindang grew the more discontent the communist party became.  [4]   By the time the revolutionaries had conquered most of China the alliance that existed between them disintegrated. Several incidents resulted in a worsening situation. As the Guomindang were about to enter Shanghai city, there was a rebellion from communist members within the city, the response of the Guomindang soldiers when they finally entered Shanghai, was to arrest and round up the members of the communist party and then proceed to massacre them. Later in another incident, the Guomindang party revolutionary soldiers carried out another massacre of communist party members in Guangzhou, killing several hundred in the process. In response the communists who were being purged from the Kuomintang, retreated to the rural countryside and launched an uprising which was led by Mao Zedong. This uprising was easily suppressed by Chiang Kai-sheks forces  [5]  . In 1928 the Guomindang formed a government that was given international recognition in Nanjing as the government of the Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek also formally became the chairman of the party. Using his influence among the elite and the military power that he had Chiang Kai-shek was able to maintain a dictatorial grip on the party and to defeat those within and without the party who opposed him. He tried to form a modern state but most accused him of abandoning the ideals on which his party was formed.  [6]   On the other hand the Chinese communist party which had almost been crushed by the Guomindang began to rebuild, they recruited peasants from the countryside to join their ranks with an aim of forming an army for the people which was to win the revolution against the Guomindang.  [7]   In 1931 Japan seized Manchuria and installed a puppet regime led by Pu Yi, the last ruler of the Qing dynasty. This resulted in strong anti Japan sentiment within China. Chiang Kai-shek who held the dominant military power within china opened a second front to engage the Japanese, but still gave most of his attention to crushing the Chinese communist party .To this effort the Guomindang launched a series of encirclement campaigns meant to wipe out the communist partys resistance. Of the five campaigns the first three were failures while the fourth and fifth were quite successful resulting in huge loses to life on both sides. But the Chinese communist party, cornered in the city Jiangxi of was severely depleted and its leadership opted for a retreat to shangxi an event which is referred to as the long march.  [8]   The march was brutal to the Chinese communist partys ranks; many tens of thousand were lost along the way due to desertion, attack by enemy soldiers, disease and hunger. But the positive aspect of the long march to the party was that, it brought together members who would later come to form the top leadership and decision making body of the Chinese communist party. This included names such as Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Liu Shoqi, Lin Biao, Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai. Another important aspect is that during the long march a meeting of the top leaders established Mao Zedong as the top most leader of the party and with the responsibility to lead on all issues regarding overall strategy for the movement.  [9]   Conclusion After careful analysis it can be established that, the main reasons behind the failed relationship between the Chinese Communists and Guomindang forces can be attributed to a number of factors; first was the difference in ideology between the two parties. The Chinese communist party was of the belief that the fledging Chinese republic would be better off if ruled under a communist ideology almost similar to what existed in the united soviet socialist republic. On the contrary the Guomindangs vision was formed by Sun Yat-sen who was a well traveled man who had studied in Hawaii in the United States. Sun had a vision of the new China as a democratic country where the citizens were free of foreign influence and where they were free and able to earn a living, a form of capitalist society so to speak. This view had been acquired through his travels as a result of the economic progress and developments that he had seen in the western world. Mao Zedong on the other hand came from a peasant family; his view of china was that it was society where the upper class ruled and lorded over the poor masses, he felt that a classless society would be the best way to move China from the inequality and poverty that was endemic of the poor class. This was the basis through which the two leaders adopted and embraced divergent ideologies that eventually resulted in the failed relationship between their parties. Another reason for the failure of the relationship between Guomindang and the Chinese communist party was the power hungry nature of the leaders of these parties. Through out the period when there was a relationship and close interaction between the two parties, one can easily spot incidences where the leaders a good example being Chiang Kai-shek, were primarily interested in being the supreme rulers of a unified China. This was a goal that the two sides were ready to follow at all costs even if it meant massive loss of lives. This in fact was the main reason for such a bitter fall out between two groups that were once collaborators. No one, among the leaders of the two sides was ready to put this ambition aside, instead they carried on with a brutal war with a body count running into the millions just so that they could end up the un opposed rulers of the new republic. Even when the Japanese invaded Manchuria and installed a puppet regime, wish should have been sure because for a tr ue patriot to put any internal differences aside, the war between the two protagonists did not come to an end. Not until one of the sides (Guomindang) was vanquished in war did bloodshed and violence cease in China. Another crucial aspect that contributed to failure in the relationship between the two parties was the Russia factor. From the start when Sun Yat-sen approached the Russians for help after being ignored by western countries, they opted to adopt a dual policy in which they supported both the communist party of China and the Kuomintang, This decision was cunning as it was selfish as Russia itself a fledging republic at the time, wanted to peddle its influence with the two major political players in China at the time, Such a decision was likely to result in conflict at one point or the other, this for a fact was inevitable. It cannot be overlooked that Russia initially gave more support in the form of political strategists, weapons and military aid to the Guomindang. This was so because the party under Sun Yat-sen at that time was larger, stronger and had a wider national appeal as compared to the communist party of China. But once the tide began to change during the war and the communi sts gained an upper hand on the battlefield, Russia switched its support from Guomindang to the Chinese communist party. In a sense it can be concluded that Russia was more interested in spreading its sphere of influence through the adoption of its national ideology in China, to achieve this, it was ready to influence both sides acting as a catalyst to the failure of the relationship that existed between them as long as it achieved its ends.  [10]   Lastly point to note that led to the failure of the relationship between Guomindang and the communist party was the high level of suspicion and mistrust between the leadership of the two parties. In the early part of the alliance between the two parties, Guomindang was much stronger and had a far larger number of members as compared to the Chinese communist party which was a small growing movement at the time, Instead of a situation where the two parties would work together for the greater good of China, Guomindang part leadership would not trust the communists and the communists in return did not have trust in their fellow nationalists, instead Guomindang adopted a policy where communists could only join their party or train in their military academy as individuals and not as members of their own party, they also continuously undermined the communist party leadership due to its weak position and due to the high level of mistrust between the two sides. These according to my analysis are the main reasons why there was a failure in relationship between the Chinese communists and the Guomindang party.

Free Essays - Animal Farm :: Animal Farm

An English writer by the name of George Orwell published a book in 1943, called Animal Farm.   In the eyes of Mr. Orwell, the sole purpose of the book was to expose the Soviet myth of Russia’s acclaimed socialist utopia in a way that almost anyone can comprehend. The simplicity of language in the book and the usage of animals to convey the message made it a prime candidate for a cartoon version and thus one was created. This essay will look at the differences between the book Animal Farm and it’s cartoon adaptation. The three criteria which will be used as a basis of comparison are:   characterization, exposition and theme. The book Animal Farm, is an allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the events that followed shortly after. In order for the reader to be able to get a firm grasp on the conditions in Russia before, during and after the revolution, George Orwell took great care in ensuring that the all the characters in the book could easily be identified with their Russian revolution counterpart. While reading the book, one should easily be able tell the parallel personality for each character because of George Orwell’s very accurate descriptions of the characters. As a result, a great deal of characterization is visible in most parts of the book, as he is constantly building upon the characters. The movie Animal Farm on the other hand is quite different.   In the movie, very little time (relative to the book) is spent on developing the characters. In some instances during the movie we discover that there are some characters in the book that are not mentioned in the movie (e.g. Molly and Mrs. Jones). Also, in Animal Farm the movie, there is little dialogue among the animals, unlike the book. In the book, it is this dialogue that really helps us understand the type of regime in Russia at the time. If someone were to watch the movie but never read the book, it would probably be a lot harder to see the relationship to the Russian revolution. In the book, some of the instances that occur in Animal Farms exposition play important roles later on in the book. At the start of the book you are introduced to a flurry of thoughts and ideas that are very instrumental throughout the remainder of the book. The exposition begins with Old Major, telling the animals of a dream he has in which all animals are free from the oppressive human regime and equal amongst each other.

Managing Employee Retention Essay

One of the first steps in analysis of the data is to make a comparison of the 10 most profitable stores and the 10 least profitable stores. Hart claimed that the manager and crew tenure in the most profitable stores was almost four times the level of that in the least profitable stores. This analysis is however based solely on the summary statistics for those ten stores in each category. Taking a closer look at the results for the individual stores would suggest that the relationship is not so simple. For example looking at store 47, which is at the bottom of the ten most profitable list, both the crew and manager tenure are very low in comparison to the other stores in the list. This means that it would not be expected that store 47 would be so profitable if the manager and crew tenure were the only influencing factor on profitability. In fact, the levels of tenure in this store are lower the average of those from the ten lowest profit stores, which would indicate that very low leve ls of profit would be expected from the store. A more in-depth analysis is therefore required. There is further evidence that neither manager tenure nor employee tenure alone significantly influences the profitability of each store. This may seen in the scatter-plots which are included below as Figure 1 and Figure 2. It appears clear from Figure 1 that most managers have been at their store for less than 50 months, and the mean which is given for manager tenure is 45.3. This mean may however be slightly higher than the median would be given that there are several exceedingly high values which would influence the calculation of the mean. A similar pattern may be seen in Figure 2, where it is clear that most employees have lower than 20 months retention, with the mean given as 13.9 months. What is also apparent from these plots is that neither variable may significantly explain variability in the profitability of a store. This is evident in the r-squared value, which indicates that only 19.6% of variation in profitability may be explained by manager tenure alone. Similarly, only 6.7% of this variation may be explained by employee tenure alone. It  therefore is apparent that there are multiple variables which may influence profitability. In order to assess whether a manager and employee tenure combine to influence profitability a multiple regression model may be formed using these two variables. The results of this regression may be seen in Table 1. Figure 1: Correlation between manager tenure and store profitability Figure 2: Correlation between employee tenure and store profitability From Table 1 it may be seen that when considering both manager and employee tenure there is still only 21.7% of variation in profitability which these variables may explain. This therefore indicates that there must be other factors which exert an influence. It would therefore be suitable to construct a multiple regression model which takes into account other variables for which data is available. Although it was originally believed that the relationship may be non-linear, this still does not significantly increase the r-squared value. Table 1: Regression model in which manager tenure and employee tenure are included |Regression Statistics | |Multiple R |0.465617551 | |R Square |0.216799704 | |Adjusted R Square |0.19504414 | |Standard Error |80212.7404 | |Observations |75 | Multiple Regression Model The first multiple regression model which is included is that which includes all of the variables for which data are available. These variables are: Y: Profitability X1: Manager tenure X2: Employee tenure X3: Population near store X4: Competition near store X5: Visibility of store X6: Pedestrian count X7: Residential or industrial area X8: 24 hour access The results of the regression model may be seen in Table 2 below. This shows that using the model with all eight variables included 63.8% of the variation in profitability may be explained. This suggests that the model may be valid in explaining the impact on profitability. In addition to this, from Table 3 it may be seen that the value of the F-test statistic is 14.53, with a significance of less than 0.05 which also shows that the model is significant. However by looking at the results in Table 4 it may be seen that not all of the variables which are included in the model may be significantly contributing to the model. As the variable X5, which is the visibility of the store, has a p-value of more than 0.05 this suggests that the variable is not contributing significantly to the model. This would suggest that removing this variable may further improve the model. In addition to this it would be necessary to remove any variables which were collinear as this could interfere with the results of the regression. After using the program PHStat to analyse the variable inflation factors (VIFs) of the variables these are all below 5, which shows that there is no collinearity between variables. Therefore the improved model would be one which included all variables except X5. The Impact of Increasing Crew Tenure From the regression equation which is calculated from the multiple regression model it may be seen that increasing both manager and employee tenure is significant in increasing profitability of stores. Specifically, the model predicts that for every month increase in manager tenure there would be an increase in profits of around $787 if all other factors were kept constant. Also, for every increase of one month in employee tenure there is predicted to be an increase in profitability of around $963 if all other factors were kept constant. It was suggested that the relationship between tenure and profitability may be dependent on the length of tenure, i.e. a non-linear relationship. However the fitting of a trend line to the scatter-plot suggests that a non-linear relationship does not fit the data significantly better than a linear trend line. Therefore it would be predicted that an increase in employee tenure of 1.38 months would result in an increase in profitability of around $1330 . Validity of the Data The data on which the above analyses are based contains information taken from 2000, which is now eight years old. Therefore it is possible that the financial implications of increasing crew tenure have changed somewhat. It would however be considered valid to use the data to provide an estimate of the financial implications as the factors which would influence the regression model used would be largely the same. Although the data also included only the data from 75 of the 82 stores, this is a large enough sample to be considered representative of the chain as a whole. It would  therefore be expected that while these other stores may not follow the model precisely, it should still provide an indication of the influence of tenure on profitability of these stores. Recommendations Based on the analysis of the data it would be recommended that increasing both manager and employee tenure may significantly increase profitability of stores. In particular, the current bonus plan would be profitable to the company if the amount of bonus offered were less than around $1330, as this is the increase in profitability which would result. However, it is also possible that offering these bonuses would increase manager tenure, which would then further increase profitability. It would however be suggested that this alone may not be sufficient to largely increase the profitability of some stores, as the overall profitability of stores is a result of an interplay of both site-location and people factors. Bibliography Berenson, M.L., Levine, D.M. & Krehbiel, T.C. (2008) Basic Business Statistics. 11th Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Prentice Hall. Kazmier, L.J. (2003) Schaum’s Outline of Business Statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill. Levine, D.M., Stephan, D.F., Krehbiel, T.C. & Berenson, M.L. (2007) Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel. Philadelphia, PA: Prentice Hall.

Free Essays on Holocaust Remembrance

The Holocaust is a horrifying chapter in our history, an event some people can't even believe happened, many more would just like to forget it. But there are survivors of this Holocaust who can attest to the horrors that they went through, who will not let us forget it. Survivors who can not forget and will not forgive the Nazis and the atrocities they subjected them to. They are all innocent individuals, who share only the suffering they went through and the injustice of being persecuted for who they were, rather than something they did. The armies who liberated them from the concentration camps found a diverse group of prisoners, people with completely different backgrounds, all with their own stories to tell. The Allied forces liberated the few remaining prisoners from the death camps in late 1944 and early 1945. They marched in expecting nothing but a large prison, completely unprepared for the Hell that they found. The soldiers had difficulty comprehending what they saw, the death, torture, disease, and starvation, all of innocent people, all at the hands of other men. Soldiers cried and were sick to their stomachs as they swore their revenge, and they told reporters, "We have seen Dachau. Now we know what we are fighting for." Other soldiers, like some people today, tried, for a little while, not to believe the horrors of what they saw, but the ovens were still hot and the truth could not be denied; there were also the survivors themselves who were there to confirm what the soldiers saw. They rushed to the soldiers as they entered the camp, begging for food and medicine. Sergeant Henry DeJarnette said of the survivor's welcome that it was like "Being hugged and kissed by walking skelet ons. " Some senior intelligence agents took interviews of some of the survivors; many more have told their stories to others since. (Milk, pp.48-50) Esther Cohen remembers the liberation and remembers not really believing it was over. She was very ... Free Essays on Holocaust Remembrance Free Essays on Holocaust Remembrance The Holocaust is a horrifying chapter in our history, an event some people can't even believe happened, many more would just like to forget it. But there are survivors of this Holocaust who can attest to the horrors that they went through, who will not let us forget it. Survivors who can not forget and will not forgive the Nazis and the atrocities they subjected them to. They are all innocent individuals, who share only the suffering they went through and the injustice of being persecuted for who they were, rather than something they did. The armies who liberated them from the concentration camps found a diverse group of prisoners, people with completely different backgrounds, all with their own stories to tell. The Allied forces liberated the few remaining prisoners from the death camps in late 1944 and early 1945. They marched in expecting nothing but a large prison, completely unprepared for the Hell that they found. The soldiers had difficulty comprehending what they saw, the death, torture, disease, and starvation, all of innocent people, all at the hands of other men. Soldiers cried and were sick to their stomachs as they swore their revenge, and they told reporters, "We have seen Dachau. Now we know what we are fighting for." Other soldiers, like some people today, tried, for a little while, not to believe the horrors of what they saw, but the ovens were still hot and the truth could not be denied; there were also the survivors themselves who were there to confirm what the soldiers saw. They rushed to the soldiers as they entered the camp, begging for food and medicine. Sergeant Henry DeJarnette said of the survivor's welcome that it was like "Being hugged and kissed by walking skelet ons. " Some senior intelligence agents took interviews of some of the survivors; many more have told their stories to others since. (Milk, pp.48-50) Esther Cohen remembers the liberation and remembers not really believing it was over. She was very ...

Harsh Fate - Short story about giving up somthing important for the greater good.

Harsh Fate - Short story about giving up somthing important for the greater good. It had been 2 years since Hassan Feiraz had returned to his home country of Iraq after living most of his life in America. As he was sitting there, listening to his training instructor tell him how to cock a gun to finish reloading after gunning out of ammo in the last cartridge, he couldn't help thinking about how he got to be where he was now. Hassan Feiraz was born in Iraq in 1986.but his family sent him to America when he was six, to attend school there, get an education as well as learn English. When he stayed in America, he lived with a foster family who looked after him and helped him anyway they could. The family had a son named Will, who was exactly the same age as Hassan was. They grew up together and fast became best friends, Hassan was considered part of the family and even with his origin, and he was fitting in nicely.Hassan, parade of girls in whiteHis life couldn't have been any better until the attacks started. September 11 had an impact on every American, especially Hassan.Being of middle-eastern origin he started receiving all of the taunts of the other boys and girls paying out his nationality, calling him words like towel head or telling him to go back to his own country. This made Hassan get extremely depressed and a loathing for America started to form in the bottom of his stomach. The only thing keeping him there was Will. Will would stick up for him and help him ignore the taunts but Will couldn't be around to protect him all the time and eventually Hassan decided it would be best if he returned to his own country to escape the inhuman comments he was getting at school and everywhere else he went.

Research paper on Fences by August Wilson Essay

Research paper on Fences by August Wilson - Essay Example This situation is obviously described in 'Fences' by Troy's frustration and dissatisfaction with his existence. To reach clarity of description. Wilson builds his play in a way that allows problems emerge gradually and logically, so that the reader perceives the problems as close-knit with the thoughts and emotions of the characters. The present paper discusses plot structure of the drama, outlining key elements allowing the reader to dove into the world of small fractions separated by fences. The play is divided into two acts. Act one consists of four scenes, and Act two contains five. The play begins on Friday, which is a payday for Troy and Bono, Troy's bosom pal. Troy works as a garbage collector, but he is not allowed to drive a garbage lorry, because he is an African-American (Wilson, 2000). The first scene is probably the longest scene in the play, since the author uses this scene to foreshadow the vital elements of the plot and to outline those elements which will be repeated or contrasted later in the drama, allowing Wilson to create a sense that time and the characters have altered. The same scene introduces the mane racial issue, racial intolerance and discrimination and related inferiority complex. Brownie's discomfiture over having a watermelon points to racist prejudicial perception of African Americans, who, in turn, begin to see themselves as a 'second-rate social group'. With regard to With regard to the whole structure of the play, the first scene sets up basic patterns. Troy and Bono's friendship is close, since they borrow words from each other's language in their conversation. "This is a technique playwrights have used for centuries to create the feeling that the characters are harmonious" (Bertin, 1986, p.176). The two men frequently use the word 'nigger' as an appealing term in order to "reverse an originally derogatory word used by a majority to denigrate a group into a word that the oppressed group uses for themselves with a positive connotation, lessening the power of its insult" (ibid, p.177). Furthermore, the conversation sets up plot elements - for instance, Bono asks Troy about his relationship with a woman named Alberta, and Troy, in turn, inevitably confesses to this relationship. The scene also portrays Troy's bad temper and his personal problems, associated with his hard life and the job he has to perform, because there are no other professions available for a 'nigger' (Sanders, 1997). The second scene introduces Troy's family: his wife, Rose, and sons -Cory and Lyons. Cory is a good football player, so he begs his father to let him play in the League, in which he has been recently recruited, but Troy, recollecting his own failure to become a sportsman due to the racial issues, requires of Cory to leave the League. Furthermore, the scene introduces one more character - Troy's brother Gabriel, who is brain damaged from a war injury and perceives himself as angel Gabriel. The scene allows the reader a short glimpse into Troy's inner world: his sharp criticism of hopes, dreams and interests. Troy criticizes Rose for her interest in playing numbers (Wilson, 2000), a game that resembles a lottery for its expensiveness, even though he is completely aware of the fact that his affair with Alberta takes much more finances (Sanders, 1997). Thus, he displays his egoistic treatment of his family: Troy is insensitive to the needs of his children and wife, and the first

Ford and the World Automobile Industry in 2009 Essay

Ford and the World Automobile Industry in 2009 - Essay Example Overview of the Company Ford Motor Company founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, an automotive and industrial pioneer remains today as one of the oldest firms within the industry. The automotive firm in Dearborn, Michigan and has so far grown into other nations. Ford established itself as a major player in the automotive industry in 1908 commanding close to 50% of the market share after sales of 15 million vehicles of Model T (Grant, 2010, p. 46). In 1950, Ford became a public company making it to grow significantly. Ford’s main products include cars, trucks, and SUVs with different types of brands such as Jaguar, Volvo, Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Aston-Martin, and Land Rover amongst others. Ford also has finance division, parts and service department, and they own Hertz Corporation, being the largest car rental firm in the world. In 2003, Ford was second after a pre-tax profit of about $ 1.3 billion despite a $ 1.1 billion loss in North America. Nevertheless, the company experienced si gnificant losses between 2000 and 2008 attributed to rising costs of commodities, ongoing and rising healthcare expenses, lagging behind of sales of vehicles, and bailing out of major parts supplier from bankruptcy such as Visteon. Ford recorded huge losses in the fiscal years 2000 to 2008 as shown in fig. 1. The following is a Porter’s Five Forces analysis explaining this trend. Figure 1: Table showing return on Equity of various Automotive Firms Courtesy of Grant (2010) Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Various models used in industry and firm analysis to develop the right managerial strategy. Strategic management is a complex due to dynamism and turbulence in business environment. Nonetheless, through Porter’s five forces model, organizations are able to identify areas requiring overhauling for effective and efficient performance (Blake, Cucuzza, Rishi, 2003, p. 11). Like many other firms, Ford’s strategic management can be enhanced through a deeper insigh t into five forces that has been reducing their competitive advantage from 2006 to date hence recording such huge losses. Porter described competitive advantage as significantly influenced by five forces; bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, intensity of competition rivalry, threats of new entrants, and threats of substitutes. These same forces led to Ford’s current economical situation (Windecker, 2004). In each of the below forces, a conclusion regarding rating in a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being very weak and 5 very strong is provided. The full scale is as follows; Bargaining Power of Buyers There is high intensity of competition coupled with increasing demand for automotive products in major markets. Hence, consumers have a variety of firms to choose from unlike during the classical time when there were limited manufacturers. United States of America and European Union consumers have a high bargaining power necessitated by availability of information regar ding various products (Grant, 2010, p. 49). The buyers in automotive industry are powerful due to unavailability of grand proliferation of companies that manufacture automotives. In addition, the largest automotive manufacturers within US have approximately 90% value shipped hence additional value to the product. Another important feature of automotive industry in US is the fair standardization of parts used in assembling of products (Waraniak,