The Balanced Scorecard as Performance Managment Tool Essay

The Balanced Scorecard as Performance Managment Tool - Essay Example The research paper will be divided into five chapters. First of all the research will highlight the main issue around which the whole story will travel. This chapter will include the introduction of the whole paper as well as the brief background of the problem. Moreover, chapter will also have a brief discussion about the need and significance of the study and its scope and effects on individuals. The second chapter will discuss the basic concepts and theory of the topic. A detailed literature review will be provided to support the research. In the next chapter, the research strategy and general methodology will be discussed. It will also elaborate the reason of adopting a specific design for the strategy. The 4th chapter will be the most important part of the research, which will show the comparison and analysis of the data collected through various means. It will also provide the recommendations with respect to its findings. The validity of the research is the focal point of the whole effort. It actually explains whether or not you have achieved your task. In other words it deals with the suitability of the methodology to the research. According to Mason , you must ask yourself â€Å"how well matched is the logic of the method to the kinds of research questions you are asking and the kind of social explanation you are intending to develop". The validity of proposed research will be established through different ways e.g. member check, peer analysis, negative analysis, audit-ability, conformability and balance

Chem lab report shampoo experiment Essay Example for Free

Chem lab report shampoo experiment Essay Investigate the Chemical Properties different shampoo brands and determine the best brand of shampoo manufacturers. Take your 1% shampoo solution in a beaker and using the pH meter find the pH value of the shampoo. Information: Most shampoos are neutral or slightly acidic. Acidic solutions cause the cuticle of the hair to shrink and lay flatter on the shaft of the hair. Basic solutions cause the cuticle to swell and open up. Acidic solutions make the hair seem smoother. Basic solutions make their hair seem frizzier. Test B (shake test- determination of foam formation): Put approximately 10ml of the 1% shampoo solution into a 250ml graduated cylinder and record the initial volume of the solution. Cover the cylinder with your thumb and shake 10 times. Record the total volume of the contents after shaking. Then calculate the volume of the foam only by subtracting the initial volume of the solution without the foam. Information: The smaller the bubbles the better the shampoo. Test C (foam quality and retention): This test should be done together with the previous test. After preforming the previous test record the amount of foam in each minute for a total of 4 minutes. Then find the amount of foam reduced in 4 minutes. Information: In a good shampoo, the foam retention should remain stable for at least five minutes. Test D (Dirt dispersion): Put 2 drops of shampoo in a large test tube. Add 10ml of distilled water and then add 1 drop of ink. Then put a stopper at the mouth of the test tube and shale it well 10 times. Then estimate the amount of ink in the foam as (none, Light, Moderate, or heavy) Information: Shampoos that cause the ink to concentrate in the foam are considered poor quality. The dirt should stay in the water portion. Dirt that stays in the foam will be difficult to rinse away. It will deposit on the hair. Precautions and improvements Make sure you measure the volume of shampoo before mixing it with distilled water to form foam. To ensure this used a dropper to add shampoo to a test tube. The observations should be as accurate as possible because it is difficult for one to identify the size of the bubble or how much ink is present in the foam. Conclusion and Evaluation From The above information we can come to conclusions of the best shampoo brand: Dove moisturizing is the best shampoo due to its best results during the test.Alberto VO5 is the worst shampoo due to its worst results during the test. Dove forms smaller bubbles, retains the amount of lather and also does not contain dirt in the foam rather than the liquid below. Therefore, Dove moisturizing shampoo passed all the tests. On the contrary, Alberto VO5 forms larger bubbles and disappears with time. It holds the dye on the foam and does not eliminate the dye to the liquid portion below. Therefore, VO5 is the worst shampoo that failed all tests. (Please note): The experiment was conducted with only limited amount of shampoo brands. Therefore the results pertain to only those involved in the experiment).

Mars, The Red Planet Essay -- essays research papers

Mars, it’s where aliens come from, a Hollywood Sci-Fi mainstay, the mysterious red planet. But, what is Mars really? Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, orbiting 227,940,000 km away. It’s diameter of 6,794 km and mass of 6.4219e23 kg, makes it the seventh largest planet in our solar system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mars, which is the Greek name for the god of War, probably got this name due to it’s red color, and is often referred to as the red planet. What makes Mars look red? Mars’ atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, which oxidizes iron on the planet’s surface to create rust. Because there is very little water vapor on Mars, dry winds pick up and blow the dust around the planet, coloring it red.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What would you see if you went for a nature walk on Mars? Among the surface features are giant volcanoes and vast canyons. The largest volcano in the entire solar system is on Mars, Olympus Mons. It is classified as a shield volcano, similar to the volcanoes in Hawaii. Olympus Mons, three times higher than Mount Everest, is twenty- five kilometers high, surrounded by a 550 kilometer moat filled with lava. The Valles Marineris canyon is 4500 kilometers long and reaches seven kilometers deep and 600 kilometers across. There are also many meteorite impact craters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why couldn’t you take a nature walk on Mars? The atmosphere is not only very thin, it’s made almost completely of CO2 and known for its raging dust storms. You would...

Recruiting and Selecting Employees Who Look Good and Sound Right Essay

Present day business industry is highly dependent on the general success of the people within organizations who are commonly referred to as the human resource. Important to note is that the human resource prospect is defined under two categories within any given organization; firstly there is the employees of an organization themselves and secondly the people in management who are responsible for promoting the values of the organization through ensuring that human aspects within an organization are satisfactorily taken care of (Fernandez-Araoz, Groysberg and Nohria 2009 ). With regards to the aforementioned details, the human resource department is usually tasked with the responsibility of bringing in new employees whose skills sets suit an organization’s mandate and values in general through a rigorous recruitment and selection process. During the recruitment and selection process of prospecting employees, companies usually set out on a hunting mission for the crà ¨me de la crà ¨me who are available in the job search market. How an individual who is in pursuit of a job opportunity dresses and carries themselves in an interview and further their conversational skills greatly determine whether or not an organization will hire them; this is what is described as looking good and sounding right in this paper. How an employee is dressed decimates into how they think and interrelate with customers in an organization thereby offering quality services and creating a conducive business environment in return. The underlying chapters of this paper will be keen on reflecting on the prospects and influences of dressing smart and sounding right with an inference on analysis and compilations from multiple academic literatures on the same topic while at the same time illustrating the influences of looking good and sounding right through the lens or organizational examples. Having a human resource that thinks right and has an exquisite recruitment strategy in place is what defines organization’s competitive edge in the current market; it is every organization’s dream that its employee’s appearance influences how the customers relate to the company on a broader perspective thus promoting their brand in the long run (Warhurst 2012). The prospect of looking good and sounding right within organizations Human resource practitioners will agree to the fact that a great deal of time goes into activities and processes related to recruiting and selecting new staff for a particular position in an organization. Many at times the long durations tied to recruitment are connected to the ideal of companies to not only want to source for staff who are knowledgeable about what their companies deal in but also look the part of any given brand and are easily approachable by customers. Staff selection during a recruitment process of an organization is one of the most vital decisions that the organizations have to undertake to ensure that their normal operations are running smoothly (Taylor 2008). Businesses have to know what they are clearly looking for in an employee before signing them up, not only how red-hot the skills of an individual seeking employment look will determine the long-term success of an organization and recruitment of the correct person but also the most important aspect is how t hey look and how they carry themselves while conversing with customers in an actual business setting (Quast 2012). It is critical that organizations have systems and a recruitment process in place which is capable of accessing how the applicants of a particular job opening portray these traits before their full time absorption by any organization. Take the case of Richer Sounds an electrical retail chain store with over 53 stores across the nation: it has in place a three stage recruitment process for new staff seeking any job opportunities within the company. The first stage of recruitment involves placement of advertisements at the stores windows and also through the company website where people who are interested are requested to e-mail a CV to the company. The former kind of advertisement mainly targets people who pay attention to their brand and customers who are regular visitors to the shop thus are knowledgeable about the products (Fisher 2014). On the other hand, the latter advertisement is aimed to attend to a greater pool of applicants irrespective of their familiarity with Richer Sound s products. Considering the advertisement strategies imposed at this point, it is evident that a great pool of applicants will be willing to be signed; the most integral part of this initial stage is demonstrated through a store manager’s initial interview who is keen on sorting the applicants to remain with those who look the part through analysis of their dress code and personality. Operations director John Clayton suggests that, â€Å"Richer sounds hires on the basis of personality then later train for skills (Martin and Whiting 2010).† These instance posters a scenario where people get accessed on the basis of how they look even before a company takes a look and considers an individual’s qualifications. Second in line of the recruitment strategy is a paid trial day for an applicant which in some circumstances stretches beyond the one day period. Here, the applicant is accessed on whether or not they are consistent in their dressing and how they sound when conversing with customers. Upon completion of the trial stage, other members of a particular store are asked on their opinion of what they think about a new recruit and whether they embody the company’s aspect of looking good and sounding right (Nickson and Dutton 2005). Last in queue of the recruitment process is stage three where an applicant’s qualifications are now accessed to see how suitable they are for the job after considering that the individual’s personality is suitable for Richer Sounds. From the Richer Sounds case, it is evident that the way companies approach their recruitment processes over the years has greatly revolved and now companies are keen on how an individual looks and how their conversa tions sound before customers. Irrespective of the costs of recruitment, companies are willing to dig deep into their financial coffers so that they can get the right group of employees; Williamson argues that, â€Å"it is arguably more expensive hiring wrong people in an organization as opposed to the cost of having a stringent recruitment strategy in place that is time consuming (McMillan 2014).† Richer Sounds is just one among the many companies that are currently inclined towards accessing applicants for job openings on the grounds of how they look and opulence they execute through their conversations with customers. On a broader perspective, how an individual looks has a great influence on the operations of people within different organizations; important in the process of advocating for employees who look good is an employer who serves up to their word of promoting smart dressing for the workplace by leading as the actual ambassador of what their brand should be defined as. Looking good while pursuing a job opportunity has positive impacts and a higher probability one is going to achieve the job, people will ascribe good qualities on the prospect of your perceived appearance thus want to always associate their company with an individual who looks good. A Macquarie University research carried out in both the United Kingdom and United States suggests that looking good improves the chances of one scoring a job opportunity and also is responsible for boosting one’s career once they are employed in different organizations (Arkin 2007). The research further suggested that employees who look go od and sound right are usually rated highly by their employers and the probability of them losing their jobs is usually minimal. In essence, looking good attracts a myriad of premium rewards for both the person and organization at large whereas those who are unattractive and have a poor personality in most situations lose out on several job opportunities (Boxall 2008). Moreover, having in place a clearly defined staff is the key component that ensures customers to a particular organization have a clearly defined experience that warrants their coming back for the same services once again and consequently creates a solid positive internal culture of an organization. It is ideal that organizations have a culture that existing employees are well versed with so that when the recruitment process for new staff is commenced, it is one that runs smoothly. New recruits to any given organization should find in place, a culture where staff are usually well dressed and converse excellently with customers thereby prompting an easier transitioning process for new staff into the operations of an organization. Efficiently articulating a particular dress code for existing staff is key in determining and sourcing for new recruits who will promote the same culture and easily get acclimatized with the practices of any given organization which in return will yield posit ive results for the same company (Churchard 2010). Indeed, some positions within an organization do require employees with a particular set of skills usually defined as experience and qualifications for a specific job but setting out a hunt on this basis is the first step that organizations usually make during their recruitment process; companies should attend to the recruitment process with a different perception where the individual’s character is assessed for they are buying into the person’s character and not their qualifications. Possessing both this attributes is a plus for any prospecting employee and is a sure combined package to score one a job (Faccini and C 2010). Arguably, the perception of looking good and sounding right in a respectable number of business circles usually refers to an individual’s physical appearance, a definition that has triggered a trend of the working class turning to the gym as a means of staying fit. The service sector for instance has rampantly changed over the years where unlike the previous years where service providers never met their customers currently employees are always in constant contact with their customer; a fact that influences the need for staff to dress the part and portray their organization in positive light (Emott 2007). How affluent and efficient an employee’s speech is determines the placement of any given company as a brand to all its customers which is greatly dependent on the employees. The enforcement and prescription for employees to embody both the aspects of looking and sounding good is referred to as aesthetic labour and this characteristics play an integral point of how new e mployees to any organization relate with customers. Companies have learnt that before their recruitment process, that for the success of any business to be achieved, recruitment of workers should be expressively based on labour aesthetics of any individual before they are taken in. Finding and incorporating the right people with this kind of characteristics is a daunting task for many organizations and the only means of recruiting an individual with the right skill set involves having in place a well structured selection system during the recruitment process (Hofstede 1997). However, the daunting recruitment process does not stop at this point, it is equivocally difficult to select out a specific candidate who suits the needed requirements for your organization. Fast forward to the case of Nestle Group of companies which has a human resource policy that the company abides by whenever any recruitment is being carried out in their group of companies across the world (Kaplan 1992). Their recruitment processes is respectful of the varied legislation practices of different countries but above all the recruitment strategy is underpinned under the mantra of looking good and sounding right as a means of selecting new recruits into various positions of their wide range of companies across the globe. Underpinned in the promotion of its human resource policy, is the responsibility for employees of the organization to be capable of satisfying the needs of its customers (Hutchinson 2003). The human resource department is tasked with the requisite responsibility of proposing individuals that suit the aforementioned requirements. Furthermore, the Nestle Group has in place a mentorship programme that offers guidance to new recruits into the organization so that the company’s mission statement can be achieved in the simplest ways possible after assessment of recruits on the basis of how they look and sound good before the customers (Letmathe 2008). This partnership and mentorship programme between existing staff and new incoming staff is an efficient means that has been in use for a very long period of time for people recruitment and their management in general. The recruitment cases of both Nestle Group and Richer Sounds demonstrates that companies are currently turning to the looking good and sounding good trait in applicants as a means of selecting who is suitable for any given position within their organizations (Paton 2008 ). This trend has been fuelled by the fact that there exists a broader pool of unemployed individuals with right qualifications but they cannot secure for themselves any jobs; looking good and sounding right is the ideal means used to disqualify this wide pool of applicants. Looking good and sounding right has become the ideal filtering tool for companies when they are sourcing and on a search for new employees through a well structured recruitment process. Irrespective of the fact that recruitment of new staff by the human resource department is a difficult task, clearly defining what the human resource management is looking for in a customer then crafting a description of the same as a recruitment step is usually in strumental in attracting the right cadre of individuals any given company is keen on hiring despite the fact that there are many people out there looking for jobs. Looking out for these two qualities in individuals is the first step towards narrowing down the wide numbers of applicants for any given job so that any company’s job opening can remain with only potential clients that can meet the values of the company while at the same time promoting the mission statement of the same company. Categorical in the recruitment process and requirements for applicants is the prospect of an applicant having passion for whatever job they are trying to achieve, their commitment to any given company, their general problem-solving skills and lastly any relevant experience they have in the field being advertised (Ritzer 1985). Clearly outlining what as an organization you need in an applicant is instrumental in helping organizations know how attentive applicants are to detail as opposed to only looking at their resume which offers little or rather basic information about an individual. Before conceptualizing and kick-starting any particular recruitment and selection process, an organization must first attune its strategy to be relatively inclined to the values of the organization and is fully supportive of the organization’s culture. Pre-employment testing like the case of Richer Sounds is an ideal way in determining whether or not a company is making a wise decision by investing into an individual with the set capabilities of looking good and sounding right so that an organization can fully accrue its set goals (Gilmore 2000). The people recruitment strategy is a determining factor on whether a company is going to succeed or fail and also influential on how employees develop during their stay in a particular organization thus there general motivation that in return bears fruit through excellent service delivery to customers. New recruits embodying the prospect of looking good and sounding right is highly dependent on how the company itself is culturally inclined towards the promotion these two traits. References Arkin, Anderson. â€Å"Street Smart .† People Management , 2007: 28-29. Boxall, . Purcell. Strategy and Human Resource Management. London : Houndsmills: Palgrave McMillan , 2008. Churchard, Christopher. â€Å"Power brokers.† People Management , 2010: 38-40. Emott, Drucker. â€Å"CSR Laid Bare .† Harper Business , 2007: 14-32. Faccini, R., and Hackworth C. â€Å"Changes in output, employment and wages during recesrecessions in the UK .† Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, 2010: 43-50. Fernandez-Araoz, Claudio, Boris Groysberg, and Nitin Nohria. â€Å"The Definitive Guide to Recruiting .† Harvard Business Review , 2009 : 14-21. Fisher, Annie. How to spot the right cultural fit in a job interview. August 8, 2014. http://fortune.com/2014/08/08/job-interview-cultural-fit/ (accessed January 16, 2015). Gilmore, Stewart. The McDonaldization of Society: New Century Edition. London : Pine Forge Press, 2000. Hofstede, George. Cultures and Organisations: Software of the Mind. London : McGraw Hill , 1997. Hutchinson, Purcell. â€Å"HR roles and responsibilities: the 2010 IRS survey.† IRS Employment Review , 2003: 14-17. Kaplan, Norton. â€Å"The balanced scorecard.† Harvard Business Review , 1992: 71-79. Letmathe, P. Brabeck. The Nestle HR Policy Report . Policy Report , New York : Ndestlesy Inc. , 2008. Martin, Malcolm, and Fiona Whiting. â€Å"Human Resource Practice .† In Recruitment and Selection , by Tricia Jackson, 109-157. London : CIPD , 2010. McMillan, Andrew. Recruitment at Richer Sounds . London : Cambridge University Press , 2014. Nickson, Dennis, and Eli Dutton. â€Å"The importance of attitude and appearance in the service encounter in retail and hospitality.† Managing Service Quality, 2005: 195-204. Paton, Oliver. Gen Up: How the Four Generations Work Together,. Joint Survery Report , London : CIPD , 2008 . Quast, Lisa. Companies Are Using Social Media In The Hiring Process. May 21, 2012. http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2012/05/21/recruiting-reinvented-how-companies-are-using-social-media-in-the-hiring-process/ (accessed January 17, 2015). Ritzer, Solomon. â€Å"Packaging the service provider.† Service Industries Journal, 1985: 65-72. Taylor, Kate. Recruiting and Hiring Top-Quality Employees. August 23, 2008. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/76182 (accessed January 16, 2015). Warhurst, Chris. â€Å"Employee Screening nad Selection .† References for Business , 2012: 134-152. Source document

Canon strategic analysis case study Essay

This report examines the competitive strategy that enabled the â€Å"camera company from Japan†1 not only to break down the monopoly enjoyed by Xerox in the copier business in the 1970s but also to grow into a highly diversified, multi-product and multinational premier company. Specifically, the report considers (1) the competitive strategy of Canon (2) the major resources and capabilities of Canon (3) management of the development and transfer of capabilities throughout the organisation (4) Canon’s strategic perspective (5) is Canon successful? (6) conclusion and key learning points Competitive strategy The dominant generic competitive strategy adopted by Canon is differentiation. The company deployed its technological capabilities and know-how in fine optics, precision mechanics, microelectronics and fine chemicals to develop innovative and state-of-the-art products, which were of better quality than those of its competitors. These products resulted mainly from the strong, decentralised research facilities of the company and the incredible ability of its engineers to convert research findings to new products and technological innovation. Although Canon succeeded in manufacturing products at low cost, it did not deliberately compete on the basis of low price. The quality of its products combined with significant amount of marketing and deliberate brand development efforts have established a sound reputation for Canon in the market and these underlie the competitive advantage of Canon. Resources and capabilities The major resources of Canon are as follows: (1) Financial capacity: product innovation and attendant growth in sales and profits enabled provided Canon with the finance required for additional research and product development which resulted in further increases in revenue in a virtuous cycle. (ii) Decentralised R&D and new product development: in addition to the company’s main research centre which supports state-of-the-art research in optics, electronics, new materials and information technology, each product division has development centres (manned by its own R&D personnel) where 80% to 90% of the company’s patentable inventions are discovered. Three corporate research centres are responsible for applying the research findings to new products development. The company also introduced programmes to reduce the time for taking new technology to market by 50%. Innovative products provide the company with competitive advantage through new sales and patents, which serve as entry barriers to competitors. (iii) Marketing expertise: the strength of Canon’s marketing expertise derived from an effective product introduction strategy, a strong dealer network, large advertising spend and brand development. New products are first introduced in the home market before they are sold overseas in order to enable the learning and experience from the home market to be transferred to international markets. Even then, new products are only introduced into the market through proven, existing channels, to minimise the risk of failure. The Company also built up a strong dealer network which supported both sales and service of copiers. Dealers had to complete a service training course before they are allowed to sell copiers. Canon regards dealers as a vital asset through which it is able to understand and respond to customers’ needs on a timely basis. Brand development efforts are undertaken through advertising, corporate sponsorship and a deliberate effort to only associate unique and qua lity products with the brand. This was demonstrated when Canon decided not to market the inferior CPC technology licensed from RCA under the Canon name. (iv) Partnerships and joint venture relationships: despite Canons strong technological capability, it acknowledges that it has neither the resources nor the time to develop all the technologies needed for its products. This resulted in the development of strategic alliances and joint ventures in  Europe and in the US, with companies such as CPF Deutsch, Eastman Kodak and Texas Instruments. These relationships were not only sources of required technology, they also served as strategic tool for market development for the company’s products and for mitigating foreign trade tensions. (v) High quality, low cost manufacturing: Canon has a philosophy of producing quality products at the lowest cost. Strong emphasis is placed on inventory management, waste reduction, material and production planning. Continuous improvement in productivity was achieved through automation and innovative process improvement. The commonality of parts between adjacent copier models also contributed to low cost of manufacturing due to standardisation. High quality, low cost manufacturing combined with premium prices provide Canon with an opportunity to earn good margins. (vi) Highly motivated work-force: employees are held in high regard at Canon. This was applicable to both business unit managers as well as production line workers. The business unit managers were empowered to act as surrogate CEO of their units and to make quick business decisions. A number of initiatives were implemented to motivate production workers. These include the â€Å"stop and fix it† programme (which empowers any employee to stop the production line if he or she believes there is a quality problem), responsibility for maintenance of own machine and on-line feedback on quality and production targets. The level of motivation was reflected in the suggestion programme implemented by the company which resulted in more than 70 suggestions per employee per year, with a 90% implementation rate of suggestions offered. These resulted in significant corporate savings relative to the cost of the programme. (vii) Visionary leadership: the company’s president, Mr. Kaku, was a very effective and visionary leader. He introduced the diversification drive, corporate entrepreneurship and was very focused on the long term direction of the company. (viii) Suppliers relationship: the long-term relationship developed with suppliers enabled the company to outsource the manufacturing of over 80% of copier parts to suppliers. (ix) Long-term approach: Canon always takes a long term view when making management or strategic decisions. This was demonstrated for instance when the company developed the bubble jet printers which was capable of cannibalising its well established laser jet printer. This approach enabled a consistent and focused implementation of strategic choices rather than short term panic reaction to crisis and challenges. These resources and capabilities are extremely important for Canon’s competitive advantage over its competitors. Management of development and transfer of capabilities throughout the organisation As Canon grew into a multi-product, multinational corporation, the company’s management took the following steps to ensure the continued development and transfer of capabilities throughout the organisation: (i) Implementation of independent entrepreneurial business units: independent operating units were created for cameras, office equipment and optical instruments. The business units were empowered to act on their own but were given clear profitability targets and highly ambitious growth objectives. (ii) Functional committees: three functional committees were established by management to oversee the company-wide administration of new technology and product development, manufacturing and marketing. These committees were chaired by members of Canon’s management committee, which gives them the ability to ensure consistency and communicate improvements throughout the organisation and into the different business units. (iii) Development of a global information system: Canon developed the GINGA system to interconnect all parts of the organisation into a global database to facilitate the timely flow of information among managers in all the company’s locations around the world. Canon’s efficient vertical communications structure with a lateral one will facilitate direct information exchange among managers across businesses, countries, and functions1. Strategic perspective The strategic perspective of Canon has traditionally been inside-out orientated. The company had a product focus whereby it deploys its technological capabilities to develop a diverse range of products, which it then markets on the strength of its brand through a wide range of dealer network and direct sales channel. The advantage of this method for a company like Canon is that it is able to leverage its expertise to develop a wide range of unique products. The costs associated with such developments would relatively be lower as it leverages on existing capabilities. The experience gained in the use of the underlying technology should result in high quality products. There is however the potential danger that the company may be unaware of changing trends and requirements in the market and therefore be unable to respond swiftly, giving competitors an advantage. It would appear however that Canon’s strategy is not exclusively inside-out, but has some elements of market focus. The development of the personal copier market for instance was based on an identified need in the market, with a clear description of the features of the product that would meet the need. This was clearly base on an outside-in approach. In addition, one of the major reasons that Canon values its dealer network is because it enables that company to understand and respond to customers needs. Diversification into the computer industry Based on the capabilities of Canon in the early 1990s, the company should have a good chance of doing well if it focused on the computer industry for the following reasons: (i) The company has demonstrated a strong ability to develop new technological innovations on the back of its existing technologies. With its  expertise in electronics, optics, fine chemicals and semi-conductors, Canon has the potential to develop quality computer systems that will compete favourably in the market. (ii) Canon already has a well-established brand name in home and office automation products through its range of copiers, facsimiles, electronic typewriters, laser printers and word processing equipment. The company will probably succeed in linking these discrete products into a multifunctional system. With the quality associated with the brand, its strong dealer network and direct selling experience, the market is very likely to give such a system a chance. (iii) Canon has also demonstrated the ability to buy in technology through its strategic alliances. This capability, with its low cost, high quality manufacturing should enable Canon to develop competitive computer systems. Apart from computers, the company should consider products that can utilise the company’s existing technological capabilities and dealer networks, such as DVD, televisions and similar products. Is Canon successful? From a variety of perspectives, Canon can indeed be regarded as successful. It effectively damaged the dominance of Xerox over the copier market, developing its market shares during the period. It also successfully diversified from being a camera company into a multinational, multi product company offering a range of high quality products to its global customers. The Canon brand name is well respected across the globe. Financially, the company recorded consistent growth in sales and profits over the review period. A review of the company’s financial statements from 1998 to 2002 showed that Canon has continued to grow its turnover and net income. Conclusion and key learning points (i) Resource based approach: Canon’s success was largely driven by the  company’s ability to utilise its core competences to develop innovative products as a means of gaining competitive advantage. (ii) Continuous learning and innovation: Canon demonstrated the benefits of continuous learning. As it succeeded with the AE-1 camera, its researchers and engineers further developed new expertise in microelectronics (to produce the electronic calculator), the new process (for copiers), cartridge based technology (for the personal copier and later the desktop printer) etc. These enabled the company to diversify its range of products; which was one of the reasons for its growth and success. (iii) Strategic value of partnerships and joint ventures: Canon effectively used these for acquiring technologies, developing markets, mitigating foreign trade tensions and reducing costs. (iv) Corporate level strategy: as the company developed into a multi-product and multinational corporation, the corporate level strategy remained the vehicle through which the global organisation was managed and integrated. (v) Strong monopolies can be broken: with over 93% market share in the 1970s and a brand name that was synonymous with copying, it would appear that the positional advantage of Xerox was unassailable. Canon demonstrated that such monopolies (when not imposed by government) can be broken through the introduction of innovative and quality products. By introducing the personal copier, the company also demonstrated the potential impact of one firm to completely change an industry.

Customer Management Tools

Customer Management Tools Description of the system Business administrators and computer scientists have long realized that information technologies can greatly assist customer relationship management (CRM). There are various CRM applications; overall, they are aimed at supporting the following activities as marketing and sales activities, technical support, and so forth (Sheth, Parvatiur Shainesh, 11).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Customer Management Tools specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More CRM tools can be divided several groups: sales automation software, scheduling applications, order management programs, etc. These applications can function separately although very often they are grouped into a software package. The choice of programs depends upon the size of the company, its structure, and their supply chain, and the kind of product that they offer to their clients. Therefore, the composition of CRM application can vary. CRM solution s enable the company and its customers to interact through different types of channels such as telephone, e-mail, instant messaging, or chat (Jha, 2). In the majority of cases, they are Internet-powered. These programs are supposed to provide accurate information about the customers, their needs, their response to the product, or to the marketing campaign of the company (Jha, 6). We need to note that CRM applications draw information from different kind of sources, for example, service personnel, sales managers, marketing departments, call centers, or business developments agents[1] (Sheth, Parvatiur Shainesh, 16). Thus, one can say that CRM systems can be regarded as analytical tools which help the management to understand the behavior of their clients and their buying preferences. Furthermore, these applications are intended for simplifying the interactions between the clients. It is very important when one speaks about ordering or purchasing of goods. Judging from this descripti on, we can argue that a CRM system can be regarded as a set of multimedia solutions which have to serve a wide range of organizational purposes. They assist the management with the collection and analysis of the information about customers and market trends. The benefits of the system A company that has successfully implemented CRM systems can expect a great number of benefits. For instance, they can reduce the time required to respond to the client’s needs and increase customer retention (Kurtz, MacKenzie and Snow, 301). When we are speaking about the customers’ need, we should mention such issues as expectations for the product or service, and the problems which they need to resolve.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second improvement brought by CRM systems is cost savings, such as reduced capital investment, especially the money required for pr oduct development. Secondly, these applications enable the companies to reduce labor costs[2] (Reynolds, 28). On the whole, the major advantage of these applications is that they allow the company to â€Å"hear the customers’ voice† (Grà ¼newlder, 5). In other words, they can understand why the customers can either loyal to the company or dissatisfied with it. CRM solutions provide the clients with an opportunity to express their views about the company’s product or services and make recommendations for their improvement. By adopting CRM systems, the management can convince the clients that the company is concerned with their problems and needs. This is one of the best ways to increase customer retention rates. Among other advantages of these applications is that they allow enterprises to better match the supply of their products with the demand. The thing is that they provide historical data about sales rates. They show how whether a specific type of product w ill be required by the customers in the future. This information is very important for those enterprises which manufacture a great variety of items. CRM applications help them develop production schedules and avoid such risks as shortage of supplies or overproduction (Kurtz, MacKenzie and Snow, 301). Thus, the benefits of CRM systems are related to the following areas: 1) customer satisfaction and loyalty; 2) internal operations; and 3) cost savings. Its application in business activities Customer relation management tools can be applied to different business activities. One of them is the monitoring of the employees’ performance. This function is particularly important when we are speaking about service companies, in which management has to know whether employees are able to respond to the customer’s requests as quickly as possible (Jha 230). Another business activity that we need to mention is product development. CRM applications provide accurate numerical informati on about the clients’ reaction to new products and services. The thing is that by using these programs, the management can understand why customers can either like or dislike a product. By using these data, the company can better manage its value chain that includes supply of raw materials, manufacturing, marketing delivery of goods, and post-sale services (Reynolds, 27). Therefore, it is possible to argue that CRM applications can be indirectly related to every business activity of an enterprise.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Customer Management Tools specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, one should not forget that CRM applications can help them management determine whether the company’s internal operations are efficient. For instance, if the customers are often complaining of the employees’ lack of responsiveness, the necessity to wait for a long time, untimely delivery of goods, a nd so forth, the management should focus on the structure of the organization, the training of the workers, and the cooperation between different departments. Customer relation management systems can pinpoint the underlying cause of the problem. More importantly, they can assist front-line managers who organize the employees and evaluate their performance. Modern companies place companies at the core of their every business activity, including product development and design, production, marketing, assessment of performance, and other areas. The strategy is based on a self-evident fact that clients are the major stakeholders for any organization. Customer relation management applications only help them implement this philosophy. This is why they are so important. The relevance of the CRM applications to marketing In the previous sections, we have described several applications of CRM system. At this point, it is necessary to discuss their relevance to the marketing activities of an e nterprise. One of the most important applications is sales force automation, which means that this software reduces the time required to order goods or service, make financial transaction, and deliver the products to the client (Chaffey et al, 342). Additionally, CRM systems enable the management to see which distribution channels are the most effective (Havaldar, 73). For example, the companies need to know whether the clients purchase via Internet or from chain stores. CRM solutions can give them accurate statistical data about the purchases made by the clients. Therefore, the management can determine which distribution channel is more important to them. Another marketing application of CRM is that it allows the management to understand how clients learn about the products and services. This knowledge is essential for the management because it allows them to develop advertising strategies (Chaffey et al, 342).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For instance, many companies do not know whether they should promote their products through television, radio, newspapers or Internet. CRM systems show how customers search information about new goods and services, and this is major application to marketing activities of an enterprise. Finally, CRM applications show which products the customer has recently purchased. This data can be used by the developers of online websites (Chaffey et al, 342). So, we can say that CRM applications can support different marketing activities. They main function is to offer the management tools for the analysis of quantitative or qualitative data so that they could understand the future behavior of the clients. CRM systems help the executive officers understand why people buy certain types of products, why they do, how they learn about them and what appeals to them most. Without answering questions the company can hardly plan any marketing strategies. Customer relation management tools are important for market research and advertising campaign. The use of this system by Saudi Arabian firms Statistical data suggest that Saudi Arabian firms are willing to adopt CRM system in order to enhance their performance because the economy of this country is now becoming less oil-based and many industries such as construction, IT, services sectors, and banking institutions require customer relations management tools (CRM Forecast, unpaged). There are numerous examples of how CRM are used by Saudi Arabian firms. We can refer to such company as Al Alamiah, which is a leading software provider in the country. The company had to find ways of improving support center activities, especially when engineers had to respond to a customer’s problems either with the equipment or software (SAGE, unpaged). Before the implementation of this system the company had to spend much time in order to spread information from one department to another. As a result, the clients had to wait for hours and many of them were dissatisfied. The CRM applications, which Al Alamiah installed, allowed them to automate this process and monitor the performance of engineers. As a result, this service company managed to reduce the response time and avoid criticism of the clients. Another example is Al Rajhi Holding Company that consists of more than 100 divisions. The corporations needed to create a single customer database and develop tools of analyzing sales information. They needed to analyze sales data by product, region, salesman, or period (SAGE B, unpaged). This is why they implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that included CRM programs. These tools helped them develop marketing strategies and organize their supply chain. Judging from these two examples, we can argue that Saudi Arabian companies adopt CRM solutions in order to improve the cooperation between different departments and speed up the flow of information. These applications bring them such benefits as increased sa tisfaction of the customers, opportunities for planning the production, and ability to understand the buying preferences of the clients. These examples suggest that in the future Saudi Arabian firms will make full use of CRM systems to improve their performance. Appendixes Picture 1. The flow of information between the company and the customers (Sheth, Parvatiur Shainesh, 17) Picture Two: The Economic Benefits of CRM systems (Reynolds, 28) Chaffey Dave, Ellis-Chadwick Fiona, Mayer Richard, and Kevin Johnston. Internet  marketing: strategy, implementation and practice. NY: Pearson Education, 2009. CRM Forecast. â€Å"CRM Software Market Share For The Middle East†. (n. d) Web. Grà ¼newlder Arend. Implementing CRM Systems: Approaches and Potential  Problems. Munich: GRIN Verlag. 2008. Print. Jha Lakshman. Customer Relationship Management: A Strategic Approach. Dehli: Global India Publications. 2008. Print. Havaldar Krishna. Business Marketing: Text Cases. Tata McGraw- Hill Education. 2010. Print. Kurtz David, MacKenzie H.F. and Snow K. Contemporary Marketing. NY: Cengage Learning. 2009. Print. Reynolds Janice. A practical guide to CRM: building more profitable customer relationships. London Focal Press, 2002. Print. SAGE. â€Å"Case Study Al-Alamiah implements SalesLOGIX CRM† 2010. Web. SAGE (B). Case Study Sage connects large Saudi enterprise. Web. Sheth Jagdish, Parvatiyar Atur, and Shainesh G. Customer relationship  management: emerging concepts, tools, and applications. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. 2001. Print. Footnotes Please refer to the Appendixes, Picture One to see the exchange of information between customers and companies. Please refer to Picture 2 in the Appendixes.

How the colors of the office can affect productivity in your employees

How the colors of the office can affect productivity in your employees Who would’ve thought that the colors in your office space can affect the productivity of your employees? Colors can set the mood for your employees through out the day. Some colors are calming while other colors can help to inspire and drive creativity. But you don’t have to limit yourself to pick just one color, you can make as many combinations  you feel is best. Look around, does your office space have these colors? Maybe it might be time to get some objects with these colors to jazz up your working space.  Source [Taskworld]

Private Day Schools in New York City

Private Day Schools in New York City There are more than 2,000 private schools in New York state, with approximately 200 of those private schools in New York City. Check out this sampling of day schools offerings grades 9-12 with low student to faculty ratios, challenging curricula and excellent reputations for college prep. The schools are coed unless otherwise noted. Many offer early grades as well.   This list is presented in alphabetical order by location. Downtown Friends Seminary Address: 222 E 16th Street, New York, NY, 10003Religious Affiliation: Friends (Quaker)Teachers to Students Ratio: 1:6Tuition: $41,750 Comments: This fine old Quaker school has been around since 1786. In the 2015-2016 academic year, over $4.8 million in  financial aid  was awarded to approximately 22% of the student body at this selective school. Grace Church School Address: 46 Cooper Square, New York, NYReligious Affiliation: EpiscopalTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:5Tuition: $44,000 East Side The Beekman School Address: 220 East 50th Street, New York, NY, 10022Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:4Tuition: $38,000 Comments: If your child is an actor and needs a special school schedule to accommodate his schedule, The Tutoring School section of The Beekman School might be the answer. Birch Wathen Lenox School Address: 210 E 77th Street, New York, NY, 10021Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:7Tuition: $43,479 Comments: BWL is the outcome of The Birch Wathen School combining with The Lenox School in 1991. The school now offers a science initiative, including seminars for Women in Science Education and college-level research opportunities. The Brearley School (All girls) Address: 610 East 83rd Street, New York, NY, 10028Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:7Tuition: $43,680 Comments: The Brearley School was founded in 1884. This prestigious girls school offers serious college preparatory studies as well as a host of extracurricular activities and sports. A highly selective school. Convent of The Sacred Heart (All girls) Address: 1 East 91st Street, New York, NY, 10128Religious Affiliation: Roman CatholicTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:8Tuition: Varies by Grade, Highest is $44,735 Comments: Take a look at the top colleges CSHs grads go to. Then you will understand why this is a serious college prep institution. Solid academics. Conservative Catholic values. Selective admissions. Dalton School Address: 108 E 89th Street, New York, NY, 10128Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:5Tuition: $38,710 Comments: This is one of the original progressive schools. Founded by Helen Parkhurst, Dalton remains true to her missions and philosophy. This is a very selective school. Only 14% of applicants were accepted in 2008. Loyola School Address: 980 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10028Religious Affiliation: Roman CatholicTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:8Tuition: $35,800 Comments: Rigorous Jesuit education for young men and women. Upper East Side location. Lycee Francais De New York Address: 505 East 75th Street, New York, NY, 10021Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:10Tuition: $32,950 Comments: Lycee has been offering a French education since 1935. It prides itself on producing citizens of the world. Nightingale-Bamford School Address: 20 East 92nd Street, New York, NY, 10128Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:6Tuition: $44,400 Comments: Ignore the caricature of the school as seen on Gossip Girls and focus on the reality that this is a highly successful, very selective girls school. One of Manhattans top private schools. Rudolf Steiner School Address: 15 East 79th Street, New York, NY, 10021Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:8Tuition: Varies by grade, Highest Tuition is $44,500 Comments: The Steiner School is the first Waldorf school in North America. The school has two buildings in Manhattan to house the lower and upper schools. The Spence School (All girls) Address: 22 E 91st Street, New York, NY, 10128-0101Religious Affiliation: Non-sectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:7Tuition: $43,000 Comments: Rigorous academics at this top Manhattan girls school. Graduates go on to the top tier colleges everywhere. A selective school. United Nations International School Address: 2450 FDR Drive, New York, NY, 10010Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:7Tuition: Varies by grade, Max tuition is $38,500 UNIS is a large school serving the diplomatic and expat community in Manhattan. UNIS also is an IB school. West Side Collegiate School (All boys) Address: 260 West 78th Street, New York, NY, 10024Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:5Tuition: $41,370 Comments: Americas oldest independent school was founded in 1628. If you are considering a Manhattan boys school, Collegiate is one of the best schools in the country. Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School Address: 5 W 93rd Street, New York, NY, 10025Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:6Tuition: $38,340 One of the oldest private schools in New York the school has one of the finest academic and college prep programs available. This is a selective school. The Dwight School Address: 291 Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:5Tuition: $39,650 Comments: Dwight offers an unusual amalgam of internationalism and civic awareness. The school is the only New York City school to offer the International Baccalaureate at all three levels. Professional Childrens School Address: 132 West 60th Street, New York, NY, 10024Religious Affiliation: NonsectarianTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:8Tuition: $38,300 Comments: PCS offers flexible, concentrated schedules so its students can pursue their professional careers and/or training. Trinity School Address: 139 West 91st Street, New York, NY, 10024-0100Religious Affiliation: EpiscopalTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:7Tuition: $41,370 Comments: Trinity was founded in 1709. The school has nearly 1,000 students and is a highly selective school. They are known for offering educational programs for both body and mind. Other Locations The Masters School  (approx. 12 miles from Manhattan) Address: 49 Clinton Avenue, Dobbs Ferry, NYReligious Affiliation: NoneTeachers to Students Ratio: 1:12Tuition: $41,00-$59,500 Comments:  Masters is 35 minutes from Manhattan and offers private busing from the East and West side of Manhattan.

Is family therapy (a.k.a. Maudsley method) more effective treatment Research Paper

Is family therapy (a.k.a. Maudsley method) more effective treatment than individual therapy for anorexia nervosa - Research Paper Example is has been followed by researches and counter researches that are meant to disapprove either of the procedures and come up with the best therapy that suites everyone. Comparisons have been made to each of the therapies s as to identify loopholes that may be used to criticize either of the procedures. The controversies rose from prescriptions from doctors. Some doctors recommended that patients suffering from anorexia nervosa stood a better chance of quick recovery through family therapy. On the other hand, other doctors recommended that such patients were better off if they adopted individual therapy as a mode of healing their complication. As a result, there was conflict of interest. Many have since come up with varied finding most of which are supported by valid reasons. However much this matter still remains unresolved, quiet a number of people have believed on various findings and have since settled permanently on them. This course will help in identifying the best treatment amongst the two by giving relevant support points and evidences affiliated to researches conducted by different organizations and individuals. According my opinion that is justified by a number of researches which will be highlighted in this course, family therapy is far much better as compared to individual therapy because of very many viable reasons. This conclusion comes after numerous researches and comparisons that have managed to prove, beyond any reasonable doubts, that family therapy is a better procedure as compared to the latter. As already highlighted in the introduction, family therapy is far much better than individual psychotherapy. Family therapy involves the parents of the ailing teenage by making sure that the patient takes the correct type and amount of food. Parents are also advised by doctors to ensure that their ailing children do just enough body exercise. The disease of anorexia nervosa makes its patients believe that they are fat and hence the urge to cut weight

The Civil Rights Revolutions of the 60s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Civil Rights Revolutions of the 60s - Essay Example Since then, leaders and critics have already ceaselessly demanded that people, regardless of race and gender, should be accorded the respect that Whites have so far exclusively enjoyed. However, it was only during the 1960s when black Americans collectively demanded on the street, in churches and dialogues their rights as citizens under the United States Constitution. This mass movement was sparked by several important developments such as the efforts of four Southern students who initiated the Woolworth lunch counter to protest racial discrimination. (Farber and Bailey, p. 13) Then, there was also the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 1954-1955, wherein it was found that school segregation was unconstitutional. (Sargent, p. 2) Finally, there was also the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What was originally intended as anti-racial discrimination movement, the Rights Revolution came to cover several other issues that made the movements complic ated and far-reaching, especially in the context of reforms achieved. There was the clamor for economic, political and cultural policy-reforms, effectively highlighting the manner by which the Rights movements took the cudgels for several other causes.

Research, identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Essay

Research, identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of business regulations - Essay Example Regulations are good in the way that they provide a particular direction for businesses to follow. Rules and regulations actually help standardize the business operations as all workers and businesses will follow a particular set of instructions which are applicable to them. On the other hand regulations are also important as some businesses do not self-regulate themselves and can therefore be involved in actions which are harmful to the society. For example if restrictions are not imposed on the emission of factories then many companies might not care about the negative effect of emissions from factories ad may continue to do so in order to save costs of safe emission systems. When regulations are made and implemented, then these companies are bound to follow it otherwise they’ll have to bear the consequences in form of penalty such are monetary fines or closure of business. Therefore, regulation is one form of ensuring that the business doesn’t harm the society. (Porket, 2003) Moreover, regulations are also important in protecting the rights of the employees as without regulations, employers may exploit the employees through bad working conditions or low wages etc. Due to this government tend to make regulations regarding minimum wealth, health and safety conditions. Regulations also help in preventing exploitation of consumers. If there are no regulations, then monopolies would exploit consumers with high prices, companies won’t produce goods with quality standards and might not mention the harmful effects of using a particular product if proper regulations are not in place. Therefore regulations are beneficial as many businesses don’t tend to self-regulate them. (Porket, 2003) Along with advantages, there are also some drawbacks of regulations. These include the costs of complying with these regulations. Regulations which are

Strategic Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Groups - Essay Example This paper aims at discussing the rivalry that strategic groups face and how they aim at neutralizing the competition. The paper discusses the rivalry between Google Incorporation and other rivalry groups that offer similar services and products. Google and Microsoft have been on market command wars while Samsung and Apple have also been battling it on the mobile phone productions. Google in particular has several strategic advantages that have enabled it to emerge the strongest internet provider in the world. Google has been able to employ strategies such as product and service diversity that has provides the company with greater sales. Google also possess one of the largest geographic coverage in the world. In addition to this, Google has several numbers of market segments that it is serving. Apart from internet production, the company also provides image and graphic production software. The company also provides mobile phone applications in addition to mobile phone production. The company also enjoys good distribution channels that provide it with the best strategic advantages. The extent at which Google brands its product cannot be compared to other rival companies. This is because the company is bale to brand and market its products cheaply and efficiently through the internet that the company owns. The degree of vertical market integration in Google Company is also very efficient. Product and pricing policies for the company has also been superb enabling the company to enjoy wider markets and retain most of their loyal companies (Porter, 1980). On the other hand, Microsoft Incorporation enjoys the best PC software producer in the World. It is estimated that almost 90% of the PC’s in the world uses Microsoft Software. Analysts argue that without Microsoft, Google would find no base for their supplies since the internet utilizes Microsoft applications in computers. Yahoo Incorporation is also another strategic group of company that offers similar ser vices like Google. The rivalry has led to the attempt of Google trying to purchase Yahoo. Background Information and Strategic Benefits Larry Page and Sergey Brin studied at Stanford University and own 16% of the total company’s shares formed Google Inc. they are the founders of Google Inc. The company came into existence in 1998 as a private company but later went public in 2004 when the company invited other shareholders into the company. The two friends invited their fellow student Craig Silverstein who also studied computer science as their first employee. The company runs on a vision of organizing all the information in the world and making it readily available for all the users in the world. The company also runs on a slogan â€Å"don’t be evil† which has helped it in its growth (Why is Google so great 2007). The Company’s history dates back in 1998 when Larry and Sergey decided to upgrade Backrub a search engine that was operating on Stanford sever s for almost more than one year. The two friends decided to change the name from Backrub to Google which is a mathematical term that is used in referring 1 then the digit is followed by 100 zero digits. Their decision to land on the term was later used in forming the vision. The number of zeros signifies infinity, which means looking for all the world information, which is almost impossible. The same year the company received a donation of $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim who is now the co-founder of the company. In December, the same year the company was recognized as one of the best 100 websites in the world and it had an efficient way of providing feedback to its users. In 1999, the company improved its employees to eight and therefore had to shift into a larger working place. The following year

Multiple Regression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multiple Regression - Essay Example They help in assessing the likely value of the regression coefficients in the population. Model Fit: It provides a statistical test of the models ability to predict the outcome variable and also the value of R, R2 and adjusted R2. Estimates: They give the estimated coefficients of the regression mode. The test statistics and their significances are also obtained for each regression. Here T-test is used to see whether each b differences significantly from zero. Durbin Watson: This test statistic tests the assumption of independent errors. If the value is different from value Z, then it is cause of concern. When this data is run on SPSS taking Satisfaction as dependent variable and functional, Epistemic, Social, Emotional, Conditional as independent variables, we get the following outputs. The first output is the Descriptive statistics. Descriptive Statistics Mean Std. Deviation N Satisfaction 5.1369 1.18900 389 Functional 5.4989 .91570 389 Epistemic 5.3492 .95148 389 Social 5.3209 1.27152 389 Emotional 5.4961 1.04150 389 Conditional 3.4679 1.01706 389 This table gives the mean and standard deviation of each of the variables. This is useful for summary of data. Correlations Satisfaction Functional Epistemic Social Emotional Conditional Conditional Pearson Correlation Satisfaction 1.000 .555 .618 .339 .565 .004 Functional .555 1.000 .509 .221 .520 .011 Epistemic .618 .509 1.000 .328 .531 .109 Social .339 .221 .328 1.000 .338 .148 Emotional .565 .520 .531 .338 1.000 .154 Conditional .004 .011 .109 .148 .154 1.000 Sig. (1-tailed) Satisfaction . .000 .000 .000 .000 .471 Functional .000 . .000 .000 .000 .415 Epistemic .000 .000 . .000 .000 .016... Once the dependent and independent variable are selected, the method for variables to enter can be selected or to be removed using any of the methods say stepwise, Remove, Backward or Forward. When clicked on the statistics, the estimate confidence intervals and model fit are selected and in the residuals Durbin-Watson is selected. The significance of each of these is as follows. Estimates: They give the estimated coefficients of the regression mode. The test statistics and their significances are also obtained for each regression. Here T-test is used to see whether each b differences significantly from zero. The correlation matrix gives the Pearson correlation coefficient between every pair of variables. It also gives the one significance of each correlation. Here we observe that the correlation is significant with p

Transport management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Transport management - Coursework Example An effective and efficient supply chain, which occurs through collaboration, is indispensable in sustaining the project. Sustainability is a key issue in every project. This occurs as business entities constantly create externalities to the environment. Organizations, therefore, have to realize that they are part of a larger chain that they create costs to the same. Externalities normally occur in terms of environmental costs that businesses extend upon the population. In this sense, the Bamstrad tender faces the duty of ensuring sustainable work. Sustainability refers to the idea of production that allows for similar future production. This suggests that current producers should not exploit the environment to the extent that that it constrains the capacity for future survival. To begin with, the project managers should establish a proper relationship with the surrounding community. The surrounding community entails many partners, of whom the project indirectly affects. For instance, the schools and the business entities acquire the benefits and costs of the project. In this sense, it is instrumental to involve them by ensuring that they give their opinions about the development of the project. In case such a project produces detrimental results to the environment, the community becomes the first-hand account of the experience (Tumlin, 2012). This suggests that the community is one of the most effective ways of measuring the success of a public project. A proper relationship with the community helps the community report on particular faults. For instance, the community may gauge the noise levels of the tractors. This helps the project managers fine-tune the tractors’ engines to produce less noise. In addition, a proper regulation and assessment system needs to be established. This requires the economic accounting of costs and benefits of the project. Regular accounting of developing costs and benefits makes the project managers understand the

Multiple Regression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multiple Regression - Essay Example They help in assessing the likely value of the regression coefficients in the population. Model Fit: It provides a statistical test of the models ability to predict the outcome variable and also the value of R, R2 and adjusted R2. Estimates: They give the estimated coefficients of the regression mode. The test statistics and their significances are also obtained for each regression. Here T-test is used to see whether each b differences significantly from zero. Durbin Watson: This test statistic tests the assumption of independent errors. If the value is different from value Z, then it is cause of concern. When this data is run on SPSS taking Satisfaction as dependent variable and functional, Epistemic, Social, Emotional, Conditional as independent variables, we get the following outputs. The first output is the Descriptive statistics. Descriptive Statistics Mean Std. Deviation N Satisfaction 5.1369 1.18900 389 Functional 5.4989 .91570 389 Epistemic 5.3492 .95148 389 Social 5.3209 1.27152 389 Emotional 5.4961 1.04150 389 Conditional 3.4679 1.01706 389 This table gives the mean and standard deviation of each of the variables. This is useful for summary of data. Correlations Satisfaction Functional Epistemic Social Emotional Conditional Conditional Pearson Correlation Satisfaction 1.000 .555 .618 .339 .565 .004 Functional .555 1.000 .509 .221 .520 .011 Epistemic .618 .509 1.000 .328 .531 .109 Social .339 .221 .328 1.000 .338 .148 Emotional .565 .520 .531 .338 1.000 .154 Conditional .004 .011 .109 .148 .154 1.000 Sig. (1-tailed) Satisfaction . .000 .000 .000 .000 .471 Functional .000 . .000 .000 .000 .415 Epistemic .000 .000 . .000 .000 .016... Once the dependent and independent variable are selected, the method for variables to enter can be selected or to be removed using any of the methods say stepwise, Remove, Backward or Forward. When clicked on the statistics, the estimate confidence intervals and model fit are selected and in the residuals Durbin-Watson is selected. The significance of each of these is as follows. Estimates: They give the estimated coefficients of the regression mode. The test statistics and their significances are also obtained for each regression. Here T-test is used to see whether each b differences significantly from zero. The correlation matrix gives the Pearson correlation coefficient between every pair of variables. It also gives the one significance of each correlation. Here we observe that the correlation is significant with p

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Compare and contrast - Essay Example For the third paragraph, it talks about the comparison and contrast of the form. The form is the description of what can be seen in the painting such as the color, geometric forms, lines, contrast of dark and light colors. It talks more on the appearance of whatever that can be seen within the artwork. For the last paragraph, it talks about the feeling of the writer about the paintings. The painting entitled â€Å"The Last Supper† was originally painted in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance period. It is a piece of artwork painted directly on a wall in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan with a measurement of 450 by 870 centimeters or 15 feet by 29 feet. Leonardo da Vinci painted the mural on a dry wall which means that it is not a true fresco. He sealed the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic then paint onto the sealing layer with tempera or in a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium. In the year 1518 to 1594, Jacobo Tintoretto painted his own version of â€Å"The Last Supper† in San Giorgo Maggiore, Venice. He painted on oil on canvass with a measurement of 12 feet by 18 feet, 8 inches. The paintings painted by da Vinci and Tintoretto are a group of people in a room particularly Jesus Christ and his twelve disciples. In Tintoretto’s painting there are other people that can be seen such as the servers and many flying images on the both sides of the top but in da Vinci’s painting only the portraits of Jesus and his disciples or apostles. Both of the paintings portray the reaction shown by each apostle when Jesus said that one of them would betray him. The effect of his words leads them to a visible response. All of the twelve apostles have different reactions to the news, with different levels of anger and shock. In da Vinci’s painting, he grouped the apostles into four groups of three united by their posture and gesture, with Jesus in

Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Social Networking Essay A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. There are dating sites, friendship sites, sites with a business purpose and hybrids that offer a combination of these When it comes to online social networking, websites are commonly used. These websites are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, politics and alternative lifestyles. Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. Social networking establishes interconnected Internet communities sometimes known as personal networks that help people make contacts that would be good for them to know, but that they would be unlikely to have met otherwise. In general, heres how it works: you join one of the sites and invite people you know to join as well. Those people invite their contacts to join, who in turn invite their contacts to join, and the process repeats for each person. In theory, any individual can make contact through anyone they have a connection to, to any of the people that person has a connection to, and so on. The main types of social networking services include: a) Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with more than 900  million users. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 while he was attending Harvard University. b) Google+, a social network operated by Google, Inc., launched on June 28th, 2011 with integrations across a number of Google products, including Buzz and Profiles. c) Twitter is a free microblogging service founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone. At its heart are 140-character bursts of information called tweets. Users can include links to other content in their tweets, and broadcasts can be public or private. d) YouTube was founded in February 2005 and has become the go-to site for video on the web. One hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second. e) WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform instant messaging application available only to the smartphones: iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Symbian. In addition to normal texting, WhatsApp Messenger users can send each other images, video and audio media messages, as well as engage in group conversations between multiple users. Social networking has some benefits for example you are able to make friends. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites. This means that although you are in the United States, you could develop an online friendship with someone in Kenya. Not only will you make new friends, but you just might learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing. Social networking also has some disadvantages associated with it, for example employers can use information on social sites to learn about prospective employees. Reading profiles and perusing photos has become standard for human resources departments in some companies. Ones job search could be affected accordingly. Most of this sites are also addictive and this can affect your studies if you are student and affect your job if your are working. There are dangers associated with social networking including data theft and viruses, which are on the rise. The most prevalent danger though often involves online predators or individuals who claim to be someone that they  are not Social site trend is growing very first and currently we have cellphone application. The cellphone potential for socializing is growing all the time, and mobile features allow users to continue their experience when away from home, school or office. The GPS feature built into many smartphones adds the twist of knowing where friends are at any given moment. Social networking will remain relevant to those who are willing to continue learning as new techniques come out and also new services are developed. This is because looking at the current trend in technology there is a high speed growth in this field.

Living the Aboriginal Way Essay -- indigenous, culture, education, crim

The Aboriginal people are one of few indigenous people left in our world. The Aboriginals live in Australia and have, as many indigenous people/groups, been treated badly for years. However they are being treated better now than before, but as an old group with old traditions it is hard to live in the same world as people who do not live by their culture. First in this article Aboriginal history will be compared to present time, succeeded by/before a description of two issues the indigenous people of Australia has to deal with in present time, and lastly there will be a conclusion. The Aboriginal people arrived to Australia from Asia around 50,000 years ago, however they migrated from Africa to Asia around 70,000 years ago. The Aborigines are the indigenous people of Australia. They were the only people living on the continent until the colonization in 1788 by the UK. The biggest consequence for this colonization is that the British brought with them diseases such as measles, tuberculosis and smallpox. In the 19th century, smallpox was the biggest cause of Aboriginal deaths. Aboriginal people speak mostly English, but they do have a variety of their own language that they speak in phrases and words to create an Aboriginal English language. Before the English settled in Australia, the Aborigines had over 250 languages, as opposed to now when they have around 15 that they speak. They traditionally believed in animist spiritual frameworks, compared to present time where only 1% still believe in animist and 73% believe in Christianity. The animist spiritual framewo rk includes belief in animals, Mother Nature and they have a deep love for nature. However we now see that the Australian indigenous culture has changed. Aboriginal cult... ...f domestic violence and community disturbance. The Indigenous people of Australia have sadly had a lot to deal with since the first European settlement in 1788, such as diseases, colonization and being removed from their families. The Aboriginal are not allowed to live as they did before, as new laws have been created for the people. The Aboriginal is forced to live as any other Australian in Australia, even though they are sometimes treated differently. Some people believe that these people have been treated badly through the years, and many agree with that. The Aboriginal was basically treated as animals for a long time. It was their country, but they were still treated, as they were the bad people. The Aboriginals now have a lot to deal with such as education and crimes, but the Australian people try their best to help these people out of all the difficulties.

Impact of Warfare, Religion, and Social Stratification on City-Building

Impact of Warfare, Religion, and Social Stratification on City-Building In both ancient and contemporary human societies, one can witness the cultural creations of warfare, religion, and social stratification interacting to help form and perpetuate the existence of each other. In addition, these cultural factors have lent themselves to help produce, regulate, and justify specific technologies. These technologies may be either destructive or beneficial to human societies economically and/or environmentally, and can have a very wide range of function. Technologies can in turn influence warfare, religion, and social stratification so as to increase the importance of these aspects of culture in society. In this paper, I seek to explore the relationships between warfare, religion, and social stratification, and their important influences on city-building in ancient times and today. As early societies began to group together and form conglomerations of people that eventually became towns and cities, they discovered a ‘need’ for warfare in order to protect and expand their territories, resources, and populations. In the words of Ehrlich, it is important to remember that â€Å"(c)onnecting ‘genes for aggression’†¦to the actions of warring governments is a bit of a stretch, just as would be connecting genes for conciliations to the deployment of United Nations peacemakers (Ehrlich 260).† Basically, Ehrlich wants us to realize that there are no â€Å"war† or â€Å"peace† genes, but that cultural micro- and macro-evolutionary conditions (that is, societal or environmental conditions) may drive a group of people to be either warring or peaceful. With the development of warfare came the development of religion. A causative relationship is... ...a, especially slaves, would have been the people who would have physically labored to build the cities. In this way, social stratification played a major role in the rise of ancient Greek cities. In conclusion, the cultural components of warfare, religion, and social stratification have not only interacted to help create and perpetuate each other, but they have also heavily influenced technologies such as city-building in ancient Greece. Though the emphasis on the different factors changes with evolving cultural and environmental climates, they are still present to some degree in Western culture today. Works Cited Chant, Colin. Pre-Industrial Cities and Technology. London: Routledge, 1999. Ehrlich, Paul. Human Natures. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2000 Southwick, Charles. Human Impacts on Planet Earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Multicorporate structure

As early as the 1980’s there has been significant effort to create management practices in the industry that parallel business strategies because of the realization of the need for sustainability as much as quality services (Alexander et al, 1988). The advocacy is now influencing current health administrators to adopt these practices on a structural level: organization are being reengineered operationally and to accommodate non-traditional and non-medical specific functions such as marketing, public relations and organizational development (Griffith & White, 2006). Healthcare organizations that have multicorporate structures consider themselves not only healthcare providers but as an organization that has to be professionally productive socially responsive and operationally independent. This is not to infer that traditional healthcare organizations preclude these characteristics only rather that multicorporate structured healthcare organization follow more closely the structure of an enterprise Going Multicorporate Structured Technology, communication, culture and politics have changed perceptions regarding the industry and thus are changing the means of delivering services. For example, in evaluating accounting and financial management (A/FM) performance, the adaptation of performance benchmarking principles have allowed for early threshold performance measurements of health programs (Griffith & White, 2006, pp. 455-456). In an effort to measure productivity levels of technology programs the Australia’s health and social services, the Australian Government Productivity Commission (2006) considered the marginal effectiveness propensity of the inclusion of technology in medical procedures as well as sensitivity analyses and compared them to the influence of technology in other government services to determine the impact to health services. This effort supports Griffith and White’s view of the need for sophisticated surveillance and forecasting activity in multicorporate structured organizations (pp. 564-565). In a similar effort, the United Kingdom based Democratic Health Network (2006) established community support and communication networks to support and monitors health awareness and delivery of services. The effort has developed significant funding for community-based health activities as well for the Democratic Health Network itself, greater participation in programs and higher satisfaction rating of health services. According to Griffith and White, these efforts can be considered as part of the healthcare organization’s marketing strategy because the efforts create awareness, reinforces the significance of the organization to the public, and at the same time allows for insights that can be developed to strategic advantages (pp. 610-613). Conclusion Considering the demands on healthcare today, there is need to develop effective channels for services, streamline operations and maximize resources. According to Leatherman (2001), there has been a recognized need in the health care industry to reevaluate its social roles and the social developments affecting the nature of current health care needs. This can only be accomplished if an organizations structure is able to respond to healthcare professionals and the public effectively, which can only be possible if the organization’s structure allows for the development of such competencies. The need for multicorporate structures does not invalidate the social mandate of healthcare institutions but only endeavors to make a strategy-based and sustainable enterprise. The adoption of corporate practices in healthcare is an effort to institute administrative and competitive competencies in healthcare organizations. References Alexander, J. A., Morlock, L. L. and Gifford, B. D. (1988). The effects of corporate restructuring on hospital policymaking. Health Serv Res   June; 23(2): 311–337. Griffith, John R. and White Kenneth R. (2006). The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization, Sixth Edition. Chicago, IL: American College of Healthcare Executives Leatherman, S. (2001) Measuring up: Performance indicators for better healthcare. OECD Observer No. 229 Australian Government Productivity Commission (2006). Impacts of Advances in Medical Technology in Australia. Retrieved August 11, 2007, from Democratic Health Network (2006). Accountability of the Health Service. Retrieved August 11, 2007   

Crime Today Essay

We can all see some logic in this type of action as â€Å"money† can cause a lot of mayhem, and it’s especially bad for people who don’t have any. Many people can recognize being poor and yearning for a better life. However, most of us do not act out in criminal ways in order to get ourselves out of financial hardship. In contrast, think about the guy who just last week went into that school and killed 20 children and 5 adults for really no reason at all. Nobody can grasp any reason at all why someone would or even could do something so gruesome and evil. It just doesn’t make sense. So why is it that crime seems so bad today than in the past. Well, I would have to say heavy population increases don’t help. All of the technological advancements only make it easier for us to see all the bad news. I think that some people knowing that the media is going to shout out their names all over the newspapers and televisions is an incentive to criminals who want to be, I guess you could say â€Å"known† for something. Crime has always existed, since the beginning of time. It’s almost like it’s human nature. Nevertheless, is America falling into a trap where crime is normal? As our prison systems grow, are we allowing crime to grow to fill the gaps, or is it the other way around? My personal opinion is that we in fact are. Did you know that when America’s crime rates declined steadily for about a decade and a half, that  the United States still had the most car thefts, the most rapes and the most murders in the world the United States still had the most car thefts, the most rapes and the most murders in the world (Economic Collapse, 2012). What does that say about us? In addition, even though the United States has the largest prison systems in the entire world (and we win by a large margin), we can see that there are still thousands or criminals reaching havoc on the streets of America every day. There are some places that are still showing a slight decline in crime rates; however, others are showing an alarming rate of crime increases. What is the answer to all of this? I’m not sure if anybody really knows. In addition to all of this, is this recent economic downturn going to turn more people into criminals? Probably so, and we don’t know how to fix it. We can only build so many prisons, and we can only afford so many police officers. Billions are spent in America and around the world each year combating crime, building prisons, paying for police and legal costs involved with crime, delinquency and other related problems, but the problem continues. It’s a never ending battle. Another thing is that a myriad of excuses and justifications for criminal behavior have replaced the principle that everyone, including the criminal, is fully responsible for his actions. Every criminal has a reason why â€Å"they† did what they did. Well, my parents abused me when I was little; I have psychological issues, etc. When does it end? Although, I do agree with this point a little bit. I do believe that poverty does increase crime. Now I’m by no means saying that just because people grow up poor that gives them the right to act out in criminal behavior, or that just because someone grew up wealthy means that they won’t resort to crime. I am just saying that I can see how the way we were brought up and the things we have experienced can create different reactions to things in life. After all, it’s our experiences in life that shape who we are as a person. There are so many different aspects or crime and crime control that I can get into, from a no-fault society to gun control. However, none of this stuff seems to really make a difference, so maybe it’s time to get together and come up with a different plan. Obviously, what we are doing as a country is not working. References The Economic Collapse. (2012). Is Crime Making a Comeback? Retrieved from: http://theeconomiccollapseblog. com/archives/is-crime-making-a-comeback-12-crime-statistics-that-make-you-wonder-what-is-happening-to-america/

Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts of Land Use Change

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF LAND USE CHANGE: THE CASE OF CALAMBA CITY, LAGUNA A Research Proposal I. INTRODUCTION A. Significance of the Study Land and its uses are essential to all human communities. Every person is shaped in a range of ways by the landscape in which they live, and the products and resources produced on the land. Land and its uses are particularly important for rural communities, where many people are directly dependent on land for their livelihood, and the way land is used has a central role in defining the identity of an area and its community.Land as defined by FAO (1976) is â€Å"an area of earth’s surface, the characteristics which embrace all reasonably stable or predictably cyclic attributes of the biosphere vertically above and below this area, including those of the atmosphere, the soil, the underlying geology, the hydrology, the plant and animal population and the results of the past and present human activity, to the extent that th ese attributes influence on the present and future use of the land†.Land is an important element on earth that is involved in every human activity. This refers to land use. Land use defined in this way establishes a direct link between land cover and the actions of people in their environment (Di Gregorio & Jansen, 1998). In restrictive terms, it refers to those activities of man on, in, over and under the earth’s surface that tend to change the natural state of the land (Serote, 2004). Land use change is a general term for the human modification of Earth's terrestrial surface.Though humans have been modifying land to obtain food and other essentials for thousands of years, current rates, extents and intensities of land use change are far greater than ever in history, driving unprecedented changes in ecosystems and environmental processes at local, regional and global scales. These changes encompass the greatest environmental concerns of human populations today, includi ng  climate change,  biodiversity  loss and the pollution of water, soils and air (Williams et al. , 2008).Land use change can either be by natural cause or man induced. Land use changes made in land imply impact both on human and environment. In socioeconomic terms, land is one of three major factors of production in classical economics (along with labor and capital) and an essential input for housing and food production. Thus, land use is the backbone of agricultural economies and it provides substantial economic and social benefits. Land use conversion is necessary and essential for economic development and social progress.This land use conversion results to land use change. Environmentally speaking, land–use changes are arguably the most pervasive socioeconomic force driving changes and degradation of ecosystems. Deforestation, urban development, agriculture, and other human activities have substantially altered the Earth’s landscape. Such disturbance of the land affects important ecosystem processes and services, which can have wide–ranging and long–term consequences.There are already studies that have been conducted to determine the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of land use changes in their own respective localities or area of interest. It has been one of the major issues today. According to Sala et al. , (2000) land-use changes are so pervasive that, when aggregated globally, they significantly affect key aspects of Earth System functioning. They directly impact biotic diversity worldwide contribute to local and regional climate change (Chase et al. , 1999) as well as to global climate warming (Houghton et al. 1999); are the primary source of soil degradation (Tolba et al. , 1992); and, by altering ecosystem services, affect the ability of biological systems to support human needs (as cited by Lambin et al. , 2001). Calamba, as a fast growing city in Laguna had made different land use changes in its locality. Land use changes here occur due to different conversion of agricultural based lands into industrial and commercial uses. Different natural phenomenon like flooding contributed also it the changes in land in Calamba. With this development, there are many impacts that took place.In this study, it would primarily focus on the impacts of land-use change in ten different barangays of Calamba City, Laguna. Identifying the impacts of land-use change would help the local government unit to make necessary actions to either improve positive or prevent negative impacts in the said locality. Proper policy actions can be developed, too. The results of the study will provide information to researchers, planners and decision makers for better comprehensive land use planning. B. Review of Literature This section has literature related to the research study.Different books, journal articles reports were investigated to conceptualize and explore knowledge gap in the study of land use change at the lo cal context Land-use and land-cover change induced by both human activities and natural feedbacks have converted large proportion of the planet’s land surface (Shi, 2008). Land Use and Land Use Change Every parcel of land on the Earth’s surface is unique in the cover it possesses. Land use and land cover are distinct yet closely linked characteristics of the Earth’s surface. Land use is the manner in which human beings employ the land and its resources.Examples of land use include agriculture, urban development, grazing, logging, and mining. In contrast, land cover describes the physical state of the land surface. Land cover categories include cropland, forests, wetlands, pasture, roads, and urban areas. The term land cover originally referred to the kind and state of vegetation, such as forest or grass cover, but it has broadened in subsequent usage to include human structures such as buildings or pavement and other aspects of the natural environment, such as s oil type, biodiversity, and surface and groundwater (Meyer, 1995).Land use affects land cover and changes in land cover affect land use. A change in either, however, is not necessarily the product of the other. Changes in land cover by land use do not necessarily imply a degradation of the land. However, many shifting land use patterns, driven by a variety of social causes, result in land cover changes that affect biodiversity, water and radiation budgets, trace gas emissions and other processes that, cumulatively, affect global climate and biosphere (Riebsame, Meyer, & Turner, 1994).Land cover can be altered by forces other than anthropogenic. Natural events such as weather, flooding, fire, climate fluctuations, and ecosystem dynamics may also initiate modifications upon land cover. Globally, land cover today is altered principally by direct human use: by agriculture and livestock raising, forest harvesting and management, and urban and suburban construction and development. There are also incidental impacts on land cover from other human activities such as forests and lakes damaged by acid rain from fossil fuel combustion (Meyer, 1995).Changes in land cover driven by land use can be categorized into two types: modification and conversion. Modification is a change of condition within a cover type; for example, unmanaged forest modified to a forest managed by selective cutting. Significant modifications of land cover can occur within these patterns of land cover change. Conversion is a change from one cover type to another, such as deforestation to create cropland or pasture.Conversion land cover changes such as deforestation have been the focus of many global change research agendas (Riebsame, Meyer and Turner, 1994). Serote in 2004 stated that conversion of land on the other hand can be classified into irreversible and reversible conversion. It is reversible if the soil cover and landforms are not substantially changed and therefore present a variety of opti ons for future reuse (for example croplands can be converted to pastures and reverted to croplands again as the need arises).Irreversible conversion occurs when the original character of the land is changed to such a degree that the reversal to its former use or condition becomes very difficult if not impossible. Example of this is open pit mining and quarrying. The loss of rainforests throughout the tropical regions of the world as a result of deforestation for timber resources and conversion to agricultural lands has become a topic of global attention with the aid of widespread media coverage. Research specialists such as Skole and Tucker (1993), Skole et al. (1994), and Kummer and Turner (1994) perform extensive studies in an attempt to bring further attention to this situation by focusing on the social implications and the environmental degradation associated with tropical deforestation in the Amazon of South America and in Southeast Asia. Yet, with all the research, awareness, and attention of the world, this potentially devastating phenomenon continues. Modeling land use change In a research study made by Lim, Pijanowski and Engel in 2005, they employed a land use model called Land Transformation Model (LTM).The LTM model is designed to forecast land use change over large regions. It relies on GIS, artificial neural network routines (ANNs), remote sensing and customized geospatial tools. The driving variables include a variety of social, political and environmental factors, such as distance to transportation, proximity to amenities (such as rivers, lakes, and recreational site), density of surrounding agriculture, exclusive zones, and population growth. Information derived from an historical analysis of land use change is used to conduct forecast studies.The model is a desk top computer application, and it mainly follows four sequential steps: (1) processing/coding of data to create spatial layers of predictor variables; (2) applying spatial rules that r elate predictor variables to land use transitions for each location in an area; the resultant layers contain input variables values in grid format; (3) integrating all input grids using one of the three techniques, including multi-criteria evaluation, ANNs, and logistic regression; and (4) temporally scaling the amount of transitions in the study area in order to create a time series of possible future land uses.Detailed descriptions of the LTM can be found elsewhere (Pijanowski et al. , 2000) The LTM model has been applied and validated in a variety of locations around the world to help understand what factors are most important to land use changes and to simulate land use change in the past, present and future (Pijanowski et al. , 2000). It also offers the ability to link changes in land use to ecological process models, such as groundwater flow and solute transport (Boutt et al. , 2001) and forest cover change (Brown et al. , 2000). Urbanization and Land Use ChangeAt least two br oad urbanization pathways lead to different impacts on rural landscapes. In the developed world, large-scale urban agglomerations and extended peri-urban settlements fragment the landscapes of such large areas that various ecosystem processes are threatened. Ecosystem fragmentation, however, in peri-urban areas may be offset by urban-led demands for conservation and recreational land uses (Sack, 1992). Urbanization affects land change elsewhere through the transformation of urban-rural linkages. Urbanization in the less-developed world outbids all other uses for land adjacent to the city, including prime croplands.Cities attract a significant proportion of the rural population by way of permanent and circulatory migration, and the wages earned in the city are often remitted by migrants to rural homelands, in some cases transforming the use of croplands and creating ‘‘remittance landscapes’’. Perhaps most importantly, this urbanization changes ways of life u ltimately E. F. Lambin et al. , (2001) associated with demographic transitions, increasing expectations about consumption, and potentially a weakened understanding of production–consumption relationships noted for the well-developed world.Rapid land-use changes often coincide with the incorporation of a region into an expanding world economy (Lambin, et al. , 2001). Remote Sensing In the broadest sense, remote sensing is the measurement or acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by a recording device that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object. It is the utilization at a distance (as from aircraft, spacecraft, satellite, or ship) of any device for gathering information about the environment. The technique can make use of devices such as a camera, laser, radar, sonar, seismograph or a gravimeter.Modern remote sensing normally includes digital processes but can be done as well with non-digital methods. While all astronomy could be considered remot e sensing (in fact, extremely remote sensing) the term â€Å"remote sensing† is normally only applied to terrestrial observations. Examples of remote sensing are very numerous. For example: a. Topographic maps were often produced from stereographic pairs of aerial photographs. Trained personnel would then trace the shape of the land into maps. b.Earthquakes are located (after the fact) by comparing seismograms taken at different locations; the relative intensity and precise timing yield information about the location and nature. c. Digital elevation maps can be produced by interferometric synthetic aperture radar, a process in which an aircraft, spacecraft or satellite passes over the target area while emitting a series of radar pulses. Combining the data from these pulses yields a detailed map containing information about ground cover and possibly elevation or movement on a scale of centimeters.The data usually covers a many kilometers wide (Gupta & Parakash 1998). Profile o f the City Calamba City is a first class city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. Situated only 54 kilometers south of Manila, about an hour by chartered bus, Calamba City is a popular tourist destination with its hot spring resorts. It also an important modern industrial center in CALABARZON region as shown by the larger number of industrial parks and business estates that are located in the city. According to 2006 census, it has a population of 360,281 inhabitants. CLUP, 2010-2015) It is reported that this city is among the fastest growing urban centers in the Region. Calamba city is famous for its historical tribute as the hometown of our national hero. According to the NAMRIA in 1999, residential sector takes up 48% of the total land area, while 44% is allotted for Industrial use. The commercial sector only consumes 3% of the total land area – the other 5% consist of other land uses. C. Objectives of the Study The general objective of this study is to determine the so cio-economic and environmental impacts of land-use conversion at the local level.Specifically, this study endeavors; 1) To map out the current land use situation of Calamba City using GIS (to see the historical land use situation of the said locality); 2) To identify both the positive and negative impacts of land-use conversion in six barangays of Calamba City; 3) To identify causes of land-use conversions and land use change; 4) To assess the existing policy and mitigation strategies to the impacts of land use conversion; and 5) To propose recommendations on comprehensive land use planning of Calamba City.D. Date and Place of Study The survey and other data gathering method (Key informant interviews and focus group discussion) will be conducted from June, 2012 to August, 2012 in selected barangays in Calamba City. Analysis and interpretation of data will be done from September, 2012 to November 2012. The researcher aims to finish the study by January, 2013. II. MATERIALS AND METHOD OLOGY A. Materials Secondary Maps of 1:50,000 scale (Topographic, Land Use/Land Cover, Political boundary) †¢ Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of Calamba City †¢ Satellite Imagery (30 meters resolution Terralook ASTER image) †¢ Geographic Information System (GIS) Software (ArcInfo Desktop) †¢ Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver †¢ Semi-structured questionnaires B. Methodology Secondary data collection Secondary data will be gathered primarily from the City of Calamba, Laguna to serve as baseline information for the study area.These shall include the CLUP report of Calamba City, secondary baseline maps in digital and print format (Topographic, Land Use/Land Cover, Political boundary). Other pertinent information (demographic, economic) shall be likewise collected and consolidated from other government agencies (National Statistics Coordination Board, Department of Interior and Local Government etc. ). Primary data collection The freely downloadable 30 meters resolution satellite imagery will be requested from United State Geological Society (USGS) website (http://glovis. usgs. gov). This shall be utilized in the generation of p-to-date land use map of the study area. ArcInfo Desktop GIS software shall be utilized in the generation of the baseline maps, spatial analyses and land use classification. All GIS maps shall have Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) North Zone 51 format projection and WGS1984 datum. Unsupervised image classification. An unsupervised image classification will be done for aster satellite imagery. This image classification will serve as the basis for the supervised classification. These classifications will be validated thru ground truthing and high-resolution satellite imagery of google earth.Supervised classification. The training units or signatures of the different land uses will be prepared in ArcInfo Desktop by digitizing at least 100 polygons for each land uses. Supervised image classification will pro ceed using maximum likelihood method for the final landuse maps. Household survey, Key Informant Interview and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). Key Informant Interview (KII) will be conducted to selected LGU officials of the City of Calamba with emphasis on the issues and concerns related to land use, as well as the perceived socio-economic impacts of land use in their locality.Similarly, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) will be done to gather relevant information base on the consensus of randomly selected barangay officials and residents of the City of Calamba. A random household survey will also be conducted using semi-structured questionnaire to gather basic household demographic information, as well as knowledge and perception on the socio-economic impacts of land use change. III. BUDGETARY REQUIREMENTS |Particulars |Estimated Cost |Remarks | |I.Data Gathering | |   | |A. Travel |Php 9,000. 00 |Includes ground truthing and validation | |B. Supplies and Materials |4,000. 00 |   | |C. Sundries | |   | |1.Contractual services (field guide, enumerators) |12,000. 00 |Hiring of field guides and enumerator | |2. Photocopying |1,000. 00 |   | |II. Writing of Thesis | |   | |A. Computerization/Typing |4,000. 00 |   | |III.Reproduction/Printing |6,000. 00 |   | |TOTAL |Php36,000. 00 |   | REFERENCES Food and Agiculture Organization. 1976. Land quality indicators: aspects of land use, land, soil and plant nutrients. Rome, Italy (Retrieved from http://www. fao. org/docrep/W4745E/w4745e0b. htm) Gupta, R. P. , & Prakash, A. 998, Reflection aureoles associated with thermal anomalies due to subsurface mine fires in the Jharia Coalfield, India. International Journal of Remote Sensing, pp. 2619-2622. Lambin, E. F. , Turner II, B. L. , Geist, H. J. , Agbola, S. B. , Angelsen, A. , Bruce, J. W. , et al. , 2001. The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths. Global Environmental Change 11 (4), 261–269. Meyer, W. B. 1995. Past and Present Land-use and Land-cover in the U. S. A. (Retrieved from http://www. gsdi. rg/gsdiconf/gsdi10/papers/TS48. 1paper. pdf) Serote, E. M. 2004. Property, patrimony, and territory: Foundations of Land Use planning in the Philippines. School of Urban and Regional Planning, DIliman Quezon City. Shi, W. Z. 2008. Spatial Data Transformation in Urban Geographic Information Systems,  Technologies and Applications in Urban Geographical Information Systems. Shanghai Science and Technology Publishing House, 1996, pp. 59-69. Skole,D. L. & Tucker, C. J. 1993. :Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Amazon. Retrieved from http://www. ciesin. org/docs/002-115/002-115. html) Turner, B. L. & Meyer, W. B. 1991. Land use and land cover in global environmental change: Considerations for study. International Social Sciences Journal 130, 669–667 Williams, M. Richardson, D. , Reichstein, M. , Stoy, P. C. , Peylin, P. , et al. ,2008. Improving land surface models with Fluxnet data. Published in Biogeosciences. (Retrieved from http://www. geos. ed. ac. uk/homes/pstoy/WilliamsBG09. pdf) ———————– C. Detailed Schedule of Activities