Theory of Consumer Behavior

Chapter 4 – Theory of Consumer Behavior Economics 11 – UPLB Prepared by T. B. Paris, Jr. December 11, 2007 Theory of Consumer Behavior ? ? ? Useful for understanding the demand side of the market. Utility – amount of satisfaction derived from the consumption of a commodity †¦. measurement units ? utils Utility concepts ? ? cardinal utility – assumes that we can assign values for utility, (Jevons, Walras, and Marshall). E. g. , derive 100 utils from eating a slice of pizza ordinal utility approach – does not assign values, instead works with a ranking of preferences. Pareto, Hicks, Slutsky) Total utility and marginal utility ? ? Total utility (TU) – the overall level of satisfaction derived from consuming a good or service Marginal utility (MU) additional satisfaction that an individual derives from consuming an additional unit of a good or service. ? TU MU = ? Q Total utility and marginal utility Example (Table 4. 1): Q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T U 0 20 27 32 35 35 34 30 36 MU –20 7 5 3 0 -1 -4 ? ? ? ? TU, in general, increases with Q At some point, TU can start falling with Q see Q = 6) If TU is increasing, MU > 0 From Q = 1 onwards, MU is declining ? principle of diminishing marginal utility ? As more and more of a good are consumed, the process of consumption will (at some point) yield smaller and smaller additions to utility Total Utility Curve TU 35 Total utility(in utils) 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Quantity 6 Q Figure 4. 1 Marginal Utility Curve MU Marginal utility (in utils) 20 15 10 5 0 -5 Figure 4. 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 Quantity Q Consumer Equilibrium ? ?So far, we have assumed that any amount of goods and services are always available for consumption In reality, consumers face constraints (income and prices): Limited consumers income or budget ? Goods can be obtained at a price ? Some simplifying assumptions ? ? ? ? Consumer’s objective: to maximize his/her utility subject to income constraint 2 goods (X, Y ) Prices Px, Py are fixed Consumer’s income (I) is given Consumer Equilibrium ? Marginal utility per peso ? additional utility derived from spending the next peso on the good MU MU per peso = PConsumer Equilibrium ? Optimizing condition: MU X MU Y = PX PY ? If MU X MU Y > PX PY ? spend more on good X and less of Y Simple Illustration ? Suppose: X = fishball Y = siomai ? Assume: PX = 2 PY = 10 Numerical Illustration Qx 1 2 3 4 5 6 TUX 30 39 45 50 54 56 MUX 30 9 6 5 4 2 MUx Px 15 4. 5 3 2. 5 2 1 QY 1 2 3 4 5 6 TUY 50 105 148 178 198 213 MUY 50 55 43 30 20 15 MUy Py 5 5. 5 4. 3 3 2 1. 5 ? ? 2 potential optimum positions Combination A: ? X = 3 and Y = 4 ? TU = TUX + TUY = 45 + 178 = 223 ? Combination B: ? ? X = 5 and Y = 5 TU = TUX + TUY = 54 + 198 = 252 ? Presence of 2 potential equilibrium positions suggests that we need to consider income. To do so let us examine how much each consumer spends for each combination. Expenditure per combination ? ? Total expenditure = PX X + PY Y Combination A: 3(2) + 4(10) = 46 ? Combination B: 5(2) + 5(10) = 60 ? Scenarios: If consumer’s income = 46, then the optimum is given by combination A. .†¦Combination B is not affordable ? If the consumer’s income = 60, then the optimum is given by Combination B†¦. Combination A is affordable but it yields a lower level of utility ? end

Organizational Culture, Business Strategy and HR Practices affect diverse teams‘ performance Essay

The Later Findings: Organizational Culture, Business Strategy and HR Practices affect diverse teams‘ performance Effects of Organizational Culture and Business Strategies Effects of Organizational Culture and Business Strategies Diverse groups show a higher level of performance in a people-oriented culture Educationally diverse groups perform better within a growth-oriented business strategy Educationally diverse groups perform worse within a stability-oriented business strategy Growth-oriented cultures need creativity and innovation, this is provided through a diverse group Diverse work teams need an appropriate work environment (innovative, creative, group ID) Effects of HR Practices Members of diverse groups are generally rewarded higher in stock options within a diversity-oriented HR environment Companies, which manage diversity well are well managed overall Good diversity management is provided through a strong support from the CEO The Expanded, Nuanced Leadership Role 2050 non-whites will be the majority in the USA Specific and practical recommendations for leaders of diverse teams: 1. Be attuned to issues of social category diversity and identity groups Reflecting about the own social identity, about the one of others and the associated reactions to it 2. Keep refining and developing your own emotional and social intelligence Becoming more aware of the own strength and weaknesses, be aware of the own mood and how to manage it. A high level of self-awareness and flexibility are vital for social intelligence. Be aware about your own verbal and non-verbal language and try to manage them well. Be able to adapt to different cultures and gain crucial knowledge about them. 3. Focus on the diversity values of the team, early and often A good performance is provided through an early alignment of vision and values. 4. Create a strong team identity or brand Team leaders need to build the team’s identity and connection to the organization. Shorthand identification, which can be repeated and demonstrated until it becomes accepted and well known. 5. Hone your skills at having tough conversations See conflict as creative tension that can build positive results. 6. Focus on building organizational culture and human resource practices that are needed to translate diversity into positive results Ensure that a suitable work environment, business strategy and HR practices are in place for diverse teams.

Political or social issues Essay

Ethnocentrism refers to people’s habit of applying selfness in daily life activities by considering themselves just than others, pulling towards themselves and therefore make all judgments based on their own values, feelings, ideas, ideals, traditions and cultural practices. It is an aspect that brings issues of prejudices, hatred, ethnicity and stereotypic practices. On the other side, it strengthens and maintains belief structures and behaviors as well as creating rationale pride. It also creates personal volunteering spirit for one’s group or society aimed at collective benefits. The mostly realized effect of ethnocentrism is that it creates negative effects especially when it comes to communication and understanding one another. This is because people from different cultures have different opinions and perceptions when it comes to different issues in life such as cultural, political or social issues. It is therefore difficult for people to reach a consensus as everyone considers him/her right, thus misperceptions and misunderstandings (Felix, 2004). b. Explain the difference between individualistic cultures and collectivist cultures and your personal experiences with culture shock. Hofstede compared ethnocentrism American and Indian college students and came up with two major aspects which mostly deepened American’s student’s socio-cultural conformity. One of the aspects was individualistic culture, where a culture is developed to value oneself more than others and when it comes to a group; its members are considered more than non members. The other aspect was power distance dimension which mainly focused on societal equality and inequality. This is the view that high powered people are entitled to more privileges than the low powered. According to his research the above two aspects made America score 91% and India 48% of ethnocentrism in students. Collectivist culture is the culture in which benefit to all is the principle. It applies in countries or society where people value mutualism by caring for one another (Violet, 2001). Reference Felix, G. , (2004) Social Psychology. London, Blackwell Publishers Violet, T. , (2001) Sociological Theories and Approaches. West, CT, Praeger

Transforming Pedagogy to Transform Learning Research Paper - 1

Transforming Pedagogy to Transform Learning - Research Paper Example With this concern, the research paper intends to discuss on the instructional strategies which are acquired to impart knowledge effectively to a diverse culture of learners. In this regard, the concepts of ‘Standards of learning’ (SOLs) and ‘Common Core Standards’ (CCS) will be taken into concern. Moreover, research-based multicultural instructional strategies will be emphasized in this research paper. Additionally, CDLF questionnaire will be formulated with the intention of determining the effectiveness of multicultural instruction or cultural awareness of the instructors. Besides, an annotated bibliography will also be performed in this particular research paper within the circumstance of multicultural instructional practices. It has been apparently observed that different higher education institutions adopt along with execute certain effective policies, frameworks and principles on the basis of which the teaching and learning process is executed. Moreover , the higher education institutions formulate effectual curriculum and practices based on the requirements of the students or learners in this 21st century. The teachers are perceived to be adopting various techniques of classroom management as well as instructional strategies with the objective of improving the cultural beliefs and values of students within the context of a diverse cultural classroom. The students develop their capabilities to select and use suitable strategies so that they can achieve their requirements.  

Nursing assesment and its role in care planning Essay

Nursing assesment and its role in care planning - Essay Example ing alarm/rescue, and frequency/pattern of falls; assessment include emergency care fundamentals such as airway, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure; locomotor problems include physiological effects of aging; loss refers to reduced or loss of vision; and social circumstances include history of social circumstances, support network people, and type of housing or social contact (Jones, Endacott & Crouch 2003, p. 82). Applying the assessment tool, the nurse has gathered the following assessment data: Patient X fell on the ground at 5:00 pm. She has been lying still on the ground for 3 hours in her house until help is sought by a concerned neighbor. Assessment of fall history revealed a misplaced placemat on the floor as a hazard for the occurrence of fall. The patient only regained consciousness when she’s in the hospital and clearly recollects incident of fall and other previous experiences. Patient X has no method of raising alarm/rescue and there were no other fre quency/pattern of falls except for the current incident. Nursing assessment revealed a patent airway and a regular breathing pattern (20 breaths /minute). Circulatory perfusion is assessed using the neurovascular examination and found a 3 seconds toe capillary time which indicate that the circulation in the lower extremity are starting to be compromised (Brunner et al. 2009, p. 2100). Neurological assessment described Patient X as lethargic upon admission and GCS scores totaled to 12 because of lapses in verbal responses due to confusion and disorientation and withdrawal of motor responses when pain is experienced. A full physical assessment were done presenting fall impact on the lateral aspect of the hip, pain the groin with radiation to the knee, pain exacerbated by movement, and inability to... The paper tells that fractured neck of the femur is more common among older people and women and affected individuals are likely to experience significant distress, physical pain, complications, and possible incapacitation. The acronym FALLS served as assessment guidelines for older people who have fallen. FALLS stands for falls history, assessment, locomotor problems, loss, and social circumstances. The Hendrich II Fall Risk Model is used in assessing the degree of risk of falls among elderly population whereas the In Ottawa knee rules identifies the need for further investigation, imaging, or X-ray. The case scenario of Patient X identified nursing care needs in peripheral circulation, safe discharge, and independent rehabilitation. To improve tissue perfusion in peripheral areas, nurses need to: perform patient assessment and monitoring which includes ABCs, C-spine and hemorrhage control to aid the nurse in discovering overt/covert changes in patient’s status at frequent i ntervals; perform neurological exam such as Glasgow Coma Scale and note vital signs at frequent intervals to early recognize changes and to provide timely and appropriate care; and perform capillary refill checks and assessment of neurovascular function of the immobilized extremity to determine status of tissue perfusion. Discharge plans follow as tissue perfusion is resolved. An effective discharge plan follows the Department of Health’s key principles in discharge planning and is holistic, promote active and equal partnership, well-coordinated, and maximized to the full potential.

The Past And The Shape Of Things Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Past And The Shape Of Things - Essay Example Today, the United States of America has developed its own peculiar cultural and social habits that make it what it is (Strenski 11). Over the past, the US has had many immigrants from varied countries that had different social and cultural backgrounds. For this reason, the US has become a culturally and racially diverse due to this massive migration in the past. However, due to the varied combination of people from many parts of the world, the future of the US has and will be determined by the past (Eliade & Ioan 47). The paper seeks to describe and give a comparison of how the past influences the future in today’s society and culture. In his theory of the sacred time, Eliade’s implies that the power of anything has its roots in its origin and that the power of the entire world relies on cosmogony. However, Eliade claims that for any religious man, two types of time exist. One of which is the sacred time and the other is the profane time. He further stipulates that the former is experienced in the religious festivals and the latter in the normal life. He further asserts that absolute truth concerning primordial time is represented by myths in the traditional societies. According to these myths, it was during this time that the first appearance of the Sacred was experienced in which the world’s structure was established. For Eliades, all myths give a description of primordial events that have made the natural world what it is currently (Schulman 204). Also, most traditional societies have a belief that origin is an essential component in determining the power of anything. Therefore, if origin equals p ower, then it becomes the first sign of a valid and significant thing. According to Eliades, the value and reality of anything lie solely on its initial appearance.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - Research Paper Example The trans-Atlantic slave trade has normally been considered only regarding the adults. However, now children’s experiences are also being counted. According to an estimate, children made up one-quarter of the African slaves made to migrate to America. In spite of this big number there is indeed a lack of sources and apparently, no importance is given to what the children experienced, leaving their voices unheard. Enslavement Children were very unwilling to participate in the slave trade and in spite of their age they saw themselves captured and in imprisonment after the war. The women, children and the older people became particularly vulnerable after their men were killed during the war; the ones who were spared death were then ransomed or even sold as slaves. After military expeditions, there were commercial caravans that actually brought textiles and imported goods and traded the slaves with those. Another way of acquiring slaves, particularly children, was through kidnappi ng and this method was more common in certain regions in West Africa. The kidnapping was done when the kids were away from their parents or guardians, maybe simply playing outside, working in fields or taking a calm walk. This was not the only way, however, and the traders even bought children from their families who were more than willing to â€Å"sell† them for money since they were desperate for money and food. Still, others were pawned or bargained for by their parents or used to repay debts or given to be acquitted of any crime they or their family members might have committed. Weak children were also sometimes sold and so were the ones whom their parents thought brought them ill luck. The upcoming events after the capture were a nightmare for the slaves. The traders sold off some children to be sent for the coast while others were sold many times. Several of these kids remained within Africa only and became slaves to whoever bought them. Many others could not survive th e sea route. The ones who were able to reach the coast alive were taken to a factory or post where merchants bought them and kept them inside prisons with the other slaves. These children were then completely stripped and their bodies were rubbed with palm oil. Many times their heads were also shaven. After the merchants had bought their slaves they â€Å"branded† them in order to make sure that their â€Å"property† does not get mixed up with someone else’s and they are able to distinctly make out which their cargo is. The brand was normally a symbol on their chest or back. The Middle Passage According to the slave traders the individuals less than 4’4’’ in height were considered to be children and these children were permitted to stay on the deck with the women. These deck people were, on rare occasions, given certain favors such as giving them old clothes, teaching them how to play certain games or even how to sail. Some children, however , did not play or eat while others preferred to stay with the women and cry all night. If a child was taller than the specified height he was automatically kept with the adults and there they were treated like an adult too. The conditions there were worse and there was no concept of hygiene. If they cried or did not eat or sleep they were punished harshly.  

Globalization-Albania Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Globalization-Albania - Essay Example Apparently, Albania has also been strongly affected by the impacts of globalization in almost every sphere of its economic environment (Fulani, 2012). Based on this notion, the discussion henceforth will attempt to analyze the history of Albania and the transactional era of the country, considering its post-independence era since the 1990s. Historians and economists have often argued that most of the changes witnessed in the economic structure of Albania took place during the 1990s, after its independence. For instance, at the post independent era, Albania began moving towards global open market operations, increasing the effects of globalization on the economy (Barolli, n.d.). These economic interventions in Albania will also be analyzed to review the prosperity of the nation, on the basis of several parameters. Contextually, this paper will aim at analyzing the political conditions of Albania and the governmental structure of the country, treating it as a parameter to achieve econo mic prosperity. The legal and regulatory business environment of Albania will also be discussed in the paper, captivating the concern of international trade rules and legal policies followed by the country. This paper will further concentrate on the economic advantages of the country, by analyzing the natural resources of Albania along with its financial and monetary policies. Furthermore, the several cultural dimensions of the Albania and the impact of this diversity on its economical growth will also be defined in the further discussion. In addition, the discussion will render due emphasis on identifying the key competitive advantages associated with the current economic model in Albania and accordingly, suggest few recommendations for the country to sustain its growth in the global context. History of Albania Albania is situated in the South-Eastern border of Europe. The country has an ‘emerging democracy’. Officially, it is well known as the ‘Republic of Alban ia’. Its capital is Tirana or Tirane (CIA, n.d.). However, the mystery is today solved and the people of Albania are referred as ‘Albanians’, the most Ancient Race in the South-Eastern Europe. Contextually, several theories have been established in order to solve the problems associated with the country and to reach the current state (Barolli, n.d.). According to Gjata (2013), â€Å"Albanian history is one long tale of epic struggles against one invader after the other†. Apparently, historical factors have impacted the identity of Albania through several centuries in terms of foreign dominations and also due to the two consequent World Wars. In the beginning of the 9th century, particularly because of the weaknesses possessed by the then authoritative Byzantine Empire in Albania, Angevins of the Southern Italy, Venetians as well as Serbs obtained the opportunity to invade Albania and consequently, obtain a dominating position within the dynasty. This furth er paved the way to the fall of Byzantine Empire in the country. As a result, in the mid of 14th century, the rule of Byzantine Empire came to the end, which was controlling the nation for almost 1000 years. After few decades, the country faced another threat which came from Ottoman Turks in the year 1388 and after four

Case study Memo Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Memo - Case Study Example The analysis used the average return (AR) as the dependent variable and four other independent variables two of which were converted to dummy variables in order to capture their effect on mutual funds returns. There were forty-five funds analyzed with an average Net Asset Value of 28%, an average ER of 0.9%, and an average AR of 2.4%. The value of NAV after the first regression disqualified it as being statistically significant in influencing the variability of AR. After the second regression, which excluded NAV, the six variables had a 95% confidence interval and thus were statistically significant in explaining the variability of Average Returns of a mutual fund. Using the six independent variables, an equation that explains the following was obtained, and it helped to explain the following: The above results point out that the company should emphasize on the six funds that have a significant effect on mutual funds and that the most suitable found to invest in is the four star fund which has the highest amount of

Ways to improve the value of employees work contribution Essay

Ways to improve the value of employees work contribution - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is the Upper Room Soup Kitchen as one of the long serving soup kitchens in Prince Edward Island in Canada serving to the need of the needy and hungry people in the area. During a two weeks voluntary work in the soup kitchen, as a management student I realized that the value the employees added to operations of the business and towards meeting the goals of the Soup Kitchen in serving the needs of the hungry in Prince Edward Island were constrained. This is despite the fact that most of the employees in the Soup kitchen were volunteers even though there was other long term paid employees. Notably, the food donation system was in disarray with the records of food donations received not properly managed. In addition, though there were quite a considerable amount of food donations received in a week, at times the soup kitchen would record shortages in key foods required, while have excesses of some other. Some of these foods that were not usually use d stayed in the storage for too long and when they went bad, they would be discarded. This brought a point that indeed not only were employees’ contribution for effective running up of the place low, but also was the food donation and recording system lacking. After learning about SSM method which is a means through which problems can be holistically resolved, the researcher thought of Upper Room Soup Kitchen’s problems and decided to develop solutions based on this SSM model that would help the manager of the soup kitchen ensure smoother running. The expressed problem situation With the above problem situation, phone interviews were conducted with five soup kitchen employees from various departments and the manger of the soup kitchen to get a grasp on the problem. The Upper Room soup Kitchen whose goal is to meet some food needs of the hungry people in Prince Edward Island through provision of low fat high nutrition healthy meals to this population is faced not only w ith low employee contribution in meeting its goals but also inefficiencies in the management of its food donation system. Markos and Sridevi (2010:91) indeed asserts that for value of employee contribution in an organization to be improved, the employees’ activities and goals need be aligned the organizations goals. Though the employees in the soup kitchen perform their daily duties well, a sense of laxity in the organization has made inefficient several systems that are core to the organization meeting its goals. For instance, the employees in charge of communicating the food needs of the organization to various stakeholders in order to align the food needs of the soup kitchen to those that are received have experienced some problems in that some of

Lenin's Cultural Policy and the Persecution of the Arts Essay

Lenin's Cultural Policy and the Persecution of the Arts - Essay Example However, things were not the same as shown to the world. The growing experimentation in the arts and cultural aspects of Russia forced Lenin to embrace more conservative and traditional ways and it was because of this reason that since his early days, Lenin started to control cultural institutions of the country. This control of culture in the country further worsened as the Lenin’s Communist party started to target those musicians and artisans who were relatively against the Communist thought. Lunacharsky- Lenin’s main person behind controlling the Cultural Revolution in the country put forward his own aesthetic theories which largely redefined the socialist art, however; this was often criticized by the later scholars for the reasons of curtailing the artistic creativity. â€Å"In the late 1920s, the term was taken up and transformed by young communist cultural militants who sought the party leaders' approval for an assault on "bourgeois hegemony" in culture; that is, on the cultural establishment, including Anatoly Lunacharsky and other leaders of the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment, and the values of the old Russian intelligentsia. For the militants, the essence of Cultural Revolution was "class war" - an assault against the "bourgeois" intelligentsia in the name of the proletariat - and they meant the "revolution" part of the term literally. In the years 1928 through 1931, the militants succeeded in gaining the party leaders' support, but lost it again in 1932 when the Central Committee dissolved the main militant organization, the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP), and promoted reconciliation with the intelligentsia.† (Encylopedia).

Economy of the United States Essay Example for Free

Economy of the United States Essay The time is considerably improved for the distinctive American citizen of 2007 than for a citizen of the 1800s. An array of economic policies known as import substitution is frequently quoted as the central reason of Latin America’s crises in the 1980s. The stratagem had outsized harmful upshots on economic growth in the 1980s reacting to the 1970s and 1980s progress. However, in the mid 1990s, import substitution policies had slight hit in renovating Latin American countries into sellers of feigned products. In fact, the condition was even worse in 1980s, as anxieties about non-payment raised; mean yearly price rises climbed radically from 1980 to 1985. And the economic deformations linked with hikes in inflation are stern. From last 1990s, numerous efforts have been carried out to alleviate the dilemma related to Latin America’s huge outside debt. A few restructurings in the 1990s had no brunt or were untied almost immediately as they were brought in. Just the once recent economic development and dependable growth in input output, and output per person commences, it is liable to persist on a usual source and progress public’s being. It is constant with the world’s practice in the 80s and 90s era. For now, in the United States, the introduction of Information technology generated an innovative market that created the hardware and generated the software required to suit the ignition claim for these appliances that had grown to be reasonable to about everybody. That market substituted the previous; a belief of capitalist theory called creative destruction which envisaged that outcome, truly emerged to be operational, even as the economy appeared to be strong. Obstinately, United States government tax policy also offers inducements for U. S. multinational firms to set up abroad. In current tax laws, firms are allocated without letting up to suspend disbursing business revenue taxes on incomes made offshore. The suspension is fine in anticipation of these firms send back the incomes to the home, upon which occasion they are taxed at the typical business income tax charge. However the U. S. business income-tax charge is one of the biggest in the planet, there is an extremely well-built inducement for firms to reinvest those profits outside of the United States. As a result, United States Government; the Congress agreed to provide tax relief per annum, in order that firms could send back incomes back to the home at a lesser tax charge. Firms made it in having this 2004 tax break by saying that it would facilitate them to employ those incomes to invest in the home and make employments for US citizens. Certainly, its almost unfeasible to establish they performed the deed or not. The initial phases of globalization and outsourcing charge millions of U. S. manufacturing employments but different specialists declared us that this was nil to agonize about since they were blue-collar Rust Belt employments. United States of America was converting itself into an overhaul economy, and facilitated all along by the Information technology. Internet tune-ups, cutting-edge research and growth made the transparent, high-paying employments that kept U. S. ahead in the current era. However, supporters of globalization disagree that outsourcing millions of mechanically transportable service jobs will decrease rates and increase productivity in the U. S. Except the assets of globalization dont seem so gentle from the perspective of an American computer analyst or auditor. They have performed what they were expected for but their effort was obstinately spoilt when the home employers hired overseas staff working so cheap. When lucrative manufacturing and service jobs shift abroad, relocated American employees are frequently obliged to accept low pay jobs and upward mobility. Paradoxically, at the instance millions of jobs are being outsourced and millions of unlawful migrants are overflowing into the U. S. , to get away form their domestic scarcity and joblessness; hence purely spoiling U. S. internal economy. Ironically, the good news is that, while United States governed Congress helped out to generate this chaos with poor economic and foreign policies, she can assist to overcome it. Still, U. S. is the best-positioned to make sustainable advantage of the growing world economy in the global marketplace. Modern economic trends, together with a huge trade shortage, on its last legs of norm revenues, comparatively weak job growth, have been to state the slightest rather intimidating. However there is one thing encouraging, the strong growth of productivity in the U. S. Commencing in the mid-1990s, productivity has recovered after 20 years of comparatively meager presentation. Regrettably, economists have hardly any solutions for progressive economic growth, as conservative neo-traditional growth forms pay no heed to technological modernization. On the contrary, a neo-Schumpetarian examination proposes that the revitalization and immobility of productivity are tied to the materialization and succeeding collapse of new techno-economic manufacture procedures. While an old economy attains its perimeters from the perspective of innovation and the dispersal of the technology structure, it grows to be ever more intricate to spin out productivity growth. Just after an innovative technology system suits reasonably priced as much as necessary and invasive adequate is it capable to rejuvenate the engine of productivity patterns. This examination recommends that though the modern information technology based technology system is probable to prolong to impel strong productivity growth for at any rate the coming 20 years, an innovation-exhaustion hold up may be very soon above the prospect. In fact, IT is really improving productivity, however merely in peculiar segments. Since the 1990s, productivity grew 1. 1% per year in segments spending greatly in computers and about 0. 35% in segments spending less. During 1990 and 2003, productivity growth in IT-exhaustive production averaged 3. 03% per annum, in contrast to just 0. 2% per annum in less-IT-exhaustive industry. In effect, the increase in mechanical automation was the really enormous growth of the economy of the era. Since many economists declare that globalization and technology have merged to generate up-to-the-minute tenets for the U. S. economy. However this economist considers old economics still offers the unsurpassed elucidation for current happenings. However, the new-economy model is not only a design that is obviously cleared by a particular economist and an extensive choice of thoughts descends below the new-economy streamer. Relatively than reviewing the concepts of a range of new-economy researchers, the subsequent argument assembles the thoughts into three extensive reports of the new economy; a long-run-growth, a sources-of-growth version, and a business-cycle version, which reveal the combined concept of several economists. Even as these reports disagree in particular calculations and inferences; butt all contribute to a widespread center that constructs them ingredient of the new-economy structure. In the past few years, the U. S. conomy has gained from a pointed deterioration in oil and commodity costs, a well-built American dollar, a tendency on the way to handled concern and reserved health-care prices, an impartial budget, and a fall in military expenses. Each one of these transient causes may have assisted the economy and guided to the unforeseen blend of falling inflation and unemployment rates. While distinguishing between temporary factors and structural changes, it is a hard chore that entails cautious empirical analysis and, additionally significant is a lengthier instant sequence of information. Simply by scrutinizing unemployment and inflation under a broad variety of economic circumstances for several years will it be achievable to wrap up if a structural change has in fact risen? Fast track and fiscal policy for the International Monetary Fund are merely fractions of a better scheme the United States Government must create to facilitate its citizens retain their leadership in what is, incontrovertibly, an accurately global economy. Moreover, the Federal Reserve should reduce interest rates, at this time sprinting at approximately four times the rate of inflation, with no less than one-half of 1%. Moreover, Conformist economics observes economic growth as a consequence of input accumulation and technological growth in a world of nearly invariable come backs to level. At the same time, there is a little argument about how to determine inputs and how to describe technological growth, there is an agreement that a great deal of economic growth engages trade-offs, such as increasing capital means investment, forgone consumption and savings, though increasing labor input needs education expenses and relinquished freedom. Whichever unsolved growth is branded the input of total factor productivity (TFP), also called the famous Solow residual, which reveals technical progress, improved efficiency, spillovers, scale economies, demand side policy, pull inflation and so on. Countless economic studies of foreign direct investment center on the features of the companies in creating its resolution to spend overseas. While the rest employ features of host nations as independent variables, that U. S. oreign direct investment runs to Europe contain such independent variables as growth of market size and size in host countries, levels of protectionism in host countries, and capital control programs of the U. S. Government. The causes for the disparity in corresponding the employment and productivity growth amid the two regions may be vibrant, except mostly dialogue they go down into three types. At the outset, the expansion of the pay, the rental ratio is a typical macroeconomic elucidation for modifications in labour and capital intensity influencing the employment growth productivity. During the 2000-s, pay control and active labour market policies elevated labour force membership statistics in Europe however, simultaneously decreased the growth of labour charge comparative to the capital cost. The quicker employment growth but lower growths of labour productivity are probable consequences of these policies of the U. S. Government. Seeing the initiation of the global economy and amplified tax competition, businesses and other shareholders employ geographically fungible capital to reduce their tax charges by shifting their assets to lower tax regions. Hence the capacity for capital flight compels limitations on the point of taxation that in order compels fiscal discipline on the U. S. Government. However the normative economic research have demonstrated that the optimal tax rate on capital is zero, while the optimal tax rate on labor is positive, proposing that the expressive decline of taxes on capital, during tax competition, would offer wide-reaching advantages in the global market. In addition, in a more competent market, investment will be owed more effectively, escorting to worldwide welfare profits in the all-embracing race. The interconnected concepts comprise nonlinear growth once a critical mass is attained, worthy rounds of positive feedback in manufacturing and communal firms for example Silicon Valley, and declining costs and amplified excellence by means of technology and scale economies. These concepts are not new-fangled to conservative US economics; however the new economy offers them far better magnitude and looks them as the dynamic energy of growth economy-wide (Fretz, 4-15). The recent facts propose that it is yet excessively untimely to let know if a new economy has actually materialized. The new economy is resolutely constructed on the supposition of structural changes in the economy; however there is just not sufficient information yet to differentiate elemental transformations from unconventional accounts, for example transitory shocks can escort to the identical upshots. By building up these concepts at this instant, economists and policymakers would be capable to come to a decision if there truly is a new economy in the United States

Themes In The Novel The Tortilla Curtain English Literature Essay

Themes In The Novel The Tortilla Curtain English Literature Essay Boyles The Tortilla Curtain is a well woven literary piece that proves to be the best and the most successful of all his novels in history. Looking at his style of writing, he knits together illegal immigration, poverty, social class, racism, the American dream and xenophobia into a highly contrasted society that runs deep into the veins of the 21st Century America. Most publicists and scholars as well as critics have posed Boyles novel, The Tortilla Curtain as a timely provocative account that vividly highlights the immigration events in central California. Following this stance, Boyle had a purpose of writing this book and its success is dependent on the nature of understanding of his writing by the readers. The success of any literary piece is guaranteed if the writer achieves the unity of thought. This implies that the main reasons why the author wrote the books are communicated to the reader; the same understanding of the book is shared between the author and the reader. This co ntext seeks to analyze symbolism and the major themes that Boyle portrays in The Tortilla Curtain. The protagonists in this novel form the key focus in the analysis of the themes and symbolism used. The story entails two families that belong to the low class and the middle class in the society. The poor family consists of illegal Mexican immigrants (Candido and Amà ©rica) and the rich family (Kyra and Delaney) who are a real estate agent and columnist in an environmentalist magazine respectively. The setting of the novel portrays a man eat man society whereby the middle class care less about the low class. The story is woven from the two families that are intertwined from the time when Kyra has an accident which involves Candido, the poor man. The American Dream encompasses the belief that as long as one enters America and works hard, success is inevitable. This is a mere illusion as Candido and Amà ©rica remains the poorest in spite of their hard work. The middle class family works less yet they have a better life than those who work tirelessly. It is inevitable that everyone aspire good life and this is the reason why immigrants moved into the United States. Each of them had their share in making the American dream come true regardless of the hardships that they have to go through. The dreams of the two couples are varied but they both find nothing but illusions in their dreams at the end. It all matters where they are and what they want to achieve and since none achieves, then the American dream to them is just but an illusion. The aspect of class and racism will be discussed together in this analysis. The gated community where Kyra and his family live creates a gap between the haves and the have-nots. It does not only tear the middle and low class apart but also portrays racism between the whites and other ethnic minorities such as the Mexicans in the United States. At first Delaney, is a liberalist who believes in equal opportunity. This is evidenced in his quote that, everyone deserves a chance [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] immigrants are the lifeblood of this country (p.101). However, this is blurred by his concern on the environment over the starving immigrants (the poor) as he quotes,chewing up resources of the planet like locusts (82). The contempt and atrocity of racists is shown in Delaney when he hits Candido with his car and pays off a bloody $20 bill (13). Candido decides not to call the police because he knows that he is in the country illegally: On the other hand, Melaney hesitates to call the police beca use he only hit a Mexican forgetting that he had committed a crime. The$20 bill is an insult and serves as a bribe to blackmail the poor man to remain silent after the ordeal. In support of this, Jack who is an attorney is portrayed as a racist as he supports the stone wall construction and the gate. He fails in his duty to reinforce the law in the knowledge of a crime already committed. The attitude and fear they have on Mexicans is purely on the segregation of the Mexicans as shown in his quote, You want another crazy Mexican throwing himself under your wheels hoping for an insurance payoff? (102). This leads to the next theme; xenophobia. By definition, xenophobia is the feeling of hatred and fear that is experience by the citizens of a country when immigrants sets foot in their land. Though the immigrants are feared to be criminal, the actual perpetrators are inside the wall that was built. They are afraid of competition from the immigrants. They understand that the immigrants have the potential yet they will not give them equal opportunities as the citizens. Instead they exploit their vulnerability by paying low wages for work so that they can make huge profits. This portrays them as selfish. In addition, they are criminals who are perceived as honourable members of the society. They thus use the power gained to discriminate against the ethnic minorities. Work should be a move to improve the living standards of the employees and therefore people of true spirit care about their employees welfare. Immigration as a theme is portrayed as illegal in the timeline of this novel. This can be coupled by the theme of poverty as it comes out best together. Further in this novel, the coyote symbolizes the immigration. The exploitation of labor for the poor as shown by the low wages paid to Candido is one instance of immigration and poverty. Though they knew that they deserved better, they had no option but to work and earn the meagre wages for survival. They couldnt talk about it for the fear of the repercussions from the illegal immigration. Poverty is again witnessed when Socorro, Candidos daughter is born and is suspected to be blind but they cannot face the problems due to poverty. In another instance of poverty, Candido robbing in the city leads to feeding from trash cans to avoid starving. This shows how the society doesnt care for the poor. This is the lowest form of poverty that one can live in; its far beyond the international poverty line that projects that the poorest homeste ad spends at least $1 a day. Again, it shows the realities of life in the modern era where civilized is highly upheld. What is civilization when the country is symbolized by coyotes? This leads us to the use of symbolism in this novel. In the analysis of symbolism, coyote is the most prominent and a motif that recurs throughout the novel while at the same times the strongest representation of the immigrants in this analysis. Immigration is portrayed as a monster in America in the case where the Mossbachers two dogs are feasted by the wild animal. Though a fence is built such as that at the US-Mexican border, they still penetrate (Boyle 39). Delaneys column coyote experiences are brought in this view as he quotes, One coyote, who makes his living on the fringes of my community [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] has learned to simply chew his way through the plastic irrigation pipes whenever he wants to drink.(212): This symbolizes Candido who steals water and other basic requirements for his family just like the coyote does to the dogs. In addition, Delaney quotes that, The coyote is not to blame-he is only trying to survive, to make a living, to take advantage of the opportunities available to him (215). This also applies to Candid os way of life: He takes up any opportunity that comes to his way such as the case of the Turkey offer and he doesnt care what the society thinks of him. He is forced to do so for survival and he again resembles the coyote. Think of this: no house and camps in a canyon, digs in garbage in search for food, intrudes on other peoples property for survival; is this not exactly the way a coyote lives? Candido, an illegal immigrant, is not welcome in the city just like the hunted coyote. In addition, Josà © Navidad backs on the symbolic coyote; he is portrayed as the bad guy. He rapes women and survives by intruding on other peoples property. It is more interesting when Candido feels that his space is intruded by Josà © Navidad as quoted, Now he had to worry about this stinking crack-toothed pendejo nosing around down in the canyon, as if he did not have enough problems already (90). The nature of house where one lived defines the class and the achievement of the American dream. The low class live in simple houses that were self made and others were homeless while the middle class lived in fenced houses. Following this, the wall as a symbol of separation between the two classes was constructed. From a general stance, a wall serves as a physical barrier between two parties. In reference to the case at hand, the wall is used metaphorically to keep the two cultures apart. Though the fences have been put in place and failed to serve the purpose it is inevitable that the illegal immigrants will continue to find their way through the US-Mexican border into America in search of success and the achievement of the American dream. Those who live inside the wall that is, the middle class and those who live outside the wall, the low class are separated by the wall. The wall also symbolizes the great fear that the Americans had for the Mexicans. The wall is a symbolic device for creating gaps between the haves and the have-nots but this is not the solution to the problems which they perceive to emanate from the Mexicans. As the poor struggles with their lives outside the wall, the haves are also affected as well though they wont admit it. This is demonstrated when Candido roasts the bird pack given to him by a Turkish customer after a promotion thanks giving (an act of kindness from the customer), it causes fire which extends to the gate community of the haves. In conclusion, Boyle portrays Americas life a struggle and survival for the fittest. The smartest in adopting and coping with the changing face of America survives. Symbolism comes out as the main stylistic device that was used by the author to complete this well thought literary piece. Through the use of imagery and excellent choice of diction, he voices out the realities of immigrants without sounding rude and offensive. The themes discussed in this novel fit in the contemporary literature: The modern United States is still fighting illegal immigration, poverty, social class and racism. Its current economy is at threat as more immigrants gets their way in America and floods the job market and exert pressure on the natural resources (Stringer x). The American dream and xenophobia are still eminent given the adverse effects of immigration on the economy, the environment and social amenities. Boyle book exhibits powerful mastery of literary techniques which leaves the reader pondering on the immigrants situation in the United States more so for those who have future prospects of living and working there. He shows that America is tattered with poverty in the midst of the vast development, hence the economic disparities that are the norm in the global economic arena. Work Cited Boyle, Coraghessan. The Tortilla Curtain. London: Penguin Books, 1996. Stringer, Jenny. The Oxford companion to twentieth-century literature in English. United States: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Wire Metamaterials-Based Microring Resonator

Wire Metamaterials-Based Microring Resonator Wire Metamaterials-Based Microring Resonator in Subwavelength Structure Ahmed A. Ali, Mohanned J. and A. H. Al-Janabi Abstract In this work we present the possibility of building a subwavelength microring resonator by manipulating the unite cell in the wire metamaterials. The proposed structure consist of mesh of copper wires. Firstly linear waveguide, bended waveguide as well as beam splitter were investigated at microwave range (737 MHZ), then the full structure of microring resonator were tested using commercial finite difference package CST Microwave. Introduction Natural materials are made up by lots and lots of small elements like atoms and molecules. Some of these materials are amorphous, others are crystalline [1]. Our main interest is in the interplay of waves and materials restricted to classical physics, the key parameter is a/ÃŽ », where a is the distance between elements in the material and ÃŽ » is the free-space wavelength. Artificial materials in which atoms and molecules are replaced by macroscopic, man-made, elements [2]. All dimensions are bigger than those in natural materials. When the separation between the elements is comparable with the wavelength then we have the Bragg effect [3][4], and when the separation is much smaller than the wavelength then we can resort to effective-medium theory [4]. In the former case we have talked about photonic bandgap materials [5] and in the latter case about metamaterials [6]. Generally, PCs are composed of periodic dielectric or metallo-dielectric nanostructures that have alternating low and high dielectric constant materials (refractive index) in one, two, and three dimensions, which affect the propagation of electromagnetic waves inside the structure [7]. Due to this periodicity, PCs exhibit a unique optical property, namely, a photonic band gap (PBG) where electromagnetic mode propagation is absolutely zero due to reflection. PBG is the range of frequencies that neither absorbs light nor allows light propagation. By introducing a defect (point or line or both) in these structures, the periodicity and thus the completeness of the band gap are broken and the propagation of light can be localized in the PBG region. Such an outcome allows realization of a wide variety of active and passive devices for signal processing such as, add-drop filters, power splitters, multiplexers and demultiplexers, triplexers, switches, directional couplers, bandstop filters, bandpass filters, and waveguides. However, because of their wavelength-scale period, PCs result in large devices. This seriously restrains the range of applications, specifically in the low-frequency regimes where the wavelength is large. Metamaterials, on the contrary, possess spatial scales typically much smaller than the wavelength1 Since they were theoretically proposed by Pendry et al [8], and experimentally demonstrated by Smith et al.[9], metamaterials have attracted intensive research interest from microwave engineers and physicists in recent years because of their wide applications in super-lenses [6], [10], slow light [11], [12], optical switching [13], and wave guiding [14], [15] Metamaterials are usually studied under the approach of the effective medium theory and experimentally measured from the far field [4]. They are mainly considered for their macroscopic properties owing to the subwavelength nature of their unit cells. Recently, Fabrice Lemoult et al [16] have merged the wave guiding possibilities offered by PCs and the deep subwavelength nature of metamaterials by focusing on the propagation of waves in metamaterials made of resonant unit cells that are arranged on a deep subwavelength scale to go beyond the effective medium approximation. By manipulating the unit cell of the wire they were able to experimentally investigate the main components that can be used to control waves at the deep subwavelength scale: a cavity, a linear waveguide, bending as well as the beam splitter Here we were be able to model their system first using the CST Microwave studio. Then we would expand the work to built a ring resonator used as add-drop filter or to built the field up to gain the nonlinear effect. Firstly the frequency response for the system were measured for a mesh of 20*20 Copper wires with 0.3cm diameter and 1.2cm separation 40cm (a) and length by measuring the S21 between two discrete ports position on the opposite side of the system, as shown in the system configuration figure (1), then the result were compared with the same structure but with 37cm length as shown in figure (2). figure (1) structure for the system under consideration, 20*20 Copper wires Figure (2) S21 for the both wire lengths with the frequency selective line The scanned bandwidth was about 300MHz from (600-900) MHz, then a certain frequency (737MHz) were selected on which the short wires (37cm) would have maximum transmission and the longer ones (40cm) wires would have the lower transmission (band gap region slightly above the resonance frequency of fn=nC/2L, were n: an integer C: speed of light, L:wire length). Linear waveguide were investigated by shorting a single raw of wires (37cm) inside the 20*20 mesh of (40cm) wires and recording the field propagation on the waveguide as shown in figure (3), profile of the signal inside the waveguide illustrated in the inset give the waveguide width of ÃŽ »/32 Figure (3) subwavelength waveguide by shorting one row of the wires It clearly shows the weak propagation on the system due to weak interference between our unit cell, wires here,. Anyhow the counter plot for the waveguide, shown in figure (4), clearly shows the resonance around the short wires and forbidden propagation around long ones. Figure (4) subwavelength waveguide by shorting one row of the wires (contour view) To enhance the coupling between the unit cells (wires here) and increase the waveguide efficiency two adjacent rows of wires were shortened. The field map for the latter case were presented in figure (5). Figure (5) subwavelength waveguide by shorting two rows of the wires (showing good coupling) Bended waveguide and beam splitter were simulated also as shown in figures (6 and 7) respectively. Figure (6) subwavelength bended waveguide Figure (7) subwavelength beam splitter Finally, the complicated structure of microring resonator were molded as shown in figure (8) Figure (8) subwavelength ring resonator References [1]N. D. Ashcroft, NeilW. and Mermin, Solid state physics, First. Orlando, FL: Saunders College Publishing, 1976. [2]D. Smith, W. Padilla, D. Vier, S. Nemat-Nasser, and S. Schultz, â€Å"Composite medium with simultaneously negative permeability and permittivity,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 84, no. 18, pp. 4184–7, May 2000. [3]C. J. Humphreys, â€Å"The significance of Bragg’s law in electron diffraction and microscopy, and Braggs second law.,† Acta Crystallogr. A., vol. 69, no. Pt 1, pp. 45–50, Jan. 2013. [4]B. A. Slovick, Z. G. Yu, and S. Krishnamurthy, â€Å"Generalized effective-medium theory for metamaterials,† Phys. Rev. B, vol. 89, no. 15, p. 155118, Apr. 2014. [5]S. Arismar Cerqueira, â€Å"Recent progress and novel applications of photonic crystal fibers,† Reports Prog. Phys., vol. 73, no. 2, p. 024401, Feb. 2010. [6]J. B. Pendry, â€Å"Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect Lens,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 85, no. 18, pp. 3966–3969, Oct. 2000. [7]E. Yablonovitch, T. Gmitter, and K. Leung, â€Å"Photonic band structure: The face-centered-cubic case employing nonspherical atoms,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 67, no. 17, pp. 2295–2298, Oct. 1991. [8]W. J. Pendry, J.B.; Holden, A.J.; Robbins, D.J.; Stewart, â€Å"Magnetism from conductors and enhanced nonlinear phenomena,† IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 47, pp. 2075–2084, 1999. [9]S. Shelby, R.A.; Smith, D.R.; Schultz, â€Å"Experimental verification of a negative index of refraction,† Science (80-. )., vol. 292, pp. 77–79, 2001. [10]N. Fang, H. Lee, C. Sun, and X. Zhang, â€Å"Sub-diffraction-limited optical imaging with a silver superlens.,† Science, vol. 308, no. 5721, pp. 534–7, Apr. 2005. [11]Q. Bai, C. Liu, J. Chen, C. Cheng, M. Kang, and H.-T. Wang, â€Å"Tunable slow light in semiconductor metamaterial in a broad terahertz regime,† J. Appl. Phys., vol. 107, no. 9, p. 093104, May 2010. [12]R. Singh, C. Rockstuhl, F. Lederer, and W. Zhang, â€Å"Coupling between a dark and a bright eigenmode in a terahertz metamaterial,† Phys. Rev. B, vol. 79, no. 8, p. 085111, Feb. 2009. [13]H. Kind, H. Yan, B. Messer, M. Law, and P. Yang, â€Å"Nanowire Ultraviolet Photodetectors and Optical Switches,† Adv. Mater., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 158–160, Jan. 2002. [14]A. Wang, A. Tuniz, P. G. Hunt, E. M. Pogson, R. A. Lewis, A. Bendavid, S. C. Fleming, B. T. Kuhlmey, and M. C. J. Large, â€Å"Fiber metamaterials with negative magnetic permeability in the terahertz,† Opt. Mater. Express, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 115, Apr. 2011. [15]A. Argyros, â€Å"Microstructures in Polymer Fibres for Optical Fibres, THz Waveguides, and Fibre-Based Metamaterials Open Access Library.† [Online]. Available: http://www.oalib.com/paper/2813112#.U_EI7mPFNDQ. [Accessed: 17-Aug-2014]. [16]F. Lemoult, N. Kaina, M. Fink, and G. Lerosey, â€Å"Wave propagation control at the deep subwavelength scale inmetamaterials,† Nat. Phys., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 55–60, Nov. 2012.

Rudolph Christian Karl Diesel :: essays research papers

Rudolph Christian Karl Diesel Rudolph Diesel was born on March 18, 1858 in Paris. On September 4, 1870 Rudolph's family moved to England. In late November they decided it would be better for Rudolph to continue his schooling in Germany so he moved there on his own and stayed with a young professor. The problems Rudolph was trying to solve were the noise, size and unreliability of the steam engine. he wanted to create something that superheated ammonia gas could take the place of steam in a steam engine. He wanted to enable much higher compression pressures to be used than was able with conventional steam engines. In this way he could make greater use of heat energy. Rudolph was 32 when he finally accomplished his goal of creating the first ever Diesel Engine. To create the Diesel engine which made Rudolph famous he had to take the original steam engine and give it exhaust valves water cooling for the cylinder head and barrel and a compressed air fuel-injection system to ensure that the liquid fuel was forced into the combustion space with sufficient pressure to overcome the air in the cylinder. This basic idea of how to go about creating the engine was modified and improved many times before finally prefected in 1896. To do this Rudolph had to have a great understanding of Thermodynamics. He had to know basic principles of engines and how they work. Rudolph got help from many people. Some of the people that helped him are Machine-fabric Augsburg, Gasmotoren-Fabric Deutz and Mannesmann-Werke. It took them six years to finish the Diesel Engine. It was important because it gave a new and easier way of using engines. It gave a way for large vehicles to transport goods safely.

Person Essay On Charles :: essays research papers

Person Essay on Charles As a handsome 5' 10" male with dark hair spiked in the front, and the most engaging smile approached my desk , I knew I would be laughing shortly. Charles walked up to my desk in Human Biology while we were dissecting eyeballs and commented on my eyeball. "You seem to have a better eyeball than I do." Many people wouldn't have taken this situation so lightly but because of Charles's sense of humor being around him was guaranteed to be fun. With his feigned itching disease, his crazy antics, or his practical jokes my friend Charles's sense of humor has taught me not to take life so seriously and have fun anywhere and everywhere. I first met Charles at Dans, a mutual friends, party, where he told me he had an I itching disease. He was drinking beer and I had cranberry juice with vodka, and since we drove we had to spend the night. So around 3:30am we got tired and went to lie down. As soon as we laid down Charles asked if he could take his shirt off and if I would scratch his back. I told him sure. So he did and that's when he told me he had an itching disease and I wouldn't be able to stop scratching his back until it stopped itching him. Well, with a little alcohol in me I believed him. I laid there for 2 Â ½ hours before I realized he had fallen asleep and went to sleep myself. On Monday on school I saw Charles and asked him how his itching disease was. He just looked at me grinned and chuckled. That's when I realized he had pulled a fast one on me. It didn't take me long to realize that Charles had some crazy antics up his sleeve. At another party Charles, Lisa , Dan and I sat in a room talking. Lisa and Dan were drinking and were drunk. Charles and I were not. Dan started flipping out by yelling and screaming that the radio, which was on 2 at the most, was to loud. Charles knew that Dan was drunk and decided to play with his head. So Charles whispered into my ear that I should tell him I turned it down. So I did and Dan was ok with it. Charles and I were laughing hysterically because it was so much fun playing with these drunk friends. Charles didn't care what other people thought about him as long as he made people laugh. At a chorus concert one night our friend Lisa brought in her

Luxury Goods and Jewellery in India Essay

The VERTU originally started in 1998 in Great Britain, now wholly owned subsidiary of Finnish company Nokia. The same year founder and Chief Designer, Italian Frank Nouvo began putting his ideas for Vertu on paper and the board of Nokia gave the project a green light. Frank Nuovo was a design strategist at Nokia from 1995 to 2006, when he left to become Vertu’s lead designer full time. Also in 1998 the company made it a company principle of hand making their products with â€Å"exotic, rare and naturally durable materials†. In 1999, their characteristic V form was established, and it is still highly visible across the Vertu product portfolio. In 2000 Vertu began taking shape as a company, locating their headquarters in England, and started an extensive Research and Development- project and decided on some of the parts that would go into the phones as well as some design decisions, such as the use of sapphire crystals as a design-tweak. Three years in to operations, Vertu was granted the Vertu Concierge Service as a patent and this is still one of Vertu’s edges in the luxury cell phones market. Vertu launched what they themselves call the â€Å"†¦first ever luxury mobile phone† near the Eiffel tower in Paris in 2002, the Vertu Signature. With the first phones now available on the newly created market for luxury phones, Vertu also had the opportunity to offer one of their customers help through the concierge service, with a flight from London to New York. In 2005 10. 000 concierge requests was made according to Vertu, a figure that is, and should be (due to their customers privacy), hard to confirm. In 2003 they open their 50th retail location. By 2010, Vertu had more than 90 own boutiques and was sold in over 600 locations in almost 70 countries, worldwide, according to Nokia`s financial statement for 2010. In 2007 Vertu went on a joint venture with Ferrari, creating an special edition phone marking the car company’s 60th anniversary. CONCEPT AND UNIQUENESS The concept of Vertu is to appeal to high-end customers who look for something unique in their mobile phones. Through meeting target customers standards about design, materials, price and brand Vertu has created a market for luxury mobile phones. The additional services, such as the Vertu Concierge give customers an elevated experience. â€Å"Vertu aims to enhance and enrich customers’ lives through the services and products we offer. This enrichment will now further extend to the experience in our stores with a focused, tailored approach to customer interaction. † by Perry Oosting, President of Vertu BUSINESS STRATEGY Nokia’s first idea was to create a phone that was completely contrary to the company’s mass phone distribution and enter the luxury market by creating the subsidiary company Vertu. In order to keep the luxury image and status of Vertu, the phone was not associated with Nokia’s mass mobile phones. During the recession in 2009, the CEO Perry Oosting, announced that Vertu was launching cheaper phones and accessories as a tool to keep up the market shares and survive the recession. Late 2011, the new CEO of Nokia, presented the new strategy; to use a new operating system from Microsoft for their smartphones. This resulted in a giant downfall in market shares. As mentioned above, Vertu’s flagship stores are located at the most exclusive shopping districts, amongst other Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, in order to be associated with the same luxury atmosphere as the neighboring brands. Vertu also put a huge emphasis on the store layout, everything from special glass for the display cases, to the floor and lightening. For the ultimate luxury experience, they also provide high personal service with top skills. For the exclusiveness and status of the luxury phone, it was chosen to be launched in connection with fashion shows at Paris fashion week and was thereby becoming to be viewed as a fashion brand instead of a technology brand. This was a strategic move to strengthen the image if the brand. Vertu chose to launch their products in the BRIC countries, which consists of some of the most emerging markets in the world today. Additionally, the Middle East and Japan are also two extremely important markets for Vertu, partly due to the strong technology awareness in these areas. The sales in these countries are larger than in the western countries and the luxury company is exploiting the new wealth of the generations with high luxury awareness and taste. In order to gain greater market share in the British and Hong-Kong market, Vertu has numerous joint ventures and partnerships with jewelry stores, such as King Fook Jewelry in Hong-Kong and Goldsmiths in Harrods, London. â€Å"We understand communications technology. We believe now that we understand the luxury industry. It will take something for competition to match that. † – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu, 2002 MARKETING MIX Product: Vertu sells hand-made luxury phones made from fine materials like gold, platinum and sapphire. Along with every purchase the buyer receives superior service and is entitled to free ‘concierge’ service which assists users with exclusive services like restaurant and hotel reservations, priority bookings, and a global recommendation network. Price: Vertu prices range from $5,000 to over $300,000. The prices vary with the different collections and the materials that are used in them. Place: Vertu phones are selectively distributed. They are available at company-owned boutiques and at other various company-selected luxury stores like London Jewelers, Goldsmiths, Tourneau and Colette. Vertu locates its stores in luxury shopping districts of large metropolitan areas and opens relatively few stores. The stores are small, intimate and have a luxury feel more like that of a jewelry store than a cell phone store. All sale locations can be found on vertu. com. Promotion: Vertu acquires much publicity from sales to celebrities like David Beckham, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. As well Vertu has collaborated with big brands before like Ferrari, Boucheron and Audemars Piguet. Vertu releases different collections at different times and will only make a certain number of phones in order to keep a prestigious image and attract buyers. Vertu has a website for publicity which features product descriptions and photos of celebrities who own Vertu phones. POSITIONING. Vertu was a pioneer in the luxury cell phone market and has positioned itself as the top-of-the-line targeting high-net-worth individuals. Vertu accomplishes this by using only the finest materials to manufacture their products which are all handcrafted ensuring that every product is of perfect quality. Vertu will release different collections each featuring different materials and designs which make the collections unique and prestigious; their most expensive line ever was the Signature Cobra designed by Boucheron, only eight were made and they cost $310,000 each. Vertu will often collaborate with other luxury brands, like Boucheron, Audemars Piguet and Ferrari, to extend their success and name in the luxury product world. Vertu offers superior and personalized service to its clients, including a free concierge service anywhere in the world, guaranteeing customer satisfaction and loyalty. They also position themselves by showcasing the celebrities who own their products as an indication that their products are for the rich and famous. Vertu has locations all over the world in 70 countries however they open relatively few boutiques solely in luxury shopping districts of large cities and thus are considered selectively distributed. Vertu boutiques are decadent, small, intimate venues which offer personalized service to clients wishing to make a purchase; the other stores licensed to sell Vertu products are also luxury stores like Tourneau Watches and London Jewelers in the United States, Bandiera Jewelers in Canada, Colette in Paris and Ernest Jones in London. Vertu very successfully maintains a prestigious image with its ultra-luxurious products and superior service through its positioning. VERTU SERVICES VERTU brand offers services that are unique, independent and carefully customized to the particular needs and desires of their customers. All services are integrated into gadget. VERTU CONCIERGE Vertu Concierge is added directly to the customer`s handset, offering luxury assistance and enrichment. The service is offered by voice call or email, and access through a dedicated key on the cell. At the moment of VERTU phone registration and activation of VERTU Concierge service, initial â€Å"fitting† call is proposed. It can be done immediately at purchase time or later up to client`s choice. The â€Å"fitting† call gives an opportunity to have full explanation of services offered by Concierge, as well as client can express her/his needs and desires which will be matched to this service. This includes the establishment of personal preferences, the range of the service they would wish and significantly, the sort of contact they wish to receive from Vertu. The Vertu Concierge Classic service offers the client with 24/7 access to a team of lifestyle managers, situated within a network of global centers covering all the main time zones including London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and San Francisco. Vertu Concierge also has managers on the ground in major destinations in order to create close relationships with specialist suppliers of goods and services specifically for Vertu clients. Many customers choose to use Vertu Concierge for their travel and lodging requirements as Vertu has protected exclusive opportunities for its clients. Vertu Concierge can contact the widest network of hotels, restaurants and airlines, and can as a result meet the exact preferences and expectations of their customers. Vertu Concierge clients may also ask for support with purchases ranging from small luxury items to accompaniments to their property range. Vertu Concierge is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese. Vertu Classic Concierge is included free of charge for one year from the date of purchase of a Vertu handset. VERTU CITY BRIEF. Vertu City Brief is a global digest of information covering more than 200 cities and destinations worldwide. Launched in September 2009, it is now one of Vertu’s most utilized services. Independently written for Vertu by experts in their respective fields, Vertu City Brief is available on Vertu handsets in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. Refreshed and updated on a regular basis, Vertu City Brief allows the user to hit the ground running on arrival in an unfamiliar territory or to explore new or exciting opportunities in their home town. If the customer does not see anything which exactly meets their requirements, Vertu City Brief is the perfect inspiration to begin a conversation with a Vertu Concierge Lifestyle Manager. VERTU SELECT Vertu Select delivers original articles selected to inspire, inform and entertain based on a user’s region, preferences and passions. Written by carefully selected global journalists, experts and organizations, the articles appear via the handsets RSS feed once a customer has registered their phone. Vertu Select is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. VERTU. ME Introduced with the launch of Constellation Quest in October 2010, vertu. me is a service that provides the user with a Vertu email account and effortless harmonization of the device’s lifestyle and business tools. Should the customer choose, the user’s emails, contacts, calendar and task information can be automatically synchronized with Vertu’s secure servers, giving the benefit of protected back up of their data. Vertu offers the consumer complete peace of mind. Should the handset be lost, this data can be retrieved and seamlessly downloaded to a replacement phone. The system also ensures that whenever the vertu. me account is accessed, whether from the phone, a home or office computer (PC and Mac) or via the web, this information is up to date. TARGET CONSUMER The Vertu mobile is a highly luxurious product, which doubtlessly is made to fit the extremely wealthy population of this world. The main customers are rich and found in the urban areas, who are constantly searching for the extraordinary products. Furthermore, their flagship- and department stores are situated in the finest areas, in order to attract the highly rich international shoppers. â€Å"These are people who buy the best quality watches, the best quality fashion devices† – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu The special features and services of the phone such as the â€Å"Vertu Concierge†, attracts customers who are constantly traveling worldwide – jet setters. The Vertu mobile was the first phone which was able function in over 180 different countries. This fact covered many needs and made it rapidly attractive for people who were constantly traveling such as celebrities and high ranked business people. In fact, Madonna, Beckham and Gwyneth Patrol were some of Vertu’s first users when it was launched. CONSUMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID Brand Salience For Vertu achieving right brand identity involves brand salience. People generally are not still aware of VERTU because it is relatively â€Å"young† brand and promotion is quite narrow. However their target consumer for sure can recall and recognize this brand. So conclusion here is that Brand salience is more depth than breadth. This basically means that even thou there are not yet many people knowing VERTU, but those who do , they know all insights of it, can easily recall it and understands what this brand is about. Brand Performance The product itself is at the heart of brand equity, as it is the primary influence of what consumers experience with a brand, what they hear about the brand from others, and what the brand can tell customers about the brand in their communication. Brand Performance relates to the ways in which the product or service attempts to meet customers` functional needs. This is on top level for VERTU brand. It is crucial to contribute to customers` desires, wants and needs. Vertu brand highly represents all what their HNWI customers want to have for paying a high price. The product is highly durable; it has distinctive logo, premium pricing and advanced technology in gadgets. Unique services provided for customers by VERTY also attributes to brand`s performance. Brand Imagery Another variable CBBE Pyramid is second type of brand meaning which involves brand imagery. Imagery deals with such a properties of a product, which meets customers` psychological needs. It is more about what people think of it, how they see it. VERTU`s imagery is extremely individualistic and stylish. When customer is buying VERTU cell he/she buys a beauty of it as well. As of VERTU`s customer has a strong judgment of a brand as high quality luxury product. Credibility is high and customer see VERTU as superior, advantageous brand. Brand Judgments Brand judgments focus upon customers` personal opinions and evaluation with regard to brand. This involves how consumer put together all from performance and imagery association to make kind of an evaluation. VERTU`s clients evaluate this brand as a high quality luxury brand. Brand Feelings This variable shows emotional response with respect to VERTU brand. It shows what feelings are evoked by the marketing strategy for the VERTU and how does it affect feelings about themselves and relationships with others. Customer of VERU is for sure status-conscious person. Customers of VERTU have a unique and warmth feeling about the brand. It can be exciting due to special relationship of beauty and technology in brand`s products. Customer feels it is trendy and relates to special status and therefore social approval. Customer feels high security within this brand due to all advantages provided. As VERTU makes consumer feel better self-respect, pride, fulfillment and accomplishment also occurs. Brand Resonance Final variable of pyramid shows brand relationships with a customer based on Salience, Performance, Imagery, Judgments and Feelings. As for VERTU even if general awareness is low the behavioral loyalty is very high, customer want to get back to this brand, consequently repeat purchase is possible. Brand loyalty is necessary but not sufficient for resonance to occur. Within VERTU brand customer is not returning to this brand again due to, for example, scarce of substitutes. VERTU attained their main goal- strong personal attachment to brand. It goes beyond of having just a positive attitude to view brand. Another important part of Resonance is active engagement. This probably is the strongest affirmation of brand loyalty. It occurs when client is willing to invest time, energy, money in to the brand. Constantly customers of VERTU are invited to special social events created by VERTU worldwide, and they are participating. Therefore VERTU has a very strong relationship with its customer. SWOT ANALISYS FOR VETRU STRENGHT * Masterpiece of design, engineering, and craftsmanship. * Was truly innovative pioneering brand * Strong reputation (Products have established strong reputation in their field) * Global expansion (Includes significant growth over last 10 years) * Customer service * Control of Quality(As produced just in one factory in England) * London Symphony Orchestra is creating ringtones exclusively for each model of Vertu WEAKNESSES * Extremely high production price (which leads to high product price) * Limited access as distribution is exclusive and limited (Missing opportunities for new customers) * Not able to buy online (More customers now go online). * Not enough technical innovation again (Many customers claim that gadgets are beautiful but not really practical) OPPORTUNITIES * E-business (launch â€Å"buy option† online) * Emerging markets * Mix VERTU styling with Nokia (in order to increase awareness ) * Change of consumer lifestyle (growing demand from young and senior people) THREATS * Increasing Quality of Competing Products and Number of those * Importance of counterfeiting (Chinese counterfeiting factories already picked up the idea) * Newer forms of luxury and innovation are constantly changing COMPETITORS. GOLDVISH Brand established in Geneve, Switzerland in 2003. Very Haut-Couture style but extremely not practical. Cells are difficult to buy, narrow distribution channel. View itself as a pioneering brand of luxury cell phone on official website which is obvious lie. The pioneering brand was VERTU. Only 3 lines of phones are developed since 2003. The most expensive gadget is â€Å"Le Millionaire† and it costs $1,000 000. MOBIADO Canadian-based manufacturer of luxury phones with modern minimalistic design launched in 2004. It has 3 main lines –Classic, Professional and Grand Line. Mobiado actively participates in social events in North America (such as Golden Globes and Couture Fashion Week in NY). The brand is not very popular in Middle East and Europe. Still Distribution channel is not wide enough. Price range is from $1,900 to $57,000 GRESSO Gresso is Russia-based company which started its activity in 2007, so it is the newest competing brand in luxury phones field. Gresso has 5 main lines and they also provide customized phone for their clients. But mostly popular in Russia and Vietnam, Ukraine and one distributor in USA so far, however it is compensated by their option to buy products online. For Gresso products price range is from $3,000 to $42,000. RECOMMENDATIONS Focused and customized segmentation is valuable in this market, so VERTU must continuously concentrate on their customers’ needs and desires. As any luxury company which faces constant global expansion it has to pay attention to counterfeiting problem. For example, Apple Inc. now faced big problem in China where whole Apple stores are opened and being â€Å"fake†. China already produces cheap unqualified cells, abusing the brand VERTU, so losses in long-run might be significant. VERTU must work on effective anti-counterfeiting strategy in order to preserve the â€Å"face† of the brand. During this study we have discovered that general awareness of the brand is still low, therefore VERTU might collaborate with mother-company Nokia in order to produce some kind of mix and make the brand more popular and easily recognized, as for example H&M and Roberto Cavalli collaboration. Vertu is constantly launching Limited Edition lines which are sufficient in this market, because â€Å"best consumer† wants something distinctive and really exclusive, and more important, the customer is ready to pay for that. Partnership with Ferrari, Boucheron and Ermenegildo Zegna increased popularity of the brand considerably. For that reason, we suggest VERTU to collaborate more also with fashion designers, thus gaining also â€Å"fashion† group customers. REFERENCES http://us. vertu. com/world-of-vertu/history/ http://i. nokia. com/blob/view/-/263802/data/1/-/form20-f-10-pdf. pdf http://www. cpp-luxury. com/en/vertu-lanseaza-o-gama-de-produse-mai-ieftina_444. html http://www. google. fr/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=vertu%20mobile%20strategy&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CGQQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered. mcgraw-hill. com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F007710708x%2F110214%2FGucciLouisVuitton_Vertu_CaseStudy. doc&ei=_GctT_WCE8HM0QWryK2tCA&usg=AFQjCNHW6_wzn1WCQxkM_OJSMTuizfXMcQ&sig2=MWFOk5Qo1sZB17F5_23Eew&cad=rja http://www. businessweek. com/globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb20071221_951028. htm http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm https://www. iveycases.com/ ProductView. aspx? id=52373 http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-services-overview/ http://mktg. uni-svishtov. bg/ivm/resources/CustomerBasedbrandEquityModel. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/ http://www. brandchannel. com/features_profile. asp? pr_id=61 http://www. prschool. ge/img/every_day/Fashion%20Marketing. pdf#page=155 http://www. zdnet. co. uk/news/desktop-hardware/2002/03/22/platinum-luxury-phones-have-no-competition-2107188/ http://www. goldvish. com/ http://mobiado. com/ http://www. gresso. com/ http://vertu.com/ http://www. linkedin. com/company/vertu/statistics. http://vertu. com/en/discover-vertu/history. aspx http://vertu. com/en/help-and-support/contact-vertu/where-to-buy. aspx http://money. cnn. com/popups/2006/biz2/cellphone/4. html http://www. allbusiness. com/retail-trade/apparel-accessory-stores-womens-specialty/4250840-1. html http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm http://www. unet. univie. ac. at/~a0025537/php/ABWLs/FK-Marketing/store3/Internet_Exercise_Vertu. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/.

How It Affects Economic Growth Essay

In my opinion, supporting and promoting IT investment is one of the best ways to promote economic growth and stability with minimal side effects such as inflation, and easily overcome hurdles like unequal income distribution. While I don’t think you can really influence people’s personal ownership of computers, I do believe that offering tax incentives for IT investment and development will increase overall GDP, lower unemployment, and ensure an economically stable future. First and foremost, investment towards information technology increases productivity, and makes workers more efficient in what they do. With more resources such as faster word processing, 3D Model Rendering, and instantaneous transfer of data over the internet, laborers in every facet of the economy benefit from technology and enjoy greater productivity as a result. This increase in productivity means more products and services are produced with less time invested, and this means that Gross Domestic Product can go up. Furthermore, GDP is often defined as a function of both Capital and Labor. It is widely acknowledged that GDP growth can be measured by K/L, or Capital divided by Labor. Clearly, then, if each worker is using a higher value of capital (here in the form of fancier computers etc), then GDP is sure to go up. The concern then becomes, â€Å"what about inflation?† Surely, if GDP goes up, inflation will follow, no? Not quite. The accompanying graph gives us a rough idea of why. This increased efficiency will shift the Philips curve inward, meaning that for every unemployment rate, there is less inflation. More IT investment will mean that we will require more service technicians, troubleshooters, software programmers, etc, and we will see unemployment go down. Also, with more children learning about IT, they will also be more likely to get jobs when they grow up. When unemployment goes down, though, we typically see that there are less available â€Å"desperate† workers, and thus workers will have more power to bargain collectively. They will get wage increases, which will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices on final goods and services. This is offset by increased efficiency, as it takes less worker hours to make those products and services. As the Philips curve below shows us, the decrease in unemployment WOULD cause higher inflation, but because of increased efficiency, this change in inflation is offset. It is important to note the short run and long run effects of tax incentives on both the macro and micro levels. Here is a graph to get us started: We know that in the short run Demand shifts out as IT becomes more and more necessary. Supply shifts out because manufacturing costs go down, and thus existing firms will produce more at every price. These reductions to cost shift MC and ATC down; we don’t’ know how much each of these shifts is, though. We don’t know what P2 is, but we know that costs go down, so there is abnormal short term profit, and we know that each firm is going to produce more. In the long run, more firms will enter (shifting supply out further) until each player in the market is operating at their lowest cost on the ATC curve, which is the point where long run profits are equal to 0. We know that long run market quantity is greater because there are more firms in the industry, and we know that each firm produces in the long run what it did before all the shifts. Each firm is producing more in the short run than in the long run. Assuming that the government offers tax incentives to BOTH SUPPLIERS AND BUYERS of IT, we can expect to see the same demand shifts and supply shifts as we did in the 90s, when demand shifted out and the cost to produce came down. The tax rebates to suppliers means a reduction of cost (same as in the last example) and the tax rebates to buyers will make the price they have to pay lower, which will increase demand. One of the few drawbacks to the subsequent increased IT spending, of course, is the negative effect on the environment, as computers become obsolete quickly and are usually just thrown out. In my opinion, the environmental effect is definitely a huge drawback to increased IT investment. I believe that the government should give further incentives to companies who donate old or â€Å"B-stock† products to schools (preferably those in bad areas) or charities when they buy new ones . Donating these slightly flawed or last-year-model computers to schools would be an investment in human capital, which would increase GDP in future generations, as children become more tech savvy and productive with computers. Since the government is reducing the cost of production with tax incentives, I think they could get away by contrasting these incentives with slightly stricter environmental regulations as far as waste goes. They should set requirements on the packaging (which is created solely to be thrown out) that comes with IT goods, and should give even more incentives to companies that collect and recycle re-usable components such as circuit boards, plastic cases, and semiconductors – all components that are not biodegradable and are a large part of the junk filling our nation’s landfills. Another set of short and long term effects you must consider is the effect of tax incentives on those already involved in the market: IT workers. Again, we have a graph to help us visualize these effects. For this discussion, because of inflation, we must assume that we are talking in terms of real dollars, and that these wage prices are adjusted for inflation. In the 1980’s (short run), as IT became more important to industry, we see the demand curve for IT work shift outward, causing an increase in price and quantity as more qualified people started doing IT. In the long run, more competitors enter and the number of CS majors doubles; supply shifts outward, but we’re not sure by how much. We know that real wages go back down, but we don’t know if they are above, at, or below the original prices. We just know that they are decreasing, and that the overall quantity is much higher. The last major concern would be the â€Å"Digital Divide† – the concept that low income families do not use computers and thus are isolated from their potential benefits. This â€Å"digital divide† essentially means that poorer families have less access to the computer and tech skills to compete in the modern job industry, such as word processing and online research. They also have less access to online educational resources, and thus have less human capital. This means they are less likely to rise out of poverty, and are at a disadvantage. Those fortunate enough to be able to afford computers & internet access will get more educated and richer, and those who are not fortunate enough get poorer. I personally am against racial discrimination in all forms, and I think targeting out minorities and saying â€Å"here, you need a computer† is wrong. I do, believe, however, that there should be some sort of program to give less fortunate children of all ethnicities the IT skills and access to computers that they will need to function in the modern labor market. This is where my idea of offering tax incentives to companies that donate â€Å"last year model† computers to charities or schools in bad neighborhoods could really benefit these people and help them accumulate human capital. I think that offering tax incentives to people who put computers in their home will be too difficult to manage, and I also think that in many cases, people without the means to get a good job (no technical background) will not be able to afford a computer either way – thus, it’s a vicious cycle. Additionally, I think people who can’t afford $40/mo for DSL are in this predicament because they don’t have technical skills, and thus, probably don’t value technology as much as they should. They probably still won’t be interested in broadband. I think the president’s broadband initiative should focus more on getting faster internet and more technical training into schools, so that the next generation, who still has the desire and patience to learn about computers, can do so at an early age. Overall, you can see that there is a long list of benefits, and a short list of easily overcome problems with increased investment. In fact, even the Fed benefits. Normally, increased investment would make the Fed have to increase interest rates to prevent inflation and â€Å"cool off† the economy. IT is unique, however, in that it also provides greater efficiency, thus shifting the curve as discussed earlier. I would argue that it makes the Fed’s job easier – it’s promotes economic growth and employment, without jeopardizing economic stability. All in all, I say that giving tax incentives to producers and suppliers of IT goods and services is a great plan!

European EN and International ISO standards Essay

The abbreviations â€Å"EN† refers to European Norm while â€Å"ISO† refer to International Standards Organization. Endoscopy literally means â€Å"looking inside† and it is usually refers to look inside the body usually in relation to medical reasons using an instrument called an endoscope. It is used to examine the interior parts of a hollow organ or cavity of the body, and they are inserted directly into the organ. The endoscopes, especially flexible endoscopes are usually complex but can be reused but require very unique conditions for reuse in respect to their decontamination. It is not only their outer surfaces that are exposed, but also their air channels, water channels and even their accessories that enable them to function in the right manner. Their exposure to body fluids and other contaminants means that their reuse has to be very carefully looked into so as to avoid spread of diseases. It is also important to realize that most endoscopes are heat labile and cannot be autoclaved meaning they change under different heat conditions. European (EN) and International (ISO) standards that would be applicable to an endoscope decontamination unit (EDU) in the UK As abstracted from EN ISO 15883, information from the manufacturers should be given prior to purchasing the endoscope. This implies that the manufacturer provides information such the best disinfectants to use with that particular endoscope and what is expected when cleaning, for example the bacteria expected to be found there and also if the disinfectant in question is compatible with the automatic reprocessor in which it is being used. (Gurusamy Manivannan, 2008) As per BS EN ISO 15883-1, a temperature recorder having no fewer than ten sensors should be used, and the specifications are well indicated in the ISO standard. This is because the endoscopes are heat labile, and temperature may affect the chemical compositions of the accessories or other chemicals involved. The manufacturer should also establish the worst conditions under of the devices configuration. Such conditions encompass temperature, detergent concentration and surrogate device configuration. This also includes water flow pressure for use during testing. This may also be categorized in a similar manner as biocompatibility testing where limits such as residual limits are stipulated as per ISO 10993. (Denise Sheard, 20120 The calibrations should be checked in accordance with ISO 10012-1 for uniformity purposes. These are usually dictated by manufacturers using a validated method of applying a sensible reference. Each instrument should also be labeled with a unique reference number. This is important when measuring passage of fluids or drugs so as to get accurate and true results. The standard prEN ISO 15883-1-2004 has a clause that indicates that the manufacture shall all addition information associated with the use and decontamination of the particular endoscope. Information such as maximum flow and pressure of fluids within each channel in the device and the maximum possible permissible restriction of flow within each channel is deemed important and must be provided. (James Walker, 2014) There is also a standard similar to both that the manufacturers may be requested to give information concerning the device at any stage, and act as consultants. This is stipulated in prEN ISO 15883-1-2004. This is important when complications arise that personnel involved were not expecting References Gurusamy Manivannan, Disinfection and decontamination: principles, applications and related issues. Boca Raton : CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2008 Denise Sheard , A practical guide to decontamination in healthcare . Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. James Walker, Decontamination in hospitals and healthcare. Oxford: Woodhead Publishing, 2014 Source document