Emma Essays - British Films, Jane Austen, English-language Films

Emma Jane Austen's novel Emma is basically a biography. As Jane Austen matured through her childhood years, she acquired many talents which are reflected through the character Emma. Jane Austen lived in the popular image of Victorian society. Many critics agree that Jane Austen bases her novels on her own life. In the novel Emma Jane Austen portrays her life in a time of maturing through the main character Emma. In the early years of Jane Austen, her accomplishments and talents are then reflected in the character Emma. Austen as a child had an excellent talent for drawing, painting, playing the piano, and dancing. As in her novel Emma, the character Emma is very talented in these areas. Emma's expertise was in dancing; she absolutely loved it and was very good just as Austen (Parrish 340). Emma being the perfectionist that she was, always wanted everything ideal, and that goes back to Austen in her talents and everything she did. In the novel Emma, when Emma is asked to paint a portrait of her best friend Harriet for Mr. Elton, she wanted to perfect the artwork all the way down to the finest detail . Even when she thought she had a long way to go to finish it, Mr. Elton stopped her and said that it was perfect the way it was (43). Inevitably, Emma's life was based on the childhood and early years of Jane Austen's adulthood. Although part of the upper class society at an early age, Austen was not influenced by many of the contemporary novelists of that time (Parrish 343). As a child Austen was never around many people. She did not trust herself enough to speak unkind words to anyone, and she controlled her temper well (Parrish 340). She was essentially confined to her home and nearby areas. So everything Austen wrote or any idea she had was genuinely original and a homemade article (Parrish 343). Austen always delivered herself in a manner with great fluency and precision (Parrish 340). Once Jane Austen stated: "My greatest anxiety at present is that this fourth work should not disgrace what was good in the others" (Lauber 79). Austen was known for taking not of the behavior of mankind and a class of society, having a universality that makes them valid to modern times as well as the days of George III (Hardwick 11). In studying this behavior, Austen tries to identify her characters with those in her life, including herself mainly. Austen's ability to have consistency with perception and depiction of the people around her, and her occasional special touch of irony, makes her novels timelessly successful (Hardwick 11). Also, by her perceptive powers, as Virginia Woaf said: "Jane Austen was a mistress of much deeper emotion than appears upon the surface. She stimulates us to supply what is not there" (Hardwick 11). The image of the Victorian society in the minds of people is not the reality. It just happens to be that Jane Austen lives in what people believe the upper class Victorian society is. The popular image of this period was elegant, handsome men and women dressed in big fluffy dresses who went to balls and social events most of the time (Mitchell 1). Mainly these people inherited their wealth. Their daily lives consisted of having brunch everyday, long chats, playing cricket, and in the evenings had social balls. The upper class women painted, played the piano, had social graces, and most of the time had general knowledge of political events (Mitchell 7). The middle class women were usually a governess (Mitchell 7). As in Emma, Miss Taylor who later becomes Mrs. Weston was a middle class women, and she was the governess of Emma from the time she was a child till Miss Taylor was married to Mr. Weston (16). Basically, Jane Austen lived in this world. She shows this through the novels she writes. In her novel Emma, Emma meets with her best friend Harriet for brunch one morning to discuss the matter about Mr. Elton (69). Another time Emma throws a ball for Mrs. Elton and invites everyone to show that she does not despise Mrs. Elton (291). The reality of the Victorian society is that it was hard to make a living. Practically everyone except for the upper class had it bad (Mitchell 2). Men struggled to make enough money to support their families and provide food for their wives and children. They would work nonstop, and just barely have enough for the day or week

The Gain and Loss of Naming Essay Example

The Gain and Loss of Naming Essay Example The Gain and Loss of Naming Essay The Gain and Loss of Naming Essay What do we gain and what do we lose when we name something? When we name something, we are literally classifying that object or person and thus losing or manipulating the knowledge that surrounds its appearance, etc. By naming something (i. e. an object), we run the risk of not describing its appearance accurately and being misleading. An example of an object/product being deceivingly named is the Coca-Cola Companys alternative to the original version Diet Coke, formally known as Diet Coca-Cola (also known as Coca-Cola Light or Coke Light). By placing the word diet in the product name, it automatically seems like a healthier alternative to the original Coca-Cola. The difference between the two is that Diet Coke contains no sugar, instead an artificial sweetener called aspartame. Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame after the sweetener became available in the U. S in the 80s. However, to save money, this was originally in a blend with saccharin. Unknown to the public, saccharin was actually a by-product of coal tar and was extremely damaging to health with studies showing a correlation between saccharin consumption and increased frequency of cancer. However, saccharin is not the only unsafe sweetener present in Diet Coke; certain studies have shown possible connections between aspartame and negative effects such as headaches, brain tumours, brain lesions, and lymphoma. In actual fact, Diet Coke contains no calories and is thus considered healthy; but I would prefer the sugar-abundant original Coca-Cola. At least I can be sure that Im not running the risk of developing cancer from drinking coal tar. By naming something, we run the risk of losing the concept of what it actually is, and instead gaining the connotations surrounding the word in question. Human nature includes a natural urge to identify everything in our view, which means that there is no way to avoid naming everything around us. However, naming things is also beneficial as it enables us to make reason of something so that it makes sense. It is an easy way of categorising a large amount of information that can be easily recalled in our minds by the use of one word as opposed to a long-winded description of its appearance and/or historical background of how it came to be in existence. An example of this is the word pencil one automatically thinks of the ideas: writing instrument, long, thin, wooden, mechanical, lead. Then comes the word association: sharpener, eraser, ruler, pencil case, etc. All of these words are triggered by a memory recall initiated by the use of the original word: pencil. By using a single word, the object can be referred to with the least amount of effort involved. As for naming people newborn babies in particular giving them a name gives them a sense of being and an identity. With identity comes the feeling of self-awareness. Knowing who you are is necessary for success in the ruthless society of today, and the ability to be successful is dependent on the single achievement of this characteristic. By naming things, we both classify that object or person so that they are referred to with ease, but at the same time losing or manipulating the knowledge that surrounds its appearance. However, the gain outweighs the loss in this situation; even so, the characteristic of naming things is a fundamental human thing even if it incurred a loss, we would still do it.

Trends in the Global Emergence of Islamic Banking and Finance Essay

Trends in the Global Emergence of Islamic Banking and Finance Practices - Essay Example Global reach – First and foremost, the major trend in Islamic finance is geographical. There is a strong outward push of Islamic banks from predominantly Muslim regions to the Western world dominated by conventional institutions. For instance, in October 2003 the Bahrain Monetary Agency announced the move of Citi Islamic Bank and parent Citigroup to arrange a $250 million Sukuk (Islamic bond) issue for investors outside the Gulf. Nearly all the major international banks have set up Islamic-finance subsidiaries or units, such as Amanah by HSBC, Noriba by UBS, and so forth. Furthermore, in 2000 the Dow Jones established stockmarket indices tailored to Shari’a-compliant companies. Probably what has spurred the faster growth of Islamic banking is that Western institutions have themselves driven the development and acceptance of Shari’a banking products and services (Economist, 2003; Martin, 2005; Roane, 2007). Engineering of new finance modes – Initially, only Murabaha existed as the only mode of finance, mainly to finance imports and domestic trade, and ultimately giving rise to the momentum of establishing commercial Islamic banks. Later other instruments were devised, such as Ijarah for the purchase orderer and Salam to finance agriculture and light industries. Today, financial engineering is on the forefront of many financial institutions’ Islamic desks, in order to come up with Shari’ah based instruments that parallel conventional ones and which cater to the needs of not only Muslim but also non-Muslim institutions and individuals (Kahf, 2002). An example is the launching by Sharia Funds, an American institution, of the first hedge fund that was compliant with the Koran in December 2003 (Economist, 2004). Adoption of a uniquely Islamic audit culture and framework - One of the most critical areas where new practices may or have begun to evolve is in the field of accounting. Accounting practice and â€Å"audit cultures† are formed around conventional finance where interest is recognized as a necessary component of debt. With the growing acceptance and importance of Islamic banking conventions, there is a need for a rethinking of critical accounts (Maurer, 2002) and their definitions in accounting and auditing. Presently, the financial reportorial systems are highly attuned to the conventional methods of finance particularly in the treatment of liabilities and interest, and its view of risky assets. A new auditing system will need to evolve to address the special treatment of riba (interest) and gharar (risk) in the reporting of financial activities of institutions in the context of Islamic banking and finance. Adoption of a Shari’ah based legal framework – A major development in the adoption of Islamic finance and a certain sign of its widespread adoption is the move towards the establishment of a dispute resolution system that pursues a distinctively Islamic legal framework. Until recently, Islamic B&F disputes in developed countries sought recourse in the conventional courts which are not equipped to handle the special knowledge in shari’ah law which is required in adjudicating shari’ah compliant financial contracts and practices. For this reason, practitioners and scholars in Islamic law have begun exploring Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) what would be recognized under this legal framework. For a legal system to be set up to address these cases is

Business Models and Planning Chapter Questions Assignment

Business Models and Planning Chapter Questions - Assignment Example Typically, business models undergo significant adaptation to immediate business environments. This means that managers can employ an appropriate business model to counteract changes brought by actions of competitors and other market forces. Technically, business models strive towards maximizing profits by optimizing interrelatedness of production inputs. Practically, outcomes of adopting a given business model remains uncertain. Some model innovations may yield successful outcomes while others may lead to failure. Based on chapter 4 on business model innovation, it is undeniable that companies use different approaches in trying to increase profitability. Despite the immense competitive pressure exerted by active model innovations, most changes in those models are still radical as opposed to being specific2. In many cases, a firm may adopt a correct model but lacks technical framework of articulating the model’s principles into its marketing lines. One definite relation between model innovation and profitability features in the aspect of value proposition. Value proposition becomes instrumental whenever product and service firms understand essential behaviors of consumers in potential markets. All model innovation processes adopts the notion that value proposition plays a significant role in influencing consumers’ purchase decisions3. Inclusion of a concise and appealing proposition statement will not only attracts customers’ attention but also convince a new consumer into purchasing a product or service. In order to appreciate the importance of value proposition in marketing, one should acknowledge the influence exerted by service-profit chain. This chain establishes the relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability. Supposedly, model innovation aims at enhancing corporate profitability by addressing the needs of stakeholders, which in this context comprise

How has HSBC Chosen to Improve its Knowledge of Customers and Case Study

How has HSBC Chosen to Improve its Knowledge of Customers and Therefore its Decision Making - Case Study Example From this paper it is clear that by implementing a DSS the management will be more easy as all the information will be stored at one central database. The organization will be quite effective as data will be stored in a proper manner with not much redundant information. Last but not the least implementing a DSS in the organization will give HSBC an edge and will improve future decision making processes. The solution chosen by HSBC was quite optimal i.e. learning from its past experienced of Subprime mortgage crisis the availability and classification of vital data and information in a timely manner was necessary. Going for the implementation of a DSS will prove quite vital as it will help the managers in the future and provide them with information in concise and to the point manner with relation to the strategic goals of the company hence making the decision making process easier and more reliable. Does this Web site provide opportunities for HSBC to gather data about its customers? Describe the customer data collected at the Web site and explain how that data can be used to improve its business performance. Would you redesign the Web site to increase interactions with customers? The website can prove as a vital source for collecting data of HSBC customers. Firstly from the main website we can collect data that which customers prefer internet banking over conventional banking. Next customers of which country visit the main website in majority. Which specialist service of HSBC attracts most score of visitors. Average amount of time a user spends on the website to get his task done. Which news was found most interesting by the customers.

Strategic Human Resource Management And Assessment Centre Management Essay

Strategic Human Resource Management And Assessment Centre Management Essay Answer: Strategic Human Resource Management is the efficient way of organising the workforce by the implementation of a particular strategy, where employees performance can help to accomplish the planned organisational targets, such as increasing revenue or improving the profit margin. Strategic Human Resource management helps to recognise the business strategy that you can adopt. For example, you implement an effective training and performance improvement plan to improve customer service. More satisfactory customer service will bring in more revenue. It gives clear direction for a business, without strategic human resource management managers will be unaware about business goals, targets and competitors and it can give rise to uncertain environment. Strategic human resource management is also about considering the companys internal strengths and weaknesses. This is very important as the strengths and weaknesses of a companys human resources have a direct effect on the how a company will do in the future. 2.   Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using an assessment centre to select employees Answer: Assessment Centre is a process whereby a group of participants undertakes a series of job-related exercises under observation, so that skills and character persona can be assessed. Various methods of assessment may be used, including interviews, group discussions and group problem solving exercise. Assessment centres are used in selection for recruitment and promotion and in training and development, and aim to provide an organization with an assessment process that is consistent, free of prejudice, and fair. Assessment Centre brings about many advantages. It provides organisations with the opportunity to see how an individual performs in a work situation. It provides more in depth profile of a worker which can help an organisation to gain more knowledge about an individual. Assessment centres not only help the organization in placing the right candidate for the right job but also helps in developing the participants. When participants see others handling the same exercise di fferently, it gives them an insight into their own performance thereby raises the credibility of the selection procedure. Stimulations can also help to assess leadership skills. However some anticipated disadvantages of assessment centre could be: Assessment Centre requires highly skilled observers as the observers may bring in their own perceptions and biases while evaluating. Those who receive poor assessment might become de motivated and might lose confidence in their abilities. Assessment Centre is very costly and time consuming 3.   Explore the reasons why recruitment, selection and training costs are ‘one and a half to three times a persons salary Answer: Recruitment is best described as the way in which an organisation tries to source or attract the people from whom it will ultimately make selections. Recruitment strategies include efforts to reach better pools of candidates and to sell the organisation as an employer of choice. Selection is about choosing between job candidates. It is about how to make a fair and accurate assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of applicants and how to identify the candidate who is most likely to perform well in the job. Employment recruitment is composed of several stages: verifying that a vacancy exists; drawing up a job specification; finding candidates; selecting them by interviewing and other means such as conducting a psychometric test; and making a job offer. Effective recruitment is important in achieving high organisational performance and minimizing labour turnover. Employees may be recruited either externally or internally. Selection is a two way process and should be just as m uch about employees as the other way round. Employee needs to decide the company is a place they can work in. The company needs to decide the employees will fit within organisation, job and team itself or not.   The search of a perfect selection method continues. More attention is paid to the cost of the poor selection. It should be noted that in recruitment agencies are often used as they provide expert advice on how advertisements should be worded and where placed which tend to be very much expensive. There are direct costs of working with external agencies. Direct advertising cost, as local press, corporate website, specialist journals the costly as well. These are very real costs to the employers Administration costs that are sending out job information, letters, arranging selection events, etc. Managers time that is short listing, interviewing, selection, taking up references Training cost in order to ensure everyone has the necessary skills to recruit. Administration costs of new employee that is payroll, pensions, etc Recruiting from overseas that is employers looking for overseas staff and then by giving selected employees work visa and arrangements for their travel. After that their accommodation cost can be very much expensive. 4. Analyse the strategies a business can use to retain its staff Answer: Employee motivation and performance management depend on good systems that offer both financial and non-financial rewards (non-monetary rewards). In reality, despite the views of Herzberg that monetary methods of motivation have little value, firms still use money as a major incentive. There are a variety of payment systems that a business could use to motivate its employees. Some of the Financial rewards are: Share ownership: This is a common incentive for senior managers who are given shares in the company rather than a straight forward bonus or membership of a profit sharing scheme. It means that some staff is also shareholders. Because of share ownership the employees will work harder as they have a stake in the company, just like a shareholder has. Workers are less likely to leave the firm. Performance-related pay: This is paid to those employees who meet certain targets. The targets are often evaluated and reviewed in regular appraisals with managers. It is system that is being increasingly used in businesses in the UK. It is easier for managers to monitor and control their staff. It reduces the amount of time spent on industrial relations (negotiations with trade unions). Fringe Benefits: These are often known as ‘perks and are items an employee receives in addition to their normal wage or salary e.g. company car, private health insurance, free meals. It encourages loyalty to a company so employees may stay for longer and also it helps meet workers human and social needs. Piece-rate is paying a worker per item they produce in a certain period of time. It was recommended by the motivation theorist Taylor and had close links with working on production lines. It tends to increases speed of work and therefore productivity. Some of the Non financial rewards are: Job enrichment means giving workers more interesting, challenging and complex tasks. Workers should also be given the opportunity to complete a whole unit of work rather than individual separate tasks. This is motivating for several reasons as it gives workers the chance to test themselves and use their full range of ability it is more motivating as it increases the complexity or challenge involved in the task, rather than just simply providing more variety to the work. Workers should be able to obtain a greater sense of achievement and possibly more praise or recognition of their work when they have successfully completed a tougher task. Job enlargement means simply giving workers more tasks to do of a similar nature or complexity. This will reduce the monotony or repetition involved in a persons work but over time this will not increase a persons satisfaction or sense of achievement. Team working is where employees work in groups or teams. Thi s can meet a workers social needs as a person can more easily build friendships and feel a sense of belonging to a unit or group and hopefully to the business as a whole. This applies in much the same way as being a member of a sports team or any other team representing a school or college. A business can create a number of different types of team; examples include production teams (often known as cells), quality circles and management teams. Team working has other advantages to a firm over and above improving motivation. It can lead to greater flexibility of production, as employees are likely to be multi-skilled (able to do more than one persons job) as they have learnt from other team members or undertaken formal job rotation. This means they can cover any absences and can quickly adapt to a new production technique. Empowerment is like delegation. It is when power or authority is given to employees so they can make their own decisions regarding their working life. For instance w orkers have control over how to use their time and deciding the priority of tasks that need to be done. They are encouraged to consider problems they face and come up with some solutions. For empowerment to be successful, workers must have adequate training and/or good skill levels in order to be trusted to make the correct decisions. If they do not, then expensive mistakes can be made that could affect the whole business. It is the managers job to judge whether a subordinate can cope with more authority and decision-making power. It should be noted however, that even if managers pass down authority to their subordinates, they are still responsible for the work that is done by them. Essay:   5.   ‘Modern Organisations operate in increasingly dynamic and uncertain business  Ã‚   environments Does this reduce or increase the need for human resource planning?   Justify. (Word limit 1000 1500 words) Answer:   Modern Organisations operate in increasingly dynamic and uncertain business  Ã‚   environments this increases the need for human resource planning. Human resource planning has traditionally been used by organisations to ensure that the right person is in the right job at the right time. Due to Increase in environmental instability the need for Human resource planning in leading organisations has increased. It is the process by which management determines how the organisation should move from its current manpower position to its desired position. Through planning, management strives to have the right number and the right kinds of people, at the right places, at the right time, doing things which result in both the organisation and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefits. Currently human resource planning occurs within the broad perspective of organisational and strategic business planning. It involves forecasting the organisations future human needs and planni ng for how those needs will be met. It includes establishing objectives and then developing and implementing programmes to ensure that people are available with appropriate characteristics and skills when and where the organisation needs them. It may also involve developing and implementing programmes to improve employee performance or to increase employee satisfaction and involvement in order to boost organisational productivity, quality, or innovation (Mills, 1 985b). Finally, human resource planning includes gathering data that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing programs and inform planners when revisions in their forecasts and programmes are needed. In other words, Human resource planning is directly and closely associated with the development and success of an organisation. If an organisation is desperate to be dominant in its industry, compared with other rivals, it should pay more attention to the function of Human resource planning and apply it scientifical ly. Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long haul airline in the UK and the third largest European carrier over the North Atlantic. Since Virgin Atlantic Airways was founded in 1984, it has become Britains second largest carrier serving the worlds major cities. Now based at both Londons Gatwick and Heathrow airports, it operates long haul services to thirty destinations world-wide as far apart as Las Vegas and Shanghai. Its route network has grown rapidly to include destinations in the US, Caribbean, Far East, India and Africa, and they have won virtually every award the travel industry has to offer. Virgin Atlantic has enjoyed huge popularity, winning top business, consumer and trade awards from around the world. The airline has pioneered a range of innovations setting new standards of service, which its competitors have subsequently sought to follow. Despite Virgin Atlantics growth the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovat ion. Virgin Atlantic has carried around 53m passengers since it began operations and now employs almost 9000 people worldwide. Human Resource planning plays an important role in Virgin Atlantic Airways. The future in any country is uncertain i.e. there are political, cultural, technological changes taking place every day. This effects the employment situation. Accordingly Virgin Atlantic Airways may have to appoint or remove people. Therefore Human Resource Planning can only be a guiding factor. If Virgin Atlantic Airways does not plan for the future they have less opportunity to survive the competition ahead with a lot of competitors like British Airways, Bmi, British midland, American Airlines, Continental and Delta. Without the process of human resource planning if Virgin Atlantic Airlines will not be able to find out how many people will be required in future they will have expansion problems. In case of recession if Virgin Atlantic Airlines wants to undergo retrenchment, withou t human resource planning it will be difficult for the business to decide which departments cost should be cut down, which departments workers should be fired and how many people should be laid off. Therefore major issues of a business such as expansion, diversification, technological change, should be backed up by the availability of human resources. As it suggest modification in the plan when the expected manpower is not available. Virgin Atlantic Airlines will not be able to take further actions. The company will not be able to identify the number of jobs which will become vacant in the near future. Without Human resource planning Virgin Atlantic Airlines will not be able to offset uncertainty and change. Sometime the organisationmay have machines and money but not men and consequently the production cannot be started. The individual needs of the employees for the promotions transfers, salary enhancement, better benefits will not be provided if business is unaware of human resource planning, therefore employees will suffer from financial and non financial rewards and will lose the interest in the business resulting in absence and risk for business in long term. Without human resource planning business will be unable to anticipate the cost of salary, benefits and all the cost of human resources facilitating the formulation of budgets in a society. Virgin Atlantic Airlines will not be able to provide required working conditions in a business. As according to Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, also referred to as HASAW or HSW, is the primary piece of legislation covering occup ational health and safety in the United Kingdom. The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for enforcing the Act and a number of other Acts and Statutory Instruments relevant to the working environment. Workplace health and safety is an important issue for every business. Every employee needs to be aware of the importance of these issues in the workplace and the best way to improve staff awareness of these issues is by providing access to a health and safety course. Without human resource planning Virgin Atlantic Airlines will not be able to closely know what important safety measures should be taken into an account as well how staff awareness of importance of these issues can be improved. Resulting in a lot of unhealthy activities as well harmful incidents for workers. To summarise an effective HR planning helps the company to prepare ahead of time for these vacancies rather than acting in a reactionary manner when an employee resigns unexpectedly. Another benefit of having a recruiting plan in place is that the recruiters know where to target theirjob searchto find the best candidates. Successful recruiters plan ahead and know what skill sets are essential for the right candidates, and they know how to interview effectively. Companies that include HR planning are prepared for future open positions that result frombusinessgrowth and expansion. Another benefit of HR planning is having career-development procedures, which consist of identifying future company leaders and helping them grow. This means that when an executive or manager leaves or retires, there is already someone ready to promote into the position.Successful HR planning includes training models and procedures. This training includes new-hire training to teach new employees about the com pany culture, internaldatabases, software, and the skill sets necessary for specific positions. The benefit of this type of training is that all employees are taught the same thing in the same manner, which creates consistency and accuracy in daily work. Effective HR planning incorporates aspects of employee management, such asperformancereviews and disciplinary procedures. Companies benefit from having these systems in place because they help managers do their jobs and prevent potential lawsuits. Standardized performance reviews help managers look for key items when reviewing and ranking subordinates and ensure that everyone is reviewed on the same scale. Therefore without Human resource planning business will not be able to survive in short term. As Human resource planning is a backbone of a business survival.

Similarities Between Hurston’s Novels, Seraph on the Suwanee and Their Eyes Were Watching God :: Compare Comparison Essays

Similarities Between Hurston’s Novels, Seraph on the Suwanee and Their Eyes Were Watching God Seraph – page 153 So, calling soothingly to Earl, Jim started from the south border of the sink hole and began to pick along to where Earl stood braced between two great cypress trees. Earl’s face was cold and unrecognizing. Jim caught hold to vines and shrubs to keep from slipping off the precarious footing into the water, and said nice things to Earl and kept going. He was a good half way along the dangerous route when Earl stepped forth and leveled the rifle and took aim. Eyes – page 184 He steadied himself against the jam of the door and Janie thought to run into him and grab his arm, but she saw the quick motion of taking aim and heard the click. Saw the ferocious look in his eyes and went mad with fear as she had done in the water that time. She threw up the barrel of the rifle in frenzied hope and fear. Hope that he’d see it and run, desperate fear for her life. But if Tea Cake could have counted costs he would not have been there with the pistol in his hands. No knowledge of fear nor rifles nor anything else was there. He paid no more attention to the pointing gun than if it were Janie’s dog finger. She saw him stiffen himself all over as he leveled and took aim. The fiend in him must kill and Janie was the only thing living he saw. Ms. Hurston’s two books Seraph on the Suwanee and Their Eyes Were Watching God are remarkably similar in many aspects, and I believe that these two passages exemplify that likeness. These two scenes take place just before a person is shot, Tea Cake in Eyes, and earl in Seraph. Janie kills (shoots) Tea Cake because he contracted rabies during the hurricane by a dog, and Earl was killed (shot) by several of the townsmen because he tried to rape Lucy Ann. Both Tea Cake and Earl were rendered mad and lost all humanity due to their circumstances. Both men needed help long before someone realized they could possibly be a danger to themselves or others. Both men were killed for attacking a woman, even though they clearly could not control themselves. Jim and Janie both try to help, but ultimately fail.

Established Strategy for Leadership Essay

Leadership, as defined in the book Leadership Challenge (1995), is a set of practices that is observable and learnable. It is not something mystifying and sublime by which common and ordinary people cannot understand. If a person is bestowed with an opportunity for feedback and practice, and has the desire to lead and to make a difference, he can considerably develop his abilities to do so (Kouzes and Posner 1995: iv) and be a leader. On the contrary, strategy is a plan of action which results from the intended and determined to achieve a specific goal (Farlex 2009). There are a lot of known leaders in the world because they make a change and a difference. They are pioneers for a certain movement that, for instance, bring peace and freedom in their land. Or sometimes, they are the reasons why their company has been saved from bankruptcy or collapsed. There may be a myriad of well-known people in the realm of leadership and yet, anyone, even in their own little ways can be a leader and can definitely be called as leader. One of the leaders whom I know is the vice-president of a women’s organization. She is a scholar and a consistent honor student since her freshman in college. She may not be that famous in the whole university but she does exist. The organization where she belongs is already out of number and their President has not showed up since she is not currently enrolled thus she does not have the privilege to rule and to take a lead in the organization. Definitely, being the vice president in the roster of officers means that she has to carry out all the responsibilities of the president. Presently, the organization is composed of ten members: seven of them are members of the Executive Committee, where faction exists due to political reasons and belief. Being the vice-president, who needs not be biased with the existing division in the group, how did she manage to merge the faction, to increase the number of their members and to carry out all their organizational activities with a limited number of cooperating people? Being in the position, she has the power to lead the members. In order to comprehend the nature of leadership, one must understand the essence of power, because leadership is a special form of power (Burns 1978:12). The way she exercises her power as a vice-president as well as a president has something to do with her motives and resources—her goal for the organization and for her members. According to Burns, motives and resources are two vital factors of leadership for they are interrelated. If a person lacks motive, the resource diminishes. If one lacks resource, motive becomes idle. Thus, lacking either one, power subsides and disintegrates (1978: 12). On the other hand, the faction in the group has something to do with politics, the essence and exercise of power. If the past leaders of the organization have used their power for self-interest and dominance in the group, the current vice-president is different. She just manages and organizes meetings, as well as ideas. But those ideas, for example, for a certain activity that needs to be carried out, come from the members of the group. Everyone is entitled to speak out and to share their thoughts. There might be a division in the proposed ideas, but definitely, those propositions that are not chosen, are still in line for possible alternatives if the chosen proposal has not worked out. On the contrary, the decision-making in the organization is put into action by means of votes and quorum. Everyone is entitled to cooperate. If there are oppositions, those oppositions will be heard. The demands with her as the leader of the group may seem high, but she has achieved to manage all the predicaments because in everything she does, she is driven by her motivation to uplift the organization. Her enthusiasm with her work and responsibility has spread among its members that definitely help in the cooperation; the faction in the group has disintegrated, and thus, the recruitment of members has been done. Definitely, the members have increased its number. Furthermore, whoever the next leader that will be elected, she is certainly been defied to do her best and to rule for her members and for the organization, not for her self-interest and fulfillment, but for the group. List of References: Burns, J. (1978) Leadership. New York: Harper Torchbooks. Farlex (2009) The Free Dictionary. [online] available from http://www. thefreedictionary. com/strategy. Kousez J. and Posner, B. (1995) An Instructor’s Guide to the Leadership Challenge. New York: Jossey-Bass Publisher.

An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories Essays

An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories Essays An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories Paper An Analysis of Nadine Gordimers Short Stories Paper Essay Topic: Literature Death is something that affects everyone and is always reoccurring. Nadine Gordimer references death in her work frequently; breaking down boundaries and stereotypes. She opens her mind on paper and tells the world as it is. She talks about subjects that are taboo, and while doing this she makes us aware of its constant presence in our lives and the world around us. In her short stories, such as Loot and An Emissary, the contrast of life and death is a theme throughout each of the stories. She weaves stories about experiences that all come to an inevitable end. Life is a bunch of events that you build up for death to take it away. At the start of each story there is an unawareness of death being present. They only seem to be aware of the present, neither the past nor the future matters. The people in her stories seem to be only thinking of themselves and their actions. In An Emissary there is one setting where it is always summer or summer-like weather. This adds onto the lack of awareness of the presence of death, because winter is a symbol for death. I relate to these people because I often avoid the thought of death. When I actually stop to think about it I realize how much time I am wasting; this gives me anxiety, which in turn makes me block it out more. These stories made me realize that even the little things should not be held for granted because you could die at any moment. People have the mentality of trying to collect everything, even though death takes everything away. In the story Loot, we see that people are greedily taking what is not theirs, but their motives are meaningless in the end. Death takes hold of them and takes everything from them. Once again, I realize the consequences of greed and the habit of taking things for granted. The people in the story had an incredible urge to strive for more and if they had just cherished what they had, they would have had different consequences. This drive for possessing more inevitably brought them to their end. I noticed that in the middle of the story the characters go through realizations of their own. In the story Loot, the man who the writer was speculating found a mirror. I think this symbolism self reflection and realization. I think that character was trying to collect all these things because he was trying to lose himself. In the end, when he picked up the mirror, he found that what he was looking for is what he has been trying to avoid all this time. Its rather tragic that Nadine Gordimer decides to kill off this poor man that has just found self fulfillment. Her unconventional way of writing makes you unravel your brain and reflect upon things that you thought you knew. Nadine Gordminer put experiences in to perspective, with situations that have never occurred to you before. In the story An Emissary, there is the realization of death in the most peculiar situation. The characters notice death when they are in an intimate situation. This really contrasts the idea of death and the moods that death usually doesnt portray. Nadine bends the common definition of death and brings out a whole new meaning to it. In the finale, for both the story and the characters, everyone gets swept away along with their memories and possessions. In the story Loot, I find that Nadine was not only trying to have the ocean be the cause of the deaths but also have the ocean to be a metaphor for death. The ocean puts a black sheet over everything and wipes it from existents; exactly how death does the same thing. She also says how the ocean hides everything underneath it and I think this is also exactly what death does as well. In the story An Emissary, the end of the story becomes a circle to the beginning of the story. This, to me, represents the circle of life and how its always going to continue on the same path through different experiences. Death always is going to be there, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. These two stories really stuck to me because it made me question all my answers. It made me look at life in a different perspective. Nadine, as well, made me rethink what a short story is. I thought that short story was like a little story. However, she showed me that it is a reflection of another persons experiences. It doesnt have a good ending and unexpected things happen throughout it just like how life is. The definition I currently think of as a short story is that it is a little tidbit of life depicted on a piece of paper. A short story can teach us about things we feel and things we could have not understood before. The perspective of death has even changed for me. Now it is not necessarily a bad thing but a thing that I need to accept is going to happen. It really opened up how death can happen at any time, no matter the circumstances. Her stories made me think about what I have in life and what I should cherish. She also showed that every story has many sides and no one in the end is absolutely right. Her stories and the way her writing reflects on society today, makes the reader understand more about the world around him/her and propels him/her towards self fulfillment.

Concept of Steganography in Society

Concept of Steganography in Society Introduction Cheddad, Condell, Curran and Kevitt (2010) allege, â€Å"Steganography refers to the art of covered or hidden writing† (p. 752). The primary objective of steganography is surreptitious communication to conceal a message from unauthorized parties. Steganography is different from cryptography, which is an art of hidden writing that aims at ensuring that a third party does not read a message.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Concept of Steganography in Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More While steganography hides the presence of a secret communication, cryptography leaves it palpable. Despite numerous distinctions between steganography and cryptography, there are numerous similarities between the two. Some scholars treat steganography as a method of encryption. Nevertheless, this article will tackle steganography as a distinct way of ensuring information security. Even though the term st eganography was invented in the early 16th century, the use of secret communication dates back a couple of millennia. Before the innovation of steganography, people could tattoo messages on the scalps of slaves or hide information in the stomachs of rabbits (Cheong, Ling, Teh, 2014, p. 3566). Students and kids have been using indiscernible ink for hundreds of years. Besides, terrorists and spies have for decades used the concept of concealed communication to perpetrate serious espionages (Cheong et al., 2014).  Despite steganography hiding the hidden message, it is easy to note that two parties are communicating. The process of steganography entails inserting covered communication in a particular transport means, known as the carrier (Cheong et al., 2014). The clandestine communication is attached to the carrier to create the steganography medium. The parties may use a steganography key to encrypt the concealed message or randomize the scheme. There are two main categories of ste ganography; technical and linguistic steganography (Cheong et al., 2014). Technical steganography applies experimental techniques to conceal a communication. The experimental methods include microdots, invisible ink, and other size-reduction mechanisms. On the other hand, linguistic steganography hides a message in a transport medium in a manner that is hard to detect (Cheong et al., 2014). History of Steganography Throughout history, individuals have been concealing messages through numerous approaches and variations. For instance, in the early days, the Greeks used wax-coated tablets to hide texts. To relay a secreted message, an individual would scrap wax off a tablet, engrave a communication and conceal it using wax. It was hard for other people to suspect that a wax-coated tablet contained significant information (Chiew Pieprzyk, 2010).Advertising Looking for research paper on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another ingenious method was to â€Å"shave the head of a messenger and tattoo a message or image on the messenger’s head† (Fridrich, Goljan, Hogea, 2012, p. 86). Once the hair grew back, it was hard for people to notice the message. The recipient of the message had to trim the messenger’s hair to retrieve the communication. During the World War II, people began to use invisible ink to send messages. During this period, steganography entailed the use of invisible inks only. The inks enabled people to encrypt a message in an apparently innocent letter. It was hard for a third party to detect a signal included in a message. Later, technological development made it easy for third parties to recognize concealed messages. Consequently, people had to look for alternative methods of relaying clandestine messages. The need for hiding sensitive information led to the invention of the microdot technology (Fridrich et al., 2012). The technology used i mages to send information. It made it easy for government agencies and criminal groups to relay information undetected. As computer experts continue to develop programs that can detect hidden communications, people are developing novel steganographic applications. Some information security experts have built on ancient steganographic methods. Indeed, the present development of computer technology has resulted in a revolution in steganography. People continue to store massive and sensitive information in computers and broadcast it over networks. There is no doubt that steganography has infiltrated the digital era (Hamid, Yahya, Ahmad, Al-Qershi, 2012). Today, there are steganographic applications that enable people to hide any form of a binary file in other records. Nevertheless, most messages are transmitted in the form of audio and image files. Hamid et al. (2012) hold that steganography offers some quite valuable and economically essential roles in the digital universe. For insta nce, steganography facilitates digital watermarking. Digital watermarking enables an author to â€Å"embed a hidden message in a file to safeguard the integrity of the content† (Hamid et al., 2012, p. 177). An artist, for instance, can publish their creative work on a website without fear that another person might steal it. If other parties take the work and claim it to be theirs, the real owner can retrieve the watermark to substantiate their claims. Even though both digital watermarking and steganography use similar concepts, the former has singular technical objectives.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Concept of Steganography in Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The contemporary steganography allows people to conceal data in varied formats like text, images, internet protocol (IP) headers, and email. Hernandez-Castro, Blasco-Lopez, Estevez-Tapiador and Ribagorda-Garnacho (2006) claim that s teganography has been crucial in information warfare throughout history. Hernandez-Castro et al. (2006) posit, â€Å"Steganography continued to be seen as another aspect of the internet until the September 11th attack against the United States† (p. 68). A majority of the media outlets alleged that terrorists were using steganography to send secret messages. They further noted that terrorists could entrench messages into pornographic image files, websites, notice boards, and chat rooms (Hernandez-Castro et al., 2006). However, it was hard for the media outlets to substantiate their claims since they never produced evidence. Today, many people are apprehensive that terrorists may use steganography to stage a devastating cyber attack. Consequently, the internet civil libertarians call for the law enforcers to institute stringent rules to govern encryption and steganography (Hernandez-Castro et al., 2006). Principles of Steganography According to Hmood, Jalab, Kasirun, Zaidan, an d Zaidan (2010), various embedding techniques and rules enable communicating parties to conceal messages in a given medium. Nonetheless, all the techniques and regulations must meet several principles for steganography to be useful. One of the principles is that the integrity of the concealed message must not change during and after concealment. In other words, the meaning and purpose of the hidden message should remain intact. A successful steganography is one that upholds the integrity and quality of the secret information. Another principle is that the image or object used to hide information should remain unchanged (Hmood et al., 2010). People should not see changes in the stego-object as this might stir nosiness. Individuals sending messages through steganography should always presume that a third party is aware of the concealed message. Such an assumption helps to ensure that the communicating parties are cautious when concealing and relaying messages. Steganographic Technique s People use different approaches to hiding information. Over the years, information technology (IT) experts have come up with diverse techniques of embedding covert information in multimedia objects. According to Lin and Tsai (2008), IT experts have come up with multiple ways of entrenching messages in images such that it is hard to detect them.Advertising Looking for research paper on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The experts encode entire message or segments of a message in â€Å"noisy† regions that are hard to detect. Besides, some experts distribute a message haphazardly all over the image. The most conventional steganographic techniques used in images include â€Å"masking and filtering, least significant bit (LSB) insertion and transform techniques† (Lin Tsai, 2008, p. 407). Apart from the steganographic techniques used to conceal messages in images, individuals use numerous methods to hide messages in texts. The methods include feature, word shift, and line shift coding (Lin Tsai, 2008). Least Significant Bit Insertion Least significant bit (LSB) insertion is the most common and straightforward method of securing information. The method entails attaching a message to a cover file. The primary disadvantage of LSB is that it is susceptible to even a minor image change. Changing an image may have significant repercussions on the concealed message. The least significant bit (LSB) insertion technique uses a steganographic application that packages LSB insertion to ensure that it is hard for a third party to detect a concealed message. According to Luo (2010), the application uses EZStego tools to organize the palette and minimize the chances of arranging colors that differ so much close to one another.  The EZStego tools are used mainly in gray-scale images. The method works fine in images with associated colors. Apart from EZStego tools, LSB technique also uses the S-Tools. The S-Tools are different from the EZStego tools as the former require drastic palette changes (Luo, 2010). For the 24-bit images, altering the least significant bit of the pixels may result in new colors. The S-Tools facilitates minimization of the number of colors without affecting the quality of an image. Therefore, the S-Tools guarantee that changes in LSB do not affect the color values. Masking and Filtering Papapanagiotou, Kellinis, Marias, and Georgiadis (2007) allege that masking and filtering technique is useful in gray-scale and 24-bit images. The technique conceals messages by marking an image in a manner similar to paper watermarks (Papapanagiotou et al., 2007, p. 591). Watermarking systems are more incorporated into the picture. Therefore, the system ensures that the quality of an image is not lost due to lossy compressions. Unlike traditional steganography that hides information, the masking and filtering technique conceals messages by extending the information and assuming a characteristic of the cover image. Masking is more versatile than the least significant bit (LSB) insertion in terms of cropping, image processing, and compression. The masking and filtering technique entrenches information in crucial areas such that the concealed communication is more important to the cover image than just hiding it in the noise areas. Transform Techniques The transform techniques embed the message by modulating coefficients in transform domain like discr ete cosine transform (DCT) used in Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)† (Qiao, Retraint, Cogranne, Zitzmann, 2015, p. 15). The transform techniques help to retain the quality of an image after lossy compression or image processing. One of the transform techniques that are common in information security is Jpeg-Jsteg. Qiao et al. (2015) argue that Jpeg-Jsteg â€Å"creates a JPEG stego-image from the input of a message to be hidden and lossless cover image† (p. 18). The autonomous JPEG group holds that the existing Joint Photographic Experts Group’s (JPEG’s) software has been altered to work with 1-bit steganography in JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF) output files. The files comprise lossy and nonlossy segments. The software uses a JPEG algorithm to coalesce the concealing images and message leading to the formation of JPEG stego-images. The DCT helps to compress the JPEG images. Apart from the discrete cosine transform, the communicating parties can use Wavelet Transform and Discrete Fourier Transform to process images (Qiao et al., 2015). The techniques change other features of an image like brightness. The hidden information is distributed throughout the cover image using patchwork and other techniques.  Wang, Wu, Tsai, and Hwang (2008) allege â€Å"Patchwork uses redundant pattern encoding or spread spectrum methods to scatter hidden information throughout the cover images† (p. 154). These methods help to maintain the security of the hidden message during image transformation process like rotation or cropping. Besides, they conceal a message more comprehensively than through simple masking. Other transform techniques encrypt and distribute the hidden data all over an image. Distributing the secret information makes it look like noise. Hence, it is hard for a third party to detect the message. Such techniques use a stego-key to secure information. Consequently, even if a third party manages to extract some bits of a concealed message, they can hardly decipher it without the stego-key and the algorithm. A good example of this steganographic technique is the White Noise Storm technique (Wang et al., 2008). The method relies on frequency hopping and distribution range technology that spreads the data all through the image. Despite the ongoing developments in information security, steganography cannot substitute for cryptography. Instead, it ought to work as an addition to encryption (Wang et al., 2008). Line Shift Coding Line shift coding technique entails moving various lines inside the document up or down by a small fraction according to the codebook (Liu Tsai, 2007, p. 27). The affected lines are hard to detect since the alteration is too diminutive. However, one can identify the lines using a computer by measuring the gaps between individual lines. Line shift coding uses differential encoding techniques to hide information. The method ensures that the lines bordering the one being shifted re main untouched. The direction of the change is used to represent a single bit. When an entire document is put together, it is easy to entrench multiple bits, and thus be in a position to conceal a large data. Word Shift Coding According to Shirali-Shahreza and Shirali-Shahreza (2006), the principles of word shift coding technique are similar to those of the line shift coding. However, for the word shift procedure, the words are moved instead of lines. Additionally, the words are moved to the left or right but not up or down. The word shift technique is also referred to as the justification of the document. The codebook instructs the encoder on the words to move as well as the direction of the movement. Again, the moved words are identified by measuring the gaps between individual words. Both the right and left shifts are assigned different bits. Feature Coding Feature coding technique is slightly different from word shift and line shift coding skills. The feature coding method uses a parser to evaluate a document. The parser generates a unique codebook for individual documents. Satir and Isik (2012) claim that the parser selects all the characteristics that it deems might help to conceal a message. Feature coding technique uses different features to enforce security (Satir Isik, 2012). They include the dots on top of individual letters like i and j and the height of certain letters. Besides, feature coding technique may be used together with line shift and word shift techniques to enhance security and augment the quantity of information that can be concealed. Benefits of Steganography The main advantage of steganography is that it is easy to relay a message clandestinely without the knowledge of a third party. Steganography allows parties to a communication to hide different types of files over any communication medium in a way that it is hard for unauthorized persons to detect or read the concealed data. Such capabilities have numerous effects, both positive and negative, on the contemporary world. For instance, people can use steganography to relay sensitive and confidential information, therefore safeguarding their privacy (Castiglione, De Santis, Soriente, 2007). Additionally, an organization may use steganography to preserve copyrighted property. The present level of competition in the corporate world calls for the protection of business strategies. For an organization that uses the internet to communicate with employees, it might be hard to secure information from unauthorized persons. Nevertheless, the use of steganography can go a long way towards ensuring that employees share organizational policies in a safe manner. Sumathi, Santanam and Umamaheswari (2014) claim that steganography can facilitate information warfare. A government may use steganography to relay sensitive information without the knowledge of the enemies in the event of a war. For instance, government spies may use steganography to inform their soldiers about th e strategies that an enemy intends to use, therefore facilitating preemptive attacks. Limitations of Steganography Steganography has numerous limitations. One of the limitations is that the process involves momentous overhead to conceal a limited amount of data. One requires a lengthy text to hide a short text message (Rengarajan, Jiaohua, Balaguru, 2012). Besides, it is hard to hide audio or image files in text records because of their sizes. The size of the medium used to conceal a message is a major limitation. The principles of steganography dictate that a message must be hidden without changing the integrity of the medium used to protect the communication (Rengarajan et al., 2012). However, it is hard to conceal data without affecting the quality or nature of the concealing object. Another limitation of steganography is that it is prone to attacks (Rengarajan et al., 2012). Once hackers detect a steganographic system, it becomes ineffective. Consequently, steganography does no t guarantee the security of a message that is in transit. Thus, it is difficult for institutions or government agencies to transmit sensitive or classified information through steganography. Rengarajan et al. (2012) allege that steganography acts as a suitable avenue for terrorists to perpetrate heinous acts or spread propaganda. The dynamic nature of the contemporary electronic networks makes it easy for terrorists to send messages without being detected. Today, people create new websites and discard them after use (Saha Sharma, 2011). Besides, novel auctions are mushrooming on a daily basis. All these offer tremendous opportunities for terrorists to create steganographic contents. According to Saha and Sharma (2011), a majority of the steganography detection mechanisms are numerical. They focus on the files that look suspicious. Thus, the terrorists take advantage of this loophole to perpetuate crimes. The fact that paintings, photographs, graphics, and drawings have varied image features makes it hard for the existing detection techniques to identify the files that look suspicious (Sallee, 2005). Besides, criminals have identified new methods of circumventing detection. Today, criminals use distraction or diversion techniques to evade detection (Saha Sharma, 2011). The methods entail adding inconsequential data inside a single file. The inconsequential data serves numerous purposes. The criminals ensure that the data corresponds to a particular statistical profile. Thus, when a file is scrutinized, the detection software detects the insignificant data. Hence, the authorities do not discover the actual message. Conclusion Institutions and government agencies have been using steganography to relay classified information for security purposes. The growth in technology and the advent of the internet have resulted in tremendous changes in steganography. People no longer use steganography to send classified and concealed messages only. Presently, numerous stega nographic tools are accessible to the public. As long as people have access to the internet, they can use the available steganographic tools. Unlike in the past where people concealed information in the bellies of animals or tattooed it on scalps, technology has made it easy to embed a message in a text, image or even an audio file. Indeed, people can transmit concealed data over a long distance without fearing that it might fall into the wrong hands. The growth of steganography has not come without merits and demerits. It has enabled people and organizations to safeguard copyrighted properties. Furthermore, government agencies can relay classified information without being detected. The major drawback of steganography is that terrorists can use it to communicate and spread propaganda. The growth of technology has opened room for criminals to come up with diversion and distraction mechanisms. Therefore, they can evade the detection mechanisms that are put in place with ease. The pub lic should know that steganography is not the safest method of sending confidential information. Rather than relying on steganography alone, people should use it together with other security techniques like cryptography. References Castiglione, A., De Santis, A., Soriente, C. (2007). Taking advantages of a disadvantage: Digital forensics and steganography using document metadata. Journal of Systems and Software, 80(5), 750-764. Cheddad, A., Condell, J., Curran, K., Kevitt, P. (2010). Digital image steganography: Survey and analysis of current methods. Signal Processing, 90(3), 727-752. Cheong, S., Ling, H., Teh, P. (2014). Secure encrypted steganography graphical password scheme for near field communication smartphone access control system. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(7), 3561-3568. Chiew, K., Pieprzyk, J. (2010). Binary image steganographic techniques classification based on multi-class steganalysis. Information Security, Practice and Experience, 6047(1), 341-358. Frid rich, J., Goljan, M., Hogea, D. (2012). New methodology for breaking steganographic techniques for JPEGs. Security and Watermarking of Multimedia Contents, 143(1), 83-97. Hamid, N., Yahya, A., Ahmad, R., Al-Qershi, O. (2012). Image steganography techniques: An Overview. International Journal of Computer Science and Security, 6(3), 168-187. Hernandez-Castro, J., Blasco-Lopez, I., Estevez-Tapiador, J., Ribagorda-Garnacho, A. (2006). Steganography in games: A general methodology and its application to the game of Go. Computers Security, 25(1), 64-71. Hmood, A., Jalab, H., Kasirun, Z., Zaidan, A., Zaidan, B. (2010). On the capacity and security of steganography approaches: An overview. Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(16), 1825-1833. Lin, C., Tsai, W. (2008). Secret image sharing with steganography and authentication. Journal of Systems and Software, 73(3), 405-414. Liu, T., Tsai, W. (2007). A new steganographic method for data hiding in Microsoft Word documents by a change tracki ng technique. Information Forensic and Security, 2(1), 24-30. Luo, W. (2010). Edge adaptive image steganography based on LSB matching revisited. Information Forensics and Security, 5(2), 201-214. Papapanagiotou, K., Kellinis, E., Marias, G., Georgiadis, P. (2007). Alternatives for multimedia messaging system steganography. Computational Intelligence and Security, 4(2), 589-596. Qiao, T., Retraint, F., Cogranne, R., Zitzmann, C. (2015). Steganalysis of JSteg algorithm using hypothesis testing theory. Journal of Information Security, 13(1), 14-23. Rengarajan, A., Jiaohua, Q., Balaguru, R. (2012). Random image steganography and steganalysis: Present status and future directions. Information Technology Journal, 11(5), 566-576. Saha, B., Sharma, S. (2011). Steganographic techniques for data hiding using digital images. Defence Science Journal, 62(1), 34-46. Sallee, P. (2005). Model-based methods for steganography and steganalysis. International Journal of Image and Graphics, 5(1), 16 7-175. Satir, E., Isik, H. (2012). A compression-based text steganography method. Journal of Systems and Software, 85(10), 2385-2394. Shirali-Shahreza, H., Shirali-Shahreza, M. (2006). A new approach to Persian/Arabic text steganography. Computer and Information Science, 1(3), 310-315. Sumathi, C., Santanam, T., Umamaheswari, G. (2014). A study of various steganographic techniques used for information hiding. International Journal of Computer Science Engineering Survey, 4(6), 745-761. Wang, C., Wu, N., Tsai, C., Hwang, M. (2008). A high-quality steganographic method with pixel-value differencing and modulus function. Journal of Systems and Software, 81(1), 150-158.

Internal Analysis Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internal Analysis - Research Paper Example It defines the factors that are a part of internal resources and the factors that prove to be more beneficial. Moreover, this paper explains why internal resources or factors held more importance than the external factors as compared with the Porter’s (1980) five forces model. It describes how the SWOT analysis complements the resource based view. The Mokulele Airlines Hawaii Company is used as an example. Resource Based View In this competitive world, organizations are always in search of some mechanism that can help them succeed competitively. Hence it is necessary for them to maintain a good quality standard. In such era of technological advancements, organizations are trying hard to get at the top and trying to produce a product that can outshine products made by their rival organizations. This has lead to many new approaches, some of which have been successful and some not. Both external and internal factors affect the organizational performance. The resource-based view w as got attention in a book written by Hamel and Prahalad named â€Å"Competing for the Future† (1994). Basically, this view portrays a firm as a bundle of resources. Right type and mix of these resources enable the firm to gain sustainable competitive advantage. Resource based view emphasize on the fact that the strength of organization’s internal resources determine its success. In recent times organizations have shifted their focus from products to its internal resources and capabilities (Barney, 1991). Porter (1980) five forces model with regards to external environment used to hold importance at first but the drawback in that model was that it didn’t provide the answer to whether the firm has the ability and competencies to compete in the market and exploit the opportunities or not? So with changing times organizations are finding resource based view as more suitable (Jim Anderson, 2007) Although firms are different from each other as their resources differ but according to Porter’s five forces model (market based view), all firms are homogeneous and compete via their positioning in the markets. In market based view, the competitive advantage depends upon firm’s ability to find attractive markets having most favorable characteristics identified through analysis of five forces provided by Porter (Tamanpowell,2007). The difference in both internal and external approaches to strategic decision making was highlighted in Harvard business article â€Å"Marketing Myopia† by Theodore Levitt (1960). The article identifies common organizational problem of defining their markets too narrowly. Richard Rumelt (1991) conducted a research in resource-based view. His research has contributed a lot in the fame gained by this strategy. Rumelt’s worked on the firm profit differentials within and across the organization. His findings showed that the differentials within the industry were far greater than across the organization . This applies that the industry specific differences should be contributing to these differences. These internal resources can be grouped into three broader categories, physical resources, human resources and organizational resources. Physical resources can be organizations plants, its equipments, its technological assets or raw material it holds. Human resources primarily include employees of the organization with all their experience, skill and knowledge. Organizational reso

Financial Statement forecast for General Mills Essay

Financial Statement forecast for General Mills - Essay Example We have put together 5 financial parameters(Matz, 1980) in Chart 4.1.1. The 5 parameters are Cost of Good Sold as a percentage of Sales ("CGS%S"); Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses as a percentage of Sales ("SGA%S"); Operating Current Asset as a percentage of Sales ("OCA%S"); Property, Plant, and Equipment as a percentage of Sales ("PP&E%S"); and Other Intangible Assets as a percentage of Sales ("OIA%S"). The percentage of Cost of Goods Sold in relation to the total Sales is ranges from the start in the year 2000 at forty eight percent and fluctuates every year until it reaches its highest percentage of fifty seven percent in the year 2005. The cost of goods sold percentage in relation to Sales then is fixed at fifty six percent starting the following year, 2006, until the last year 2026. The Sales, General and Administrative Expenses percentage in relation to sales starts at the very high twenty seven percent and goes down to twenty six percent in 2001. The percentage then goes further down to its lowest ratio of twenty two percent. The percentage of this expense over sales is finally forecasted to stay at the ratio of twenty three percent starting in the year 2006 until the last year 2026. The Total Current assets percentage over sales starts at a low twenty three percent. The ratio, then, starts picking up until it reaches the next position at twenty nine percent. The ratio then fluctuates mostly in the ratio of twenty seven percent. The ratio reaches further up to thirty seven percent. The new ratio then reaches again a higher ratio of Fifty four percent, sixty percent, and even until the highest ratio of seventy percent until the last year of the forecast 2026. The ratio of net plan, property and equipment (PPE) in relation to sales(Meigs, 1995) is fluctuates. In the year 2000, the ratio is twenty three percent. The ratio goes up to thirty five percent in the year 2002 and even goes down to twenty six percent. This ratio is fixed at twenty six percent starting the year 2006 until the last forecasted year 2026. The ratio of Other Long term operating assets to sales fluctuates from the year 2000 at thirty eight percent until reaches its highest ratio of one hundred twenty four percent in the year 2003. The ratio is then forecasted to be fixed at one hundred two percent within the time period of 2006 to 2026. Based on the Table 1 found after the References Section, the graph is shown below as figure Chart 4.1.1 as follows. For more information concerning the specific values of each ratio, you may refer to Table 4.1.1 of the appendix A. Chart 4.1.1 Trend of 5 financial ratios from 2000 to 2026 To conclude this section, we would like to discuss the Dividend Payout Ratio ("DPOR"). From the chart, we may observe that the company had high DPORs in late 2000 till 2005. Indeed, the Company is among the top food and beverage companies in the United States and around the world both in giving out Dividend to its shareholders(Meigs, 1992) and filling the demands of its discriminating clients. Dividend Pay