Friday, September 6, 2019
The Psychology Of Writing Essay Example for Free
The Psychology Of Writing Essay In September 2004, I embarked upon a career opportunity that – I believed – was beyond my reach and capabilities. It was for the well-being of my family that I accepted the challenge. Almost immediately after starting the work, I was assigned a task that I truly believed I would fail at: it was the task of completing a technical solution that outlined the design installations of one of the countrys most secure facilities. I was required to not only learn the technical specifications of hundreds of communication devices, but also to describe that function in a manner in which any person from off the street, with or without a technical background, could pick up the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and completely maneuver the Network Operation Center (NOC), even though I myself had come from an Information Technology (IT) background.            A lot of my knowledge was gained through careful observation, question asking, and note taking. I worried each and every day about the consequences which would arise if I were unable to deliver. As one may assume, numerous meetings were conducted by the customers, expressing precisely the type of systems necessary to provide them with advanced applications and maximum flexibility for the capabilities of integration of tomorrows technologies. I learned a lot just by listening and recording staff meetings which were unclassified, so that I could take what I had learned and research the type of equipment needed to meet the customers requirements. I would then ask questions of more skilled individuals. For instance, â€Å"How would you do this?†. Or, â€Å"How would you do that?† I also asked many a â€Å"Why?† Since I was, in reality, lacking the proper academic background to execute these tasks, I used what I was good at: research and problem-solving. I began to put my facts down on paper, utilizing the manufacturers technical notes, the data received by more skilled persons, and information I had found using a tool that every household now uses, Google, to derive a Technical Solution and Installation Plan that received much praise and even a promotion!            I apologize if this sounds like a happy ending story, because its not. The research, and rewrite upon rewrite, and multiple revisions of even these Looking back, I wonder if the methods I employed would have been different if I had completed my education. But in the modern world in which we live, technology had given modern man many methods by which to learn and perform tasks once thought to be completely unavailable to people like myself.            I remember the day I first arrived in Colorado Springs. I only had a short visit scheduled, so I had to make the most of the trip. My flight landed just before midday on a Friday. I believe it was August, as the weather was pleasantly cool and sunny. Because I was sat in a window seat, I was able to get a good look at the city upon approach. From above the city, still in the air, what you first notice is what I like to refer to as â€Å"cookie cutter communities†. The scenery of the different neighborhoods looks as though God Himself once pressed a cookie cutter into the ground.  Due to the altitude of â€Å"The Springs†, as the locals call it, the air-craft inadvertently provided a touristic view of the city. One could not miss the world-famous Pikes Peak. If you recall your American Folk Song, â€Å"America†, then you know â€Å"Purple Mountains Majesty†. Well, Pikes Peak is what the song is all about, and I must admit that it is breathtakingly topped with snow-crested peaks even in July! As the plane continued its descent, â€Å"The Garden of the Gods†came into view, the large rocks seeming like giant clay boulders somehow naturally arranged in balance – as if by God.            Colorado Springs is not very large. The main road, IH-25 (or, as the locals call it, the â€Å"I†) is the only way in and out when traveling by car, and during the wetter months I have seen it closed from Trinidad (70 miles to the south) to Denver (70 miles to the north). The area is more for outdoorsy people, who enjoy skiing, fishing, hunting, and the same such. However, if your interest is in military history, you wont be let down. The Springs is home to three military bases, as well as the Air Force Academy, and also â€Å"NORAD†. Most people who are new to the area, or just visiting, find it much more rewarding simply driving to see it.  For instance, taking the â€Å"I†to 24W up into the mountains, you climb up to Manitou, a Norman Rockwell-type of picturesque town nestled into the scenery. This is one of my favorite places to go. Its old-time square consists of brick- and wood-fronted shops which melt into the scene like a painting. As you continue to travel west on 24, Pikes Peak Highway is just a few minutes ahead. Believe it or not, Santa is said to have a summer home here. To promote good behavior, parents are often heard exclaiming, â€Å"Santa can see you†!            At the beginning of my career, I decided that I wanted to do things that were not so common. The ambition to undertake such a mission was driven by the attitude that there is nothing like changing the world. To lay the foundation, I entered the military and successfully completed boot camp. Thereafter, I was sent to Ft. Benning, Georgia to begin â€Å"Jump School†. This is where you are sent to learn to become a paratrooper, the first step to sky-diving or, as it is otherwise referred to in the Military, â€Å"High Altitude Low-Out HALO†. The regimented course is approximately four weeks and consists of enduring hours of physical training, ground tower, and jump weeks. The curriculum involves various tasks which teach you the correct way to land, how to maneuver the chute while airborne, and much more. Each recruit is required to complete five jumps before he or she graduates and is allowed to pin on their jump wings. This event in particular was one of the key steps that propelled my career, as it in turn took me to Israel – one of my favorite places in the world.            Israel appeared like Mohammed in the desert. Herzliya, located on the central coastal strip, is a breath-taking city on the Mediterranean Sea. It does not take too long after arrival to begin to understand the way of life there – cameras are mounted everywhere, police presence is widespread, there are heavily-armed IDF forces on each and every corner, and Apache patrols go along the coastline every 15 minutes. However, taken through the eyes of the locals, the city is alive with the old and new worlds living in harmony. During my time there, I was able to visit Tel Aviv, Eilat, and Jerusalem.            Most alluring was the beauty of being surrounded by water. This permitted me to do a good amount of scuba-diving and fishing. Although Im no expert, the waters of the Middle East are by far, to me, the most enjoyable on that side of the world. The crystal-clear seas are closely regulated by the government, which prohibits commercial fishing within two miles of the shore and only allows freight shipments and related traffic on one side of the peninsula in order to avoid spills that would contaminate the surrounding outlets.  Looking back on these memories, it was not uncommon for all the mates to chip in and rent a boat to take out for a day of fishing and diving. Open-sea fishing may feel the same in all warm waters, but the difference with the Middle East is the ability to see 80 – 100 feet into the depths and watch the fish as they toy with your bait; not to mention that there is an upfront view of the unfamiliar predators of the Mediterranean! Having used mostly shrimp for bait, we caught a few different species and deep-fried them as soon as we returned to dry land.            The advantages of taking an online course are pretty straight-forward: not having to deal with traffic or parking, the ability to study from home or wherever an internet connection is located But, for me, the disadvantages are more abundant. For instance, in subjects that I am poor at (like this course), one is unable to link up with the instructor for assistance in acquiring a better understanding of what is being asked of you. Another disadvantage is not getting to know any classmates. There has always been an advantage in face-to-face study groups. I have found that sometimes you are able to get a better feel for a subject when working with your peers. For me, an online courses major benefit is convenience.            Online studies have revolutionized the education system, taking study to wherever the student is, but for those of us that have a long absence from school, online classes may not be the best choice. I find it very difficult on so many levels, not to mention very stressful, and seek only a passing grade, instead of the usable knowledge of the class. In conclusion, as you may have already gleaned from my essay, I find that the drawbacks outweigh the advantages. However, in pursuit of academic recognition, one does what one has to, in order to ameliorate ones life and that of ones family.            Institutes of higher education have transcended their traditional image as local and regional points of interest for audiences across national, international, and global arenas. This extended outreach poses a direct correlation in which the business of education has become an integrated asset in the business of doing business.  The introduction of global business ventures (such as Wal-Mart, Ikea, and Starbucks) have reinvented the traditionally local marketplaces and introduced super market places. One case in point is the â€Å"Super Wal-Mart†stores which cater to every need, from groceries to a department store with a pharmacy, vision center, portrait studio and hair salon. How exactly does this all tie into the business of education? I will address two significant elements: technology and management.            These colossal superstores are upheld, literally and figuratively, by an infrastructure of communication networks.  These networks include information systems that facilitate everything from inventory to purchasing. The ability to maintain these networks requires specialized, and in most cases, certified persons. The individuals, whether in-house or contracted, hold qualified certifications specific to such areas as computer science, networking, and database engineering. With the extent to which technology is driving the business of globalization, the business of education is directly impacted as students seek to arm themselves with the credentials necessary to secure a job within the overwhelming support service industry. An industry so competitive that, in order for the key players to secure the worthwhile contracts, recruitment of the most qualified is a must. These individuals are à ©lite students out of college and universities, or experienced professionals. Once employed, they must remain current with certifications as technologies grow and expand. This is why they engage in continuing education. Likewise, a clients infrastructure may grow and expand, thus calling for the support service to educate personnel accordingly. The realm of any business, big or small, is always changing.            Management, the second element, runs rampant amidst the entire scheme of it all. In order for businesses to be successful, much less remain on par, knowledgeable supervisors, managers, and directors are required. For these individuals, like their support service counterparts, to ensure progress and efficiency, their skills need to be constantly nourished. This capability has an impact on al business models, as employers must take into consideration incentive programs, such as â€Å"tuition reimbursement†, should they wish to sustain the attention of highly-skilled employees.  As students become workers, this benefit is a key point of interest during the job search. Employees who are not viewed as influential and are looking to advance skills may not be able to readily fund the costs of educational endeavors on their own. Should their duties and responsibilities be impacted by technological advancements, not being able to fully comprehend and take to the new changes can run the risk of losing their jobs. In turn, companies are faced with a dilemma in stream-lining the guidelines for qualification of educational reimbursement, while educational institutions are faced with the means of offering tuition assistance in order to attract students. Thus the pursuit of high learning has become a highly evolved business, dependent on the very same support service personnel.            Like the superstores, schools are revamping their own infrastructure of communication networks and entering the business of globalization via online and virtual classrooms, courtesy of the most rampant network to date – the Internet. In essence, the effect of education absorbed by a business creates a boomerang effect, reciprocating the prospects for institutions across the entire academic spectrum.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Impact of Technology Essay Example for Free
Impact of Technology Essay The unprecedented advancement in materialistic technology is setting consistently a wall of high mental affluence-which is inhibiting the parameters to show up in road to development.The rapid advancement in technology is directly proportional to the proliferating population of our very planet.People taking assistance of modern technology is significantly increasing at the moment.Now,we have already entered the era where electricity is indispensible.To live a normal life in modern days,the fuel-electricity and the machine-technology should be present simultaneously daily. Core reasons behind prioritizing modern education are too obvious to belabor-when it comes to development of a nation.Education is the ultimate wall of a nation building heavenward.The use of different technology in schools is now on the brink of becoming a fundamental necessity when starting a school anywhere.The vitality of technology in education is becoming more vivid in society contributing to the technology enterprises that are minting colossal deal of money through education.The new millennium has provided the medium where the technology and education have intersected and synthesized the now popular â€Å"modern education†. The technology giants of the world are enlarging their establishments here in India knowing the fact that India holds the supremacy in the field of future of technology.Moreover,according to a recent article in Forbes India,it has stated that one third of Indian population is under the tender age of 14.We might wonder now,how much pressure do the inquisitive young minds are exerting on education that is still limited to only a certain part of the population.The government is trying to reach as much of population possible but there are still millions of children who aren’t able to avail the facility of schools and proper education.The central government allocated about 42,036crores for both schools and higher education sectors in the year 2010 which grew to 52,057crores last year according to Wikipedia. Pro-education culture is grasping the minds of people everywhere in such a significant fashion due to development.But The World Bank in 2o11 stated that,32.7% of Indian populati on still falls below the global poverty line that is 1.25 dollars income per day.what about them? The enormous sum of money spent in education still is scanty due to the large population of mother India.As per the CBSE,India still has a shortfall of about 200,000 schools.So,we can analyze that,due to the scanty economic capital,the no. of schools dramatically lag the actual demand.Not only economy is affecting the status quo of education but also the number of human resources who are educating the young citizens. Now talking about the existing schools,all of them are doing a marvelous job in imparting knowledge in young minds but I think that there are still many limitations of the classroom education.Architectural infrastructure of classrooms isn’t a big deal but what really matters is the education provided in classrooms.The biggest drawback of the classroom education is that,the students involved in learning are only exposed to the knowledge and ideas of limited faculty wh ereas in world,there are millions of brilliant minds.Second drawback is that,so as to set up a basic school,materialistic facility and human resource are must-present fundamental requirements.This makes education unavailable in rural areas spread across the vast geographical diversity in nation such as India. Now,what is the best way to tackle the problems hovering the present,regarding education?I strongly feel that internet is the ultimate medium through which education should be made possible so as to reach far and beyond.Internet is a bottomless reservoir of information and this invention of mankind has made the physical barriers and distances so small.What is most extraordinary about the internetIt is constantly updated within short span of time.This leads to exposure of our mind to the latest information on topics of our own interest.As internet effortlessly seems to make our information obsolete every now and then,we also can access the information on web without difficulties. The telecommunication technology is rising everywhere.In India,according to Joshua Kim’s recent article featured in Forbes India,he has said that there are over 850million mobile subscribers in India and the number of subscribers is growing at the amazing rate of 10 million per month.From the particula r growth in mobile phone users,we can naturally scrutinize the future of internet accessibility.The increase in mobile phones naturally accelerates the growth of telecommunication technology.As the mobile phones will be easily available,there surely will be a time where the internet connection will be among the default features of the phones.As the access to internet will get better and easier in times to come,they would become an indispensible part of our future lives. Using internet,we can connect with the world without difficulties.The effects of telecommunication technology on education system are best to be said limitless.Till now,collaboration of different universities from different parts of the world hasn’t been a widespread approach for sharing knowledge.This was due to the fact of great physical distances and also due to being unaware about each other’s existence. Collaboration is the only way to complete each other’s deficiency and make education whol esome. Bringing Harvard,MIT and all other top universities to India is only through internet.If not internationally,collaboration can be done within our nation itself.If we try to amass all the knowledge of the contemporary human resources and make it digitally available,then surely,we can check the lack of human resources at a large extend.A live lecture on diseases in Delhi broadcasted in seven rural towns in Maharashtra†¦imagine the benefits! Now the prob
The North American Free Trade Agreement And Canada Politics Essay
The North American Free Trade Agreement And Canada Politics Essay The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was ceremonially signed by the leaders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico on December 17st, 1992. After deliberations in each countrys democratic hall of power, it officially came into effect on January 1st, 1994. NAFTA is first and foremost an economic agreement between its three member countries. Its primary goal is to remove trade barriers and subsidies for national industries in order to create a truly free North American market which would better foster competition, thus increasing wealth and productivity. With those changes in effect, its effect was expected to be an increase income and a higher standard of living for the citizens of each country. At the same time, NAFTA would theoretically allow the member nations to leverage the advantages of a large free trade bloc in order to become more powerful internationally. Essentially, NAFTA was created with the vision of making Canada, the United States, and Mexico, more competitive internationally and within their borders, for the benefit of their governments and citizens. Looking specifically at the United States and Canada, there was previously an economic precursor to NAFTA a bilateral agreement simply called the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This agreement came into force approximately 5 years before NAFTA, on October 4th, 1988. It shared the same principle vision as the future NAFTA agreement; to reduce trade barriers such as government barriers to competition, and liberalize the climate for investment thus allowing the easier facilitation of trade between the two countries. Reading economic reports and the opinions of pundits, youll find a lot of different opinions regarding NAFTA. One thing is known there is still a large amount of uncertainty and a lack of consensus as to whether NAFTA has been, in sum, a positive thing for Canada. Famous economists such as Nobel Winner Paul Krugman have stated that NAFTA has had a near zero effect on the Canadian economy, whereas economic reports such as one by Martin A. Anderson come out in contrary to Krugmans belief, supporting its enactment. Further in this summary, we will explore the central issues of NAFTA and its effect on Canada and its people. NAFTA and Economic Growth As previously mentioned, NAFTA remains a divisive issue. In truth, it is extremely difficult to isolate NAFTA as a variable in economic growth and other key metrics of society due to the interwoven nature of our economy. With the plethora of variables considered, it is challenging to prove NAFTA as a cause for improving economic conditions. However, it does seem that the a large amount of papers come out in support of NAFTA as an engine of economic growth, citing its positive effect on the Canadian economy by highlighting the general trend in lower unemployment rates and higher income from trade. Cited is an entry into the Journal of Economic Development with an article concerning which NAFTA member country has benefitted most from the treaty. It states that its effect on US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been minimal, whereas Canadas GDP has experienced a statistically significant increase due to the agreement. The paper goes on to theorize that this may be due to Canadas reliance on trade for its economy especially trade between NAFTA members. It goes on to say that the lack of effect on the US GDP may be due to the fact that its economy is much larger than our own, and that changes are not as clearly visible due to its scale. To put the scale of Canadian trade with the United States in perspective, in 1999, 82% of Canadian trade was trade between NAFTA nations. More recently, in 2009, 73% of Canadian exports went to the United States. The effect on such large parts of our economy being export dependent will be discussed later in this summary. Some more key metrics of changes in the Canadian economy, comparing 1995 to 2005: The unemployment rate decreased from 8.3% (1995) to 6.8%(2005). Canadian GDP was $721.26 billion in 1995 and $1024.92 billion in 2005 (values adjusted for inflation), a 42% increase. Interprovincial trade has increased 15.29% due to NAFTA since 1994. Notably, interprovincial trade increased in Alberta by 30.1%, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland by ~24%. Interestingly, British Columbias interprovincial trade share decreased by 30.39%. Trade with the United States increased by 20.41% in Saskatchewan, and 17.77% in Manitoba. Most notably, Prince Edward Island increased trade with the United States by 67.07%. In contrast, British Columbias share of trade to the United States increased by only about 1%. Some of these values may have changed due to the changing economic climate of the past 5 years. For example, the unemployment rate has since increased to a current value of 7.9%. However, when interpreting these results, a trend becomes visible the Maritimes seem to have enjoyed a much larger share of trade than prior to NAFTA. The secondary sector of the Canadian economy concerns itself with manufacturing and general industry. Following the enactment of the FTA and NAFTA, the Canadian manufacturing industry had started to experience drastic changes. Because they were no longer as insulated to international competition, labour intensive industries such as Quebecs textile industry started to decline as cheap goods from other countries began to enter the market. Though many labour intensive jobs have shifted away to cheaper outsourced locations, there are large sections of Canadian industry that are more resilient to such shifts. One of these is the high-tech sector, which employs a large amount of skilled labour and creates advanced goods such as aircraft, new types of metal alloys, and intellectual property such as software. Industries such as biotechnology are much harder to outsource given their advanced nature, allowing Canadas relatively educated populace to contribute to the growth of these sectors res ulting in a net gain of employment. Most of these high-tech firms are located in Canadas industrial core Southern Ontario and Quebec. Ontarios location is greatly conducive to creating a good environment for trade. Northern Ontario produces many primary resources, such as forest products and minerals. Exports from Ontario to the United States were about the same value as its exports within Canada. By 1998, Ontarios exports to the United States increased to 2.5x the value of trade to the rest of Canada. The automobile industry is often cited as Ontarios most important export industry as it accounts for a large share of its trade, creating an environment of dependence upon that industry. Quebec is also heavily trade dependent, with exports of 25% of Canadas information technologies, 55% of aerospace production, 30% of pharmaceuticals, 40% of biotechnology, and 45% of high tech exports. Prior to 1989, about half of Quebecs trade went to other parts of Canada, and the other half was exported. By 2002, approximately 65% of Quebecs trade leaves Canada. NAFTAs Controversies Though NAFTA has clearly influenced our economy, most visibly with an increase in our exports and GDP, many believe that his trend presents a double-edged sword. The basic question put forward is to what length do we want our exports to increase?. A more globalized, or north-Americanized, economy also increases the risk of encountering economic repercussions due to recessions or the booms and busts of other countries. The most notable example of this would be the current economic recession, which many argue is only affecting Canada because of lower demand stemming from the economic uncertainty in the United States. With increasing globalization, it is becoming apparent that the intertwining of economies will continue and that our ability to insulate ourselves from global economic conditions will continue to decrease. It can be argued that NAFTA intertwines more than our economies. A controversial statute of the agreement Chapter 11 grants corporations the right to sue the signatory countries for compensation if their investments are adversely affected through regulatory means, especially if those regulations favour local businesses or constituents. One notable case of Chapter 11 use: Ethyl Corporation (USA) v. Government of Canada. Sued over Canadas federal ban over the gas additive MMT, which some studies have linked with neurotoxic effects. Canada was forced to overturn the ban and pay Ethyl Corporation in excess of $19million in compensation. Sun Belt Water, Inc (USA) v. Government of Canada. Sun Belt Water filed a claim for $105 million arguing that Canadian legislation thwarted its plans to export bulk quantities of fresh water from Canada. This claim has yet to be settled. Another important issue of concern is the so-called softwood lumber dispute between the United States and Canada. The dispute has carried significant implications for British Columbia, as the province accounts for over half of the total logging output of Canada. In 1982 the US lumber industry logged its first complaint. Tariffs have been fluctuating since 1986, and in 2001 duties on softwood lumber imported into the United States have reached as high as 27%. Both a NAFTA panel and the World Trade Organization have issued non-binding resolutions siding with Canada against the United States. Unfortunately, the tariffs remain despite these rulings and it appears that NAFTAs ruling against the United States has not influenced its policy. As recently as 2006 a new agreement has been reached in which import duties of $4billion that were charged will be returned (a total of $5billion in duties has been collected), however, Canada will be forced to increase export taxes on its own lumber if its price falls below US $355 per thousand board feet, in order to protect US companies. NAFTA has presented several environmental concerns to Canadians. As having one of the worlds largest capacities of freshwater, Canada has been under pressure to commoditize the resource in order to allow for its trade. The case mentioned above (Sun Belt Water, Inc v. Canada) goes to show this pressure. For the time being, legislation and political will has generally opposed the bulk sale of Canadian freshwater. Final Notes In the end, it can be said with some confidence that the North American Free Trade agreement has significantly altered the Canadian trade landscape. Though trade between NAFTA nations appears to have become more pervasive, questions remain about whether the continuing integration of other national economies is truly a good thing for Canada. Some believe that our very democracy is at stake now that foreign corporations have the power to overturn Canadian policy; which at a basic level is overturning the decisions of our elected politicians the only representatives of the Canadian people.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Business Report of Caterpillar Inc. Essay -- CAT Stock Market Finances
Business Report of Caterpillar Inc. Data and information relative to Caterpillar, Inc. was collected via the internet. Current information was crucial to keeping the report timely and accurate. The five members assigned to the group wrote one section per person. Research was conducted on a separate basis, and construction of the report was on a group level. Each team member is responsible for their own assigned areas and nothing more. Financial Analysis Caterpillar is a publicly traded corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s SIC codes indicate their main areas of enterprise are construction machinery, internal combustion engines, and short term business credit and insurance. But this dynamic company has many qualities underneath the surface of its image. These qualities are neither good nor bad. These are Caterpillar’s financial components. Sales Caterpillar, Inc. primary income is made from sales of machinery and engines . These sales are made to clients in construction, agriculture, and manufacturing industries. Caterpillar divides their sales based on geographic location where the For example, third quarter sales were split between North America, EAME (Europe, Africa, and the Middle East), Latin America, and Asia. North America on average takes up 54% of total sales each quarter (see figure 1.) Total sales revenue for the third quarter 2000 amounted to $4.78 billion, one percent higher than the previous year third quarter. Sales volume increased by 2 percent and financial products increased by 12 percent. Caterpillar bases their sales upon two different tiers, although they sell a wide range of different products. The first breakdown consists of what they deem as machinery. The second area of sales consists of engines. Operating profit comparisons for the third quarters of 1999 and 2000 can be seen in table 1. Caterpillar has blamed third quarter deficiencies in revenue on the weak Eurodollar. Since 27 percent of their total sales are made in the European region, their claim may be true. As long as Caterpillar depends on foreign markets for sales, they will face problems with fluctuations in foreign currency. Receivables Caterpillar owns and operates a financing corporation to handle its incredibly large receivable account. Receivables make up 30 percent of total assets and short-term receivab... ...on have major intellectual and financial backing, as well as good reason to come to an agreement. However, the knowledge, skills and commitment needed to survive today in international business must be found on the plant floor as well as in the office. Noting the need for cooperation, the union local president asked â€Å"What the hell are they going to do when they get that work force back in there? Who’s going to cooperate†? That quote is the basis for this weakness of Caterpillar, Inc. What is going to happen at the end of this contract when another one needs to be made? Are the employees of caterpillar still bitter about the strike? Are the supervisors and directors at Caterpillar still bitter? Only time will tell. Fites is no longer the Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, so some problems with him may be solved. But there is no doubt that some bitterness is still present in both the floor and the towers of Caterpillar, Inc. For these reasons, Caterpillar may not be a good purchase of stock. They may be doing quite well now, but what if you invest money in them, only to see your money possibly be dwindled away by another bitter strike, or individual sales were contrived.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe Essay -- Moll Flanders Defoe Essays Pape
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe Moll Flanders was a product of her vanity and pride. She devoted her entire life to achieving some sort of wealth and social status. Her pride encompassed her entire life and affected all of her life decisions. Moll sacrificed many things, including love, religion, self-respect, and peace of mind, in order to attain a sort of affluence. Eventually, Moll achieves her desires and retires a gentlewoman in America, but her journey definitely took a serious toll on her life. In the end, one must ask the question of whether Moll's lifestyle and decisions were the right ones. Did the ends justify the means? Did Moll's chosen path lead to a life of satisfaction or did the pain, paranoia, and emotional trauma that came along the way extract a price that is much greater then the wealth that she eventually achieved? The answer is that the suffering that Moll experienced was not worth the final outcome. Although Moll reached her goals in the end, she would have had a more fulfilling and gratifyi ng life had she suppressed her vanity and price and accepted her role in society and lived accordingly. Moll began life in the low class. Not much nobility or status was expected of the orphan born in Newgate Prison, and in English society, there was little chance for Moll to escape this class. But Moll had the blessing of the kind "nurse" who raised her, kept her out of the dreaded servitude, and found a high class family for Moll to live and grow up with. Moll was a beautiful girl and thanks to her "nurse" and this family, she was well along the road to truly becoming a gentlewoman. Had events continued flawlessly from here, Moll might have achieved her goal without any pain, suffering, or remorse. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. Moll's problems began with her relationship with the eldest brother. Her vanity and egoism allowed her to be seduced thus creating a serious conflict when the youngest brother sought her hand in marriage. Moll soon faced the dilemma of marrying Robin or faring for herself. Opting for financial security, Moll married a man whom she did not love. After Robin's death, Moll once again sought to marry a well to do man. She did just that and lived extravagantly for a few years until her husband was imprisoned for his debts. Once again, Moll was placed in a position of faring for herself or marrying... ... right, it was still an unnecessary risk. Moll and Jemmy had enough money to survive comfortably on. Was a little extra money worth risking her family and the only man she truly loved? Once again, Molls vanity and pride risked the happy life that she had found. We have seen how Moll let her vanity and pride shape her life. She found what she wanted in the end, but it took a mighty toll. She suffered through numerous relationships, each one leaving her in a position worse off then before. She had to deal with the constant paranoia and fear that is associated with being a thief. Yet she couldn't give up that lifestyle. She even had to face down her own death when she was sentenced to the gallows because of her actions. Moll made it through all of this and finally seemed to find happiness. But once again she was willing to risk all that she had in order to satisfy her vanity and greed. Moll had several opportunities to suppress her vanity and turn her life in a more positive direction. Doing so would have prevented a lot of pain and trauma. Unfortunately, Moll was never capable of overcoming this pride and thus had to suffer all the ill effects that were associated with it.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Thursday Night :: essays research papers
Thursday Night When I first started college, fall two thousand two, I was not really much of a partier. I would stay in most nights, talking to friends online, or visiting someone I knew on campus. All of this changed though, one Thursday during my second semester. I was in my last class for the day, chemistry laboratory. My friend Laura, who was also in the class had been trying to convince me to go to a party with her all semester. I, all semester, had been making excuses to not go. This day though, she finally convinced me by exclaiming, "But SueEllen, it's the last party of the semester!" I succumbed to her persuasiveness and went back to my dorm to prepare. My room-mate, Melissa, was bubbling with excitement when I told her the plans for the night. So we both started getting ready. I changed into the only pair of flares I owned, and a pink tank top. I had Melissa iron my hair for me, so I could wear it down, which is something that I don't usually do. The phone rang, and it was Laura. She was outside waiting for us, it was time to go. We arrived at the hosts apartment, and the feeling that you get when you go down a steep descent in a roller coaster quickly disappeared when we were introduced to everyone there. It was a very pleasant atmosphere, partly because the people were friendly, and partly because almost everyone was slightly, if not entirely intoxicated. At some point during the night, a commotion arose as someone walked through the door into the living room. I looked up, and everyone was yelling, "Rivers!". I had seen the kid around campus before, longish black hair worn under a baseball hat, blue eyes, and a lip ring. He was cute, but whenever I had seen him, he seemed kind of withdrawn and had an angry look on his face. Everyone settled back down a moment later, and commenced socializing and drinking. A couple of hours later, I was fairly inebriated, and there weren't that many people left at the party. Everyone had gone home to get some sleep. I was fairly tired myself, and almost started to nod off while I was sitting on the couch. I woke up a little though, and started a conversation with the person sitting next to me. I don't remember exactly what we talked about, but I'm sure it was the usual introductory conversation about what bands we listened to and what classes we were taking.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Customer’s Adoption of Mobile-Commerce a Study on Emerging Economy
International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 Customer’s Adoption of Mobile-Commerce A Study on Emerging Economy Rahmath Safeena, Nisar Hundewale, and Abdullah Kamani Abstractâ€â€Today, mobile communication technologies provide immense additional scope for consumers’ banking transactions due to their always-on functionality and the option to access bank’s facilities anytime and anywhere. Mobile banking is a subset of electronic banking which underlies not only the determinants of the banking business but also the special conditions of mobile commerce.It is the latest and most innovative service offered by the banks. But not enough study has been done to known regarding how customers perceive and evaluate electronically delivered mobile banking services. The study considers five factors perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, consumer awareness about mobile banking and perceived risks associated with mobile banking. This study also points out that these factors have a strong and positive effect on customers to accept mobile banking system. Index Termsâ€â€m-commerce, mobile banking; perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, awareness, subjective norm.I. INTRODUCTION The proliferation of, and rapid advances in, technology-based systems, especially those related to the internet, are leading to fundamental changes in how companies interact with customers [1-3]. Mobile phone usage has spread in a very broad manner both in developing and developed countries. With mobile communications already as a prime case for leapfrogging traditional infrastructure, mobile banking (M-Banking) has great potential for extending the provision of financial services to unbanked people through a technology that is both familiar and widespread.One of the first commercial applications of the mobile commerce was mobile banking (m-banking) [4], [5]. The rapid growth of mobile applica tions has given rise to a new term: m-commerce. M-commerce is defined as the application of wireless communications networks and devices to the execution of transactions with monetary value – either direct or indirect [6]. As the number of mobile phone users is growing, purchasing products and services using mobile phones and other mobile devices are also increasing; also the use of Mobile Banking is still in initial stages and more research in this field is needed [7].Internet banking and mobile banking (m-banking) has become the self-service delivery channel that allows banks to provide information and offer services to their customers with more convenience via the web services technology. A key component of many initiatives is the implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software [8]. Many companies in the financial services sector have been quick to implement Internet capabilities, and electronic service is becoming a viable option for interaction between financial service providers and their customers [9].Customer satisfaction and customer retention are increasingly developing into key success factors in e-banking [2]. Technology, in particular, has been increasingly employed in service organizations to enhance customer service quality and delivery, reduce costs, and standardize core service offerings [1], [9-11]. Mobile banking service allows customers to manage their accounts with ease. Mols et al. , [12] stated that the diffusion of electronic banking is more determined by customer acceptance than by seller offerings.Not enough is known regarding how customers perceive and evaluate electronically delivered services. Lee and Lin [10] have also recently highlighted the need for further research to measure the influence of e-service on customer-perceived service quality and satisfaction [1]. This study considers the five factors perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, consumer awareness about mobile banking and perceived risks associated with mobile banking. Half of the people that have tried mobile banking services will not become active users.Highly publicized cases involving major security failures might have contributed to the public’s concern and lack of acceptance of mobile banking. The present study aims at examining the impact of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and consumer awareness on mobile banking and perceived risk on the acceptance of mobile banking by the consumers. II. MOBILE BANKING With mobile commerce or m-commerce technology, consumers can use mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and laptop computers to access the internet, send and receive messages and make transactions at ny time from any places without having tied to a particular location [13]. Mobile banking is a subset of electronic banking which underlies not only the determinants of the banking business but also the special conditions of mobile commerce. Mobile Ban king has been gaining increasing popularity amongst various sections of the society for past few years, having recovered from the shock of the dot-com burst [14]. Mobile Banking refers to provision and availment of banking- and financial services with the help of mobile telecommunication devices.The scope of offered services may include facilities 228 Manuscript received July 12; revised July 25, 2011. Rahmath Safeena, Nisar Hundewale, Abdullah Kamani, are College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia (e-mail:safi. [email protected] com,e-mail:n. [email protected] edu. sa,e-mail:abd ullah. [email protected] edu. sa) International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access customized information [15].With mobile technology, banks can offer services to their customers such as doing funds transfer while trav elling, receiving online updates of stock price or even performing stock trading while being stuck in traffic. Smart phones and 3G connectivity provide some capabilities that older text message-only phones do not. The convergence of mobile communications and distributed networked computing has provided the foundation for the development of a new channel of electronic business, mobile business [15].Mobile business (m-business) is defined as the use of the mobile information technologies, including the wireless Internet, for organizational communication and coordination, and the management of the firm [16]. M-Banking is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications etc. via a mobile device such as a mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It is the convenient, simple, secure, anytime and anywhere banking. Many new e-commerce applications will be possible and significantly benefit from emerging ireless and mobile networks. Thes e applications can collectively be termed wireless e-commerce or mobile commerce [17]. The earliest mobile banking services were offered via SMS. With the introduction of the first primitive smart phones with WAP (wireless application protocol) support enabling the use of the mobile web in 1999, the first European banks started to offer mobile banking on this platform to their customers [15]. SMS Banking is a Mobile technology that allows you to request and receive banking information from your bank on your mobile phone via SMS [18].WAP banking is another form of the E-banking that enables the user to communicate interactively with the bank, for which client uses only GSM mobile phone with WAP service. With its options and the method of controlling WAP banking reminds an easy form of Internet banking. WAP is a universal standard for bringing Internet-based content and advanced value-added services to wireless devices such as phones and PDAs [19]. III. CONSUMER ATTITUDE TOWARDS M-BAN KING Technological innovations are having significant importance in human general and professional life. This era can safely be attributed as technology revolution.The quick expansion of information technology has imbibed into the lives of millions of people. Rapid technology advancements have introduced major changes in the worldwide economic and business atmosphere [20]. Research on consumer attitude and adoption of mobile banking showed there are several factors predetermining the consumer’s attitude towards online banking such as person’s demography, motivation and behavior towards different banking technologies and individual acceptance of new technology. It has been found that consumer’s attitudes toward online banking are influenced by the prior experience of computer and new technology [21].The adoption of electronic banking forces consumers to consider concerns about password integrity, privacy, data encryption, hacking, and the protection of personal i nformation [22]. Electronic banking requires perhaps the most consumer involvement, as it requires the 229 consumer to maintain and regularly interact with additional technology (a computer and an Internet connection) [23]. Consumers who use e-banking use it on an ongoing basis and need to acquire a certain comfort level with the technology to keep using it [24]. Customer adoption is a recognized dilemma for the strategic plans of financial institutions.Several studies have investigated why individuals choose a specific bank. Important consumer selection factors include convenience, service facilities, reputation and interest rates [25], [26]. According to Delvin [27], customers have less time to spend on activities such as visiting a bank and therefore want a higher degree of convenience and accessibility. The service-quality attributes that the Internet banks must offer to induce consumers to switch to online transactions and keep using them are perceived usefulness, ease of use, reliability, responsiveness, security, and continuous improvement [28].In another study by [29], they found that individual expectations regarding accuracy, security, network speed, user-friendliness, and user involvement and convenience were the most important quality attributes in the perceived usefulness of Internet-based e-retail banking. The crucial factors that affect an individual’s decision to use or not to use online services the age, the difficulties of using the Internet, fear of changes in banking sector due to technological development and lack of information concerning products and services provided to customers through electronic delivery channels.Factors such as speed of transactions or the cost of using the Internet have little impact on an individual’s final decision [30]. In the study by [1], revealed six composite dimensions of electronic service quality, including the provision of convenient/accurate electronic banking operations; the accessibility and reliability of service provision; good queue management; service personalization; the provision of friendly and responsive customer service; and the provision of targeted customer service. Perceived usefulness, security and privacy are the main perusing factors to accept online banking system [20].According to a study WAP, GPRS and 3G features from mobile devices are of no significance or influence in the adoption of e-banking services [31]. IV. RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are the two components of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). According to [32],†perceived usefulness is the extent to which a person believes that using a particular system will enhance his or her performance, while perceived ease of use is the extent to which a person believes that using a particular system will be free of effort†.TAM has been widely used by information system researcher; there is a common agreement among them that the model is val id in predicting the individual’s acceptance of new technologies [33-36]. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use is significant factors affecting acceptance of an information system or new technologies. Prior research has empirically found positive relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as critical factors on the use of e- banking [31], [37-39]. Hence an application perceived to be useful International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. , No. 3, August 2011 perceived to be easier to use than another is more likely to be accepted by users. By applying these into online banking context we hypothesize: H1: Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB. H2: Perceived ease of use has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB Adoption is the acceptance and continued use of a product, service or idea. According to [40], [41], consumers go through â€Å"a process of knowled ge, persuasion, decision and confirmation†before they are ready to adopt a product or service.The adoption or rejection of an innovation begins when â€Å"the consumer becomes aware of the product†. Consumers will seek out services which offer the best value for money. Hence, for adoption of mobile banking, it is necessary that the banks offering this service make the consumers aware about the availability of such a product and explain how it adds value relative to other products of its own or that of the competitors. An important characteristic for any adoption of innovative service or product is creating awareness among the consumers about the service/product [40].The amount of information consumers have about online banking has been identified as a major factor impacting the adoption. According to [40], while the use of online banking services is fairly new experience to many people, low awareness of online banking is a major factor in causing people not to adopt on line banking. In an empirical study of Australian consumers found that consumers were unaware about the possibilities, advantages/disadvantages involved with online banking. Hence, we posit that:H3: Awareness about MB has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB Perceptions of risk are a powerful explanatory factor in consumer behavior as individuals appear to be more motivated to avoid mistakes than to maximize purchasing benefits [42]. The construct Perceived Risk reflects an individual’s subjective belief about the possible negative consequences of some type of planned action or behavior, due to inherent uncertainty. Pavlou [43] refers to perceived system risk as the overall amount of uncertainty perceived by an organization in a particular purchase situation.The Perceived Risk associated with online transactions may reduce perceptions of behavioral and environmental control, and this lack of control is likely to negatively influence e-commerce usage intentions [ 44]. Similar is with m-commerce applications. Diffusion of innovation literature is often silent on perceived risk as a factor influencing the diffusion of an innovation, despite adoption behavior often being a process of dealing with the uncertainty about incorporating an innovation into ongoing practice [45].Services are inherently more risky than products and that the major reason for this is the higher levels of uncertainty which are associated with services [42], [46], [47]. Polatoglu and Ekin [48] also found that perceived risk was one of the major factors affecting consumer adoption, as well as customer satisfaction of mobile banking services. Perceived risk usually arises from uncertainty. Hence we hypothesize: H4: Perceived risks have a negative impact on intention to adopt and use MB. Subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to engage 230 or not to engage in a behavior.Subjective norm is determined by the total set of accessible normative beliefs concerning the exp ectations of important referents [49]. It is the person’s perception that most people who are important to him think he should or should not perform the behavior in question [50]. individual often respond to social normative influences to establish a favorable image within a reference group. Moore and Benbasant define image as the degree to which use of an innovation is perceived to enhance one’s status in social system [51]. H5: Subjective norm has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Perceived usefulness Perceived ease of use Awareness Perceived risk Subjective Norm Fig. 1. RESEARCH MODEL Mobile Banking Adoption The key intention of this paper is to evaluate those factors that manipulate the nature of customers towards mobile banking and their growing tendency towards the online financial institutions. A survey instrument in the form of questionnaire was developed through data collected from previous studies on acceptance of mobile banking. We constructed several questions in the questionnaire based on the objectives of the research.SPSS 12 package was used for analysis. Likert scale is used in order to identify the respondents’ perceptions towards mobile banking adoption. During the interviews we sought general information from the managers about mobile banking and asked them to discuss the reasons for undertaking mobile banking and to highlight mobile banking development challenges. We also asked them to discuss the issues relevant to the future of the initiative. The questionnaires were based on customers’ intention to adopt mobile banking. Sample Convenience sampling method was used.It is a type of non-probability sampling which involves the sample being drawn from that part of the population which is close to hand, i. e, sample population selected because it is readily available and convenient. The reasons of using this sampling type are twofold. First, it offers an easy way to obtain the ra w data for the further analysis. Second, it saves times and costs since the respondents can be randomly selected. Choosing this campus is because of two reasons. First, those business and economics student are revealed with the knowledge of applied business and economics.At the same time, they are equipped with the knowledge of computer science, where the concept of mobile banking is not an alien for these students. Second, it was found that there is no study ever conducted in International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 the campus, it leaves a motivation to the research to perform a study in order to investigate the students’ adoption for mobile banking in the near future. Table 1 shows the profile of the respondents. The sample shows that the number of male (78. 84%) respondents is higher than the number of female (21. 15%) respondents.The sample shows that the largest age group that responded was from 20 to 30 ye ars of age (82. 7%), followed by age 31 to 40 (11. 5%), then 41 to 50 (03. 8%) and >50 (1. 9%). In the education background more than 55% of the respondents were postgraduate students and more than 28% were graduate students and 11. 5% were PhD students. TABLE I: PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS Items No. of Respondent 42 Male 11 Female 20-30 43 31-40 6 41-50 2 >50 1 Graduate 15 Postgraduate 29 PhD 6 Other 2 Factor loading values were obtained using varimax rotation. According to the above table, most of the factor loading for each instrument exceeded 0. , meeting the essentially significant level of convergent validity. Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. Rotation converged in 6 iterations. Using eigenvalue greater than 1 as a selection criterion. Each has cumulative frequency of 21. 11, 43. 16, 52. 85, 58. 55 and 69. 94 percent respectively. These factors accounted for 69% of the variance and the factor loading were greate r than 0. 6. Hence the results show that H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5 are confirmed. The results are consistent and are supported by previous studies.TABLE II: RELIABILITY TEST Determinants No. of items PU 7 PEU 5 AW 7 PR 6 SN 2 Reliability 0. 834 0. 760 0. 836 0. 600 0. 778 Demographics Gender Age group Education Percent 78. 84 21. 15 82. 7 11. 5 3. 8 1. 9 28. 8 55. 8 11. 5 3. 8 V. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS Although mobile banking provides flexibility in performing financial transaction, fast and easy, however individuals are still reluctant to adopt the system because of several reasons. First, the security and privacy are two elements in the perceived risk. Without a proper knowledge of the system, individuals are not interested to test the system.Perceived usefulness, ease of use and consumer awareness has positive impact on the intention to adopt mobile banking while perceived risk has negative impact on it. When online banking is perceived as useful, customer’s intention to adop t it would be greater. Likewise bank customers are likely to adopt mobile banking when it is easy to use. Social influence has positive effect on the use of mobile technology as the individuals think that using the advanced technology will improve his image and status in the society and also it improves his performance.This shows that bank customers anchor their online banking adoption intention to the beneficial outcomes and ease of use process of the system. This finding is particularly important for managers as they decide how to allocate resources to retain and expand their current customer base. However, building a risk-free online transaction environment is much more difficult than providing benefits to customers. Further, the research instrument was tested for reliability using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha estimate. The Cronbach’s alpha values for all dimensions range from 0. 60 to 0. 93, exceeding the minimum alpha of 0. [52], thus the constructs measures are d eemed reliable. Principal component factor analysis with a varimax rotation was conducted. The aim of factors analysis is to confirm the construct validity of the scales could be performed adequately by using principle component analysis. In order to reach this, the minimum factor loading of 0. 6 on its hypothesized constructs is proposed by Nunnally [53]. A number of analyses were conducted for factors analysis. 231 PU PU1-0. 680 PU2-0. 681 PU3-0. 761 PU4-0. 827 PU5-0. 664 PU6-0. 735 PU7-0. 647 TABLE III: FACTOR LOADING SN PEU AW PR PEU1-0. 558 AW1-0. 50 PR1-0. 833 SN1-0. 901 PEU2-0. 577 AW2-0. 711 PR2-0. 658 SN2-0. 886 PEU3-0. 537 AW3-0. 658 PR3-0. 759 PEU4-0. 569 AW4-0. 600 PR4-0. 650 PEU5-0. 824 AW5-0. 662 PR5-0. 679 AW6-0. 662 PR6-0. 741 AW7-0. 658 Code PU1 PU2 PU3 PU4 PU5 PU6 PU7 PEU1 PEU2 PEU3 PEU4 PEU5 AW1 AW2 AW3 AW4 AW5 AW6 AW7 PR1 PR2 PR3 PR4 PR5 PR6 SN1 SN2 TABLE IV: FACTOR EXPLANATIONS. Statements MB gives flexibility to conduct banking business 24 hours/day MB transact ions save more time. MB makes it easier for me to do my banking. MB helps me to know the state of my account faster. MB provides me prompt and efficient services.MB provides systems to give appropriate feedback. MB gives the joy of controlling my financial transactions. Learning to use MB was easy for me. Instructions in the MB system are clear and understandable. I find MB system easy to use. MB has more flexible ways to search for information. I feel that user-friendliness of the MB website is important. I think that I am aware about the benefits of MB I think that I have received enough information about MB. I will frequently use MB in the future. I will strongly recommend others to use MB. I think that using the new MB service is beneficial for me.I have positive perception about using the MB service. MB is compatible to my banking needs. MB will allow unauthorized person to access personal information. MB provides accurate, relevant and up to date information. MB has the chance of data loss and fraud. MB needs expertise and training. MB has inadequate information on the website and less operational reliability. I trust the ability of MB to protect my privacy. People who are important to me think that I should use MB facilities People who influence my behavior think I should use the MB. International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. , No. 3, August 2011 VI. CONCLUSION The result of this study shows that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, consumer awareness and perceived risk are the important determinants of mobile banking adoption. This study meets the desired objective; but it suffers from one setback. Study concludes that majority of customers are accepting online banking because of many favorable factors. Analysis concluded that usefulness, ease of use, subjective norm, awareness and risks related to it are the main perusing factors to accept online banking system.These factors have a stro ng and positive effect on customers to accept mobile banking system. The relatively small size of the sample limits generalization of the outcome of the study. The study is concentrated on a particular location and hence the result may vary with location and the demography of the people. Similar study can be conducted in other colleges and universities and results can be compared. REFERENCES [1] E. E. Ibrahim, M. Joseph, and K. I. N. Ibeh, â€Å"Customers’ Perception of Electronic Service Delivery in the Uk Retail Banking Sector,†International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 475-493, 2006. H. H. Bauer, M. Hammerschmidt, and T. Falk, â€Å"Measuring the Quality of E-Banking Portals,†International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 153-175, 2005. A. Parasuraman and G. M. 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