Lady Macbeth Is the Real Villain of Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare’s Macbeth explores the notion of villains through its key characters and throughout the play the audience is left wondering who is actually the ‘real’ villain. Lady Macbeth seems to portray certain characteristics of a villain and appears to have evil intentions and Macbeth is also perceived as a villain due to his violent rampage. Nevertheless, both Macbeth and his wife have a conscience and they realize what they’ve done wrong. With this considered, it is ultimately the witches who are the true villains as they continue to encourage Macbeth on his murderous journey and they are soulless as they have a sense of what is right and wrong, however they find pleasure in disrupting the natural order. During the exposition act, Lady Macbeth immediately displays certain characteristics similar to a villain, and she appears to have evil intentions. Since she fears that Macbeth is too full of â€Å"th’ milk of human kindness† to take the steps necessary to make himself king, her attitude becomes very strong and forceful and she states â€Å"unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood† which presents her evil intentions as she desperately wants the crown for her husband, and does so in a dark way to emphasize the supernatural world as she would put aside her natural femininity so that she can do the bloody deeds in order to seize the crown. It also seems to be Lady Macbeth that is the â€Å"spur to prick the sides of [Macbeth’s] intent†, as she is adding to his â€Å"vaulting ambition†. Moreover, she belittles her husband, as she believes he needs to be â€Å"more the man†, and portrays herself as a woman who is capable of doing something unthinkable. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is introduced as a â€Å"brave† and â€Å"worthy gentleman†, as he fought bravely and was loyal to his king. However, the witch’s prophecies affect his ultimate desire to become â€Å"king hereafter†, and he begins to display certain characteristics associated with a tragic hero, thus being a fatal flaw. In Macbeth’s situation, his fatal flaw is his â€Å"vaulting ambition† for power. This is the point in the play when he is viewed as a villainous character, as he sets out on his violent rampage and commits murder, therefore putting the entire kingdom in danger. Furthermore, Macbeth has the opportunity to decline his wife’s temptations, however his hunger for power takes its toll on him and he continues on his murderous journey. As the play progresses, the audience is able to see Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s decline. Another thing that they also notice is that Macbeth and his wife have a conscience; more specifically a guilty conscience. They actually realize what they’ve done wrong, and a terrible amount of guilt washes over them. Lady Macbeth’s guilty conscience was evident when she began getting flooded with nightmares and she would sleep walk as well as always talk about the stained blood on her hands, and how she is trying to wash it off. This idea of blood refers to guilt. â€Å"Out, damned spot! † shows that she is struggling to remove the guilt from her hind. She also emphasizes that it’s impossible to remove the blood as she states â€Å"all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand†. Towards the end of the play, Macbeth realizes the evil he has committed and he is portrayed as a victim to his own ambitious and greedy actions. Due to this realization, Macbeth is viewed as a tragic hero, and at the end of the play the audience notice his emptiness – â€Å"I have lived long enough: my way of life is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf, and that which should accompany old age as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends.. †. Seeing as Lady Macbeth or Macbeth weren’t the ‘real’ villains of the play, it makes way to present that the witches were the real villains. The witches were the ones who ultimately manipulated and tricked Macbeth to kill King Duncan, Banquo, the Guards and many other people. Everything the witches do eventually lead to Macbeth’s downfall and therefore they are responsible for his demise. They continue to encourage Macbeth on his murderous journey and are displayed as soulless characters, as they have a sense of what is right and wrong, however they choose to find pleasure in disrupting the natural order as they believe that â€Å"fair is foul and foul is fair†. Therefore, Lady Macbeth isn’t the real villain of the play. Although she has evil intentions and holds villainous characteristics, she has a conscience and becomes extremely guilty of her actions. The audience is left wondering who the ‘real’ villain is, and some may think it’s Macbeth, however Macbeth is a tragic hero as he realizes the crime he has committed, yet he still fights until his very last moment. The witches are certainly the real villains of this play as play upon the motives of Macbeth, therefore being responsible for his downfall, and they enjoy disrupting the natural order. With this said, it is quite evident that Lady Macbeth is not the real villain of the play.

Consumer Decision-Making Styles of Gen Y Consumers in Malaysia

Consumer Decision-Making Styles of Gen Y Consumers in Malaysia Introduction Market segmentation is a crucial element in marketing because goods can no longer be produced and sold without considering consumer needs and recognizing the characteristic of those needs. Due to the highly competitive environment nowadays, attracting and retaining enough loyal customers plays an important key role when developing business strategies.Therefore, business should understand and target consumer from different background and culture differently in order to effectively adapt their marketing strategies (Yeong & Lovett, 2010). In general, there are many demographic variables can be used to segment consumer market, for instance income, age, gender, ethnicity, marital status and household size. Among these variables, gender has been and continues to be one of the most popular forms of market segmentation for a significant proportion of product and services.According to marketing scholars (Meyers-Levy & Sternthal, 1991; Darley & Smith, 1995) argue that gender-based segmentation, especially if it is based on biological sex per se, meets several of the requirements for successful implementation: the segments were easy to identify, easy to access, and large enough for consumer products and services to be marketed profitably. In addition, there are many studies in the past also provided considerable evidence that gender relates to consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, preferences and purchase decisions(Mitchell & Walsh, 2004; Bakewell & Mitchell, 2006).Because gender has been identified as one of the significant factor in understanding consumer behavior and as a fundamental market segmentation index for companies to satisfy their customer’ demand, therefore marketer should endeavor to understand the gender differences in decision-making styles. In addition, research addressing the issue of gender differences in decision-making styles could help marketers to find better ways of communicating with both sexes and to guide marketing mix decisions (Mitchell & Walsh, 2004).Literature Review According to Williams, Page, Petrosky and Hernandez (2010), Generation Y also is referred to as the Millenials or Echo Boomers. They were born during 1977-1994 and are in the 15-32 age range as of 2009. They are children of the original Baby Boomers and their numbers rival that of the Baby Boomers. They grew up in a time of immense and fast-paced change including virtually full-employment opportunities for women, dual-income households as the standard, and having computers at college and home.Moreover Gen Y consumers are more likely to complete their tasks online in just one click in making their decisions (Sengupta & Titus, 2012). Starting in 2000, when the Millennials began attending college, they began to be studied by researchers and marketers to determine the generation’s overriding characteristics. Consumer decision? making styles can be defined â€Å"as me ntal orientations characterizing a consumer’s approach to making choices† (Sproles & Kendall, 1986, p. 268).The aim of Sproles and Kendall (1986) was to provide a potentially useful instrument to assist marketers to better understand consumers’ decision-making styles in purchasing. As consequence, they developed the original 40? item Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) scale, which identified eight characteristics related to consumer decision? making styles. The CSI provides a quantitative instrument for classifying different consumer decision? making styles into distinct categories of shopping orientation.Through empirical research, Sproles and Kendall (1986) defined the following eight categories of decision -making styles namely: 1) perfectionism and high-quality conscious: Consumers carefully search for the best quality in product; 2) brand conscious and price equals quality: Consumer choose to buy more expensive, well known national brands, and believing that a h igher price means better quality; 3) novelty and fashion-conscious: likes new and innovative products and gains excitement from seeking out new things; 4) recreational and hedonistic: finds shopping a pleasant activity and shop just for the fun of it; 5) price conscious and value for money: consumer which has high consciousness of sale price and likely to be comparison shoppers; 6) impulsive and careless: Consumer who do not plan their shopping and appear unconcerned about how much he or she spends; 7) confused by overchoice: These consumer are experiences information overload in the market due to perceiving too many brands and stores and have difficulties making choices and 8) habitual and brand-loyal: These consumers select favorite brands and stores repeatedly overtime. Hiu, Siu, Wang and Chang (2001) revealed three prominent market segments through their study namely: 1. )Trendy, perfectionistic consumers: who frequent shopping and take it as an enjoyment. They are interested in high quality and fashionable items, read fashion magazines, watch various advertisements to gain trendy fashion information and tend to supportive with foreign brand which is high quality and fashionable styling. 2. ) Tradisional, pragmatic consumer: who do not view shopping as a enjoyment activity to them. They are price conscious, not interested in fashion styling and most probably choosing local brands. 3. Confused by overchoice: these consumers tend not to read magazines or advertisement on fashion, avoid exposure to too much information, and only purchase local brands which they are familiar. According to Bakewell and Mitchell (2003), five meaningful and distinct decision-making groups were found in the study of decision-making styles of adult female Generation Y consumers in the UK: â€Å"recreational quality seekers†, â€Å"recreational discount seekers†, â€Å"trend setting loyals†, â€Å"shopping and fashion uninterested† and â€Å"confused tim e/money conserving†. In their later study on decision making styles of male consumers in the UK (Bakewell & Mitchell, 2004), all of the original eight traits plus four new traits namely; store-loyal/low-price seeking, time-energy conserving, confused time restricted and store-promiscuity were identified.From their study it shows that the potential of the CSI for segmenting market as meaningful and different groups of male consumers with different decision making styles. Despite of previous studies which reported gender differences in decision-making styles of consumer, Mitchell and Walsh (2004) compared the decision-making styles of male and female shoppers in Germany. From the research, they managed to verify the construct validity of all eight CSI factors for female shopper and four of the factors for male shoppers. In consequence, they also concluded that male consumers were slightly less likely to be perfectionists, somewhat less novelty and fashion conscious, and less lik ely to be confused when making purchases compared to female consumers.Years after that, Bakewell and Mitchell (2006) undertook a similar study in the UK by using a sample of 480 male and female undergraduate students, they found that nine decision-making style were common to both genders. Through the study they had discovered three traits for male (store-loyal/low-price seeking, confused time-restricted and store-promiscuity) and three new traits for female traits (bargain seeking, imperfectionism and store loyal). There are few studies recently which had attempted to thoroughly explore the antecedent and consequences of consumer decision-making styles. Ghodeswar (2007) found that that seven out of eight dimensions of consumer decision-making style proposed by Sproles and Kendall (1986) in his study of consumer decision-making styles among Indian students.The only style which was not confirmed in his data is â€Å"price consciousness/ value for money consumer†. Gupta, Brantle y & Jackson (2010) found that consumers Generation Y at Midwestern University tend to be brands store loyal when they are buying high involvement product. Kambiz & Fereshteh (2011) found that husband and wife have divergent decision-making styles and their family structure as a social-structural variable can be influenced by the decision-making styles of family members which is related to their purchasing behavior. Lastly, it is believed that male and female consumer in Malaysia may also have certain distinctive characteristic in decision-making during shopping and purchasing.But those characteristic could be have equal interest to both researchers and marketing practitioners. Hence, this paper will fill the gap by focusing on the differences in decision-making styles on gender in the Malaysia context. Methodology According to the past study, most of the researchers prepared a structured questionnaire based on literature review and objectives of the study. Consumers decision-making were measured using the 40-items of Consumer Style Inventory (CSI), developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986). All scales were measured on a 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliabilities of the CSI scale, according to Sproles and Kendall (1986), ranged from 0. 48 to 0. 76.The scales items were translated into Malay language with minor changes in wording to clarify the meaning. In addition, some demographic questions were included in the questionnaire. And most of the questionnaire was self-administered to non-probability sample of male and female undergraduate students in Malaysia. Finding and Analysis Common Factors for both Male and Female According to the research study of Safiek and Hayatul (2009) in Malaysia, the decision-making of Malaysian young consumer for both gender have similarities namely: 1. ) Quality consciously: meaning that they prefer to buy more durable and quality product. 2. ) Brand consciously: it shows tha t they set high standards and have high expectations for the products they buy.Moreover they choose to buy the product which is heavily advertised and well-know national brands. 3. ) Fashion consciousness: this shows that both genders are seem to gain pleasure from seeking out new things and keep up-to date with fashionable attractive styles. 4. ) Confused by overchoice: This factor shows that they feel over-loaded with the information on various brands products and find it very hard to choose the best product during shopping. 5. ) Satisfying and value seeking: concluded that if both items were identical in both sample, they will carefully find the best value for money product to be purchased which is also satisfied their needs. Male FactorsAgain from the study of Safiek and Hayatul (2009), there are two factors found for males namely brand loyalty and time-energy conserving. For brand loyalty, male consumers score higher than female consumers on this factor because they tend to hav e favorite brands and will use these habitually. Next, time-energy conserving which was not found in females but it characterizes males who often save energy by making their shopping trips as fast as possible in the same stores. Moreover, males have the perception that going shopping is a waste of time and they don’t give their purchases much thought. In overall, both of these results show the similarity with previous researchers, Bakewell and Michell (2006) in the UK. Female factorsFrom the study of Safiek and Hayatul (2009) research, it shows that there are three female factors found namely price consciousness, recreational and shopping avoidance. Female consumers scored higher than male consumers on price consciousness shows that female are more aware of the sale prices and more often choose to purchase lower price products. Next, female shoppers are more particular on recreational or pleasant shopping activity compared to male shoppers. And this factor is consistent with Mitchell and Walsh’s (2004) and Bakewell and Mitchell’s (2006) which characterization of a recreational consumer. The last factor is shopping avoidance which is very exclusive to female consumers and posed an opposite trait of recreational.However the high scored shows that if the shopping is unpleasant, female shoppers will tend to shop as quickly by purchasing the first brands or product that seem to be good enough. Conclusion In conclusion, through the research of consumer decision making styles, it offers a great opportunity to understand the characteristic or style of consumer towards their shopping behavior. And this consumer style inventory provides a fundamental for consumer decision making styles and has practical application advantages for marketers in their marketing strategic. However this study has a limitation because it only covered a specific segment of young adult in an local university in Malaysia.For future recommendation, there is a need to study th ese decision making styles among the larger population across different segment in order to get better converge of Malaysia young consumers. References Sproles, G. & Kendall, E. (1986). A Methodology for Profiling Consumers’ Decision-Making Styles, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 20 (2), pp. 267-279 Mitchell, V. , & Walsh, G. (2004). Gender Differences in German Consumer Decision-Making styles. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 3(4), 331-346 Bakewell, C. & Mitchell, V. W. (2003) Generation Y Female Consumer Decision-Making styles. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 31(2), 95-106. Bakewell, C. & Mitchell, V. W. (2006).Male versus Female Consumer Decision Making. Journal of Business Research, 59, 1297-1300. Hiu, A. S. Y. , Siu, N. Y. M. , Wang, C. C. L. & Chang, L. M. K. (2001). An Investigation of Decision-Making Styles of Consumers in China. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 35 (2), 326-345. Safiek, M. & Hayatul, S. S. (2009). Consumer Decision-Making Styles in Malaysia: An Exploratory Study of Gender Differences. European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 10, Number 4 Safiek, M. (2009). An Investigation of Consumer Decision-Making Styles of Young-Adults in Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Management. Vol. 4, No. 4 Darley, W. K. & Smith, R. E (1995).Gender Differences in Information Processing Strategies: An Empirical Test of the Selectivity Model in Advertising Response. Journal of Advertising, 24(1), 41-59. Meyer-Levy, J. & Sternthal, B. (1991). Gender Differences in the Use of Message Cues and Judgments. Journal of Marketing Research, 29 (1), 84-96. Kaylene C. Williams, K. C. , Page, R. A, Petrosky, A. R. & Hernandez, E. H. (2010). Multi-Generational Marketing: Descriptions, Characteristics, Lifestyles, and Attitudes. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, Vol. 11(2) Sengupta, D. & Titus, R. (2012). Evaluating Environmental Variables to assess Exhibited Behaviour: A Study of Gen Y. International Conference on Technology and Business Management Yeong, N. C. & Lovet, M. G. (2010).Consumer Decision-Making Styles of Hispanic American College Students: A Consumer Styles Inventory Approach. American Journal of Business Research, Vol. 3, No 2 Ghodeswar B. M. (2007), â€Å"Consumer Decision-Making Styles Among Indian Students†, Alliance Journal of Business Research, Vol. 3, Spring 2007, pp. 36-48. Gupta, M. , Brantley, A. , & Jackson, V. P. (2010). Product Involvement as a Predictor of Generation Y Consumer Decision Making Styles. The Business Review, Cambridge, Vol. 14, Num. 2 Kambiz, H. H. & Fereshteh, L. (2011). Influence of Family Structure on Consumer Decision-making Style in Iran. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 6, No. 11; November 2011

HOSPITALITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HOSPITALITY - Essay Example For instance, in this paper, Australia intends to use the pop-up restaurant in promoting the countries hospitality through displaying the native products as well as skills. The theme of the trade fairs as planned by the government of Australia is to win more traders to the country through which Australia intends to have more businesses generated at the international front. Through the trade fairs, Australia intends to generate international media coverage through which the country will be positioned with the market orientation of a sophisticated cosmopolitan country, which has also a very strong economy. Hospitality industry has therefore been the choice by the government to have this objective realized within her trading partners and beyond. The main characteristic feature of using the pop-up restaurants is the ease of using social media as a tool for communication, ordering and placing reservations or better still keep a constant follow-up of these restaurants in terms of relocatio n. The concept of a pop-up restaurant as adopted by the government of Australia will serve as a distinct event itself running from the midmorning hours (at eleven in the morning) to ten at night for the days running from Wednesday to Sunday. It will display different recipes for the country’s hospitality industry and will run on a capacity of sixty persons served on a first come first served basis. Only currency in form of cash as well as checks will be in use to purchase the services. For the ease of convenience, the pop-up restaurants will adopt the system of no-reservation as guests will be served through a communal style dining room and thus the first come first serve basis of serving is preferred. The retail hospitality exhibition will be set off through a well organized cultural night which will be useful in informing the guest of the

American constitution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American constitution - Assignment Example Secondly, it should provide social infrastructure wherein the citizens can interact well and establish connections and ties with one another. Thirdly, it is tasked in protecting human rights and upholding and ensuring that everyone is treated fairly and accorded with the things that are of the essence to being human. Citizens should be safeguarded against violations of human rights. And lastly, it is the government’s role to provide public safety. In relation with its other roles, this dictates that it should protect the state from both internal and external threats, be it in whatever nature such as, but not limited to, political, military, health, etc. 2.Define democracy and discuss 5 bases of democracy(five bases to use are, self-government john locke-2nd treaties on government, social contract, majority rule, minority rights, limited government, democratic institution, free election, free expression of ideas ). In the modern era of politics, democracy as a form of government has risen as the most widely practiced form of government. The word can be literally translated to mean as the Government of the People/Majority (Becker and Raveloson 4). It is easily distinguishable from other forms of government such as monarchy, aristocracy, and dictatorship simply because the governing body comes from the people themselves. Leaders of such government and elected and empowered by the people in the rationale of them serving the common interest of its citizens. 3. Discuss 5 types of powers (Reward-ability to provide what others don’t have, Coercive-ability to punish, Authority-based on titles and position, Expert-based on knowledge, Referant-based on charisma or respect. The reward-ability power is anchored in the ability of the authoritative entity to grant and motivate its constituents by its desires and undesirables. This regards the work of

Read the following excerpt from Aristotle's Poetics and discuss the Essay

Read the following excerpt from Aristotle's Poetics and discuss the respects in which the Medea adheres to his guidelines and - Essay Example *** The Third Episode of Medea contains all the elements necessary, from Aristotle’s point of view, for a play to be called a tragedy. Among others these include, Jason’s mimesis, dialogues, structure of the plot, peripeteia. Another evidence of tragedian character of Euripides’ play is a scene of pain. In the Third Episode we can see the mimesis when Medea repeats Jason’s wrong doings in burning desire to revenge on him and make him suffer. She makes a plan how to force Jason to suffer as much as Medea did felt when he has broken his oath. So here we can observe one of the main elements of a tragedy according to Aristotle. Another key element of a classical tragedy is dialogue, which Medea uses when speaking to Aegeus and asking him to â€Å"Swear by the Earth on which you tread/Swear by the Sun, my father’s father dread/Swear by every god and godhead† to always defend her. This utterance is a dialogue as it said in a highly poetic, elevated tone. Peripeteia of this tragedy also purely corresponds to Aristotle’s requirements stated in the Poetics. ... In Euripides' tragedy there is too much suffering, due to this reason Aristotle called Euripides the most tragic of the playwrights. Here we can observe sufferings when Jason sees his sons’ blood seeping from under the door. It was Medea’s plane to make him suffer – with this purpose she killed her children, the only part of Jason she still had. She wanted to get rid of him completely and at the same time to make him feel grief and agony. The Third Episode of the tragedy shows vividly all the elements in which Euripides’ Medea adheres to Aristotle’s guidelines. So, Medea represents a classic tragedy and can be taken as an example for analysis. In spite of the fact that Aristotle himself considered Medea to be one of the best samples of classical tragedy, Euripides’ masterpiece contains a few elements which do not satisfy Aristotle’s views. For example, Aristotle reproached Euripides for partiality to the method of "God from the machine †, which consists in the fact that the denouement does not escape from the plot, but is achieved with god’s help. Aristotle wrote: â€Å"... the denouement of the plot should follow from the plot, but not, as in Medea, through the machine.† And if the denouement of the conflict so often required the sudden appearance of supernatural forces, then it was not due to Euripides’ inability to find a more convincing composite course, but due to the fact that the poet had not seen in contemporary world solutions for many intricate human affairs. The poet is abhorrent to every theatrical convention. According to Aristotle, a real tragedy, arousing in the viewer sympathy and fear, makes discharging of these affects, directing them into

Health care laws and how it affects working nurses Research Paper

Health care laws and how it affects working nurses - Research Paper Example Three types of laws govern the Public Health Law as previously discussed: Legislation, Regulations and Judicial Law. The legislative bodies of state, federal and local government, formulate the Legislative laws that have a considerable impact on the way nursing is practiced in the United States. Regulations are specific set of rules pertaining to individual while the legislation and Judicial law is based on the court’s and jury’s’ decision (Stanhope and Lancaster 124). Stanhope and Lancaster illustrate the impact of Regulations and the Judicial Law on nursing practice by stating that the state legislators will enact laws governing the board of nursing and will coin technical terms such as ‘licensed registered nurse’ and ‘nursing practice’, the board of nursing on the other hand will enforce the laws that will bring into existence a licensed registered nurse and recognized nursing practice procedures by stating all the requirements and pr erequisite (124). The writers express that in case of judicial law, courts take into consideration previous cases and give sentences in conformity with them except during the instances when the judge or the jury thinks that the old laws have become obsolete and a more valid form of it is needed. Everything that is done in a health agency has a basis in law and is subject to legal sanction of one type or another (qtd. in Maurer and Smith 124). This statement implies to health care workers and more particularly community oriented nursed since they have direct, face-to-face relationship with the patients. Rules and regulation in addition with those associated with the upheaval of the health industry; predominantly laws that pertain to the maintenance of discipline in the health sector and allotting punishment related to malpractice are applicable to nurses to a great extent. Nurses are regarded, as learned individuals with sound knowledge of the profession that they practice for their living, consumers are totally reliant on this particular knowledge for their treatment. If any patient is harmed in any way due to the nurses’ malpractice that according to a source Hall and Hall (2001) cited in Maurer and Smith (124), includes: Provision of unsafe environment, inadequate assessment, failure to follow physician’s order, erroneous medication and treatment, usage of defective technology and products, inadequate infection control and poor communication with the patient, the nurse would be held accountable for her actions and lawsuits can be filed against her. Nurses should be well aware of the laws and legislation pertaining to their legal practice of the state they are professionally working in, and should be well familiar also with any changes that might be introduced in the legislation of not just nursing but also in related professions such as those of medicine and pharmacy (Lancaster and Stanhope 125). These writer demonstrate the importance of inter disciplinary knowledge for the nursing profession by stating the example of a community oriented nurse who has reviewed the pharmacy act would be able to ascertain whether to question the right to dispense medication in the local family planning clinic or not. According to The Nurse Practice Act of New York, 1970 nursing is defined as: The practice of the profession of nursing†¦. is defined as diagnosing and treating human responses to actual or potential health problems through such services

Comparative Evaluation of Classical Realism and Classical Liberalism Essay

Comparative Evaluation of Classical Realism and Classical Liberalism - Essay Example As Morgenthau had tried to focus on through his studies and analysis, the power that a state government generally reflects on the state activities are consequences of the interests that the nation holds as a whole (Pashakhanlou, 2009). The classical liberalism on the other hand throws light on the promotion of government power that needs to be limited to highlight the power of the human beings inhabitant in the state. The primary focus of this belief is thus on individuals being able to be liberal in their activities and yet decide their democratic views on their own. The concept is also not associated with any socialism on the part of the individuals. Rather, their freedom and independence in expression of their political views as well as getting involved in political activities are considered significant in the classical liberalism concept (Koeller, 2003). The Reflections and Impacts of Classical Realism and Classical Liberalism on the international politics: Although the concept o f classical realism tried to link between the human behavior and their activities and thus the conflicts and power struggles occurring in the world of politics, yet the concept could not keep up with its implications till the current times. Considering its implications, it has been observed that the concept has been unable to act on some standard while focusing on the international politics as a whole. If it pointed to some facts of the human behavior leading to conflicts, the theory has not been able to relate that fact to the world politics as a whole. Rather, it has been associated to some parts of the world politics or some sections or groups of people. Moreover, the concept has been proved to be inconsistent since it could not explain the different terms in relation... The classical realism is focused on the conflicts, powers and wars prevailing in the political world on an international level and determines how repeatedly such political conflicts occur in the world. The classical realism concept tries to stress on the causes created by human beings that result in the initiation of political conflicts (Pashakhanlou, 2009). On the other hand liberalism is more concerned about the freedom that human beings deserve. This concept brings into focus the need to understand the requirements of the human beings more than the needs of a state (Koeller, 2003). Thus the two concepts are different in their study of the world politics. However, although having different concepts the beliefs are concerned with the humans and the impacts of the international politics on the lives of the common people. The primary difference in the two concepts lies in the fact that realism focuses on what is happening in actual in the international political world. Considering a comparative study on both classical realism and classical liberalism, it can be understood that both the concepts have been different in their views and thoughts. While realism remained concerned with the reality that occurs as a result of the human activities not considering the structural negligence, the liberalism concept focused on the needful measures that human beings required and deserved as against the importance provided to the political parties or the government authorities.

Research protocol for Master's level 'Alzheimer disease ' Essay

Research protocol for Master's level 'Alzheimer disease ' - Essay Example la, T., Arai, H., Blennow, K., Andreasen, N., Hofmann-Kiefer, K., DeBernardis, J., Kerkman, D., McCulloch, C., Kohnken, R., Padberg, F., Pirttilà ¤, T., Schapiro, M.B., Rapoport, S.I., Mà ¶ller, H-J., Davies, P., Hampel, H., (2002). Differential Diagnosis Of Alzheimer Disease With Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels Of Tau Protein Phosphorylated At Threonine 231, Arch Neurol; 59: pp. 1267 – 1272. De La Monte, S.M. and Wands, J.R., (1994). Diagnostic Utility of Quantitating Neurofilament –immunoreactive Alzheimer’s Disease Lesions, The Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, Vol. 42. NO. 12, pp. 1627-1634. De La Monte, S.M. and Wands, J.R., (1994). Diagnostic Utility of Quantitating Neurofilament –immunoreactive Alzheimer’s Disease Lesions, The Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, Vol. 42. NO. 12, pp. 1625-1634. Kohler, J., Riepe, M.W., Jendroska, K., Pilartz, H., Adler, G., Berger, F.M., Calabrese, P., Frolich, L., Gertz, H.J., Hampel, H., Haupt, M., Mielke, R ., Paulus, H.J., and Zedlick, D., (2002). Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimers disease. Implementation in the doctors office, Fortschr Med Orig; 120(4): pp. 135-41. Lopez, O. L., Swihart, A. A., Becker, J. T., Reinmuth, O. M., Reynolds, C. F., III, Rezek, D. L. and Daly, F. L., III, (1990), Reliability Of NINCDS-ADRDA Clinical Criteria For The Diagnosis Of Alzheimers Disease, Neurology; 40: 1517. Tapiola, T., Lehtovirta, M., Ramberg, J., Helisalmi, S., Linnaranta, K., Riekkinen, P., and Soininen, H. (1998). CSF tau is related to apolipoprotein E genotype in early Alzheimers disease, Neurology; 50: pp. 169 -

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Law - Essay Example There has been no clear cut reason for the separation. The division appears to be more of prestige issue and professionally it is becoming an embarrassment to offer the excuse that the barrister performs a specialized or more professional role. Periodical studies highlight issues that throw the explanation of specialized roles of barristers in poor light (Cohen, Professor Harry; p11). Simply put, solicitors form the backbone of U.K.’s legal system. They come in direct contact with the public who come to them for all legal advises from litigation to commercial work. Litigation forms just a small part of the solicitor’s work that involves â€Å"commercial transactions, corporate matters, land, share and other property dealings† (Legal professionals: barristers, solicitors, executives; 1998). In order to become a solicitor, it is necessary to take a one-year Legal Practice Course (LPC). There are over 30 institutions throughout England who offer the LPC. Thereafter, the law student has to obtain a two-years training contract with a solicitors’ firm (The Legal Professions). Professionally, a solicitor must be a member of the Law Society which oversees his training, practice and the Society also takes up complaints made against the solicitor (Legal professionals: barristers, solicitors, executives; 1998). The role of the solicitor came into existence in 1823 when ‘The London Law Institution’ was formed by several prominent barristers. The name of this institution changed to ‘The Law Society’ in 1903. Women and ethnic minorities were not allowed to be members of the Law Society in those days. Now, half of the legal force in the U.K. comprises women (The Law Society, 2010). The closeness of the solicitors to people and corporations and their distinct efficiencies has enabled them to grow and flourish as individuals or firms. Solicitors have the potential to grow

Posner Terms 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Posner Terms 2 - Assignment Example The administrations also ignore the positive effects of societal goals on students such as reverence for associates, recognition of US position in international economy, international harmony and peace and US nationals’ right of safety. The inclusion of societal goals in curriculum is not an easy task. 2. Administrative Goal Posner (1995) defines administrative goals of educational institutions in terms of supervision and development of the institutions (p. 73). The administrative goals comprise teachers’ appointments, salaries and educational continuation, support required by staff, recognition and promotion of influential leaders, the development and supervision of particular curriculum, protection of staff and students and turnout of students. Educational institution’s building preservation, transport management, resourcing and overhauling planning and supervision and standardizing rules and regulations for students. As a student, I have noticed that administr ative goals are handled at school level and school administrators are involved in their development, regulation and improvement. 3. Bloom's Taxonomy and its Applicability to Writing Objectives ‘Cognitive, affective and psychomotor’ domains are part of Bloom’s taxonomy. ... As a student, I feel that cognitive activities are uncomplicated as compared to affective or psychomotor activities. Cognitive domain incorporates learning, understanding, implementation, evaluation and combination, all of which indicate that it is applicable to writing objectives. For writing, all the mentioned aspects are required. 4. Cognitive Domain Cognitive domain as described by Bloom deals with our thought patterns. Initially, brain was regarded as a mind muscle only but currently, it is an organ that makes a human being capable to use Bloom’s domains that are cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains (Anderson, et al, 2000). Cognitive domain can also be called intellectual domain. Our skills of causation, recollection and cogence of information are investigated by cognitive psychologists. These skills make us dissimilar to animals. We are able to understand and eulogize music, literature and art because of cognitive domain. Our thoughts, rationalizing and comprehen sion, all are permitted because of cognitive domain. In our studies, we have to use cognitive domain in order to comprehend, evaluate and reason to acquire knowledge. Any kind of study is impossible without incorporation of cognitive domain. 5. Purpose of Standards Posner (1995) describes the standards as defined specifics, capabilities and procedures that students are anticipated to acquire (p. 93). Sometimes, secondary educational institutions adopt and apply ‘behavioral objectives’ that appear as standards. These standards are quantifiable. The student performance can be judged as an indication of a continued knowledge acquisition procedure with the support of these standards. Standards define a

Junk Food Essay Example for Free

Junk Food Essay Hello, my name is Daniela and I am here today to share my opinion about banning junk food, and hopefully I change your opinion, if you disagree with me. Well, junk food is food that’s very high in fat, sugar, and calories. It hardly has protein, vitamins, or minerals. I know it may be very tasty and good, but it’s not so good for your body. Eating junk food can cause your brain to get addicted to it in a way like drugs do. You’ll constantly think you need it, when you don’t. If you go a couple weeks without junk food and you’re use to eating it, you’ll want it even more, which is bad. Poor eating habits as a kid, become worse when you’re an adult. Eating it for years can cause obesity. Over 31. 8% of children in America are obese or overweight. This all leads to heart problems, diabetes, and other health problems. It can also cause cavities and other dental problems. Junk food also has a lack of oxygen, which is what feeds the brain and the rest of the body. Lack of oxygen causes fatigue and lack of concentration. A lot of studies also show that kid’s grades are sliding down very fast, due to being tired and lack of concentration. They can’t keep all the information they’re learning in their head. Parents should monitor their kid’s diet, but at school they can’t. Therefore the school should help the students in deciding what’s better for their nutrition. Kids do what they see other people do no matter if it’s bad or good. They see us eating a lot of junk food; they’ll eat a lot of junk food. They see us being healthy; they’ll want to become healthy. So why teach them that eating a lot of junk food is healthy? At home, maybe some parents may not care what their kid eats; therefore they should at least have one healthy meal provided by the school. Many students like to go and socialize with their friends during lunch since they can’t really talk or see each other any other times during school. Therefore, they’ll want to just grab a quick snack, like a type of junk food, and just leave to go talk with their friends. They aren’t eating a good meal and are just putting junk in their body. It’s much better if the school bans it and replaces the junk food with a healthy snack so at least the person can be eating something good for them. What if the school makes you take P. E. more than you’re required to since they decided to keep junk food? I know many of you hate it. So I don’t know about you, but I rather be eating healthy, than be trying to lose those calories I got from the junk food. I rather not even be taking P. E. another year just because they decided to keep that junk. Also, students are taught in health classes about healthy eating, and if the schools promotes and sells junk food, then the school contradicts its purpose of teaching this. The money you waste on junk food funds most of the cool and new stuff we get for our school. The school board should be paying for this stuff. They’re basically making money off your poor health choices. I hope you see things my way now and think about supporting the idea of banning junk food in school. Thank you for your listening!

The Basic Concept Of Materials Management Construction Essay

The Basic Concept Of Materials Management Construction Essay The basic concept of materials management or MM is that the system can helps to reduce cost and delays on site where the work is performed due to the poor performance done by the management teams on how to handle different materials at the right quantity, source and time. Materials management also can be defined as a process where it shows how the building was designed and materials are estimated. From the initial phase of planning until the completion phase that is waste management, the materials management will need to be efficient in order to avoid any delay and extra cost. Materials can be in the forms of raw materials, components, consumables, capital goods, spares, furniture and etc. In the management teams has to have a Project Manager to lead and responsible for the teams. Then come in a Planning Engineer and Material Engineer to prepare a material schedule, list out materials that need to be order, monitoring and control of materials consumption used at projects and etc. Cho osing of right sources especially nature materials like aggregates and stones will be the job of Quality Control Engineer. He also needs to be in charge of sampling and testing materials that are received on site accordance to the given specification. Lastly, will be the Store Manager duty to follow up with the vendors, receiving and issuing the right materials and etc. The example case study of MM can be seen on the following scenario. AlmatabSdn.Bhd. is carrying out a housing project which is semi-detached houses and double storey terrace in Johor. The construction site layout has been prepared as shown in Figure 1 which illustrates the layout equipment, building materials and access roads for the erection of the building. As a new site manager, you are requested to study the site management to be applied for the project and give some comments and advices on the layout. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 What is Materials Management? There are different definitions that are provided by different researcher/author for materials management throughout the years. Ballot (1971) defines materials management as the process of planning, acquiring, storing, moving, and controlling materials to effectively use facilities, personnel, resources and capital. Tersine and Campbell (1977) stated that materials management as a process that provide the right materials at the right place at the right time in order to maintain a desired level of production at minimum cost. Beekman-Love (1978) indicates that a materials management structure should be organized in such a way that it allows for integral planning and coordination of the flow of materials, in order to use the resources in an optimal way and to minimize costs. Chandler (1978) explain that materials management systems should be implemented to plan, order, and check deliveries, warehousing, controlling the use of materials, and paying for materials. Ammer (1980) defines materials management as the process in which a company acquires the materials that it needs to achieve their objectives. Bailey and Farmer (1982) define materials management as a concept concerned with the management of materials until the materials have been used and converted into final product. Gossom (1983) indicates that a materials management system should have standard procedures for planning, expediting, transportation, receipt and storage to ensure an efficient system for materials control.Cavinato (1984) stated that materials management involves in the control of the flow of goods in a firm. It is the combination of purchasing with production, distribution, marketing and finance. Arnold (1991) defines that materials management is a function responsible for planning and controlling of materials flow. 2.2 Scope of Materials Management 1. Material Planning and Controlling This function is based on the sales forecast and the production plans of a company. The activities of the function are: Estimation of materials requirements. Preparation of materials budget of the company. Estimating the levels of inventories required in the company. Scheduling the orders placed with the suppliers to ensure availability of material. Controlling by monitoring of production sales. 2. Purchasing The purchasing is one of the major functions for materials management. This function contains the following activities: Identification and selection of possible suppliers. Finalizing the terms and references of purchases that are to be made. Placing the purchase orders this activity may be staggered as per the inventory control function. Managing the purchase orders till delivery of materials. Giving clearance to payment of received good Analyzing the performance of the suppliers and rating them. 3. Stores and Inventory Control This function helps in physical control of materials. It has the following list of activities: Minimization of material losses due to obsolescence and handling. This activity controls the timely disposal and efficient handling of materials. Maintenance of stores records along with proper location and stocking of materials. Physical verification of stocks and reconciling. 2.3 Phases of Materials Management Process Bidding Phase The contractor identifies the materials needed as well as any special requirements or special materials to be used in the project. Quantities needed are estimated and a bid package is put together and submitted. Sourcing Phase This phase involve inselection of thereputable suppliers and manufactures. The selection of suppliers is critical and the performance of a supplier can decide between a successful project and a project full of delays. Therefore, the contractor needs to verify that the supplier is capable of delivering the right material. Material Procurement The generation of a material requisition schedule. Once a material requisition schedule is in place, individual requisitions are generated from the construction site by either the foreman or the project manager. When a release form is generated, suppliers are contacted for procuring the material needed. The type of material needed, quantities, time when the material is needed and delivery location are specified to the supplier. Construction Phase This phase involves in receiving, storing and distributing the material on site. The receiving process involves inspection of the material when it is received to verify that the type of material delivered is the one ordered, qualities received against quantities ordered and quality of the delivered material. Post- Construction Phase After the installation of the materials in place, the EC has to manage any surplus material. The surplus is handled differently depending on the type of material and also whether or not the contractor has a warehouse. If the company has a warehouse, the surplus material is stored in the warehouse for use in the future projects. 2.4 Classification of Materials Raw materials: Example; plastic granules. Purchase components Work- in- progress Finished goods Spares Consumables: Examples; Coal, paints, mineral oil,etc. Machinery and equipment: Examples; lathe machines, electric motors, etc. Inflammables: Examples; petrol, kerosene, etc. Chemicals: Examples; carbides acids and nitrous gases. Furniture: Examples; chairs, tables, etc. Scrap materials: Examples; waste materials. Packaging materials: Examples; boxes, bottles, wax and grease, etc. Fuel stock: Example; coal, etc. General stores: Examples; soap, brooms, stationary, etc. 2.5 Participants in Materials Management 1. Pre construction Phase Architect Need to designs for best use of standard sizes, for multiple applications and for their recyclability. Engineer Ensures appropriate structural component dimensions, quality and spacing for use of standard fasteners and materials for multiple applications and recyclability. Estimator Use the latest materials takeoff technologies and exercises accuracy in estimates. Purchaser Has to plans purchases and deliveries in order to reduce surplus and to balance materials maintenance during on-site storage versus transportation energy consumption. Construction Site Phase Site Construction Management Applies the materials management plan to the site and oversees its implementation. Site Materials Manager Keeps track of new materials, cuts and used materials, organizes and stores them for availability in accordance. Subcontract Management Need to communicate with site management and Materials Manager regarding the types of materials that able to use for various purposes. Trade Workers Use materials properly, store new materials properly, handle and cut them carefully for maximum use or minimum waste. 3 Off-site Phase Suppliers Use recyclable packaging and returnable containers and pallets, and accept the returned containers and pallets or informs the site of others who will accept them. Recyclers Haulers Provide containers for convenient materials storage and retrieval if appropriate. Instruct the site personnel in separation and quality requirements. 2.6 Advantages of Materials Management An effective material management system can bring many benefits for a company. Better accountability on part of materials as well as other departments as no one can shift blame to others. Generally materials management is handled by single authority, it can result a better coordination, as it becomes the central point for any materials related problems. Materials management department make sure that better quality material is supplied on time to the requesting departments. This can result in better performance of the company. A materials management system is typically controlled through an information system, thus can help in taking decision related to material in the company. One indirect advantage of material management is that good quality material develops the ethical and moral standard in the company. 2.7 Challenge of Handling Material (supplier relationship) It is almost impossible to maintain a good relationship with the suppliers during construction as there will always be a barrier between the buyer and suppliers. A good relationship with suppliers is important for the materials management process as it will make sure that schedule is on time. This is how the management teams can do to improve the relationship with the suppliers. Courtesy Courtesy and promptness should be shown to the suppliers representatives whenever they visit the buyers office. Even if they visit without prior notices, they should be treated nicely and perhaps could probably request to call again at other time. Disclosure When sending out enquiries, full details of the required materials, delivery time, and etc., should be given to avoid unnecessary correspondence and clarification. Impartiality Strict impartiality should be observed in according orders and all unfair practices should be avoided. Lead time Adequate time should be given to the suppliers to affect deliveries and rush orders should be kept to the minimum. Reports in delay in delivery and unsatisfactory quality should be politely convey on no account rude letters should be sent or discourteous words spoken from the buyers side. Mutual understanding It also an advantages to be aware of suppliers manufacturing problems and raw materials difficulties and to extend help to resolve them if possible. Payment The buyer should ensure that payment of suppliers bills is not unduly delayed. Personal visit Occasional visit to the suppliers plant often contribute to better understanding between the buyer and supplier. Good relationship often brings benefits for both parties. 2.8 Problems of Materials Management on Site Materials management can be divided into five categories: The measurement and specification; The procurement and purchasing process where the order is transmitted to thesupplier; Delivery to site and logistics of checking the order, off loading, and storing onsite; The administrative and financial process of payment; Using the materials in production on the job site and removing the waste. Some common problems on construction site are more obvious which are namely: Failure to order on time which delays the projects; Delivery at the wrong time which interrupts the work schedule; Over ordering; Wrong materials or error in direction of materials requiring re-work; Theft of materials from delivery into production; Double handling of materials because of inadequate material. 2.9 Importance of Materials Management Materials constitute the biggest single element of cost. Generally more half the cost of any production system is due to materials alone. Therefore reduced materials cost is vital for improved productivity. Non-availability of materials are resource input leads to production shut down, project delays etc. hence timely availability of material is vital for production efficiency. Below is the list of the importance of materials management. Lower prices for material and equipment. Faster inventory turnover. Continuity of supply Reduced lead time Reduced transportation cost. Less duplication of efforts. Elimination of bulk- passing. Reduced materials obsolescence. Improved supplier relationship and better records and information. Better inter-department cooperation. Personnel development. 3.0 COMPARISON OF INFORMATION (CASE STUDY) Temporary Road Materials Figure 1: Existing Site Layout Double Storey Terrace Reinforcement Temporary building Waste materials Store Scaffold store Materials Store Semi-detached houses Timber Access Concrete batching plant 3.1 Evaluation of Existing Site Layout Site entrance and exit If the site entrance and exit is not place properly then it will causes confuses to the contractor, visitors, workers and supplier that deliver materials as they will simply use an open road to enter or exit and maybe can make the site more pack with vehicles. Security hut The security hut is important to put in the site layout as it can help to keep the site safe from intruder that want to steal the materials or equipment and also to keep outsider from trespass the construction site. Materials The materials name is not specified.The materials are being cramp in one place. This will lead to a delay in the schedule as the materials are not placed properly and label according to their classification. Water and power supply A construction site cannot be operate if there is no water and power supply as those supplies are indeed for sanitary purpose and lighting in the jobsite. Canteen It really unreasonable for the canteen to be left out or not included in the site layout as it provides a place to eat and rest for the workers and contractor. Site office The location of the site office must be free from those storage of materials as it can lead to noise pollution or hazardous to the worker that work inside an office for all day long. Car park A place for car park is important as it needed for the contractor or visitors to park their car in a safe place compare than just simply park beside a dangerous jobsite. Water Drainage / Sewer line Water drainage or sewer line must be included in the site layout as it will be a big help for sanitary purpose and for clean up the waste after the works is completed. Problems of Poor Planning Site Layout 1. Wrongly located the materials. Materials cannot be placed too far from work area or stocked over a drainage line. Their delivery was wrongly phased and not needed until much later. 2. Wrongly located the plants and equipment. Storage for aggregates such as lime stones, stones and fine sands are not sufficient on site. Plants such as fixed cranes are unable to reach all parts of the works if wrongly placed on the jobsite. 3. Insufficient space in the site. Materials may be stacked on roadways that can cause hazards during construction period. Working areas become too cramped with the poor planning of site layout. 4. Wrongly located the site office. Site office that located near noisy activities such as mixer or too near the roads and it can cause disturbance to the people that working inside the office. 5. Poor communication Communication is one of the key for a successful materials management on site as it can help to give correct information about materials. Relationships between suppliers also need to be fixed as it can give benefit to the management teams. 6. Poor security Security in construction site is important as to protect the materials and plant on the site from theft and malicious damage. It also can ensure that the public are stop from trespassing to the site and thus endangering their safety. 7. Temporary weather protection Canteen Water Supply Scaffold Store Site OfficeProtections are including the workers, materials, building work and equipment during construction work. Materials that are delivered to site must be placed in a correct position for weather protection. Example: brickwork needs protection from rain. T T Cement Store Site Exit Site Entrance Equipment Storage Steel Storage S.H S.H Reinforcement Timber Waste Materials Aggregate Storage Power Supply Line Sewer Access Temporary Road Concrete batching plant Semi-detached houses Double Storey Terrace Figure 2: Improved Site Layout 3.3 Suggested improved Site Layout Security hut There are two security huts in the layout. Security is need to be enforce on the site as it will help to prevent any intruder that come to steal materials and outsider that enter site without permission. Site entrance and exit Site entrance and exit is located easily as it near the security hut.They are placed in place where it will be easier for the vehicles to move in or out without giving any disturbance to others. Site office and car park The site office has been located near the site entrance. The reason was simple as the location is far from any hazardous that can harm the health of the contractors staff or visitors.Car park also is placed near office for connivance purpose. Materials labels and storage All the materials have been specified and located accordingly as it make the finding process of the materials easier and can prevent any delay in the schedule of materials management. Canteen A place that is needed for the workers to eat and rest as this also can help them to gain more energy and perform better after a hard work in the jobsite. Water and power supply This is because the site must have clean water for sanitary purpose while the power supply is to give electric power for lighting and equipment purpose. Concrete Batching Plant and Waste Materials Concrete batching plant has been moved near the site exit as it will be easier for the aggregates and cement storage to place beside it. While the location of waste materials must be considering the safety of the workers and can be avoided by placing at the back of the layout. Line Sewer The line sewer is one of the important items in a layout and is added for drainage and waste purpose. 4.0 RECOMMENDATION 4.1 Elements of Materials Management on site Safety Fire prevention: Fire is a major cause of damage on construction site. Medical services: On construction project a first aid kit is a must. Construction safety clothing: Basic safety supplies like safety shoes, hard hats, gloves and goggles must be used by workers. Delivery access The access need to be available from time to time as any particular materials may be need to use for the work that on process. Material storage The location and sizes of space for any particular material need to be consider by calculating the area required and relevant factors before selecting a suitable area as the storage. Access roads Although there is no structure was constructed as temporary road, an access must be provided on site. Material handling and lifting equipment The use of proper equipment for material handling can result a direct cost and time savings. Personnel movement on the work area There must be a sufficient space allow in the work area so that the job site wont be too cramp for any movement. Temporary facilities related to project requirements After selecting the temporary facilities that are needed on site, the size required for them must be estimated. 5.0 CONCLUSION Based on the case study, wecan conclude that it is important to apply a proper material management system to the construction site as it can properly organize the materials, equipment and plan on site.TheProject Manager has to take lead by enforcing his/her power to monitor materials schedule on all projects. The management teams have to keep trying to use various materials management technique on construction projects as it progress. Relationships with the supplier also need to be fixed as it can affect the overall process of materials management. The site must have a good security in day and night to ensure that the materials are protected from theft or pilfering. The surplus materials also need to be taken in consideration as all projects can expect a certain amount of surplus and it has to be well conceived and executed. Any wastes materials that are produced during the construction also need to be disposing properly avoid any hazard that can causes health problem to the environm ent. This is because a good planning of materials management can help to avoid any delays of works on site and reduce any extra cost for a project. Although the materials management scope stated everything that is needed to be achieved for a project but in reality problems still occur till today as lack of project information given to the management during the construction period. Most of the management teams of projects tried hard to satisfy with the needs of construction and yet still achieved poor results in return. Even if the materials management process is practiced for every construction project, it still has many flaws that have to be improved.Importance rule that must be kept in mind is that: your results are directly shown due to how much effort that you pour for it.Therefore, every participants or team members of project need to play their role accordingly as it takes more than a single person responsibility to make it possibly successful in the future.

Online Cinema Reservation System

Online Cinema Reservation System This assignment title for Introduction to Software Engineering assignment is to do a research and analysis of a software project. The topic chosen for this assignment is Online Cinema Ticket Reservation System. Following are the tasks need to be done of the assignment. To identify the requirements for cinema online ticket reservation system. To identify the design principles and concept and produce the design based on the mentioned concepts. To identify the testing strategies and techniques for the software and how it can be carried out. To identify the implementation strategies for the software Online Cinema Ticket Reservation System is an Internet based application that can be accesses throughout the internet and can be accessed by anyone who has an internet connection. This application will automate the reservation of tickets and enquiries about availability of the tickets. This application includes email confirmation for the tickets. Currently, this system is widely use by airline, cinema, and other sector of company. For the system, the methodology chosen to develop the software is Rapid Application Design (RAD). The Following will state the advantages of RAD and the description of RAD with timeline to develop an online cinema ticketing reservation system. Increased speed of development through methods including rapid prototyping, virtualization of system related routines, the use of CASE tools, and other techniques. Lower costing as rapid development saves time. Low complexity, emphasis on simplicity and usability. Before cinema online ticket reservation is created, the way that customer make ticket reservation is through phone reservation. However, using phone reservation has some problems. Following will discuss about the problems before the system is created and how the system solve the problem. Prank Call The most common problem occurs is prank call. In the past, there are no member login is required, therefore, anyone able to make a reservation. In the situation, many people will take advantage to make a prank call. They will make reservation for many times without collect the ticket. Solution: System required customer to register and login to their account before they can use the system. If the customer cannot collect the ticket after make the reservation, customer required to cancel the reservation 1 hour before movie start showing. Otherwise, the customer account will be blocked from using for certain period if they repeated the same action for more than 3 times. Phone line traffic The second problem occurs is phone line traffic. Customer will make phone call to enquire the movie show time and they will spend some time to choose movie section. In the other hand, other customers try to make phone call reservation. Therefore, phone line traffic will occur. Part of the customer unable contacts the phone call center. Solution: The online reservation system should be designed that able to check the movie show time and make reservation via internet. Therefore it can reduce the problem of phone line traffic. Operator The third problem is similar case with second problem. The company needs to hire a lot of operator to able all the call of customer. However, there is not always many phone call will call in. Therefore, those operators will have nothing to do. This would be a waste of financial resource if the man power is not fully utilized. Solution: By using the system, customers able to get all information about movie show time. Therefore, mostly customers prefer to use the system. It can reduce dependency of phone call reservation. Meanwhile, company can reduce the number of operator and avoid the problem of operator complain by customer. In fact, there is similar system on the internet, but there is cancelation method found in the existing system. This problem cause the members that make reservation have to collect their ticket 30mins before the movie start showing, and they have wait at least 30mins until the movie start showing. Solution: The new system developed allow member to cancel their reservation tickets in 2 hour advanced before the movie start showing. If a member did not cancel the tickets and did not collect the ticket, the member account will be banned for certain period. Requirement Analysis There are 2 types requirement available in software engineering research method, there are functional requirement and non- functional requirement. Functional requirement defines functions available in a system. Functional requirements are supported by non- functional requirements. It drives the application architecture of a system. Functional requirements can be technical details, calculations, data processing and manipulation and other specific functionality that defines the system and the functional of the system supposed to accomplish. Non-functional requirements also know n as quality requirements. It drives the technical architecture of a system. It is a requirement that specifies criteria that can be used to judge the operation of a system. Non- functional requirements can be category into 2 categories which is execution qualities and evolution qualities. Execution quality is observable at run time. Example of execution quality is security and usability. In the other hand, Evolution quality is embodied in the static structure of the software system. The example of it is maintainability, testability, scalability, extensibility and many others. Functional Requirement There are certain functional requirements that need to be carrying out by cinema online ticket reservation system. Cinema hall need to have a website that allows any user of internet access to the webpage. Besides that, there should have other functionality can be perform by the system. For example, a user able to do following activity in the system: Login to the system through the first page of the application. Change the password after logging into the system. Able to modify their own information after login. Able to create a new login for the accessing the reservation facility. View movie now showing list after login. Reservation can be making three day before the show. View his current reservations with the details. Able to choose the seats which can are available for a certain class. Cancel reservation Figure above show that activity that able to perform by customer The system need to respond to the activity done by user. The following is the activity should be performed by the system: A new password send to the user though email if the user forgotten about his or her password. A mail will be send to the concerned person about the confirmation of the ticket to the specified email address after user make a reservation ticket. Show the fare for the corresponding shows and amount of money needs to be pay for selected seats. The login ID and password should be sent to the mentioned email address if a new account is created. However, the same customer always makes ticket reservation but did not collect the ticket. The particular customer will block from using the online ticket reservation system for certain period if repeated the action for more than 3 times. Reservation ticket will automatically open for sales if the ticket has not collect 15 minutes before the show. It gives more time for customer that make online reservation to collect the ticket. Figure above show that activity that perform by system automatically Non Functional requirement Each system also consists of non-functional requirements. In this case, when a user makes a reservation via online, the database needs to make a record of it. It is consider as execution quality. All the information need to be update in real time. The system will compatible with the ticket selling system in ticket selling point. Following is different type of non functional requirement need to include in the system. Usability known as user friendly, the system should have the user guild of the system and cannot allow complex interface design Response time -System also needs to have a good response time. It needs to respond in the shortest time after customer click a button. Platform compatibility -System need to able to perform in different platform such as Linux, Window, and Mac OS. Privacy -It also should keep of customer and do not review any information of customer to other people without agreement of the particular customer. Supportability -system should able to perform in any type of web browser. For example is Windows Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google and etc. Maintainability System able to updated time by time. In this case, when a new movie released, cinema able to update the movie information to the system. Design The design concept use to develop the online cinema ticketing reservation is software architecture. It is the overall structure of the software and the ways in which that structure provides conceptual integrity for a system. In order to design the system, there is some hardware and software required. The following is the tools for design the software. Hardware requirements No. Description Alternatives (If available) 1 PC with 2 GB hard-disk and 512 MB RAM Not-Applicable 2 Server Not-Applicable Software requirements No. Description Alternatives (If available) 1 Windows 95/98/XP with MS-office Not Applicable 2 MS-SQL server MS-Access 3 Linux Not Applicable 4 Oracle database system POSTgres 5 Adobe Dreamweaver Microsoft FrontPage After the system architect equip with the tools, he will start design the interface, functionally of the system and database according the system requirement. The Following are the flowchart of the system. Once a customer enter the system webpage, the customer able to perform the activities such as login, view movie show times, register and request a new password if member forgot about his password. If the customer wants to check the movie show times, customer needs to enter the cinema or movie with watching date. Then the system will display the movie shows time. Meanwhile, if the customer wants to become a member, the customer needs to submit his personal information and automatically he will register as a member. Once a member login, he can make movie reservation, cancel movie reservation and modify his personal information. In case a member forgot about his password, he can request a new password send to his personal email account. The following will display the design of the webpage and database design. The diagram above shows the main webpage of the online cinema ticket reservation system. Customers able to login, view show times, select movie description and other action in this webpage. The webpage above is the page after a member login. The page will show all the reservation has made. Member can cancel reservation, make reservation and modify personal information at this page. Member need to select the movie, cinema and enter number of seat before proceed to the next step. Member can choose the seat for reservation purpose. After the reservation made, a reference number will send to member email. The webpage also will shows the reference number If a member forgot about his password, the member can request a new password and the password will send via email to the email account registered. The webpage above shows the screen of the movie shows time. The webpage above allow user enter his personal information to become a member. Member also can update his personal information on the same page. The database of customer personal information The database of customer reservation The relationship diagram of customer information and customer reservation Testing The system will be tested using component testing. Component testing is test the system individually. Test will be caring out for ensure the system able to meet the function requirement include functional and non- functional required. The following are the test plan need to carry out to ensure the system work properly. Test Procedure / Input Expected Result Customer able to register as a member and save all the personal information in database. Customer enter all his personal information include name,, phone number, email address, and etc. All the information store in database Customer able to view movie show times without login as member. Customer select movie, cinema, or day to view to movie. The movie show time schedule for particular information will show. Member able to login into the system. Member enter ID and password Member able to use the online reservation system service Member able to update personal information in database. Member enter new personal information New information will updated in database. Member able to make reservation and the reservation information will update in database. Member select movie, cinema, show time, and seat for reservation All the information store in database, member able view the information Member able to cancel reservation and the reservation will remove from database. Member select the reservation that wish cancel The selected reservation will be remove from database. Member able to request new password and the password will send to member email account. Member request a new password The new password will send to the member email account based on the email provided when register System able to perform in different platform System test in different operation system System able to perform in different operation system Able to perform at different web browser System test in different web browser System able to perform at different web browser Information able to update anytime Staff enter the new movie show time list New movie show time list able to store in database, and member able to view it Implementation For implement the propose system, hardware and software are needed. The following table shows the minimum hardware and software needed to implement the system. Hardware requirements No. Description Alternatives (If available) 1 PC with 2 GB hard-disk and 512 MB RAM Not-Applicable 2 Server Not-Applicable Software requirements No. Description Alternatives (If available) 1 Windows 95/98/XP with MS-office Not Applicable 2 MS-SQL server MS-Access 3 Linux Not Applicable 4 Oracle database system POSTgres Manpower requirements The estimation of the manpower required is 2 to 3 students for complete the system in 2 à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 3 months if they work fulltime on it. Implementation process In order to implement the system, company need to register a domain name. According to www.exabytes.com.my, it will cost RM650 to register a .com.my domain name for 10 years. After register the domain, software engineer will upload the system to the internet and link it with the server. Testing will be carry out to ensure to system show to error. Conclusion After the research is caring out, there are some advantages toward the company and customer. Company does not need to hire extra staff as mention at the problem definition section. It can improve the cost efficiency of the company by installing the online cinema ticketing reservation system. Besides that, it can attract more costumer as internet used by many people at current era. From the point of customer, they do not need to worry about all the ticket sold out if they have made the ticket reservation earlier. They also do not have long queue to purchase ticket. Besides that, they can make ticket reservation anytime. Therefore, company estimate can gain more profit if they implement the online ticket reservation system.

Education Today Essay -- essays papers

Education Today A college education is suggested to be the most heavily judged form of qualification to be looked at when looking for career opportunities. But what is a college education? Is it something you go out and buy at the most prestigious of College University's? Do you simply hand over 25,000 dollars a year, and at the end of 4 years, give or take a few, you are handed a diploma that says, 'Educated'? In my opinion, this is today's view on what education is. It is less of a conquest of knowledge then it is just a stepping-stone towards a career. John Newman suggested that all forms of education and knowledge are connected together, and that the subject matter of knowledge is united in itself. Each Science that we break our knowledge in to, complete, correct and balance the others. This is what John Henry Newman wrote in, The Idea of a University. This was written to discuss the idea of a Catholic University, so it has a large influence on how we get our education today. We take specific courses that educate us in our major, and a number of other core courses that help shape our ideas and views into that which we are learning. If an education is confined to only one subject, Newman believes the individual's work in life may favor the advancement of a particular pursuit or viewpoint over another, due to ignorance. This is the approach we take at Seton Hall and most other University's in the world towards an education. But is this the only form of education that is valid? Jon Spayde believed that one could gain education in any way he wants. If biology was an individual's serious interest, he could observe life throughout the year and justifiably educate himself that way. Anything you had int... ...roader the education you get the more knowledgeable you will become in all areas of your study. However, I also think that it isn't necessary to pay for a college degree to be truly educated. The problem is you have nothing to show for or prove your intellect. In today's competitive society everyone wants the best, and if you don't complete a college education and have your own individual flares your going to have a much harder time landing a job then perhaps someone you are smarter then. You can't just be the best, you have to show that you are the best. It seems that if you can throw 100,000 dollars away on a degree today, you probably will have a decent job waiting for you when you graduate. So the individual with the advantage in society is the one who loves what he paid to get educated in. Education in a field that you love is the only true conquest of knowledge.

Case Study Of Carnival Corporation :: Business Marketing management Essays

Case Study Of Carnival Corporation The history of the Carnival Corporation begins in 1972, when Ted Arison set up Carnival Cruise Lines as a subsidiary of the American International Travel Service. The first ship ran aground, but Arison remained steadfast in achieving his vision of a cruise line offering affordable vacation packages to middle-income consumers. By 1977, Carnival had three ships, and ten years later, as the industry leader, the company went public. In the early 1990s, Carnival began to diversify into land-based entertainment, thus changing its name to Carnival Corp. The company is the world's #1 cruise operator with about a third of the market. Carnival Corporation is comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines; the world's largest cruise line based on passengers carried, Holland America Line, Windstar Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line. It owns 25 cruise ships serving customers worldwide and has 6 new ships under construction. It basically has three market segments: Contemporary, Premium and Luxury. Carnival also operates 14 hotels in Alaska and Canada and runs Holland America Westours, which markets sightseeing tours. Carnival has a 29.5% stake in Airtours, one of the UK's largest tour operators, and is bidding for control of cruise line NCL. CEO Micky Arison and family control Carnival. Carnival was able to increase profits through the acquisition of Holland America Line in 1988 and consequently Carnival expanded its cruise lines to a broader market, however Carnival experienced a loss of $135 million from disposal of the Crystal Palace Resort & Casino in 1991. The company’s current strategy is to attract more repeat cruisers and new cruisers of different segments by offering different types of packages. Such differences include choice of shorter or longer cruises, a low to moderate price for affordable cruises for middle class, and longer luxury cruises for affluent classes. As part of the company’s plan, Carnival is "going global" through a joint venture with Hyundai Merchant Marine to the Asia market. Strengths Carnival’s strategy focused on the "Fun Ship" concept, beginning with the Mardi Gras, which targeted people of all ages. In recent years the driving force behind why a person needs to take a vacation has changed. Today vacationers look to get away from everyday stress, and opt for a stress-relieving cruise. Carnival is considered the cruise industry’s leader, and in the past few years, Carnival has increased its market share through acquisition and joint venture. In 1988, Carnival acquired Holland America Line to expand its market share in Alaska, Mediterranean, and South Pacific.

Abstinence-only vs. Abstinence-plus Essay example -- Social Issues, Se

There are many problems facing teenagers these days. None are bigger than the issue of underage sex, and all the issues stemming from it. The number of teenagers becoming sexually active, pregnant, and contracting sexually transmitted diseases are rapidly on the rise. There is no simple fix, or easy solution to this problem. Sex education should begin at home, and extend to include an effective program in schools that reinforce a clear message of abstaining from sexual activity in addition to informing students of the risks posed by engaging in sexual activity. The political, and religious dissension on this issue has resulted in a procedural stalemate preventing schools from effectively addressing the problem, and implement a comprehensive sex-education program that benefits young adults in Texas and the rest of the United States. Abstinence-Only programs are currently the most used in public schools, but this method is seriously out-dated and does not aptly deal with the issue that teenagers are participating in underage sex regardless of whether they have been told that they should not. Without the proper information, teenagers are blindly making a decision about having sex that could impact their lives in far many more ways than they can fathom, most not fully understanding the ramifications of their decision. The implementation across the nation of a comprehensive Abstinence-Plus program teaching: abstinence, health risks, birth control, teen pregnancy, and providing students with information and birth control is exactly what is needed. Strong emotions, and opinions are found on both sides of this argument, but the fact of the matter is that Abstinence-Only programs are insufficient in educating teenagers ab... ...neffective in changing teen sexual behavior, this is good news for thousands of Texas teens and their parents.† An increase over 200% in less than three years is encouraging and hopefully those numbers continue to grow. Drastic changes need to be made the nations current policies on sex education in schools. More information needs to be provided to the students, and their parents in order to effectively educate them both on the risks of underage sex and the importance of being thoroughly educated in a comprehensive Abstinence-Plus method. Politicians and law-markers need to stop arguing their point and open their eyes to the very real reality that more, and more teenagers are engaging in sexual activity. Young adults are going to learn about sex; the question is will we control when and how they receive the information or will we leave it up to them.

Critically assess porter’s contribution to strategic thinking

Henry Mintzberg, Abraham Maslow and Michael Porter are renowned gurus whose hard works have left a footprint on management. Some of their works has helped in explaining the success and failure of big businesses over the past few decades and question marks have been raised in recent years if their work can still be applied to our present environment considering the rapid rise in globalisation and technological innovations. Few of the works done by these management experts have been on significant topics such as leadership, strategy and motivation, but this essay will focus on the effort of Porter in elucidating how businesses can gain competitive advantage in our growing competitive environment. The essay aims to assess Porter's contribution to the way in which people in an organization think about, assess, view, and create the future for themselves and their associates. However, given the space available the essay will only take a detailed look at the most criticised work of Porter and only few of his other works will be described. This essay will be based on previous researches by academics and strategists, and all information should not be judged as accurate but as a springboard since they are mostly based on historical theories. In order to get a grip of the essay; it is necessary to highlight the key words related to the topic of the essay as any precise delusion can de delusive. To start with, Wit and Meyer (2002) defined strategy in terms of organisational objective as a course of action for achieving an organization's purpose. For Kay (1996), strategy is the match between the organisation's internal capabilities and its external relationships, describing ‘how it responds to its suppliers, its customers, its competitors, and the social and economic within which it operates' (cited in Boddy, 2002 page 165). Both definitions are acceptable but assessing various strategies is the theme of the essay that is why a well defined structure of the essay is required. The first part will introduce Porter's works, the major assumptions of five forces analysis and Resource Based View. The second part will detail the fundamental differences between Porter's work and recent works such as RBV before highlighting key areas of debate principally those presented by D'Aveni, Hamel and Downes. The third part will give a brief evaluation on how Porter's work has developed our understanding of Strategy which will help develop a conclusion to the essay. From the eighties, Porter has developed a number of models for businesses on how to gain competitive advantage. Porter developed models such as three generic strategies, five forces analysis, Porter's diamond and value chain. In his three generic strategies model, Porter (1980b, 1985) identified two basic types of competitive advantage namely low cost or differentiation (cited in Wit & Meyer, 2002 page 350). He developed a third generic strategy from this called focus and proposed that an organization that hopes to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage must implement one of the three strategies. This is not the first and the very last of Porter's works and another model he developed was value chain analysis (1985) where Porter argued that it is necessary to examine activities separately in order to identify sources of competitive advantage (Boddy 2002, page 166-167). The value chain provides a way to identify a firm's sources of differentiation where it results from actual uniqueness in creating buyer value and from the ability to signal that value so that buyers perceive it (Toby Harfield, Strategic Management and Michael Porter: a postmodern reading). However, it is five forces analysis that has attracted the most number of criticisms. The model, developed by Michael E. Porter in his book â€Å"Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors† in 1980 (www3) pointed out that the state of competition in an industry is determined not only by the existence of competitors but also by the strength of buyers (customers) and suppliers, by the existence of substitute products or services and by the ability of new competitors to enter the industry which he collectively referred to Porter's five forces. However, he argued that whatever the collective strength, the corporate strategist's goal is to find a position in the industry where his or her company can best defend itself against these forces or can influence them in his favour (Mintzberg et al, pg 61). Thorelli 1977; Masson & Quall 1976 explained that forces mentioned above determine the conduct of firms, which in turn determines firm performance (Toby Harfield, Strategic Management and Michael Porter: a postmodern reading). Although the five forces analysis has become an important device for analyzing strategy the vast number of criticisms received consequently led to the development of a different approach called the Resource Based View (RBV). RBV, which has received the highest number of plaudit since the evolution of Porter's work was first spotted in Wernerfelt's article in 1984 before further development by Rumelt 1984, Barney (1986a; 1986b; 1988; 1991) (power point). RBV explains how a company's resources drive its performance in a dynamic competitive environment (David J. Collis et al, 1995, pg 118-128). The idea behind the development of RBV is to state the importance of resources to gaining competitive advantage over rivals where resources are heterogeneous in nature. In clarifying the prerequisite of resources Barney (1991) explained that a firm resource must be valuable, rare, and imperfectly imitable and substitutable in order to be source of a sustained competitive advantage (cited in Henderson and Mitchell, 1997). However, both frameworks have received appraisals but conflicting assumptions have been made by both theories which further developed more theoretical views. Porter 1980 assumes that understanding the external environment and decision making (or â€Å"moves†) according to the five forces is the primary role of strategy, thus opposing the argument of Barney 1986a who argued that analyzing internal skills and capabilities produces more accurate information on the potential value of strategic resources than does environmental analysis (www2). Barney's argument wasn't wholly accepted by Priem and Butler (2001 a & b) but argued that Barney's (1991) statement â€Å"if a resource is valuable and rare, then it can be source of competitive advantage† is necessarily true if the concepts ‘valuable' and ‘competitive advantage' are defined in the same terms (cited in Henderson and Mitchell, 1997). It is obvious from this point that Porter's assumptions have developed other strategist notions which are cited further. Another underlying assumption made by Porter is the homogeneity of firms which revealed that all firms have the same ability to implement the right strategy, which contradicts the basic premise of the RBV that all firms are different and consequently do not have the same ability to implement a given strategy (www1). Even though both theories have been applauded, theorists have not been totally overwhelmed by the five forces analysis and RBV; different strategies are still in constant development which they deem useful for our current environment. D'Aveni (1995) in his article â€Å"Coping with hypercompetition† claimed that no organization can build a competitive advantage that is sustainable in our dynamic environment as any advantage gained is only temporary, therefore companies must actively work to disrupt their own advantages and the advantages of competitors by employing a new 7S's framework. IBM is an example mentioned to have suffered from ignoring this approach. Firstly, this view opposes that of Porter and RBV as its strategy does not believe in a sustainable competitive advantage. Secondly, it can be deduced from D'Aveni's article that Porter's model assumes a relatively static market structure (Porters five forces article www3) by saying that the forces mentioned by Porter such as buyer and supplier power (Five forces analysis) that raises barrier to entry and leadership in price and quality (three generic strategies) are not enough to guarantee success. Downes (2001) saw a similar argument in his article â€Å"Beyond Porter† where he quoted that â€Å"Porters theories base on the economic situation in the eighties and the period was characterised by strong competition, cyclical developments and relatively stable market structures†. He condemned the view made by Porter that competitive advantages develop from strengthening the own position within the five forces framework and stated that three new forces namely digitalization, globalization and deregulation should be taken into context has the main driver for change today is technology. Hamel (1996) also conducted a work on strategy in an article called â€Å"Strategy as Revolution† where he categorised companies based on their successes into rule makers, rule takers and rule breakers. Logically, IBM whose strategy was also questioned by Downes (2001) was tagged as a rule maker because they have shaped their industry but subsequently failed. Tagged with rule breakers (the industry revolutionaries) is Dell Computer whose intent is to overturn the industrial order with the support of the crumbling oligarchy under the weight of deregulation, technological upheaval, globalization and social change. It is evident that Porter's five forces analysis is extremely influential in the field of strategic management as it has developed other strategic views and further improved our understanding of strategy. Porter's work has been the basis for recent strategic notions and his work has received more criticism than RBV which followed suit. Referring back to the question, Porter has developed numerous strategic frameworks with the most criticised work being the five forces analysis which has the most impact on strategic thinking. His work mystified many strategists because of the one-sided approach of the model where it made certain assumptions such as external environment is the primary role of strategy, homogeneity of firms and market structures are relatively stable. These assumptions led to the development of RBV whose main unit of analysis was the internal environment. RBV claimed that the key to sustaining competitive advantage is to have resources which are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and substitutable. Briem and Butler debated this approach where they said it is the way the concept are defined that determines if it is a source of competitive advantage. Other strategists were not left in the cold and they voiced out their criticisms of Porter's work. D'Aveni stated that there is no sustainable competitive advantage and market structures are dynamic. Downes claimed that three new forces namely digitalization, globalization and deregulation should be taken into context has the main driver for change today is technology and not just the forces mentioned by Porter. Lastly, Hamel in his article explained that companies can either be a rule taker, maker or breaker. In order to give a valid conclusion to the essay, it is important to reconsider the definition made by Kay (1996) where strategy definition was given has the match between the organisation's internal capabilities and its external relationships. It would be correct to state that a successful strategy will take both the internal and external environment into consideration when developing its strategy. It is obvious that neither the five forces analysis nor the RBV has done so in this case; none of the theories can be considered capable of achieving competitive advantage but will only be valuable if both approaches are combined. Based on the level of knowledge of this essay it would be interesting to see a strategist which will develop a strategy that will link the internal resources with the external environment.