The Climb Towards Tenacity free essay sample

It was three in the morning when the black van pulled up to the hotel. A tall man with crazy hair climbed out and greeted us. Half asleep, I clambered into the car, and hours later; I awoke to the sight of the desert and the driver swerving through the barren road. He pulled into a parking lot and I unsteadily got out of the car and stared at the mountain. â€Å"Come on, yalla! Let’s go!† He shoved a water bottle into my hand as we started the climb. I knew the stories and facts about the landmark. In the final accords of the First Jewish-Roman War, a siege of Masada by the Roman army led to a mass suicide of the Jews living on the mountain. It is one of the Jewish people’s great symbols, an ironic icon of survival in the face of adversity. The guide reminded me of the story as I stepped over rocks and stumbled up the narrow stone steps. We will write a custom essay sample on The Climb Towards Tenacity or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As we dragged on, I learned more about the guide. His name was Avi Goren—a medal-winning soldier who fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He drove tanks throughout the war; every tank he drove was attacked and the soldiers inside injured. In many of these instances, Avi was the only survivor of the attack. Injured, he repeatedly left the tank into open fire to retrieve bodies for proper burial. As he told the story, I could see the emotions and hardships he was carrying with him. He is the bravest man I know, for, regardless of what he went through, he continues on with courage and selflessness. He finished his story as we reached the top of Masada and we sat down to watch the sunrise over the Israeli desert. When the sun reached the top of the sky we toured the ruins of the ancient mountaintop fortress. We moved through the beautiful architecture of the bathhouse and the aqueducts and I tried to imagine the difficult choice my ancestors had to make. As the story goes, the Rom ans seized the fortress and instead of allowing themselves to be captured and enslaved, the Jewish people inhabiting the fortress took their own lives as an act of defiance. They realized that to surrender their freedom would be worse than death. By keeping the Jewish flame alive, they became a symbol of triumph of the Jewish spirit. After the tour, we started the grueling walk down the mountain. The sun was at full height, raising the temperature to 110 degrees. With my next step, my ankle rolled and I fell to the ground. I felt the prickle of tears and I nursed the searing pain in my foot as two options flashed before my eyes: turn around and take the cable car, or, continue my pilgrimage regardless of my injury. I thought of the perseverance that the people of Masada and Avi had in the face of adversity, and knew I simply had to continue. After many painful steps, I limped over to the car and replayed the last few hours in my head. Perseverance in the face of affliction: the Jew ish people are always overcoming hardships, and as we move forward and celebrate the Hanukkah miracle or being saved from slavery in Egypt, we must remember the importance of maintaining the Jewish light and spirit. As I finished my climb of Masada, I started a new climb towards strength and courage as my Jewish ancestors and heroes did before me.

The eNotes Blog The LAWSCs All-Female Production of Shakespeares Hamlet

The LAWSCs All-Female Production of Shakespeares Hamlet For twenty years now, the L.A. Womens Shakespeare Company has been staging Shakespearean plays with an entirely female ensemble. Later this year (August 17-October 4), the company will take on Shakespeares greatest tragedy, Hamlet, with LAWSC founder and artistic director Lisa Wolpe in the title role. In 1993, the LAWSC was completely funded by private donations and played in the very small Hollywood Actors Theater. However, the company soon won a grant and were able to expand beyond the fifty-seat capacity of their original home and played larger venues. Eventually, the company was able to offer their players and support personnel a modest stipend but to this day, the company continues to be volunteer-base[d] and a grass-roots company even as their audiences continue to grow. Past productions have included  Romeo and Juliet (1993); Othello (1994); Richard III (1995); Much Ado About Nothing (1996); Measure for Measure (1997); Twelfth Night (2000), The Tempest (2002); The Merchant of Venice (2005);  Ã‚  and As You Like It (2007). So the big question: why an all-female cast? Because an all-female troupe can cause a transformation of the perceptions of womens roles in our society by working to create a deeper, more powerful, unbounded view of womens potential. Furthermore,   the   productions illuminate contemporary issues through a classical context, offering a unique political and social perspective. The mission of LAWSC is to provide a creative forum for the exploration of violence, victimization, power, love, race, and gender issues, and to provide positive role models for women and girls. The production met its $10,000  Kickstarter funding goal, but the company is hoping to raise a total of $40,000. If you would like to support this or future projects, click here. Check out the video below for a sample of Lisa Wolpe in action as Iago in Othello!

AllinOne Computer Security Systems

The program also contains other features including ways to better the health of your PC. Norton Internet Security plus 360 versions 4. 0 warns you of dangerous downloads before you install and run them on your computer. Norton Internet Security has an extra layer of protection that detects viruses, spyware, Trojans and other threats. In addition Norton 360 4. 0 identifies applications that are impacting the performance of your PC. Using an all-in-one computer security protects your CPU from hijackers, identity theft, spyware, and virus. In addition using a security all in one center generally protects the user computer on its own. This keeps your system and all your information safe from others. There are some security programs which protect as well such as Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Anti-Root kit, Identity Protection, Link Scanner Active Surf, Link Scanner Search, Web Protection Firewall, and Sophisticated threat detection. Using an all-in-one security system is effective because the programs are not conflicting with each other; instead they all work together within one system. An all-in-one security system will use less running memory than several security systems running parallel to each other. All-in-one security system is effective in many elements such physically secured security appliance, content discrimination, quick recovery from failure, highly configurable logging and notification, simplicity, high uptime, economy secure connections, well-conceived security system policies, scalability, distributed architecture, of IP addresses, secure remote management and communication, authentication, virtual private networking, and summarize and report network activity. What the all in one computer security systems protect against is with spyware, virus, identity theft, and hijackers. The all in one computer security systems block the threats from getting onto your computer as long as it is running at all times. References McAfee. McAfee Total Protection 2010. Retrieved from. http://download. mcafee. com/products/manuals/en-us/mtp_datasheet_2010. pdf Norton by Symantec. Top-ranked Protection. Norton 360â„ ¢ Version 6. 0. Retrieved from. http://us. norton. com/360 Internet Security Handbook. What Makes a Good Network Security System and effective security system. Retrieved from. http://www. watchguard. com/help/lss/41/handbook/need_fo3. htm AllinOne Computer Security Systems The program also contains other features including ways to better the health of your PC. Norton Internet Security plus 360 versions 4. 0 warns you of dangerous downloads before you install and run them on your computer. Norton Internet Security has an extra layer of protection that detects viruses, spyware, Trojans and other threats. In addition Norton 360 4. 0 identifies applications that are impacting the performance of your PC. Using an all-in-one computer security protects your CPU from hijackers, identity theft, spyware, and virus. In addition using a security all in one center generally protects the user computer on its own. This keeps your system and all your information safe from others. There are some security programs which protect as well such as Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Anti-Root kit, Identity Protection, Link Scanner Active Surf, Link Scanner Search, Web Protection Firewall, and Sophisticated threat detection. Using an all-in-one security system is effective because the programs are not conflicting with each other; instead they all work together within one system. An all-in-one security system will use less running memory than several security systems running parallel to each other. All-in-one security system is effective in many elements such physically secured security appliance, content discrimination, quick recovery from failure, highly configurable logging and notification, simplicity, high uptime, economy secure connections, well-conceived security system policies, scalability, distributed architecture, of IP addresses, secure remote management and communication, authentication, virtual private networking, and summarize and report network activity. What the all in one computer security systems protect against is with spyware, virus, identity theft, and hijackers. The all in one computer security systems block the threats from getting onto your computer as long as it is running at all times. References McAfee. McAfee Total Protection 2010. Retrieved from. http://download. mcafee. com/products/manuals/en-us/mtp_datasheet_2010. pdf Norton by Symantec. Top-ranked Protection. Norton 360â„ ¢ Version 6. 0. Retrieved from. http://us. norton. com/360 Internet Security Handbook. What Makes a Good Network Security System and effective security system. Retrieved from. http://www. watchguard. com/help/lss/41/handbook/need_fo3. htm

Claims and reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Claims and reflection - Essay Example My analysis majors on citizenship and identity in a European context. A lot of arguments concerning this area led to the development of the law pertaining to the freedom of movement of people within the Union. This will allow the citizens from other member states have equal rights and treatment as the domestic citizens. As I was writing my essay on what should be contained in EU and UK Bill of Rights, at first I thought that it may be a difficult paper to write since we have no written Constitution in the country, hence, it may be difficult finding a basis for my paper. UK being one of the world’s democracy without a written constitution, this does not mean one cannot find any documented rules and regulations in use by the British government and which is supreme over ordinary law in comparison to, I got some information from this website http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/rights-of-immigrants/european-union-nationalisits-and-european-union-assiations-agreements/difference s-of-approach-between-eu-and-uk-law.shtml. I found the information concerning the critical understanding of the interactions between UK and EU law’ in MLO1. It’s clear that the British legal system has laws that are a combination of statute law and the principles of the common law that are developed by the courts. It is based on the constitutional principles of Parliamentary sovereignty and the Rule of Law, compared to the EU whose laws are written in a Constitution. As I found in the website http://www.wlv.ac.uk/lib/PDF/Oxford%20Ver4%20July10%20HB.pdf, the British legal system is based on the idea of outstanding rights that

The fall of Berlin Wall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The fall of Berlin Wall - Essay Example After German invasion of the Soviet Union and the end of Nazi war, the four nations decided to divide Berlin the capital of Germany into four parts. Thereafter, a Cold War ensued between U.S and Soviet Union leading to the division of Germany into East and West Germany with East Germany under control of USSR and West Germany under the other three superpowers that had united their occupations to form Federal Republic of Germany. A wall was erected to divide the two Germans thus preventing travel or communication with either side of the divide. However, in 1989 after much pressure from civic organizations in East Germany and after an announcement by USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev that â€Å"the days of monolithic Soviet Bloc were over† thus relinquishing its hold on former satellite states (Fulbrook 243; Turner 230) the ‘iron curtain’ of Europe came tumbling down. ... This led to mass movement of East Germans through Hungary-Austria border and others through Czechoslovakia while still others sought refuge in West Germany embassies in Prague and Warsaw until it reached crisis levels. There was shortage of housing in West Germany plus a strain on its economy. This was also a blow to the East as it lost much of its productive population. At first, German Democratic Republic (GDR) tried to imprison immigrants in Eastern Europe while conducting ‘house arrests’ in GDR to stop them but it did not work. Those who went and came back from the West came with new ideas and view of the world thus pressure began mounting on the government for reforms. This led to peaceful non-violent demonstrations, prayer meetings and discussions by churches. These Leipzig demonstrations were met with violence especially by the Stagi (secret political police) but in the end the SED led by Erich Honecker agreed to dialogue (Fulbrook 245). Honecker instituted few re forms but the GDR citizens were not satisfied. They wanted democratization and free elections. As such, the movement to the West continued and by September, more than 3500 GDR citizens in Hungary were demanding to be allowed to leave for the West (Turner 227). Some went to Warsaw to demand that West Germany embassy to allow them to leave for Federal Republic. Due to pressure by international media, SED allowed those in Prague and Warsaw to travel. However, in early October, it closed borders to GDR leading to unrest. Independent civic organizations such as the New Forum, Democracy Now Democratic Awakening, and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were formed. They were all demanding for free elections and removal of restrictions on travel. To appease the

Rising Tuition Essay Example for Free

Rising Tuition Essay Most people have heard an elder complain about rising prices saying, â€Å"When I was your age I could go to the store with a quarter and buy a bag of chips, a few pieces of candy, some cookies, a drink and still have change left over.† Although the prices from decades ago are ideal, the concept of inflation and the decrease in the value of money have been accepted. Inflation affects the price of everything like milk, clothing, medical care, gas, and especially college tuition. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, college tuition prices have increased at the highest rate compared to any consumer item, medical care, or even gas. In fact, college tuition and fees, as of 2012, are 600% of the tuition and fees in 1985 (Rampell 4). This statistic poses the question of why the cost to obtain higher education is steadily rising. A simple explanation can be found in the key economic principle that demand drives prices up, but the issue goes much deeper than that. The structure of the financial aid system, additional accommodations offered by colleges, and most of all the decrease in government funding toward higher education are the causes directly correlated to the continuous rise in tuition. Firstly, the structure of the financial aid system is a contributing factor to the steady increase in college tuition. Dr. Joshua Robinson, an economics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, explained that it is often argued that the increase in federal aid simply leads colleges to raise their tuition costs to reflect the financial aid in hopes that it will buffer the increase. This idea represents the Bennett Hypothesis, which was created by U.S. Secretary of Education, William J. Bennett (Robinson). There is much argument over this hypothesis, but there have been many credible findings that support this idea. Title IV deals with the federal student aid programs. According to an article by Judith Scott-Clayton, similar programs offered by non-Title IV â€Å"cost about 75 percent more when offered at Title IV institutions – with the difference in tuition roughly approximating the size of a Pell Grant (Scott-Clayton 8).† In addition, the amount of financi al aid given out to undergraduate students on a national level has sharply  increased over eight billion dollars since 2007, which means that more students are attending college and needing financial aid (Schworm 3). Referring back to the same information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is especially interesting to note that from the year 2007, when financial aid increased, to present day the percentage increase in college tuition became exponentially higher than the rest of the increasing percentages (Rampell 4). This proves that the federal aid system has a significant connection to the increasing tuition rates. Another way that the structure of the financial aid system contributes to the rise in tuition is through the scholarships that colleges give out. In the academic article entitled â€Å"Why Tuition Costs are Rising So Quickly,† Robert Martin explains how the scholarships that colleges offer are a factor in the rising tuition crisis. He shares that when colleges offer scholarships they are really price discounts, so â€Å"the education and general expenses are overstated by the amount equal to scholarships.† Martin also shares that for colleges to ensure that their f unds balance out, they â€Å"record tuition revenue as if every student paid the posted price for tuition (Martin 93).† In other words, the amount of revenue that a college lacks once all tuition is paid is equal to the amount in scholarships given. As a result, the tuition goes up for the non- scholarship students as a whole to make up for the amount dispersed in scholarships. With this occurring at colleges all across the nation it is clear to see how financial aid is a causal factor in the increase in tuition. The rise in college tuition is also affected by the additional accommodations that these institutions have found to be â€Å"necessary† benefits. Just as the world evolves, institutions of higher learning evolve in the same way. This means colleges have become much more dynamic as far as the things they offer to their students and employees. For instance, many institutions have invested in having emergency alert systems. Most colleges did not have this feature many decades ago, so implementing this requires additional funding, which can explain a portion of the increasing tuition cost. For example, public universities spend 23% more on offering services like counseling compared to what they were spending in 1995 (Clark 6). This additional focus on accommodating the student is partly stemming from the rise in tuition, which means that colleges are trying to satisfy their consumer by bettering their services to sustain or increase  demand. Though the previous reasons are factors of the rising tuition, the primary factor of the continuous increase is due to the decrease in government funding toward higher education. Ronald Ehrenberg, the director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and a trustee of the State University of New York System, explains that â€Å"If you’re a state legislator, you look at all your state’s programs and you say, ‘Well, we can’t make prisoners pay, but we can make college students pay (Rampell 10).’† This particular reasoning clarifies the thought process that led to the decrease in funding colleges receive from the government. The basis of the issue stems from the fact that these institutions of higher learning now have to come out of pocket on expenses that the government used to fund. In 2006, â€Å"the per-student subsidy state taxpayers sent colleges† was $1,270 less than the amount sent in 2002 (Clark 4). That is a significant decrease in funding that colleges had to find a way to make up for, which resulted in raising the tuition cost. When interviewing Dr. Robinson, he also explained that at one point professors salaries were paid completely by taxes, but because of cutbacks in government expenses tuition must cover their salaries now. If there was not a decrease in government funding for higher education, colleges would not have to raise tuition to offset financial aid or the implementation of accommodations, which is why it is regarded as the primary reason for the rising tuition. Inflation is a very relevant concept in today’s society because prices of all types are rising. As previously stated, college tuition costs are increasing at the highest rate compared to any consumer item, gas, and medical care. This is quite ironic because most people equate obtaining a college degree to financial stability. Even so, the explanation for this steady increase in tuition is a very popular topic. On a very simple scale the rise in tuition can be explained by the basic economic principle that explains demand increases prices. However, the explanation goes much deeper than this economic principle to include the structure of the financial aid system, additional accommodations offered by colleges, and most of all the decrease in government funding toward higher education. Nothing in life ever truly comes free, which shows to be true when observing how the structure of the financial aid system contributes to the rise in tuition. The same  concept proves to be true as colleges provide additional accommodations or benefits for their students and employees, but these too come at a cost. Even so, there is a large amount of money no longer available to these institutions of higher learning due to the lack of government funding. In order for these institutions to sustain, the money must come from somewhere, which results in the increase in tuition and fees for the students. It is important to understand these causes of the rising college tuition because this is the only way a solution will be reached. Works Cited Clark, Kim. â€Å"The Surprising Causes of Those College Tuition Hikes.† Usnews.com. U.S.News World Report, 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. Scott-Clayton, Judith. â€Å"The Hidden Majority of For-Profit Colleges.† New York Times. New York Times, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 March 2013. Martin, Robert. â€Å"Why Tuition Costs Are Rising So Quickly.† Challenge 45.4 (2002):88- 108. Jstor. Web. 1 March 2013. Rampell, Catherine. â€Å"Why Tuition Has Skyrocketed at State Schools.† New York Times. New York Times, 2 March 2012. Web. 3 March 2013. Robinson, Joshua. Personal interview. 4 Feb. 2013. Schworm, Peter. â€Å"Colleges Boosting Financial Aid to Students.† Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 17 August 2012. Web. 5 March 2013.

Essay --

According to Kotler et al. (2010) believes the concept of positioning in marketing is identify customer needs, establish processes, innovate and implement products. When a company knows or determine their target market segments, they have to understand what are their positions, where are they now? Where they want them to be in those segments. Also, the product's position are very important to other competitive products because in the market there are so many choices which consumers can make a buying decision. However, once the product can occupies and leaves a good impression in the customer's mind immediately they are going to choose those products by the next time. Therefore, to create a unique value and position with customers are significant especially in hotel brand's management as well as other product's brand, they must have a clear concept and purpose to use their employees reaching company's goal. For hotel Golden Arch to make itself novel so they were trying to make something unique and differentiate itself from other hotels because they think it is going to work well and can attract more guests come to the hotel, they were using a concept by replacing â€Å"the traditional hotel industry applied job specialization and hierarchy system† Michel (2005, p.4). For examples, the guest can check-in and out of the hotel at the airport, use the foldable-wall technology for meeting room, comfortable bed, especially make the shower projected into the bedroom and the McDonald's restaurant located exactly next to the hotel which means that customers have one more option for their meal but other competitors they do not. From McDonald and Dunbar (2004, p.34) suggest that â€Å" market segmentation being the process of splitting custom... ...it seems like not so many people stay in the hotel, it was very quiet, unpleasant behaviour, no activity and they thought that the hotel would be one to two stars, they didn't expect it would be a four star hotel. Due to these reasons the company didn't success because the Golden Arches is a four star hotel, they are depending on the luxury type like other four and five star hotel. Although they were using their product's brand expand into hotel industry even for the design concept is like using everywhere with the existing logo of McDonald for example, like in the picture shown that on the head of the bed was painting with a shaped of yellow arches, from what they saw immediately they will think about McDonald's brand. Furthermore, because it is a four star hotel and next to the hotel is a fast food restaurant which cannot match with the concept of four star hotel.

Plantation Slavery in the Middle East

Plantation Slavery in Indian Ocean When topics such as African history and slavery are brought to mind, many American’s have a predetermined belief or idea on the subject. Such ideas may include that there is not much of African history until European presence, that African’s did not do anything of significance until the arrival of Europeans. Then, there are some beliefs that slavery was only a matter of American history. Both ideas are incorrect, in that there is plenty of evidence that points towards significant achievements in Africa before the arrival of Europeans and that slavery was a major part of Indian Ocean history. Slavery had existed in the Indian Ocean world far before Europeans captured and enforced slaves to work in agriculture plantations in America. In fact, many countries in the Indian Ocean world used slaves for manual labor. Although the manual labor is similar to that of plantations in America there are great differences between the two. Manual labor may be the sole reason for wealth and prosperity of the countries in the Indian Ocean world. Some countries in the Indian Ocean world that were under development became prosperous and powerful due to the cruel and harsh labor of slaves. Slavery around the world dates back before the eighteenth century but slavery in the Indian Ocean world begins around the eighteenth century. According to Eduardo Medeiros in his article â€Å"Contribution of the Mozambican Diaspora in the Development of Cultural Identities on the Indian Ocean Islands† he states that, â€Å"Starting about 1720, thousands of Africans were kidnapped from their original social groups and transported to the more important islands of the Indian Ocean† (pg. 5). These slaves were transported by ships, in which they were typically stuffed into the ship with nothing to sleep on but the cold wood beneath their feet. Such treatment was bound to cause slaves to rebel or fight as Medeiros states, â€Å"’Rebellion was a constant danger to the slaver’ at sea, and a permanent peril in the fields at their destination† (pg. 58). One such rebellion was legendary in the region of the Indian Ocean was that of a man named Bororo. Bororo’s enslaved ship was set to sail from Mozambique to Mauritius carrying 237 slaves. Bororo signaled for the uprising to begin, in which Bororo attempted to attack the pilot of the ship, Captain Le Bel,while the other slaves grabbed whatever was nearby as a weapon and commenced to destroy the ship. Le Bel freed himself of Bororo’s attacks, fled to his quarters, grabbed his sword and was able to contain the riot shortly. And â€Å"Soon after, 23, of the most energetic men had been put in chains and the rest tied with ropes. He then, wanted to know who had been the leader of the uprising and Bororo volunteered to admit the responsibility† (pg. 58). The Captain soon realized the size of his crew was outnumbered by the slaves and as such he commanded for Bororo who â€Å"was tied to the foremast’s top and was shot in the presence of the remaining slaves. His body was thrown to the sea† (pg. 59). Transportation of slaves was so sever and harsh that rebellion, although slim in success, was worth more than enslavement. Other times rebellious acts such as suicide were acts of religious beliefs. Africans from Malagasy â€Å"believed that at death, when the soul departed, the body would return not to God, but to the place of birth where a new existence would begin under another form† (Medeiros pg. 73). Such a belief was so strongly felt among these people that it would persuade them to commit suicide by jumping into the sea. Slaves were transported to islands such as Reunion, Seychelles, Macarenes, and Chagos. Their labor work was needed for agriculture plantations. According to Alpers, the commencement of plantations of indigo and coffee – soon after to be replaced by sugar cane in the Masacarenhas islands – date coconut, and clove in Zanzibar and Pemba islands, grain in the Kenya coast, date in the Persian Gulf, as well as building of ports and urban development in Arabia, underwater harvest of oysters for pearls in the Red sea and Persian Gulf, cultivation of grain in Madagasca r and Somalia’s Littoral, and the political expansion and consolidation in Yemen and Oman contributed greatly to the demand of a large quantity of African labor force in the 18th and 19thcenturies† (Medeiros pg. 6). Without such a â€Å"large quantity of African labor force† as Medeiros says, prosperity among such islands would not have reached such potentials. Such demands for large quantities of labor force reached numbers as Gwyn Campbell author of â€Å"The Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia says numbers climbed, â€Å"from 33,031 in 1765 to more than 93,000 by the late 1790s,† (Campbell pg 34). But such intense labor and transportation of slavery was bound to create multiple kinds of rebellion amongst slaves. In conclusion, slavery in the Indian Ocean world was one that contained brutal, severe, and sometimes deadly conditions. Beginning with their means of transportation, slaves were treated as monsters as such given the icy ground to sleep on during transportation. Such conditions would cause anyone to desire escape. Flight was not only numerous during the slave trade in the Indian Ocean world but it had many classes or levels of complexity. Whether it be simple rebellion from no longer wanting to work in the fields of plantation or whether it is an attempt to form a small community in which runaways could survive in, flight allowed for slaves to interrupt the systematic nature of the slave trade structure. Interruption such as these would also cost the region loss in financial stability. Such interruption would also eventually lead to the demise and extinction of the slave trade in the Indian Ocean world although it took more than rebellious acts such as flight. Although many attempts were set to extinguish the fire of slavery, slavery would officially end in the Indian Ocean world by the end of the 19thcentury. Such attempts were disproved by simply disregarding treaties, or discovering different alternatives in the treaties. Many regions would effortlessly change the title of slave to â€Å"contract labor† in an attempt to overcome the system. Nevertheless, slavery in the Indian Ocean world came to an official conclusion in the end of the 19th century. With the end of slavery there was a large shortage in the need for manual agricultural plantation labor. With such a shortage the Indian Ocean world lacked an edge in the economic race to achieve success this was due partly because of former slaves no longer compliant to the diminutive amount of compensation as they began consider other occupations. Yet after slavery was officially abolished in the Indian Ocean world, there were still discriminatory and inequality issues that needed to be faced head on. After years of violence, equality is still an issue that has yet to have been reached in many regions of the Indian Ocean world. Sources: Alpers, Edward A. , Gwyn Campbell, and Michael Salman. Resisting Bondage in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia. Routledge studies in slave and post-slave societies and cultures, 2. London: Routledge, 2007. Alpers, E. â€Å"Flight to Freedom: Escape from Slavery among bonded Africans in the Indian Ocean World, c. 1750-1962. † In Alpers, E. , Gwyn Campbell. And Michael Salman (eds), Slavery and Resistance in Africa and Asia. London: Routledge (2005), 51-67. Campbell, Gwyn. The Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia. Studies in slave and post-slave societies and cultures. London: Frank Cass, 2004. Hintjens, Helen. â€Å"From French Slaves to Citizens: The African Diaspora in the Reunion Island. In Jayasuria, Shihan and Richard Pankhurst (eds), The African Diapsora in the Indian Ocean. New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2003, 99-122. Medeiros, Eduardo. â€Å"Contribution of the Mozambican Diaspora in the Development of Cultural Identities in the Indian Ocean Islands. In Jayasuriya, Shihan and Richard Pankhurst (eds), The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean. New Jersey: Africa World Press 2003, 53-80. Scarr, Deryck. Slaving and Slavery in the Indian Ocean. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.

Innovation Strategy at Microsoft Essay

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational software corporation that develops, manufacturers, licenses and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. Microsoft is the world’s largest software maker and affects millions of users worldwide every day. The company recorded all-time high revenue bringing in $73.7 billion for fiscal year 2012. After analyzing this case, I have concluded that the main problem for Microsoft is that their deep silos are inevitably hindering its ability to produce products and/or services to compete with current computing trends in the industry. While Microsoft continues to dominate the computing world, it cannot be attributed to their innovation strategy. To address these problems I suggest that Microsoft alter their environment to better simulate innovation. Microsoft should create an environmental culture in which employees are encouraged to venture outside their tasks, minimal time pressure, and high job security give positive feedback for initiatives taken. These recommendations are based on specific concepts from the book. Current environment inside Microsoft does not currently provide positive feedback. Their current environments sets commitments for each division and employees are faced with performance evaluations. When employees failed to meet designated commitments, employees were penalized. Additionally, employees are penalized for taking on activities unrelated to their commitments. First in chapter 6 we saw that in an industry where growth is slowing and competition becomes stronger, an organization’s success requires innovation. This is why it is recommended that Microsoft focus on simulating innovation. We saw that innovators derive from individual developers and thereby can be considered the true source of innovative products. While an organization system model and creative individuals are key stakeholders in the business, it is not enough to drive innovation. Per chapter 6, there are several effective ways to simulate innovation- of which are the recommendations suggested above. Innovation Strategy at Microsoft: Clouds on the Horizon ACC – Applied Carbon Corporation (large environmental technology conglomerate) EBC (Executive Briefing Center) Innovation team- Gates was engaged with the engineer and the algorithm, he talked about how the algorithm that could increase the speed of the search This suggestion by Gates reduced time used on massive server banks Later he proposed an innovation to monetization model that would save corps millions of energy time. Innovation at Microsoft: Top-Down or Bottom-Up? Innovation drivers: Product groups, Microsoft Research labs, Innovation teams generating grassroots innovation Innovation at Microsoft really was a â€Å"one-man show†, vision and drive of a senior leader, i.e. Gates, then would work its way down Gates would send out memos calling for dramatic change in products, services and technologies Microsoft offered Extensions on existing products & services – result of product groups New products & services accounted for 1/3 Microsoft Rev Grassroot Innovation Grassroot innovation- attempt to tap into diverse ideas of Microsoft employees & turn into profitable new businesses Participated in ThinkWeek, Quest, IdeAgency & Innovation Outreach Program ThinkWeek- technical papers submitted once a year directly to Gates who reviews them for a week & makes comments Quest- Similar to ThinkWeek but involved Microsoft’s most senior & accomplished technical minds Thinkweek & Quest tapped into minds of senior technical staff- ignored other employees IdeAgency- to full realize potential in grassroots innovation by all Microsoft employees Executive sponsor (most likely product group leader) identified a prb that needed a solution & all employees through an IdeaExchange tool would submit solutions Learning by doing- needed more adjustments- submitting ideas wasn’t enough. Therefore top ideas of IdeAgency were selected (ie. 300 first session), form groups, were given a budget & resources to develop a prototype within 8 weeks. ThinkWeek, Quest, IdeAgency- all internal request for info, IOP implemented to include public Chief innovation officers from 10 Microsoft largest accounts for two-day innovation brainstorming conference- asked to look 5 years ahead (LT ignore ST) Steep believed this would drive innovation b/c had two critical flows of information done in product groups & Microsoft research labs 1. Top-down guidance 2. Bottom-up expertise The Information Technology Industry: Clouds on the Horizon Grassroots innovation initiatives response to increased competition from all sides (apple, amazon, google, linux and others) Microsoft generated most rev from consumer & enterprise licenses for software products ’08 operating income $22.5B on rev of $60. 4B (15% growth rate) New technologies threaten importance of Windows operating system as a universal platform, undermining traditional licensing model used by Microsoft for so long Microsoft business model relied heavily on product groups within divisions while each group tailored its software development process to its core technology & market Product groups worked closely with Sales, Marketing & Service division to deliver on customer needs Again, licensing model has been successful for Microsoft but many business analysts that shrink-wrapped software method of generating revenue will be obsolete and lose to cloud computing items 2000 Apple launched MobileMe Yahoo implemented online advertising business model Amazon online service & transaction business model Google online info search leader Grassroots Innovation under Microscope Product groups focus on ST & Research labs on LT So many processes running concurrently with lots of capital tied into them – is Microsoft delivering on its process? The ThinkWeek & Quest relied heavily no Gates- so what if he departed? IdeAgency great on paper- while delivered many successes, few drawbacks- immense time required to facilitate Too many hurdles trying to make fruitful collaborations in resistant environment Too much effort to get anything going across the product groups Many employees refused to work on projects beyond their defined objectives and commitments out of fear of receiving poor evaluations Organization Structure & Design Three divisions: Platform Products & Services, Microsoft Business & Entertainment & Devices Deep silos that barely communicated or collaborated Three business divisions, seven business groups & 27 product groups were told to focus on its own individual profit/loss. Business groups didn’t have time or incentive to participate in collaborations away from their own group Culture & Beliefs Developer-centric company b/c most employees possessed extraordinary amount of tech expertise- every employee (even senior mgmt.) had small office with a closed-door policy to concentrate better Culture a result of Gates behavior and mgmt. system driven by 3 core beliefs- 1) individual excellence (believed they had brightest employees in the world) 2) competitive behavior 3) accepted to never accept 2nd best (Go Big or Go Home) These believes lead to extreme intra- and interfirm competition intensity Competition amongst each other for positions Personal meeting with Gates & his lieutenants in which major employees are dissected & reviewed (can make or break your career at Microsoft) Culture & Beliefs Individual & group incentives were primarily influenced by â€Å"commitments† tied to each employees output- detailed objectives stated in form of a contract between employee & supervisor. At beginning of year commitments set in stone & couldn’t be changed.

Women Who Make a Difference essays

Women Who Make a Difference essays Throughout all of history, women have played a significant role in shaping the political and social history of our world. They have and still continue today to impact virtually every topic that has ever been debated. From standing up against the common belief that women were incapable of being involved in the same things men were, to making new discoveries in science, art, education and much more, women have made a considerable One such woman is an individual by the name of Jane Goodall. Jane was born in London, England in 1934, and grew up on the southern coast of England in Bournemouth. Ever since she was young, Jane always dreamed of working with wildlife. At the age of 23, she accompanied a friend to Kenya, Africa where she first heard about Dr. Louis Leakey, a paleontologist and anthropologist. Jane later became his assistant, traveling with him on his expeditions. In 1960, they began to work on a project which Jane is best known for, studying chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in This all began Janes road toward making numerous impacts on society. Her largest impact was of course her discoveries on wildlife. After many months at Gombe, she was able to get close enough to the chimpanzees to study their habits, and make striking discoveries. She was able to relate the chimpanzees to human beings, as they hunted for food and used tools just like us. By doing this, Jane was able to help future scientists to learn more about the rarely observed lives of these species. Another enormous impact Jane made on society was her ability to make it aware to the people that many of these species such as the chimpanzees, were becoming extinct because of practices like hunting and poaching. She took this concern even further and set up chimpanzee sanctuaries for the care and rehabilitation of orphaned chimpanzee ...

Community Meeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Community Meeting - Essay Example The youth group holds its meetings every Sunday evening, according to Bob. To start off the meeting, they engage themselves in activities such as flag football, basketball, soccer, and Frisbee. Such playtime activities enable the new group members to intermingle easily with the ‘old guard.’ The members of the group are drawn from various neighborhoods and they range in age from 10-16 years. Such neighborhoods include Germantown, Manayunk, Lafayette Hill, and Mt. Airy. After they have known each other, the group members congregate in the church basement for announcements. These were done by Bob. He also introduced new members to the group, and also led everyone in a group song which is preceded by group worship and prayer. The members were then separated into two groups by the assistant youth group leader. They were separated into middle school and high school. They had snacks, which were provided by the parish, after which they set out for a discussion about contemporary world events and issues. The high school students discussed the Bombings in Boston. Bob announced that arrangements were underway for the church to make a summer trip. The ministry youth group had been slotted for a trip to Central, PA, where a Christian rock festival was going to be held. The festival was dubbed ‘Creation.’ It was explained to the groups, by Bob, that the festival would be like Woodstock, although with daily speakers and all the songs being Christian rock music. The church, as it was announced, would be sponsoring two car-washing events, one to be held in May and the other in June, in a bid to raise adequate finances to fund the trips so as to reduce the amount that each of the members was supposed to contribute.

Topic is stated in Details section Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Topic is stated in Details section - Essay Example The owners of the companies transferred their authority to full- time paid managers. There were also other developments during this period like the administrative hierarchies, dependable energy sources, transportation infrastructures like the railway and sophisticated accounting systems. To benefit from these industrial developments, Chandler argued that entrepreneurs had to make three forms of interrelated investment. The first investment was in technology itself in terms of quality machines that would enable the company produce many goods efficiently. The second was investment in management, and the third was investment in marketing and distribution networks. The market remained the generator of goods and services, but business empires took over the functioning of controlling products and services through existing processes of distribution and production. They also allocated funds for future production and distribution. Modern enterprises became the most powerful organizations in America’s economy. The managers also became the most influential decision makers leading to managerial capitalism. Administrative coordination resulted in improvements in productivity, lower costs, and higher gains than coordination by market techniques. The structure of administrative coordination as described by Chandler was hierarchical, and authority flowed from the top to the bottom. Upper-level managers in charge of planning, purchasing inputs, planning new products and market expansions and finally setting the corporate strategy, held the top positions. The middle managers held the second place in charge of the daily operations. Making sure inputs are at the right place at the right time, making sure that production runs smoothly, coordinating processes through which output moved to distribution network. Managing the individual stores, finally monitoring local demand conditions and reporting to the upper-level