Monday, September 30, 2019

Takem’s Appliances and Electronics

LLCAuthor: Ashraf Bani Domi February 16, 2018 ACCT 511 – Advanced Business Law for Accountants Professor: Dean Poirier Liberty University Abstract I would like to start my research paper and point out the legality and the validity of the contract that Takem's Appliances and Electronics LLC. used to sell their electronics as he had this new idea of selling them door-to-door which was a success and that lead to take advantage of this success by increasing his prices to 30% more if he delivers them to the customer's house. Also, I will explain the ethical consequences that the procedure Takem used in the region he lived in. Also, explaining the meaning of breach of the contract and what constitutes the lowest requirements in search of remedies in these kinds of circumstances. And for the sales to be permissible, they must encounter every sector of the legal criteria. Also, Takem must have ethical accountability that takes place under the social responsibility to the small community he lives in. The legal case of Sally Walker vs. Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC will be analyzed and investigated regarding weather if the conclusion of this case is it legal, is it moral/ethical? IntroductionThe world of commerce and most business relationships are initiated on a contract. Understanding of contract law is crucial for all businesspeople, owners, and managers. Since most commercial arrangements are constructed on contractual relationships. A decent preliminary point would be an empirical definition of a contract. Contracts include more than an arrangement or an agreement between two or more parties. â€Å"A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty† (Restatement (Second) of contract chapter 1 meaning of the term).The contract can be simply described as a voluntary exchange of promises, creating obligations that, if defaulted on or failed to pay, can be enforced and remedied by the courts. It is imperative that we understand as when agreeing to terms of a contract, entities are created and defining their particular rules and obligations. This differs from other areas of the law, such as torts, where rules and obligations are imposed on them.Furthermore, a valid contract can create a situation in which parties to the contract can predict, with some certainty, their upcoming relationship because each party knows that the courts will hold them to their agreement. Despite the fact courts will enforce a valid contract after it has been created, what the parties agree to in the first place in commonly unrestricted. Mr. Takem's Business Model is it Legal?When we study contract law, the focus is usually on the problems that can arise. It may therefore appear that most contractual relationship experiences complications. In fact, most contracts are privileged or resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, and the courts become elaborate in a slight amount of contractual agreements, when an unfeasible dispute arises. Hence, addressing our case study in this project we need to outline some basic terminology that we discussed above and trying to apply it to our client, named Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC. Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC owned and operated by Tommy Takem. Tommy Takem owns Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC that participates in what might give the impression to some to be a very profitable business. However, we need to read through the surrounding circumstances and the case scenario to see and advise our client what are the best business practice he could proceed with his business, and whether we agree with his business practices or not, our constrain her in this case is to provide a legal guiding in this section and then will see how to evaluate, and explain to him the legal consequences as well as his potentials, nevertheless from the first glance and the studying we can see that most of our client Mr. Takem and his business activities obeying to law, but still need to be examined, and also we to talk about some ethics practice that could prime unexpected results. Which is something we will cover in more detail later, in our case study. Takem's business (Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC) is located in a rural area of Southwest Virginia, and the majority of its customers are poorer residents of the Appalachian regions of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. According to our case, Sally Walker vs. Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC, our client, Tommy Takem. interested in concentrate his business around these rural areas because due to different reasons, there isn't much competition for his business which was an opportunity for his business. But the disadvantage was, most of the people who lived in these areas were relatively uneducated enough to understand, poor credit, unsophisticated, and other reasons. Moreover, there was a demand for appliances and electronics. And because there weren't many appliances stores around those areas, people needed to buy them. Tommy took advantage of that and increased his prices between 10-20%. This process adapted by our client is widening the precise meaning of the contractual law. Tommy's business has been doing so well after the increase in the prices. Tommy newly came up with an idea for expanding his business. He decided to begin selling his appliances and electronics door-to-door in the above-described regions. Until recently, it had been working great. He hired some great salespeople who really know how to â€Å"apply the pressure and turn up the heat.† Further, since he is providing a service to these societies by transporting the goods to their homes, he charges about 30% more than he would if the customers came to the store. Apparently, the salespeople do not mention this fact to the customers. Lately, Tommy received a letter from a disgruntled customer named Sally Walker (an elderly widow lady who lives alone in the hills of Southwest Virginia—her children and grandchildren have all moved out of the area.) She has fallen behind on her payments on her new laptop computer, and Tommy had started collection efforts. He had not yet referred it to a lawyer. The letter is very well written (which would be unexpected since Sally is not very well educated.) It indicates that her granddaughter, who recently graduated with an MS in Accounting from Liberty University Online helped her with it. It argues that the entire deal is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.Moreover, the letter emphasizes that Sally has paid enough for the computer that she purchased and will not pay any more. Finally, the letter indicates that if Tommy pushes the matter more, Sally threatens to sue for punitive damages and write letters to the editors of various local papers throughout the region to ruin his reputation. As we can see from the above surrounding circumstances and from the definition of the contract, our client has been operating with the compliance in accordance with the law and legality in most of his business transaction, as general roles, â€Å"The foundations of Corporate Governance demand that organizational practice follows the legal requirements. In current times, news reviews of industry wrongdoings have forged uncertainty on the bottom line that submission is definitely the widespread procedure. â€Å"(Realistic Hypothetical Legal Scenarios Business Law for Accountants†, 2013) despite the allegation letter from Ms. Walker, and despite the ethical conduct regarding the transparency in the new adapted policy and increase of 30% on the delivered items in this section, but there is however still an exception to the legality of the later mentioned of the 30% this should be communicated to the other partiers of the contract. Whether the Argument in the Letter has any Merit?In response to a letter recently received which was written by Sally Walker's granddaughter of one of his customer, from lawyer standpoint of view, the indication of Sally's letter concerning and arguing the unconscionable act of our client (Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC) by excessively charging their customers. In analyzing the precedent there could thee potential legal obligations: first one, if Ms. Walker is serious enough about bringing this case to the court, the court may look upon the contract from the unconscionability part of it, while court applies this point very scarcely, but still feasible defense to the plaintiff side due to Ms. Walker conditions. The second one is that Ms. Walker could recall for the punitive damage claim, as explained below.The third one is regarding the undisclosed charges for the delivery services.Typically, court will enforce a valid contract after it has been formed, â€Å"In deciding the validity of consideration, courts will not look to the amount or type of considerations or the relative bargaining power of the parties (except in the rare case of a contract so burdensome on one party as to indicate unconscionability)† (ABLA, 2017). My concern here is to provide my client with a reasonable and accurate sound legal standpoint and preventing him from a further and a future legal consequence. On the other hand, when Ms. Walker's proclaimed that the installment and the amount she has paid for the computer so far, is enough, I see this all was agreed upon before forming the agreement with her. Obviously, I would advise that each one of us should read and go through any kind of contract in a way that can clear and remove any ambiguous completely, read through your paper one two or whatsoever, moreover, always seek for an expertise advise in most of your relationship areas, and save yourself of being an unexpected position. Should he Take the Threats Seriously?As react with caution in determining whether my client should take Ms. Walker's letter in a serious manner because we are afraid that the court might rule to her advantage. â€Å"When it is claimed or appears to the court that the contract or any clause thereof may be unconscionable the parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to its commercial setting, purpose and effect to aid the court in making the determination. (106). The Restatement also has a similar rule which tracks the UCC provision. (107) The purpose of the unconscionability doctrine is to expressly allow courts to police contracts for terms they deem unconscionable. (108) Though â€Å"unconscionable† is not defined by the UCC, some definitions give a feel for what the originators of the doctrine may have intended. One court has defined it as â€Å"that which ‘affronts the sense of decency.'† (109) One dictionary definition is â€Å"lying outside the limits of what is reasonable or acceptable: shockingly unfair, harsh, or unjust.† (110)† (Bar-Gill, O., Ben-Shahar, O., ; Marotta-Wurgler, F. 2017).Another word from the law that needs to be added here is that the procedure in which my client (Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC) following by charges 30% more to delivering the appliances and electronics to the customer's door-to-door and the fact that his salespeople intended or might have been instructed by Mr. Takem not to mention it to the customers. Despite the fact that my client, Mr. Takem, intentionally instructed them to mention the 30% increase or not, while he is the owner of the business and all of his employees should follow his instructions. The court might obtain this conclusion from his business conduct and count this against him as a form of misleading, uncommunicated as one of the criteria to validate a contract, misrepresentation, misrepresentation fraudulent or other entrance to breach this contract or similar contract since the court will incline for the advantage of the plaintiff (Ms. Walker) party of this contract against my client (Mr. Takem). As we go more through Ms. Walker's letter while she emphasizes that she is going to sue for punitive damages, whereas, punitive damages cannot normally be granted in contract disputes, here I wouldn't worry about this phrase either my client (Mr. Takem), as this is merely a threaten word in Ms. Walker's letter. However, this part in some case could be unpredictable, and because they are usually compensated in addition of the plaintiff's demonstrable injuries, and are awarded only in distinct cases, but to act as a prudent defends of my client (Mr. Takem) we need to supply him with the sound of law regarding this point, as a part of a lawyer due diligence where â€Å"Jurors award punitive damages too often. The amounts they award are erratic and unpredictable, even though they start from shared moral intuitions about the reprehensibility of defendants' conduct. And when they deliberate and decide as juries, both the size and variability of the awards increase.† Feigenson, N. R. 2003). It's ambiguities which need to be corrected proximately before any serious consequences superficial. Furthermore, the major ambiguity in the business operated in this case is the lack of transparency in its transactions with their customers; this absence of transparency is most deceptive in the prices and the percentages of charge that they put on their products and their services. This lack of transparency, when visible, could cause serious issues to any business, and, an educated customer could very easily take them to court for misconduct and misleading if they don't change their method and honestly advise their customers of their business perfect. Should he Proceed with the Collection? To give my legal advice, I would recommend that my client (Takem's Appliances and Electronics, LLC) not to proceed with any further steps in collecting the remaining payments from Ms. Walker. However, this might result in having other customers doing the same as Ms. Walker. Which is refusing to pay and threatening Mr. Takem again by suing his business and sending letters to media to ruin his business reputation. We would advise that Mr. Takem take longer period of time than usual before making any efforts for future collection in general, I would propose that Mr. Takem take an initial step by offering a payment discount for certain customers with some certain conditions with that he can plan ahead of time for his future project of establishing his own financing company, in main time this will participate in reshape his reputation in the area and encourage his customers to pay one time. â€Å"Keeping the aforementioned trends, Takem needs to go beyond the literal meaning of the law and let go of unfair and /or fraudulent corporate conduct; this includes false advertising and/or ambiguous sales deals† â€Å"(Realistic Hypothetical Legal Scenarios Business Law for Accountants†, 2013) Would Mr. Takem Set up a Financing Company? And what Should he do to Protect himself?I would strongly recommend that Mr. Takem should go ahead in adopting this step, in order to prevent and protect his business from any future consequences. But the best would be if he can collaborate with an outside financing company to take over this portion of his business, in a separate entity form, to avoid and mitigate future obligations and losing his customers. Alternatively, seeking for an external collection agency to handle in arrears or uncollected payments. â€Å"Seeking a collection agency-or evaluating the one you have-can improve bottom-line results while maintaining your professional image. Overall, be sure to find a company that delivers results and matches the image you want to project. Use this list as a guide of what to expect† (Anonymous, 2015). With this step-in mind Mr. Takem should put more consideration to the law that regulates and the requirement to establish this kind of business from the participation of the comprehensive openness, full disclosure and the complete condition associated with any arrangement. Finally, he wants to Know What do you Think About his Business Model- Regardless of whether you Conclude that it is Legal, is it Moral/Ethical?I believe the majority of us will agree in response to Mr. Takem's ethics, and the way he is conducting his business is unethical, according to the given case events. Unethical behavior that is not illegal frequently falls in a grey area between right and wrong that makes it difficult to decide what to do when it is encountered. Furthermore, different people have different perspectives regarding what is ethical and what is unethical. Though, there is sometimes a difference between behaviors that are unethical and activities that are actually illegal. â€Å"The definition of business ethics and the answer to the question of â€Å"What is Business Ethics in Sales?† is the principles, morals and standards that guide the behavior in the world of business and in sales relationships too (Spro, 2013). Ethics in sales is receiving a lot of attention over recent years even more so, as it is the correct way to conduct business in the long term and produce long-term sales results for the company and for the sales team. Moreover, â€Å"Business ethics in sales can either come from the company itself, this means that the companies ethics guidelines are written into their policies and therefore can be reflected or reproduced through their sales team management and then the sales team too† (Ivan, C. D. 2014). Therefore, â€Å"Doubt regarding corporate commitment to ethical obligations has always existed, particularly when maximization of profits might be at risk. However, despite such doubt two views have singled hope. First, a view has persisted that corporations at least feel compelled to comply with the law. At times violations of law might occur. However, this was not thought to be the pattern of behavior for corporations generally. Conscious violation of law was not the behavior expected. Second, a view has begun to be echoed that business corporations are increasingly cognizant of ethical obligations beyond literal compliance with law, and increasingly feel compelled to act accordingly† (Di Lorenzo, V. J Bus Ethics, 2007).

Sunday, September 29, 2019

How modern society changed women’s lives Essay

The position of women is often considered to have improved during the last few decades. There is, however, considerable debate as to the extent of change and the reasons for it. This essay will look at how women’s lives have changed in terms of employment, pay, education, household, sexuality and the state. I will conclude that the most important changes for women are in education, but that the basic pattern of inequality remains in most aspects of the social structure, from paid work to the household divisions of labour, from sexuality to violence. Ann Oakley (1981) has traced the changing status of women in British society from the eve of the Industrial Revolution to the 1970s. She claims that ‘the most important and enduring consequence of industrialization for women has been the emergence of the modern role of housewife as ‘the dominant mature feminine role’ Thus a combination of factors which included ideology, the banning of child labour, and restrictions of the employment of women, locked the majority of married women into the mother housewife role. This led to the idea of a ‘cornflake packet family’ where the male was the breadwinner, the wife was the housewife, and the family consisted of two children – a boy and a girl. The mother had an expressive role, while the father had an instrumental role of going out to work. The inequality, and the extent to which the different aspects of this are interconnected, mean that is some use the concept of patriarchy to describe this set of social relations. Patriarchy is a social system through which men dominate, exploit and oppress women. However, in recent decades, changes in the economy and society have altered the situation – several of these changes will be outlined below. One of the most important areas to look at for the changes in women’s lives is in terms of pay and employment relative to men. Women are less likely than men to be in paid employment, but the gap has closed steadily over recent decades. The proportion of those in employment who are women rose from 38.1% in 1971 to 49.6% in 1995. However, most of the increase in women’s employment has been in part time work. The proportion of women working part time has increased steadily, from 34% in 1971 to 47% in 1995. Women workers are concentrated within a very narrow range of occupational groups, although there have been some significant changes in this recently. Over 40% of full time women workers are to be found in clerical employment. In contrast, men are spread through a much wider range of occupations. Women are confined both to lower grade jobs (vertical segregations) and to different jobs (horizontal segregation). The pattern of segregation however has changed significantly over recent years. At the top end of the hierarchy the number and proportion of women in the managerial and professional grades have substantially increased. However, in the most powerful positions in public life, women continue to be seriously under-represented. Walby notes that in 1992 only 9.2 per cent of MPs were women, there were no women Chief Constables until the 1990s, and in 1994 only one in 25 High Court judges was a woman. In 1996, there was only one woman among 50 British ambassadors or heads of overseas mi ssions. Linda McDowell uses the theory of post-Fordism to understand changes in the labour market. This theory argues that businesses have moved away from mass production towards the flexible production of small batches of specialized products. In doing so, they employ a core of highly skilled workers who are capable of using their skills to produce a wide variety of products. Other work is carried out by part-time workers, or workers on short-term contracts, or is contracted out to other firms. McDowell argues that these changes are reflected in the increased use of part-time female labour and the reduction in the employment of males in full-time permanent jobs. But while it is clearly important to take account of changes in the labour market and the economy as a whole in order to understand the changing patterns of gender inequality, it is necessary to be cautious about basing an analysis on the theory of post foridsm. This theory has been heavily criticized on a number of grounds, and the work of Lovering and others suggests that post Fordism cannot be seen as a general trend that has affected all employers. A different explanation for the changing nature and pattern of women’s employment in countries such as Scandinavia has been the shift to state  policy. Talcott Parsons had proposed a functionalist explanation of women’s disadvantaged position in the labour market, which focused on the impact of the household. He argued that men get paid more because women’s domestic responsibilities adversely affect their involvement in paid work. However, in Scandinavia, there is a much greater public provision of childcare together with higher rates of female employment and a smaller wages gap between women and men. Thus changes to state policy can improve the nature and pattern of women’s employment. But has there been any change in women’s pay relative to men’s? The implementation of the Equal Pay Act between 1970 and 1975 reduced the wages gap a little. In 1970 women earned only 63% on men’s hourly rates, and only 55% of men’s gross weekly pay. In 1997, women working full time earned 81% of men’s hourly rate, but those women working part time only earned 59% of men’s hourly rates. Thus the size of the gap has been closing steadily for those working full time, but not for those working part time. It does seem therefore that the position of women in employment has transformed itself in recent years, though there remains considerable inequality and the picture is not one of simple progress. One area where there have been considerable changes for women’s lives has been in education. Education has seen a transformation of the position of girls and young women. In schools, not only has the traditional gender gap in examination performance been closed but girls have overtaken boys; while in higher education the gender gap is closing steadily. One reason for the change is the discrimination against women in education was made illegal in the 1875 Sex Discrimination Act. A further reason was the increase in the opportunities for women in the world after education as the labour market gradually opened up. These changes in education have potential implications for other aspects of gender relations – since access to good jobs as some relationship to educational qualifications, women might anticipate taking a higher proportion of top jobs. It may also have an impact on wages, in so far as lack of qualifications, rather than discrimination, was a reason for women†™s poor rates of pay. However, while girls are learning in new areas,  boys are not learning those subjects traditionally learned by women eg at present, only 15% of all boys do home economics. A further important issue to look at when considering the changing lives of women, is in the area of the household. The most striking change is the increased likelihood of families being formed of only mothers and children, which reflects to a large degree the large increase in divorce rates. The number of lone parents increased from 8% in 1981 to 21% in 1996, and the vast majority of these are women. One of the most significant features of one-parent families is their tendency to live in poverty, leading to many forms of social exclusion. The poverty largely results from the lack of a male income into the household, but is compounded by the lower propensity of lone mothers to be in employment as compared with married mothers. Changes in the welfare state are also important in that they have disproportionately affected women because more of them head single parent households and more live to pensionable age. Women in old age are thus particularly vulnerable to the risk of poverty. A further change in the household has been in attitudes towards housework. Men are now more likely to accept that women should not be responsible for all the housework. However, it does seem that while there has been a change in attitudes, this is not to a great degree played out in action. The UK is in contrast to some countries such as Sweden where there is more shared parenting and childcare is part of education for boys and girls. Changes in sexuality have been a further impact upon women’s lives. Giddens argued that there has been a ‘transformation of intimacy’ in recent years. It is widely suggested that women have made great advance towards equality with men in the area of sexuality. The sexual double standard, whereby non-marital sex was acceptable for men and not for women has reduced. Other changes include the much greater availability of contraception and safe abortion, which has made unwanted children much less likely. Furthermore, there has been greater acceptance of a wider range of sexual practices, such as gay and lesbian relationships. Feminist movements have also helped to change and shape women’s lives. The  1970s was the second wave of feminism in the twentieth century, the early one being instrumental in winning political citizenship for women. Many of the feminist ideas of the 1970s which had been considered outrageously radical when first expressed are now widely accepted. For instance, male violence is now recognized as a significant problem and the subject of serious discussion by the police as well as feminists. Equal pay is also an early feminist demand now accepted into mainstream policy initiatives such as Opportunity 2000. In Gender Transformations(1997), Walby reviews changes in patriarchy in the 1990s. Although she discovers plenty of evidence that patriarchal structures remain in place in Britain, she also finds evidence of important changes. In particular, she claims that there is evidence of a generational difference between older and younger women. Older women tend to be restricted by the constrains of private patriarchy, which was the dominant form of patriarchy in their early lives. They are likely to have few qualifications and therefore have limited opportunities in the labour market. Younger women, on the other hand, have benefited from some of the changes that have taken place. They are likely to benefit from increased qualifications and improved labour market opportunities. Walby thus points to polarization between the younger and older women, while convergence between younger women and men. In conclusion, there have been many changes in the transition to modernity, which have shaped women’s lives. While some of these changes have reduced gender inequality n recent years, especially in the field of education, the basic pattern of inequality remains in most aspects of the social structure, from paid work to the household divisions of labour, from sexuality to violence. This essay has pointed to many changes in women’s lives, but whether their lives have improved has been a matter of debate: Liberal feminists tend to see these changes as progress, while radical feminists tend to argue that little has changed and patriarchal domination remains firmly intact. Marxists usually claim that industrialization and the advent of capitalism led to a deterioration in the position of women and since the Industrial Revolution little has improved. Bibliography Mcdowell L ‘Father and Ford revisited: gender, class and employment change in the new millennium’ Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2001 Walby Gender Transformations Abercrombie, Warde et al, ‘Contemporary British Society’ Haralambos and Holborn ‘Sociology’

Saturday, September 28, 2019

AP U.S. History Application

AP U. S. History Application Essay Many people have made an impact on me, but if I were to choose one person I have learned about in any of my History classes, I would choose Osama Bin Laden. Osama Bin Laden attacked the United States’ on September 11, 2001 and ever since the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, this event has been known as the nine-eleven. The nine-eleven was a series of four suicide attacks that were committed in the areas of New York City, Washington D. C. , Virginia, and Pennsylvania. After the nine-eleven, he has been the major target of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).After the death of Osama Bin Laden, I realized a few key points that have changed my view of the way human beings think. Osama Bin Laden did not influence me to have a grudge against the United States, or any of the sorts, but he helped me view the world in a different way. For instance, many people in the United States celebrated his death after he was found and shot on May 2 , 2011. I disapprove of this reaction from the citizens of the United States. He did wrongs to thousands of people and caused the United States to pay billions of dollars to fix the damage.But regardless of what he did, it is wrong for us to celebrate his misfortune. To take joy out of someone’s tragedy proves human beings to be immorally unjust. If human beings celebrate the death of someone who is equal to them, they are not being compassionate. Though Osama Bin Laden’s decision to bomb the United States and its people was heartless, the act of rejoicing the death of a human also proves us to be inhumane. People forget to be compassionate towards the others who make the terrible decisions, because they believe that they are only meant to do harm, but that’s not always the case.If we do not discriminate and if we treat each other equally, less suicide attacks will occur. The big reason why terrorists decide to act the way they do is because of all the unjust an d discrimination they have to face in their daily lives. The way human beings react to the death of others is important because it teaches others how inhumane our world has become. The main reason why wars start is because of power and money; and the after-results of the war often does no good.It only forces the people of the country to live a controlled life of poverty. The government restricts us from practicing our true freedom by forcing propaganda upon us, and Osama Bin Laden is one of them. The citizens of the United States understand that he made wrong decisions and that he needs to pay for what he’s done, but we should respect everyone; because all human beings were created equal. In conclusion, Osama Bin Laden has influenced the way I think towards the human behavior and thoughts through America’s response to his death.American citizens took joy out of his misfortune, without thinking about the amount of respect they are giving to Osama Bin Laden, because I be lieve we should all be treated and respected equally. Rejoicing for someone’s death will do no good for the present or the future, because of the immoral actions. It’s imperative for each person to remember that everybody is created equal and human beings are human beings; we think similarly. Osama Bin Laden has inspired me see the world with a different perspective: to think and treat others with respect, no matter what kind of background they have or what kind of sins they have committed.

Friday, September 27, 2019

International Relations and Political Systems Essay

International Relations and Political Systems - Essay Example Africa has been currently viewed as a vital interest for the U.S. operations. Per se, this has been a greater milestone towards mitigation of terrorism activities. Africa has been a vital interest for the United States due to lack of enough security apparatus and resources by this continent to counter or mitigate terrorism activities. Terrorism sects such as the Boko-haram have currently sprouted in Africa thus with the United States support, Africa aims at fighting these activities to the later. The United States should, therefore, heighten its operations in Africa to boost security issues in Africa, which is in this globalization era emerging into security threat to the United States as well. United States operations in Africa are highly commendable as this is the only way in which world security can be entirely boosted. Drone strikes while putting into consideration humanity approach of war should not be conducted by the CIA or the Pentagon. These drone strikes and air strikes are not ethically right, and the legality of these war methods is highly questionable. Just like the use of nuclear warheads, drone strikes are unethical due to their destructive nature to the world peace. Whenever these strikes occur, world peace is destructed, innocent lives are lost, and the refugee influx becomes heavy through the world. The use of drone strikes may only be

Thursday, September 26, 2019

SCHOLARLY VS POP MEDIA, FOCUS ON SEXUALITY Research Paper

SCHOLARLY VS POP MEDIA, FOCUS ON SEXUALITY - Research Paper Example The study was conducted in four phases using both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The participants of the study were provided with the introductory health education courses with some small components of sexuality education. Questionnaires were presented to the participants before and after the delivery of these courses. Focus group was also interviewed before and after the courses delivery. After two years survey was conducted among the participants and focus group was also interviewed to examine their understanding often sexuality education and their responsibilities in this context. The article describes the history of sexuality education in New Zealand and informs that it was included in the school curriculum in 1999. The author throw light upon the contribution and strategies of the education and healthcare authorities in developing the guidelines for providing sexuality education to the school students in the country. The main intention of the research study is to develop understanding among the pre service (student) teachers regarding the principles and constructs of sexuality education and their responsibilities to keep it within the lines set by the authorities. The article concludes the study results that the introductory health courses draw important impacts upon the understanding of sexuality education among the students that have to take the role of teachers in coming years. The sexuality education courses work to expand ideas and attitude about the sexuality and health and promote openness tolerance and individual empowerment. Media Article Summary The article teaching sexuality: How much can we expect from classroom teachers? Penned by Elizabeth J. Meyer was published in Psychology Today on July 21, 2010. The article is focused upon the role and responsibilities of teachers in the context of providing sexuality education in the classrooms. The article provides brief overview to the efforts that have been made to construct adequat e policies and strategies regarding the formulation of sexuality education programs at schools. The author argues that the teachers play most important and defining role in developing the perception of the students about sexuality. Hence rather focusing upon making changes in the sexuality education courses and programs it is very important to arrange training programs for the teachers so that they can provide effective sexuality education to the students. The article stresses upon the need of teacher training for better sexuality education as the author believes that after training the teachers became able to properly address the issues of bullying and harassment a t the schools. The author has also provided some guidelines that should be followed by the teachers while facing the sexuality related issues at the schools. The main points and arguments presented in the article are backed by the research studies references and the author has provided research based arguments in the art icle. The main purpose of the article is to provide some recommendations for the improvement of sexuality education at schools. The article concludes that the arrangement of proper teacher training is the key to attain success in addressing the issues of sexuality education at schools because the teacher has the most vital role to play in the entire situation that must be overlooked and the role and training of teachers must be given equal importance as the

Psychological Disorders and Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychological Disorders and Therapy - Essay Example PTSD symptoms can be clustered into intrusive symptoms – flashbacks reliving traumatic experiences, avoidant symptoms – withdrawal from possible triggers (place, event, people) of traumatic experiences, and hyperarousal – the feeling of being threatened always occurring as insomnia, irritability, extreme startle response. Nevertheless, PTSD is curable. Effective treatment to PTSD is a combination of psychoanalysis – a therapy that deals with the patient’s unconscious and repressed memories, and drug therapy. SSRIs are the first line of medication approved by the US FDA as it was proven effective to decrease anxiety, depression, and panic reducing aggression, impulsivity, and suicidal thoughts in patients. a. Features: PTSD is a complex disorder, classified as anxiety disorder (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder par.1) or emotional disorder (Dryden-Edwards 1). DSM-IV-TR described it a â€Å"normal reaction to abnormal events† (qtd. in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder par.1), wherein terribly threatening experiences like rape, military combat, torture, genocide, extreme disasters, etc. have disrupted the patient’s memory, emotional reactions, mental processes, and nervous system (PTSD par.1-2; Dryden-Edwards 1), making PTSD a unique psychiatric disorder, since its diagnosis depends on factor/s outside the victim – a deviance from psychiatry’s general emphasis on factors internal to individuals (PTSD par.2). b. Symptoms: DSM-IV-TR identified six criteria symptomatic of PTSD: (1) Traumatic stressor – patient’s exposure to life-threatening horrifying experiences; (2) Intrusive symptoms – flashbacks reliving traumatic experiences; (3) Avoidant symptoms – withdrawal from possible triggers (place, event, people) of traumatic experiences; (4) Hyperarousal – a threatened feeling always occurring as insomnia, irritability, extreme startle response; (5) Symptom duration – one month

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Ladybug Cell Phones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ladybug Cell Phones - Essay Example In this partnership strategy, the major idea will be persuading the distributors as well as the retailers to sell our product to the clients by giving various types of incentives to the customers. The push strategy will involve discounts, money back guarantee, and advertising items. The company will convince the distributors to help market the product and in the end sell it to the clients (Carroll, 2000). Â  Pull strategy, on the other hand, will require that we, the company, spend considerably on the customer in order to develop high demands by the customers for the product. This will ensure our customers get attracted simply from the promotion and then demand the product from our retailers, this will make the retailer request the wholesaler for the product and eventually, the wholesalers would put an order for the product to the manufacturing company. This will promote sales of Ladybug significantly. There is a significant difference between the two strategies of sales promotion. The push strategy will demand that we, the company, persuade the wholesalers and retailers to sell our products or put them on their shelves in order to create demand among customers. On the other hand, with the pull strategy, we, the company, will engage the customers directly and communicate to them in order to influence their demand for the product so that they can request for it (Eisenstadt, 2003). Â  Push-pull strategy, a combination of the push strategy and pull strategy, implies the use of both the strategies at once. In this case, both the customers and our distributors will take into account and consider the incentives that we, the company, offer such as discounts.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Cause and effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Cause and effect - Essay Example It is commonly known that when a person engages in physical activities, the heart rate and blood pressure increase, making the heart be exercised as well. Moreover, healthy diets are now getting popularly advertised and embraced for the same reason of having health benefits. In relation to cardiovascular diseases, Ivan Gyarfas states that there are no vaccines against such diseases but there is prevention. He mentions having healthy living as the top reason for such prevention. In the past three decades, studies show that the death rate caused by cardiovascular diseases decreased by forty percent. The reason for two-thirds of the decline is the awareness and practice adopted by people about healthy lifestyle. Diets were designed to reduce calories, fats and salts that improved control of hypertension, the growing popularity of fitness exercises, and smoking cessation--all of which have nothing to do with drug medications(1). This shows that indeed, eating healthy foods, exercise and quitting smoking all lead to a better healthy body. On of the causes cardiovascular diseases that have caught the attention of researchers lately is the psychosocial factor. The authors, Susan Everson-Rose and Tene Lewis claim that this is an important factor that must be considered in treating or preventing the disease and studies must be strengthened so that the relation of such factor will be established as a well-researched standard. The two writers claim that the emotional state of a person contributes as a risk factor to cardiovascular disease. Among the conditions they have explained are anger and hostility which is said to be â€Å"typically characterized by a suspicious, mistrustful attitude or disposition toward interpersonal relationships and the wider environment, considered to be enduring which means, it is a personality trait† (475). â€Å"Anger is an emotion which is considered to be one component of a broader, multi-dimensional construct that includes hostili ty and aggressive behavior†. This emotion is caused by perceptions of unjust events or actions (Everson-Rose & Lewis, 475) which could probably be true or imagined. Injustice causes anger which eventually causes hostility that somehow affect how the heart functions which consequently turn to heart problems. Other factors that are considered psychosocial are environment stressors. Examples of such are work-related stress and acute life stress. As mentioned earlier, researchers are seriously considering the possible effects of such factors in patient however, Lang, Lepage, Schieber Lamy and Kelly acknowledge in their article the fact that this is not fully supported. The reason for this is perhaps the multiple factors that may be involved, practiced by patients who were also used as research materials. Among the other factors that affect the poor acknowledgement of work related risk factors are smoking and high cholesterol (7). Other psychosocial factors are social factors which take on the subsets of social ties, social support and social conflict. It has been observed that people with strong support systems like family and friends; reduce their risk of having heart problems. On the other hand, those who have been isolated either intentionally for the purpose of studies or naturally because of certain personal reasons,

Monday, September 23, 2019

Age Discrimination And Its Impact On Career Building Case Study

Age Discrimination And Its Impact On Career Building - Case Study Example Jack Gross decided to sue the company in an effort to prove that it was age discrimination acting as the rationale for why he had been shifted in the company and his job responsibilities slowly taken away and given to younger staff members. The courts found enough evidence to favor the position of Jack Gross, however, FBL appealed the decision, taking it to a higher court. Eventually, the case reached the Supreme Court who upheld the decisions of the lower courts, deciding that there was ample evidence available that discrimination was the cause of his career status position change. Gross was awarded damages as identified by the ADEA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This act provides compensatory damages when discrimination is found to have been the deciding factor for making improper age-related decisions in the workplace. The include damages that are determined equal to the level of humiliation, injury, pain, and suffering, or professional reputation damage that has occurred (elinfonet.com, 2010). Then Justice C. Thomas of the Supreme Court identified as the final appeal was considered, â€Å"under the ADEA the plaintiff retains the burden of persuasion to establish that age was the ‘but-for cause of the employer's adverse action† (laborlawyers.com, 2009, p.2). Because of the nature of how his position had been shifted and mismanaged, there was enough evidence and/or testimony to make the court system believe that Gross had been deliberately targeted for age discrimination and it was the aforementioned but-for cause of his shifts within the company. Under the ADEA, and in the case of Mr. Gross, he may have been awarded compensation in the form of back pay, which is another provision for damages available when all of the criteria have been met for proving the but-for reasoning (elinfonet.com).

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Process for Implemenation of Supplier Development Strategy Essay Example for Free

Process for Implemenation of Supplier Development Strategy Essay Introduction Supply chain management adopts a systematic and integrative approach to manage the operation and relationship amongst different parties in supply chain one of the major issues is supplier development studies have investigated how quality management can be employer in supply chain management to influence performance in the whole supply network. (Mishra Rik, Patel G-Supplier Development Strategies, Data employment Analysis Business Intelligence Journal, January 2010 vol 3 No.1) There are 8 stages of implementation of supplier development 2.1 Identify critical commodities for development Managers must analyse their situation to determine whether Supplier development is important and if so which purchased commodities and services require the most attention. A corporate level executive steering committee must assess the relevant strategic importance of all goods and services that the company buys and produce a portfolio of critical commodities 2.2 Identify critical suppliers for development The managers must assess the performance of suppliers who supply commodities in the â€Å"strategic supplier category†. These commodities considered strategically important, as they might be difficult to substitute or purchase from alternative suppliers. 2.3 Form a cross-functional team A buyer must first develop internal cross-functional consensus for the initiative before approaching the supplies to ask for improvement such consensus will help to show a â€Å"unified front† and ensure that all buyer functions. 2.4 Meet with supplier’s top management team The buyer’s cross functional commodity team must approach the supplier’s top management group and establish three keys to supplier improvement, strategic alignment, supplier measurement and professionalism. 5 Identify opportunities and probability for improvement At these meetings with the suppliers executive should identify areas earmarked for improvement. Companies adopting a strategic approach to supply base development can usually agree upon areas or improvement .In some areas driven by final customer requirements and expectations. 2.6 Identify key projects After identifying promising opportunities of supplier development managers must evaluate them in terms of feasibility, resource and time requirements and potential return on investments. The aim is to decide what the goals should be and whether they are achievable. 2.7 Define details of the agreement After the potential improvement project is identified, the parties need to agree on specific merthies for monitoring its success. 2.8 Monitor status and modify strategies Manages must constantly monitor the progress and constantly exchange information to maintain momentum in the project. (http://www.ethenmanagementor.com.kuniverser/kmailer_universe/manu_kmailers/som-supplierdev1.htm. Accessed 15/09/2011) Different types Supply Chain relationships | |Transactional |Collaborative |Alliance | | |Relationships |relationships |relationships | |Communication |High potential for problems |Systematic approach to | | | |enhance communication | |Competitive |Low |High | |advantage |Independence | | |Connectedness |Little |Interdependence | |Continuous |Few | | |improvement | |A focus on | |Contributions to | | | |new product |Low |Many/early supplier | |development |Short |involvement | | |Reactive |Difficult/high impact | |Difficulty of exit |Price |Long | |Duration | Little or none |Proactive | |Expediting |Low |Total cost | |Focus | |High or total | |Level of integration |Many |High | |Level of trust |No | | |Number of |Incoming inspection | | |suppliers |Inward looking |One or few | |Open books | |Yes | |Quality | |Design quality into system | |Relations | |Concern with each other’s | | |Few/low skill level |well-being | |Resources |Minimal |Professional | |Service |No |Greatly improved | |Shared forecasts |Possible |Yes | |Supply disruptions |No |Unlikely | |Technology inflows |Tactical |Yes | |Type of interaction | |Strategic synergy | (Handfield RB; Monczka RM; Giunipero LC; Patterson JL. Sourcing and supply chain management; 2004 pg 123) Portfolio Analysis 4.1 Captive buyer Captive buyer relationship the supplier dominates the buyer and the buyer depends on the supplier. In these particular captive buyer relationships this dependence of the buyer is due to the unique intellectual property of the supplier. Because of this intellectual property the buyer has limited or no Substitutes to turn to creating a dependence on the supplier. Despite this dependence a high level of trust plays an important role in making this relationship fruitful for both parties. Apparently the dominance of the supplier is limited to the extent that the mutual trust stays intact. But the level of trust also has its limits from the supplier’s perspective. The supplier is not willing to trust the buyer with its intellectual property. The obvious reason for this is the risk that the supplier would lose its dominating position. Thus, the supplier has a special interest in maintaining its dominant position. The survey and interviews indicate that for captive buyer relationships the explanatory variables were the lack of substitutes, legal property rights and size of the supplier. Apparently the legal property rights of the supplier, and the resulting lack of substitutes, causes the buyer to depend on the supplier. These factors, combined with a supplier that is much larger than the buyer, results in a relationship that can be described as a captive buyer situation. (http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/3545/1/MWBHMJFleurenmei2011.pdf ;Accessed 15/09/2011) 2 Captive Supplier Captive supplier relationship the supplier depends on the buyer and the buyer therefore overpowers the supplier. This unbalance of power can have one or a combination of factors: the size of the buyer and its market share but also the switching costs for the supplier contribute to the dependence of the supplier on the buyer. Despite the fact that the supplier has important intellectual property this is not sufficient to balance the level of power towards the buyer. To make this relationship a fruitful one cooperation and mutual goals are of great importance. Via these mutual goals the buyer does depend on the supplier to some extent, thus preventing the buyer from abusing its dominance over the supplier. For this reason, in a captive supplier situation the buyer will also invest (heavily) in the relationship but not to the extent that it loses it’s dominating position. While studying the captive supplier relationships, it became apparent that the Explanatory variables were market share, lack of substitutes, legal property rights, non-retrievable investments and the size of the supplier. These factors resulted in a captive buyer situation. Again the presence of legal property rights, this time of the buyer, causes the supplier to have limited or no substitutes. Furthermore the relationship involved significant non-retrievable investments for the supplier, making it even more difficult to switch to another buyer. Finally, the high market share of the buyer compared to the small size of the supplier was a significant factor. The net result of these explanatory variables is a captive supplier relationship. (http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/3545/1/MWBHMJFleurenmei2011.pdf; Accessed 15/09/2011) 3 Interdependent Supply Chain members Some kind of starting point is needed for identification of supply chains. For instance, an end product of some kind may be used for identification and analysis of the activity structure organised behind it. This is in line with the transvection concept coined by Alderson (1965, p. 92) who defines transvections as comprising all prior action necessary to produce this final result, going all the way back to conglomerate resources. This, however, entails a first important connection among chains as they typically merge in different stages within an activity structure where different parts of the end product are assembled, welded etc, tying different chains together successively (Dubois, 1998). Consequently, several different products (and thus also several chains, if defined by products) are involved in every supply chain resulting in some kind of end-product. Taking transvections, or end-product related structures, as a starting point we will further analyse the ways in which the activities and resources within supply chains are connected by analysin g how they are subject to the three forms of interdependence. (http://www.impgroup.org/uploads/papers/4324.pdf ;accessed 15/09/2011) 5. Buyer /supplier relationship (Handfield RB; Monczka RM; Giunipero LC; Patterson JL. Sourcing and supply chain management; 2004) High Category Level Low Conclusion The concept of power should be at the centre of any study of buyer-supplier relationships. Power affects the expectations of the two parties over what commercial returns should accrue to them from a relationship. It also affects the willingness of the two parties to invest in collaborative activities. As important, it also affects the willingness of the two parties to share the costs of relationship-specific investments .It also affects the willingness of the two parties to share sensitive information. As a result, an understanding of the power relation which is often stable, with the relative stability should, from the point of view of the purchasing manager, inform both the supplier selection and the relationship management decision as he or she attempts to manage risk proactively. Bibliography 1. http://www.impgroup.org/uploads/papers/4320.pdf 2. http://dspace.learningnetworks.org/bitstream/1820/3545/1/MWBHMJFleurenmei2011.pdf. 3. Mishra Rik, Patel G-Supplier Development Strategies, Data employment Analysis Business Intelligence Journal, January 2010 vol 3 No.1 4. Handfield RB; Monczka RM; Giunipero LC; Patterson JL. Sourcing and supply chain management; 2004 |1.Leaverage: |2.Strategic : | |Captive Supplier |Mutual dependence | |The buyer has power |Trust is necessary | |Trust may be lacking | | |3.Routine: |4. Bottleneck | |Mutual Independent |Captive buyer | |Trust not necessary |The Supplier has power | | |Trust may be lacking | LowHighBusiness Risk

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Vivienne westwoods philosophy and influences in contemporary design

Vivienne westwoods philosophy and influences in contemporary design Abstract The article is talking about one of Englands leading fashion designers, Vivienne Westwood. Who aslo has been one of Britains most consistently original, outrageous, eccentric and controversial designers. Today, she has evolved from an iconoclastic outsider to an internationally revered figure, with two British Designer of the Year awards, an OBE, her own successful fashion label and an unrivalled reputation for leading where other designers follow. Her lifestyle could scarcely be in greater contrast to the opulence which surrounds other leading designers.So in this article, it discuss about how did an awkward girl from a conventional and provincial background become one of world fashions most influential and respected designers and how her design influence on present day design culture. Vivienne Westwood, one of Englands leading fashion designers who maintaining a devotion to history as a key theme to her unique styles. She has these wisps of yellow-blond hair spill around her oval face, which has been plucked, painted and powdered into a perfect cameo. Her lips are a bright kiss-me red, while her walk is that of a slowly advancing, scepter-toting monarch. Vivienne Westwood, really is made of awesome with her funky and creative designs. She is respected throughout the industry and fashion world as a highly influential designer.Vivienne Westwoods early profileVivienne Westwoods story is featured. Westwood grew up in the village of Tintwistle and he worked as a teacher in North England in 1962. She also had a 13 year marriage with Malcolm McLaren in the 1970s that resulted in two sons. At the same time, artists like Chrissie Hynde and bands like the Sex Pistols were influenced by Vivienne Westwood who was the creator of punk rock music and style in the 70s.She inspire d the current British designers such as Christian Lacroix and John Galliano, was knighted the Order of the British Imperial Medal by the queen in 1992, and is presently married to the designer Andreas Kronthaler. Vivienne Westwood starts her fashion career in 1971 when she opened a small shop called Let It Rock at 430 Kings Road in Chelsea with Malcolm McLaren, a former art student six years her junior. They had met in 1965 when Ms. Westwood, already a young mother and separated from her first husband, was working as a primary school teacher. Their partnership, which also produced a child, would soon shake up British fashion.Mr. McLaren was the rebel, the agitator, the provocateur, while Ms. Westwood was his muse and model, already in 1971 she wore spiky peroxide with dyed hair, as well as a skilled craftsman. In its first version, 430 Kings Road became a 1950s nostalgia parlor with Teddy Boy, or Edwardian revival clothes, copied and sold as a kind of anti-hippie protest. And Ms. Westwood was the one doing the unpicking, copying and resolving.In 1973 the couple renamed the store Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die, this time in homage to James Dean and the rising motorcycle culture. Leather, st uds and buckles appeared alongside T-shirts with aggressive slogans. But this lasted barely 15 months.In April 1974 the store became SEX and was filled with sadomasochistic and pornographic references as well as clothes made of leather and rubber, including rubber-wear for the office.In 1975 the Sex Pistols, a rock group formed by Mr. McLaren, carried the punk movement beyond Chelsea, even beyond Britain. Wearing outrageous clothes and scandalizing the media with profanities, the Sex Pistols trumpeted Mr. McLarens anti-authoritarian message. Its first single, Anarchy in the U.K., was followed by an irreverent God Save the Queen, which was promptly banned by British radio. In 1977 SEX was renamed Seditionaries, but punk power began to wane. In 1979 Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols died of a drug overdose, and the group was disbanded. In 1980 Seditionaries became Worlds End and when Mr. McLaren wanted to vacate it, Ms. Westwood held onto it. More crucially, for the first time she began designing her own clothes with what became known as the Pirates collection. This collection, her first to be presented on a catwalk, in 1981, was to prove a turning point, not only because it announced her interest in historicism, but also because within two years she would form her own company without Mr. McLaren. I decided that in order to understand the world I lived in, I should somehow enter it and exploit my own ideas and see how I could get on, she recalled in a recent interview at the Victoria and Albert. Vivienne Westwoods philosophyMs. Westwood rise herself as a fashion maverick comes from being both wildly inventive and perversely out of touch. But most of the people call her the queen of extreme. Her managing partner, Carlo DAmario said This is a woman whos an English eccentric. But he said it with a tone for unexplained phenomena. To imagine what that means, all you have to do is picture this quaint-looking lady attended the Dame Edna Show in 1989 with a flesh-tone tights and a glimmering green fig leaf. And her famous entrance into Buckingham Palace in 1992 to receive her Order of the British Empire from the Queen, when she obliged photographers with a triumphant twirl, there was hardly a living soul in Britain who didnt know that Ms. Westwood was 1 sans culottes under her whirling skirts.But that Ms. Westwood truly become the genuine iconoclasts at that period. Those style expresses the delirium and anarchy of their time. Now, at an age when many other designers are resting on their laurels, Ms. Westwood is taking on New York. Yesterday in SoHo, she opened her first store in the United States, a 7,000-square-foot emporium at 71 Greene Street, near Spring Street, that will sell her mens and womens collections, as well as more popular secondary lines. Ms. Westwoods personal style also appear on her design but more on a creative way. Her design contexts come from different elements. First main element is music, more clearly from punk music. The English Punk style began to gain attention when the Sex Pistols wore clothes from Ms. Westwood and McLarens shop. The punk style included 2 BDSM fashion, bondage gear, safety pins, razor blades, bicycle or lavatory chains on clothing and spiked dog collars for jewelry, as well as outrageous make-up and hair. These designs are definited as rebellion , anti form or sexy. In that very beginning of her career as a designer during the punk movement ,her designs become more substance than generally thought. Secondly, there is another essential design element in her which is the adoption of traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric. The tartan pattern is the main symbol of Scottish tradition clothing style. And Ms. Westwoods using of tartan is unparalleled, in her collections an d triumphed in Anglomania (A/W 1993) (Figure 1). Her fascination with Scottish traditions by using a mix of different tartans, her ensembles exploited the rich depth, colour and diversity of the traditional checked pattern. The tartans were made to order by Locharron of Scotland, who also created a special design for Westwood called the McAndreas, after her second husband, Andreas Kronthaler. Amongst the more unusual elements of her style is the use of historical 17th and 18th century cloth cutting principles, and reinterpreting these in, for instance, radical cutting lines to mens trousers. Use of these traditional elements make the overall effect of her designs more shocking. Other influential elements in Ms. Westwoods work have included Peru, the feminine figure, velvet and knitwear. Ms. Westwoods design has ranged from early punk garments to glamorous historical 5 evening gowns. She worked these together to revolutionize fashion and the impact is still strongly felt today. Now, Ms. West wood has five exclusively-owned shops; three in London, one in Leeds, and one in Milan. Franchise stores are located in Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, three in Manchester and most recently, in FH Mall, Nottingham (20 March 2008), and in Blake Street, York (11 September 2008). Westwoods themes have included Savage (1981), Hobo and Buffalo (1982), and Pirate. Her latest collection was themed Gold and Treasure, Adventure and Exploration. So, if Ms. Westwood often comes across as a bit of a crank, it is easy to see why. Whereas most designers take a humble slice of the cultural pie, Ms. Westwood wallows in the whole glorious mess. She will refer to the Industrial Revolution, Greek skeptism, the Sex Pistols, the decline of standards in English art schools, Picasso, sex, John Stuart Mill in one sitting. Ive always needed to explain myself in more general terms rathe r than only through fashion, she said. Vivienne Westwoods influences on punk cultureVivienne Westwood was punk symbol in the angry 1970s , she was wearing clothes festooned with spikes and pins. Today everyone knows what punk fashion is, but in 1970 it didnt exist. Punk first emerged in the mid 1970s in London as an anarchic and aggressive movement. Punk become a succeeded style even more when Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren put the punk ideas into their design ventures. In the 1975, McLaren launched the Punk music group called Sex Pistols which became the icon beyond Britain. They were wearing outrageous clothes and all these clothes were come from the shop called Sex that Vivienne Westwood opened on the Kings Road, London. That shop sold leather and rubber fetish goods, especially bondage trousers. Including rubber-wear for the office. Ms. Westwood gave world the fresh shock at that time and that is why her name is associated with the punk movement. In Ms. Westwoods punk style design, BDSM fashion is also a main element. Before 1970s, BDSM fashion wasnt something you can show in public or feel good about it in Britain. But Ms. Westwood brought it into her punk design. In the early summer of 1974, Westwood and Mclaren decided to invent the shop Sex with a fetish and bondage outlet, inspired in part by their recent visit to New York. This trip had opened their eyes to the outsider status of sexual deviancy, which, now as then, has a far greater capacity to shock than youth cult. The shop Sex underwent a prolonged refit, and the fact that it was closed for months and reopened in September 1974, the transformation was total (Figure 2). Outside, the name `SEX was emblazoned in four-feet-high pink rubber capitals and sprayed with slogans from Valerie Solanas SCUM manifesto, as well as slogans and quotes from the drug addicted outsider pornographer Trocchi. And these design gave the information to public that everyone can enjoy their style with no shame. Even in today, it still influence on youth sub-cultural.Vivienne Westwoods influences on Scottish design styleScottish Style become wold knowing in fashion by Vivienne Westwood in 1990s. Before, Scottish culture is just famous by it s traditional instrument the Great Highland Bagpipe clothing, and the performers who are wearing 3 kilts. Ms. Westwood use this tartan pattern into her design with creativity. We can find it with all different shapes or colors through her collections. But she use the tartan in a complete new way, she will mix and match them , put great flash on them through Viviennes color and lining. Today, tartan become one of the main fashion style which called Preppy Look, has been wide using by many designers. But Ms. Westwood still the on who done more for tartan than any other designer embracing the plaid extensively in her collections. The Locharron Textile Mill in Scotland created a special tartan for Westwood called the McAndreas. (Figure 3) Vivienne Westwood mix fashion with sexualityMs. Westwoods collection Britain Must Go Pagan in 1989 was truly a show full of sexuality information. But she showed that is people privately decide what they want to do their sexuality so it is not erroneous to show it in fashion. Ms. Westwood explored a diversity of influences, from Serves porcelain to pornographic Greek scenes. The clothing reflected the inherent contradiction in Westwoods work between respect for tradition and culture and a love of parody and sexual liberty. She paired classical drapery with Prince of Wales check, Fair Isle sweaters with computer-game patterns, and designed articulated jackets and corsets with removable sleeves, inspired by medieval armour. Precise Miss Marple suits (after Agatha Christie) in thorn-proof Harris Tweed received a fillip with saucy tulle flounces. She teamed Savile Row-style jackets with nude tights with a fig leaf (Figure 4), creating something that shocked even herself: When I first did the fig leaf, in 1989, I just kept screaming. It was porno and so hilariously mad. Then I got used to it, and I think it looks so elegant and ironic. And she based this outrageous ensemble on fashion of around 1800 in which men wore flesh coloured breeches in a conscious emulation of classical statuary.Vivienne Westwood brings historical into modernHistorical 17th and 18th century are always Ms. Westwood s big element. She use these traditional elegant style dresses as the base , mix with her modern design to fit into todays lifestyle. In her interpretations of historical dress, Ms. Westwood emphasise the idea of constriction as a way to define the body and its movement and to direct posture. She explore historical costume and, from it, to develop a completely new range of clothes that would form her first catwalk collection in 1981. The Pirate collection (Figure 5) drew inspiration from historical mens clothing and became the look for the emergent New Romantics, while providing We stwood with a vastly expanded repertoire of styles of cutting and tailoring, construction, fabric design and manufacture, pattern, colour and texture. Later When Ms. Westwood was working in Italy from 1984 to 1986, she developed the crinoline idea as the Mini-Crini, abbreviating it as a provocative new shape in total contrast to the exaggerated shoulders and narrow hips of the prevailing style of power dressing. In Vivienne Westwoods Cut, Slash and Pull collection of 1991, (Figure 6) The inspiration for this collection lay in the historical technique of cutting textiles to create a decorative pattern. In the original garments, the slashes exposed bright silk underlinings, but here Westwood reveals bare skin. To give the passionate, masculine vitality that she so admired in Tudor portraits, she used denim with hand-cut gashes and frayed edges. For the lighter fabrics, she adapted a 4 broderie anglaise machine programme, omitting the embroidery but retaining the fine, regular cuts. To sum up, nothing is ever quite as it seems with British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. She has eccentric personality, she is an icon of rebellion. And that make she become one of the highly influential designers today. Her design always stand out of other designer with its unique technic and style which head the world into Ms Westwoods fashion fantasyland.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Product analysis of tiger biscuit

Product analysis of tiger biscuit Tiger Biscuit-Milk that are owned by Kraft Foods is the product that we chose to analyse on. This is because we find that, it interest us on how a big company like Kraft Foods actually plan their marketing strategies to compete with many other of their competitors on one of their major business portfolio, which is the snacks category and position them well in the market. Tiger Biscuit are first launch in 1997 in India by the Britannia Industries. It became the companys largest brand among its portfolios in the first year of its launching until today. Tiger Biscuit is a glucose biscuit that are mainly made from wheat and milk to enrich its nutrition and healthier compare to other glucose biscuits in the market. The main target market of this biscuit is the kids. Therefore, they make improvement in their biscuits by offering various choice and flavour. It is tasty and affordable to suit the modern mothers who want the best for their kids and take the role to enable their kids to compete in todays world. Recently, Tiger Biscuit are enriching Iron Zor in their biscuit which attempt to address the problem of iron deficiency among the society, either young or the elderly. SWOT analysis is an overall view of the businesss strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are the positive and negative trends in the internal environment of the business which are under control while opportunities and threats are external factors that are not under a businesss control. Kraft Tiger can use their strengths to overcome their weaknesses, capturing the opportunities in the external environment to gain advantages and minimizing their threats. They can be benefit from a SWOT analysis by knowing and understanding their current position before make any further decisions and plans. Therefore, SWOT analysis plays an important issue for Kraft Tiger Biscuit. The following are the SWOT analysis of Kraft Tiger Biscuit-Milk. One of the strength of Kraft Tiger is they are well-known. The reason they became so well-known is because they already exist in the market for a very long period of time and also through advertising in the television. Besides, it is used by McDonalds as part of the promotion as gimmick. This will make it even more well-known. On the other hand, Kraft Tiger gives public a healthy concept and image. As we can see on its packaging, it mentions six pieces of Kraft Tiger equal to one glass of milk. It would help in bones growth and also build stronger teeth. It has lesser calories and fats in their bars too compare to others, yet it still tastes nice and suitable for all level of ages. Next, Kraft Tiger is readily and easy access. Customers can get it anywhere such as malls, Seven Eleven franchises and markets which are near to their place. The price is reasonable and affordable too compared to the nutrition value it contains. Last but not least, the packaging for Kraft Tiger is handy. I t is very consumer-friendly as it can be carry along easily. The weaknesses Tiger include its business liquidation. By facing this problem, Kraft Tiger would cut down the cost of production and thus this will affect its business performance at the market. Besides, Kraft Tiger has high sugar level. Nowadays the customers are concern about the food ingredient, they always want for less sugar and less salt. They would go for more organic biscuit rather than too sweet. The opportunity of Kraft Tiger is the changing of consumers lifestyle. Nowadays, part of the society are made up of working parents, which means they would not have enough time to prepare breakfast for their family. Thus, Kraft Tiger can help to replace the parents duty to prepare a nutritional snack for breakfast. Besides, Kraft Tiger positions their milk-flavoured biscuit as healthy snacks. Parents would allow their children to purchase rather than purchasing other unhealthy snacks. It is everybody favourite, for parents and children. Another opportunity of Kraft Tiger includes the growing demand in the snacks and savoury market in these few years. Women always look for better body shape and thus, some of them will skip meals for maintaining or slimming down their body shape. Therefore, they will go for healthy snacks such as Kraft Tiger which will make them full, yet not fattening. There are many competitors in the biscuit industry, such as direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are such as Soda Crackers and Chocolate Love Letter. They will actually compete with Kraft Tiger in the biscuit field. While indirect competitors are the tit-bits, such as London Ring Tomato, Happy Nuts, etc. Although they are in different categories with Kraft Tiger, they still can be classified as wanting a share of the same cake. All of these either direct or indirect competitors will somehow affect Kraft Tiger in the market. Beside, Kraft Tiger facing is  [1]  the rising of the input costs such as sugar. The higher the production cost will lead to the increase of the product price which will decrease the biscuit demand. Product Analysis According to the norm of marketing, every product that is offer in the market has its stages of life cycle. Product life cycle stage is separated in four stages, which are the introduction stage, growing stage, maturity stage and decline stage. Introduction stage is when a product is new in the market where people have limited awareness on the product. The company will take marketing effort to build a market for their new product. The usual marketing efforts taken are carrying out research on the similar products prices among the competitors to set an average and affordable price for the new product. This is done to help the company to build their product share market among the potential buyers to try on their new product which they have minimal knowledge about. Besides that, the company will not produce and distribute the product in a large scale just yet. This is because the company could not estimate the responds of consumers demand in the economy. Therefore, distribution is done selectively. Promotions are also done by aiming on the innovator and early adopter of the product to boost the potential buyers interest in buying the product. After taking necessary marketing efforts, company will analyse the responsiveness of consumer in the market towards the product. If the responses are satisfactory, company will implement marketing mix in their marketing strategies in order to expand their products market share. On the other hand, company will also increase their production to meet the increasing demand in the market. New features are added to the existing product to enhance its quality and broaden up the choices for the customer. At this stage, company will maintain their price to encourage new customers to purchase their product at the same time help the company to remain competitive in the market. By now, the company would then broaden their network of marketing intermediaries such as retailers or wholesalers to make their product available in more areas. Promotions are aimed on the existing customer to create a beneficial long-term relationship and also to influence more potential consumer to buy their products. The third stage of the product life cycle is the maturity stage where the companys sales are more stable and competition will arise among the competitors. At this stage, the companys objectives is simply protecting their market share and make profits from it while it still have the ability. In order to protect their market share, company will keep their products price lower than before to remain competitive in the market. They will also emphasize their promotion on the differences between their products with their competitors. The company will also make improvement in their existing product to create brand preference in the consumers mind so that the consumer will be able to differentiate their products from the competitors.  [2]  Distribution of product will be more intensive, where incentives are given to the distributor to encourage preference from competing products. The final stage of the product life cycle is the decline stage where sales will drop drastically. Usually the company will either continue producing, but in a limited quantity to fulfilled the demand of the loyal customer or stop their production as it is no longer profitable to them. There are also company that will continue the production but add a few new features into the product. Based on the product life cycle stages, it is believe that Tiger Biscuit is in the growing stage. Based on Krafts fact sheet, it is show that confectionary and snacks have become their major business portfolio which is 13.7 billion (29%) and 10.4 billion (22%) respectively. In such circumstance, when the company focused on the product portfolio this will indicate that the portfolio is making profit for the company. Therefore, when the portfolio is making profit, the company will make improvement in their product to broaden the choice to build their market share and brand preference among the consumers. It is clearly stated that snacks segment, which Tiger Biscuit-Milk is categorised, there are many flavours and choices make for the consumer to build their brand preference compare to their competitors such as Nestle. As a consumer, we can see that there is no major price change in the price of Tiger Biscuit-Milk since the launching of the biscuit. Tiger Biscuit-Milk is also easily fou nd in the market in any retailer, this would mean that the range of distribution of the biscuit is widely encourage by the company. Core product Core product is defined as the satisfaction a customer expects from a goods and services purchased. It can also be explained as the non-physical benefits of the product that are delivered to the customer. Based on Tiger Biscuit, the mass market brand, the core product is the nutrition content in the biscuit. Besides that, customers experience the convenience that the product provides for the customer. For example, parents who buy this biscuit for their children can ensure that their children are consuming healthy food which contain less chemical content and at the same time having sufficient nutrition and be rest assure that their children will not be malnutrition. Other than that, for busy people who are always in a rush can have this biscuit while travelling so that they can keep themselves from hunger. Apart from that, people who are on diet can fill their hunger by eating the biscuit and gain from its nutrition. Actual Product Actual product is defined as a tangible product which is consumable such as the brand name, quality, style or idea which customers are buying. Our choice of product which is Kraft Tiger Biscuit-Milk is one of the main biscuit consumer choose because of the guaranteed and assurance of its quality. Kraft created its own brand name which is Tiger biscuit among other competitors such as Parle-G, Danone, etc. For example in Malaysia, when we see a packaging which has this animated tiger on it, without a second thought we would identify it as Tiger biscuit. The design of its packaging created an image for the product itself. Quality wise, Tiger Biscuit-Milk offers a wholesome nutritional ingredient such as glucose, milk, wheat and iron zor. There are various vitamins and minerals in the biscuit that are sufficient for a human daily nutrition requirement. This will help to prevent malnutrition in any human being especially children in the third world country that are most prone to malnutrition due to the overpopulation issue in the country. This biscuit can also be consumed by children that are growing because of the high content of calcium which will help growth and healthy bone. The packaging of Tiger biscuit changes from time to time to enhance a new level of product. For instance, looking at one packaging for a long period of time would bore the consumer. In order to attract new and existing consumers attention, producers would create a whole new look for its product. Augmented Product The third level of a product would be augmented product. Augmented product is defined as the non-physical part of the product or value-added services such as a warranty is given when you purchase a car or maybe electronic appliances. As for Krafts tiger biscuit, its not just a biscuit like any other in the market but a biscuit that puts healthy lifestyle as their main priority. Other than that, Krafts Tiger Biscuit also provide customer service online whereby consumers are able to contact them if theres any enquiry. This service provide customer with further information on the product. Segmentation and Positioning Strategy Nowadays, consumers in any market have different in their wants, resources, location, buying attitudes, and buying practices. Companies recognized that they cannot satisfy to all consumers in the market because they are too many, too widely scattered, and too varied in their needs and buying practiced. For this reason, the companies themselves will make changes widely in their abilities to serve different segment of the market. Through market segmentation strategy, companies recognize the large, heterogeneous markets clearly and then divide them into smaller segments that can be reached more effectively and efficiently with products and services that according with their unique needs. What customers will we serve? There is 3 ways segmentation that used in this product; it is Age and life-cycle segmentation, Occupation segmentation and Flavour segmentation. Flavour segmentation Different people have different habit, need, and personality. By this segmentation, different people have different flavour on their food. Some people like the chocolate flavour, some people like vanilla flavour and etc. Maybe some of them like two or more of the flavour such as someone like chocolate and also strawberry flavour. Our product had chosen the milk flavour biscuit. Clearly, it was only suitable for those people who like the milk flavour. Age and life-cycle segmentation This segmentation separates the consumer according to the consumers age and provide different product to the related consumer. In this product, it can be divided into age below 18, 19 45, and 46 and above. In the category age between 19 and 45, it was formed by adults. Most of them are occupied now, or starting to develop their own career. All of them are busy to do they work and no such time to having a packet of biscuit. Besides that, most of them like to have a proper meal rather than the biscuit because they consider the biscuits cannot make the stomach full. For the category age 46 and above, most of them are senior citizen. The body functional decline also happened at this stage. Biscuit which contain high sugar are not suitable for them because it increase the risk to getting diabetes. In the age below 18, most of people in this category are teenagers. It can be say is the developmental stage of human. Puberty also happened at the age between 12 until 18. They consumed the en ergy more than the other categories. So, the biscuits that high sugar, high nutrition and tasty are just right for them. Obviously, the category that most preferable for this segmentation are the category age below 18. Occupation segmentation This segmentation is dividing the consumer according to the occupation. Occupation can be defined as the activity, career that occupies a persons attention, or principal activity in your life that you do to earn money, continue the life. In this segmentation, it can be segment to many kind of occupation. After analyzed and categorized, it can be divide as professionals, workers and students. Professionals and workers mostly is the technical, strenuous, and time-consuming job, most of them will busy on their job. Same reason as the age segmentation on the above, they will prefer having a proper meal than the biscuit. So, students are the most preferable consumer in this segmentation. It is because almost of them are teenagers, they can have this kind of biscuit as their breakfast or lunch during school time. Moreover, the quantities of biscuit exactly satisfy the students food intake and also convenient to carry to school. Market Targeting After the market segmentation process incurred, the next step is market targeting. Market targeting is a process for a firm to estimates the various types of segments and choose which segments suppose to be serve are the best to the firm and consumers. For the segmentation above, flavour segmentation is the best target market for our product. It is because our product only has exactly one flavour, which is milk flavour. Once this product manufactured, the buyers of this product high probability are the milk flavour buyers. Market Positioning Market positioning is when marketer uses some ways to influence the consumers impression of the products or brand relative to the impression of competitors brand or products. A firm will then show the products advantages that are able to compete with their competitors. Its main objective is to position the good image of the product or brand in the consumers mind. For our product, its main objective is to care for consumers health. Besides that, it put a tiger as its logo to symbolize a powerful, energetic animal. Hereby, this creates consumers confidence to obtain energy resources by consuming this product. Besides that, the ingredient of this products show that contains eight kinds of vitamins and six kinds of minerals. One of a special mineral that our product provided is calcium. Calcium is an important component of a healthy diet and necessary mineral for life. Building stronger, denser bones and keeping bone strong are the main function of the calcium. Calcium can be found in mi lk, cheese, and yogurt. Knowing that our product is milk flavour biscuit that contained calcium, it have adequate requirement to compete with another biscuit manufacturer. Competitors In a market, once a new product appears, it will face competition with another product. For this product, it had faced a competitor that is Jacob biscuit. Its competitor, Jacob biscuit used the slogan Jacobs Walk of Life which mean it product can accompany the consumer as long as the consumers lives. It has strongly competitive with our product because their main objectives are the same with our product that is to take care of the consumers. Consumer behaviour Consumer buying behaviour is defined as the process of decision making and involvement of a consumer in buying a product. Every consumer has different buying behaviour towards purchasing a product. The type of buying behaviour of a customer varies greatly between each consumer based on their level of involvement in purchasing the product and intensity of interest in purchasing the product. The level of involvement in purchasing a product varies based on price, income level, risks faced, and frequency of purchasing. There are four categories of consumer buying behaviour which is complex buying behaviour, dissonance-reducing behaviour, habitual behaviour and variety seeking buying behaviour. Complex buying behaviour is where the buyer has high involvement in purchasing the product, for example, buying a house. This is because the product that the buyer wants to purchase is expensive, risky and purchased infrequent. The buyer would also be able to see significance differences between the compared products and the potential products. Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour is when there is high involvement in purchasing the product but the buyer sees few differences between products, such as buying a carpet for the living hall. This is because the product could be expensive or purchase infrequently and there is a risk of buying one that do not suit the environment of the hall but there are no significant or few differences between the carpets sold in the market. Variety-seeking buying behaviour is where the buyer has low involvement in purchasing the product but sees significant differences between the products. For instance, when consumer wants lunch, he will do research on the food or to look into the food price as much as purchasing a car because food is a necessity. But the consumer is very particular on the taste of the food. Therefore, he will switch to other restaurant to seek for varieties. Habitual buying behaviour is when there is low involvement in purchasing a product and sees no significant differences between products. For example, when purchasing household necessity such as sugar and salt. Consumer does not see the brand differences because it is something that they purchase often. Based on researches of Tiger Biscuit-Milk, it is clear that the consumer buying behaviour on this product is the variety-seeking buying behaviour. Generally, no consumers are highly involved in purchasing a biscuit. All that the customers require is the differences of Tiger Milk Biscuit compare to other glucose biscuits in the market. What differentiate Tiger Milk Biscuit to the other glucose biscuits in the market are the social responsibilities that Tiger Biscuit have upon the customers by providing nutrition in their biscuit to prevent hunger and malnutrition to occur. Almost all of the consumers will go through five decision making process before, during and after they purchase a product. The five decision making process is the problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase decision respectively. At the very beginning, the consumer will have to identify what is the problem that they are facing and think of a solution to solve the problem. An example based on Tiger Biscuit-Milk, when a consumer is hungry but at the same time, he is in a hurry to work. He does not have sufficient time to have a proper table-top breakfast, so, he can choose to stay hungry or to buy something light to fill his hunger. It can be bread, biscuit or etc. The second stage is the information search where the consumer can get information by either doing research, friends and family (reference group) or advertisement. He goes into a store and enquires the store assistant (reference of information) for suggestion of snacks he can have for breakfast. The store assistant suggested Tiger Biscuit-Milk, Oreo, Gardenia -tuna bread and etc. (gain of information). Third stage is when the consumer evaluates the information that he gains from the information search and evaluate which is the best after comparing the information. He will compare all the information provided by the store assistant to identify the best choice. Usually when there are minimal brand differences, consumer will make decision based on their brand preference. After evaluation the suggested ideas, consumer will decide which is the best choice for them and which brand that they prefer if there are few differences in the economic factor such as price and quantity. If there are significant differences between the products, consumer will know which exactly is better. He decided to buy Tiger Biscuit-Milk as it is healthy and nutritional. This is the purchase decision that the consumer made. Lastly, post-purchase decision is the stage where the consumer had already try the product and identify whether are they satisfied or unsatisfied with the product. In this case, he will try the biscuit and identify whether he like the taste of the biscuit or not. If he is unsatisfied with the biscuit, he will not buy that biscuit again. On the other hand, if he is satisfied, he will tell his network (friends family) how good is the product. If this is the case, he is indirectly promoting the product on behalf of Tiger Biscuit. Conclusion In conclusion, Kraft Tiger biscuit became a brand name itself in the market and is recognized worldwide. Based on reports, this product is at a growing stage which experience sharp increase in profit and strengthening of customer relationships. Besides that, the three level of a product like core,actual and augmented product explains the benefit of the biscuit to consumers. This section would partly determine the post-purchase decision on a customer. Segmentation is the next section whereby it occurs 3 ways which is flavour, occupation, and age/life cycle segmentation. Company will then target the segemented market and position it. This process enables the product to fit in a certain segment in the market which will lead to maximum profit. A factor that may influence the Kraft Tiger biscuit sales would be their competitors mainly Jacobs and Parle-G. Competitive market means Kraft need to work on producing a better biscuit compare to its competitors. Hence, consumer would benefit from its improved biscuit from time to time. More over, consumer behaviours would determine Krafts relationship with its customers. There are four categories which is complex buying behaviour, dissonance-reducing behaviour, habitual behaviour and variety seeking buying behaviour. Researches show that variety-seeking behaviour is involved in purchasing Kraft Tiger biscuit due to its low involvement and brand differences. Lastly, consumers will go through five decision making process before, during and after they purchase a product which is problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase decision. Consumers will go through the first four stage before purchasing the biscuit and the last stage after trying the biscuit.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

UNIX vs. NT :: essays research papers

UNIX VS NT To build a good and stable network is extremely difficult. It takes a team of very knowledgeable engineers to put together a system that will provide the best service and will forfill the need for the companies users and clients. There are many issues that have to be resolved and many choices have to be made. The toughest choices IT managers have to make, are what will be the best server platform for their environment. Many questions must be answered. Which server software offers complete functionality, with easy installation and management? Which one provides the highest value for the cost? What kind of support and performance can be expected from this system? And most important of all is what is more secure? In this paper, Microsoft Windows NT Server is compared to UNIX, in the large commercial environment. The main focus of the comparison is on the areas of, reliability, compatibility, administration performance and security. Which system is worth the money? What can you expect from Windows NT Server out of the box and from UNIX out of the box? NT can communicate with many different types of computers. So can UNIX. NT can secure sensitive data and keep unauthorized users off the network. So can UNIX. Essentially, both operating systems meet the minimum requirements for operating systems functioning in a networked environment. Put briefly, UNIX can do anything that NT can do and more. Being over 25 years old, the UNIX design has been crystallized out further than any other operating system on a large scale. NT is fairly new and some say it is a cheap rip off of UNIX. But it is not cheap at all. To purchase an NT server with 50 Client Access Licenses , one will spend $4,859.00. Not so bad. But it gets much more costly than this. This price is just for software, but everyone knows to build a network you need a lot more than this. E-mail has become an indispensable tool for communication. It is rapidly becoming the most popular form of communication. With Windows NT, you will have to buy a separate software package in order to set up an e-mail server. Many NT-based companies use Microsoft Exchange as they ¡Ã‚ ¦re mailing service. It is a nice tool, but an expensive solution with not such great success in the enterprise environment. Microsoft Exchange Server Enterprise Edition with 25 Client Access Licenses costs $3,549.