E-commerce techniques and marketing strategy

The aim of Boo.com was to develop into the popular online international sports retail company. It was supposed to be a European trademark, but with a worldwide demand. At the beginning it wanted to work for both United States and Europe.The customers of boo.com could be described as ‘young, rich and style- oriented, approximately 19 to 25 year olds. The idea was that internationally the objective market should be anxious about sports and style trademarks supplied by Boo.com.According to the analysis the market for clothes in this field was determined as really huge, so the idea was that having just a small section of this market was enough for boo.com to be triumphant. That time the vision on the size of the market and the source of triumph was pointed out by New Media Age (1999). They stated:â€Å"The $60b USD industry is dominated by Gen X'ers who are online and according to market research in need of knowing what is in, what is not and a way to receive such goods quickly. I f boo.com becomes known as the place to keep up with fashion and can supply the latest trends then there is no doubt that there is a market, a highly profitable one at that for profits to grow from.† (Acito 2006)The development in market was in addition held up by trade forecasters, with judgment foretelling selling in the UK to rise from  £600 million to  £12.5 billion by the year 2005.Nevertheless, New Media Age (2005) did make a note of a number of uncertainties about this marketplace, stating:â€Å"Clothes and trainers have a high rate of return in the mail order/home shopping world. Twenty year olds may be online and may have disposable income but they are not the main market associated with mail order. To date there is no one else doing anything similar to boo.com†. (Acito 2006)The three different marketing strategies used in global marketing are characterized in different ways, have different aims and use different instruments for the achievement of set goals ; moreover, the targeted customer audience in the three cases is also different, and while standardized and concentrated global marketing strategies are somewhat similar, the standardized and differentiated strategies represent the two opposite approaches to the general design of the marketing campaign.However, all three strategies described are successful if properly applied, and the three examples of the global companies have proved this assumption.In reality, the choice of the global marketing strategy, depends on the specific characteristics of the company and the segments it wants to conquer; if all segments are aimed, it is possible to create differentiated campaign with variety of products or standardized campaign appealing to the common interests of consumers; concentrated strategy will work for the conquering one large portion of one or several marketing segments.Boo.com had concentrated marketing strategy. Concentrated global marketing is a kind of the global marketing str ategy which cannot be contrasted to the standardized approach, but which is a different choice for the company which wants to achieve success in one single chosen global market segment.This kind of marketing is used when the organization has large share of market in one or several small segments opposed to the concentration of efforts in the small share of a large segment. (Kotabe & Helsen, 2004)Concentrated global marketing is effective for the companies with the limited resources and for the companies of small business, but for the global companies it is essential to have a high reputation of the product.For example, the acquisition of the EnviroSystems by the Telecomm sales Network in 2006 has become one of the recent examples of the chosen concentrated marketing strategy on the global market; it may be similar to the standardized approach because it does not require changes in the strategy, but while the standardized approach is applied to all segments, the concentrated one is u sed only within the limited marketing segment or several segments. (Phillips, 2007)EnviroSystems is the company specializing in the production of disinfecting products, which presupposes in it that the company should use only concentrated approach due to the very special products it offers.

Principle Economics Essay

In your view, what is economics? Economics has been defined as the allocation of scarce resources among many different players.   Simply understood as mere supply and demand, Economics can also be made to apply to more complex systems such as production frontiers and economies of scale.   Put simply, economics can be understood as the study of how different market systems interact with each other in order to provide each with the resources that they desire. The law of diminishing returns is short run analysis. True or false? The law of diminishing returns is a long run analysis.   It basically postulates that for every additional input that is added to the production scale, the resulting output per unit will increase up to a certain point then start to increase.   This is a long run analysis because it factors in the effect of additional units of input vis-à  -vis output on the production scale over a long period of time.   Such effects cannot be tracked in a short term scale and if done would most probably be inaccurate. Demand and Supply are operating forces in the market. How then can the equilibrium achieved? The supply-demand model is one of the fundamental concepts of economics. The price level of a good essentially is determined by the point at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded. To illustrate, consider the following case in which the supply and demand curves are plotted on the same graph. Supply and Demand On this graph, there is only one price level at which quantity demanded is in balance with the quantity supplied, and that price is the point at which the supply and demand curves cross. The law of supply and demand predicts that the price level will move toward the point that equalizes quantities supplied and demanded. To understand why this must be the equilibrium point, consider the situation in which the price is higher than the price at which the curves cross. In such a case, the quantity supplied would be greater than the quantity demanded and there would be a surplus of the good on the market. Specifically, from the graph we see that if the unit price is $3 (assuming relative pricing in dollars), the quantities supplied and demanded would be: Quantity Supplied = 42 units Quantity Demanded = 26 units Therefore there would be a surplus of 42 – 26 = 16 units. The sellers then would lower their price in order to sell the surplus. Suppose the sellers lowered their prices below the equilibrium point. In this case, the quantity demanded would increase beyond what was supplied, and there would be a shortage. If the price is held at $2, the quantity supplied then would be: Quantity Supplied = 28 units Quantity Demanded = 38 units Therefore, there would be a shortage of 38 – 28 = 10 units. The sellers then would increase their prices to earn more money. The equilibrium point must be the point at which quantity supplied and quantity demanded are in balance, which is where the supply and demand curves cross. From the graph above, one sees that this is at a price of approximately $2.40 and a quantity of 34 units.

Analysis of Anselm’s Ontological Argument Essay

This premise does not state that God’s strengths as this argument is to prove his existence, not whether or not God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good. The second premise means this greatest possible being is either an imaginary being that one has thought of or, a being that we not only is not only thought of but also exists. The third premise and its sub premises states because existing in reality is greater than existing in thought, then the God we have thought of exists in reality or there must be a greater, or more perfect, being that does exist and that being is God. This leads to the conclusion, if you accept the premises then you accept the existence of the greatest being possible, God. This concept of God’s existence is also led with the idea that God is a necessary being, a being that is not dependent of something greater in order to exist. If God relied on another being, like how a children rely on parents to conceive them, then this being called God is not God because it would be imperfect. Therefore, there must be another to call God that meets all the requirements for perfection. One of the first popular objections was created by Gaunilo of Marmoutiers. The premise and conclusion to Gaunilo’s argument is identical to Anselm’s argument except with the replacement of the word â€Å"God† with â€Å"the Lost island† and the word â€Å"being† with â€Å"island†. As simple as that, though Gaunilo’s argument is completely absurd, Gaunilo’s reductio ad absurdum also proves to be as deductively valid as Anselm’s argument. However, this â€Å"Lost Island† could in no way exist. The absurdity and validity of â€Å"the lost island† quickly brought up questions as to how Anselm’s Argument cannot be absurd. Anselm’s argument was not proven invalid until Immanuel Kant, a german philosopher during the 18th century, proposed an objection that would be the decisive blow to the Ontological argument (Immanuel Kant. Wiki). Kant’s objection is how existence is not a predicate (Mike, screen 25). A predicate is used to describe something the subject (this being God in Anselm’s Argument) is doing. In Aselm’s Argument, Anselm premise rely on that being conceived and existing in reality is something that describes God. This rationality does not follow because to exist or conceive does not describe the subject, it only tells us whether it exist or not. Much like how fictional characters do not exist, describing cartoon for example would tell us details of what this cartoon looks like, what its habits are and common antics it goes through, but not whether it exists or not. The question of existence must fall in a separate argument that does not define the character. As there are Arguments to prove God, there are debatable arguments to disprove the God. The First version of â€Å"The Argument from Evil† goes as follow: 1. If God were to exist, then that being would be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. 2. If an all-PKG existed, then there would be no evil. . There is evil. [Conclusion] Hence, there is no God (Sober, 109) The first premise is the definition of what God would be if he were to exist. That is a being that has the power to do anything, had knowledge of everything throughout the span of time and is in all ways good. The second premise is created with the first premise in mind. To expand on the second premise i t states, if God were all-powerful he could stop any form of evil from happening, if he is all knowing then he has knowledge of when evil will occur and if he is all-good then God would stop all evil from happening. If god cannot stop all evil from happening then the definition of God must be incorrect. He then must not be powerful enough to stop all evil, and/or he doesn’t know when evil until it has already occurred and/or good is not all good in that God does not wish to stop all evils. The third premise is stating the fact that there is evil in the world. The conclusion derived since that there is evil, then is what may be defined as God must be lacking in one or two of his qualities and therefore God, by definition, does not exist at all. In order for God to be compatible with evil, God must only allow the evils that would, in turn, lead to a greater amount of good and must take the route that leads to the least amount of evil to gain the greatest amount of good. The soul building defense was created in mind that evil and God co-exist in our world. The defense is that without any evil in the world, our souls would not nurture, or, understand the concept of evil. This defense does not hold true because there has been many evils in the world that seem unacceptable, even though it may have been for the purpose of soul building. God, and all-good being, would then only allow the evils that are essential in soul-building. This would only mean that evil that man commits against man. The reason for this is because anything that happens in nature exceeds soul-building essentials. Another defense is God having given us free will, humans ultimately are the causes of this evil. That is true but the common objection to this is that human do more than enough evil to ourselves, it is going too far to have God throw tornados, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes at us too. At what point do human have such control over nature. The last defense is that God simply works in mysterious ways. Who can explain why natural events take so many lives and injure many others or why some children have to go through great deals of suffering and live through it? It is God’s way and ultimately, no matter how incomprehensible the evil is, it is for the greater good. Certainly the question to God’s existence has been pondered upon by philosophers for over a very long period of time with no progress as whether God exists or not. The ontological argument created by Anselm withstood a great deal of criticism until it was disproved by Kant over 600 years after the fact.

An Exploration of Cultural Differences in Perceptions of and Responses Dissertation

An Exploration of Cultural Differences in Perceptions of and Responses to Sexual Harassment in a Title One High School - Dissertation Example In the current research participants from grades 7 through 11 were studied using a phenomenological approach to understand their perception and response to sexual harassment and correlate this with their cultural background. Interview and observation were used as tools for data collection. An Exploration of Cultural Differences in Perceptions of and Responses to Sexual Harassment in a Title One High School Introduction Sexual harassment (SH) is a gender based phenomenon of extreme concern affecting the present and future life of many young students of either sex throughout the world (Rahimi & Liston, 2011). In U.S. SH in middle and high school has been of common occurrence with almost half (48%) of students confirming to have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a 2011 survey, with approximately 87% admitting that it has an adverse impact on them. This comes as surprise since SH in schools has been infrequently reported (Hill & Kearl, 2011). Sexual harassment, a term origina lly coined with reference to workplace behavior has also come to include incidences in school. In school it refers to sexual conduct that negatively affects students’ academic interests. ... Girls are more frequently a target compared to boys (56% against 40%), with their experiences being more physical and intrusive compared to that of boys (Hand & Sanchez, 2001). Most harassers belong to peer with lesser number of incidences involving school staff (Eckes, 2006). In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recognized two forms of actionable SH; the quid pro quo harassment and the hostile environment harassment. The former refers to threat or assurance of consequences due to forbidding or offering of sexual favors. These favors may be demanded explicitly or implicitly and must involve substantial consequences. On the other hand hostile environment type of sexual environment refers to the work or school environment becoming totally offensive or difficult as a consequence of sexual overtures, conduct or physical gestures. In either case the environment is uncomfortable and unsuitable for pursue individual goals (Zimbroff, 2007). Legal provisions dealing wit h SH in schools are provided by the Title IX, the Education Amendments, passed by the Congress in 1972. The act states that ‘no person in Unites States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving financial assistance (p1681)’. The law also addresses peer-on-peer sexual harassment and considers it as a discrimination occurring in school premises and during school hours thus rendering it as a suitable cause of action against school authorities (DeSouza & Solberg, 2003). There have been several controversies and confusions with respect to legal definitions of perceptions of hostility and psychological harm that renders a SH case as

Jewish Migration to the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jewish Migration to the United States - Essay Example These migrations took place between 1919 and 1924. The Jews from Russia, on the other hand, began their westward foray earlier in 1880 and continued to trickle in towards 1913. This was the time when the Jews from the other Eastern European states began to journey towards the American shores. The Jews from Eastern Europe were close to 20 million, while those from Russia were about 2 million. Most of the Jews came to America through the Ellis Island, only to lay claim over the vast multi cultural terrains of large and crowded cities like New York and the Midwest. (Universiteit Leiden). There are a variety of reasons that have supported the Jewish immigration to America. Primary among these are reasons like political freedom as well as religious reasons. The Jews in general, have been an oppressed lot. Their religious duties bound them to a certain way of life which was soon stifling the slowly modern sensibilities that began to emerge just prior to the first world in communities the world over. There was a sudden surge of new found consciousness which the Jews felt too scared to acknowledge in their present locations. (Parrillo, 2002) The land called America presented them with opportunities galore. ... The land that belonged to the peasants was snatched away from them while children were forced to decide which profession to enter into by the age of 16 in order to ensure that they were not thrown into the torturous Russian army. The Russian army was fast becoming a target of negative publicity with its increasing number of suicide cases. (Universiteit Leiden). Further, in a free land like America, the Jews from Russia as well as Eastern Europe found that they had little need or pressure to affiliate themselves and their entire lifestyles with a certain political way of thinking or political party. This was a refreshing change and helped the Jews breathe in peace. Many Jews came to America temporarily at first, as political refugees, in order to join the labor force and earn a decent living before returning to their homeland in the hope that it will be free by the time they are done with their American tenure. This was the reason why many Jews did not enter into land ownership at the very onset like most of the other migrants like the Irish and Chinese. (Parrillo, 2002) These reasons were vastly different from the Irish, Chinese and Japanese migration experiences. The Irish entered America as a result of the famines that were constantly leaving them in a state of hunger and acute poverty, during 1840 to 1890. The Chinese on the other hand, migrated to America as a result of the Gold Rush in California. These migrations took place during the 1800s and were marked by an air of success and wealth. The Chinese migrants were essentially skilled craftsmen as well as merchants which eventually garnered a lot of discrimination against them. The Japanese, on the other hand, migrated to America in great numbers between 1886 and 1911, in order to make the most of the

Family Folklore Tradition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Family Folklore Tradition - Essay Example Instead, my father’s side of the family is expansive. He grew up with five brothers and two sisters, the collection of which is spread throughout the greater United States, in a variety of jobs and socioeconomic states. With some slight humor, our family reunions always occur at the home of my richest uncle – Pat. Our most recent family reunion occurred approximately two years ago. During this reunion all of my father’s sisters and brothers agreed to meet at my Uncle Pat’s home in Minnesota. Uncle Pat’s home is the obvious choice as it is an expansive estate on the water. During our first family reunion when I was a child I was struck by the size and amenities the estate contained, as I had never seen or experienced a home so large. My Uncle Pat was a highly successful stockbroker and his home reflects this affluence. In addition to living on the water, one of Pat’s neighbors is rumored to be the musician Prince – although we have neve r seen him. During the last family reunion the families arrived in Minnesota on the same day. Not unlike an episode from MTV’s Jersey Shore, or the Real World, the family that arrives first has the first choice of which room to take. As my Uncle’s home is fairly large, there are enough rooms for everyone to stay. Still, one of my uncles decided to stay at a hotel. Even as the families come together under the guise of friendship and shared background, there is always backstories and infighting that occurs among certain people. After the families have all arrived and settled into their rooms a wide variety of events take place. On the first full day of the reunion a large barbeque occurred in the backyard of the house. In addition to the families that arrived for the reunion, generally outside friends and neighbors are invited for the festivities. During the day things such as hot dogs and hamburgers are served and a variety of classic American amenities. While some peop le are eating others are engaging in discussions, or the children are playing video games or swimming in the pool. After everyone has eaten there is traditionally a large-scale volleyball game that occurs. This game is not very competitive, instead it functions to bring everyone together in a cooperative spirit, with children as young as five years old playing alongside forty year old men. The next day is generally reserved specifically for the family. While there is not a singular traditional event that occurs in this day, there are specific events that have been highly significant in my family tradition. For instance, during my last visit we visited the home that my father and his siblings grew up in. While I was initially resistant to the excursion, I soon came to greatly appreciate the experience. The home had long since been bought by another family, but they were selling it and agreed to let out family tour the home. While I envisioned the experience being boring, upon touring the home my father and his siblings began relaying stories that had occurred during their youth. For instance, my father talked about getting stuck in the laundry chute. My uncle showed us all how he would sneak in and out of the house without his parents finding out. While the experience was amusing, it also imbued me with great appreciation for the era and circumstances that my father and his family grew up in. This allowed me greater insight and perspective into his life. Towards the end of the week the family

Any topic that insights and analysis about Alice's Adventures in Essay

Any topic that insights and analysis about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Essay Example The role of women was to decorate the home and raise the children. They were not expected to be clever and did not have any rights of their own that would allow them to make any of their own decisions. They were expected to be quiet and demure and to always listen to their elders and the male members of society. The most important things they had to learn was how to control themselves, how to play music and how to sew. When it was published, many young girls saw themselves as Alice figures, identifying themselves with something they saw in Alice’s behavior. In some ways Alice resembles the ideal female character of the period, but there are also several ways in which she breaks the mold, such as in her willingness to assert herself and her ability to think. Alice is introduced initially as a young lady in training. She is learning to be a proper young lady as she sits along the bank of a stream with her sister, who is spending the afternoon quietly reading. However, she quickly emerges as being incapable of keeping up the proper passive attitude or of adopting her own book to read. â€Å"Once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversation?’ (Carroll, 1). Her appearance, as reflected in the pictures within the book, also reinforces the concept of the stereotypical young Victorian child. She wears a dress with numerous petticoats and a bright white apron that never seems to get soiled. She also has puffed sleeves, white stockings and patent leather shoes. Her hair is fashionably curled into ringlets and she appears to be everything every little girl would want to be. The White Rabbit reflects these same assumptions when he sees a girl and automatically assumes she is his maid. â€Å"Very soon the

The Kyoto Protocol and the Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Kyoto Protocol and the Environment - Essay Example Basically, global warming is a negative environmental phenomenon that can lead to serious environmental problems, such as destruction of the environment, loss of biodiversity, and pollution. According to environmentalist Richard Dahl, global warming is an environmental problem that leads to a rise in world temperatures that is caused by the concentration of greenhouse emission gases in air (Dahl). This rise in temperatures will lead to melting of snow Mountains, which will increase sea levels (Dahl). Therefore, most environmentalists around the world agree that greenhouse gases are the primary reason behind the intensification of the global warming problem in the world. In his book, which is entitled "Global Warming: The Complete Briefing," John Houghton explains that the concentration of carbon dioxide in high air levels is the main source of global warming (Houghton, p.10). The increase in world temperatures has deadly diseases in many creatures and human beings, leading to the los s of biodiversity. As asserted by many environmentalists, the rise in temperatures has already led to â€Å"a devastating decline in coral cover, which caused a parallel decline in fish biodiversity, both in marine reserves and in areas open to fishing. Over 75% of reef fish species have declined in abundance, and 50% have declined to less than half of their original numbers† (Jones et al.). Therefore, global warming is a detrimental phenomenon that will lead to the disappearance of large parts of sea shores. Any attempt to effectively combat this phenomenon should work hard on minimizing the emission of greenhouse gases, which are the primary reason behind the increase in world temperatures.

Analytical Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analytical Paper - Essay Example Moreover, the sign boards and signals that can be seen in both sides of the road helps the driver to be conscious about the importance of limited speed while driving, attention to other vehicles and pedestrians. As the rules and regulations are formulated to help the individual citizen to perform his or her rights and duties in a successful manner, it helps one to be aware of one’s rights while driving or travelling and to be duty minded towards other drivers, travelers and pedestrians. Government and the authorized department on road safety should give importance to public safety and give proper training and education against motor vehicle violence. Besides, education on road rage would help driver to become a responsible driver. The process of widening the Roads is essential because it helps to reduce the chance for traffic congestion in important places. Government must provide financial support for secure roads and make public attentiveness for safe and sound roads. Besides, the authorities must boost the media which expose the misconduct and misbehavior from the drivers while driving and must use it for advertisement and campaign purpose against road rage and safety. Karin Sternberg makes clear that: â€Å"When suddenly enraged drivers commit acts of road rage, they may have a flash of hatred and destructive intent toward those who have harmed them, whether in reality or imagination;† (Sternberg, 2008, p.17) misbehavior while driving create hatred in other drivers and will cause severe problems, reality or imagination. The usage of monitoring equipments like close circuit camera, speed detector, breath analyzer etc can detect violent actions and misbehavior on road and is essential to prevent road rage. The authorities must show keen interest and vigilance to fix cameras on appropriate places and must provide maximum punishment to traffic rule violators who are involved in the road rage activities. Andrea Campbell makes clear that: â€Å"Road rage and

Color dichotomy vs. the ethnoracial pentagon Essay Example for Free

Color dichotomy vs. the ethnoracial pentagon Essay Throughout American politics, two particularly well known categorizations of race and ethnicity have arisen: Color Dichotomy and the later Ethno-racial Pentagon. Each seeks to define and categorize the vast racial diversity America prides itself on. While intending to create clear and fair ethno-racial constructions, there are obvious advantages and weak spots to each for the purposes of analyzing American politics. An old-fashioned and less popular method of categorization is the Color Dichotomy. This concept distinguishes two complementing counterparts to every situation; in terms of race and ethnicity: white and nonwhite (people of color). In the US, about 75% of Americans identify as white, while about 25% of Americans identify themselves as nonwhite. Applying this construct to other dividing barriers among people, other categories appear such as: oppressor vs oppressed, Hegemon vs. other, and dominant vs. minority. The main advantage of this concept is in its simplicity. By having only two dividing categories, everyone could conceivably fit neatly into one of these two categories. Collapsing an incredible amount of diversity of culture into one all encompassing colored category, however; this framework obviously contains numerous problems. Thousands of differences between many races and culture are consequently ignored. [] all distinctions between various colored peoples are less significant than the fact that they are nonwhite (Hollinger 25). It could also be argued that even the white category collapses many different origins into a bland and stereotypical title. The outright ignorance present within this model leads to its unpopularity within American politics especially. The ethno-racial pentagon challenges this model by supplying strong cultural content. In contrast to the two divisions within the color dichotomy, the ethno-racial pentagon provides five more specific categorizations of race/ethnicity: Euro-American, Asian American, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Indigenous Peoples/Native American. To be sure, a value of the pentagon is its capacity to call attention to a certain range of social and cultural diversity (Hollinger 25). The pentagon also keeps some simplicity, however, so that people are easily categorized for the purposes of affirmative actionetc. Although this framework is more  attentive to the differences in the nonwhite group of the Color Dichotomy, it also still retains similar problems of ignoring certain races or collapsing many together into one. All of these ethno-racial blocs have distinguishable diversities which are ignored in order to be jammed into one category or another. Least apparent is the diversity within the Euro-American bloc, or whites. Indeed, Jews, who are now considered Euro-American/white, used to be considered a different race altogether. The Irish and the English, between which existed the vehement tension of conflict and oppression, are now thrust together under the same category with the ethno-racial pentagon. The internal diversity within the Asian American group (Koreans, Cambodians, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japaneseand all of the consequent subgroups) must be quietly faded in order to make the category a unit; ignoring such tension between Koreans and Japanese for example. Another bloc in which the condensation of ethnic diversity is also less obvious is that African American bloc. The specific country of origin and culture within the African American bloc is forgotten or ignored as inconsequential. Key to this objection is the one-drop rule. This rule maintains that one drop of African American blood in a person designates that person African American regardless of their other ethnicity(ies). This rule obviously exists to maintain the existence of the African American category without the complications of recognizing white mixing (or other races). This gives the gross impression that African American blood is tainted, infectious, and overpowering. Besides ignoring differences within blocs, another major problem with the ethno-racial pentagon is the exclusion of Arab Americans and multiracial people. According the pentagon, Arabs do not even exist in the US. Multiracial people must either choose only one of their heritages and ignore the other, or choose not to be included under the pentagon. Both of these groups threaten to turn the pentagon into a hexagon. However, even this conformation would be unsuccessful as multiracial people are not necessarily part of their own racial group, but two or more. Ignoring their legitimate ethnicities to create a new bloc which only recognizes the fact that they are multiracial, and not their individual races, would create further problems. These visibly unfair factors continue to weaken the foundation  supporting the ethno-racial pentagon. The ethno-racial pentagon furthermore places a strong and unnecessary emphasis on race as a dividing factor. Identifying an individual as one race or another brings excessive attention on the differences that could potentially separate Americans if these barriers are continually exaggerated and stressed. Interracial relationships are ignored with both systems. However, from a biological perspective, race can almost be ruled out as inconsequential. [] The genetic variation from one race to another is scarcely greater than the genetic variation between races (Hollinger 34). Morever, Hollinger claims If the classical race theory of the nineteenth century is not directly behind the pentagon, this structures architecture has its unmistakable origins in the most gross and invidious of popular images of what makes human beings different from one another (32). Overall, the two frameworks for categorization of ethnicity and race contain too many internal weaknesses to be used effectively and fairly in American politics.

Leadership In The Contemporary Business Environment

Leadership In The Contemporary Business Environment Today, the role of leadership in the contemporary business environment can hardly be underestimated. In this respect, it is possible to refer to the experience of John Walsh, the human resource manager of Norton Pistons, who has managed to lead the company out of the ongoing crisis and made it the industry leader. His experienced and effective leadership approaches to the company contributed to the consistent, qualitative change in the development of the company and relationships between managers and employees within the company. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that the development of effective leadership style depends on the personal and professional skills and inclinations of the leader and his or her ability to take the lead and create conditions favorable for the effective development of the entire company. Please describe your leadership style in some detail. (Ask for examples of this style) The leadership style of John Walsh can be characterized as the transformational leadership. The transformational leadership style, according to the leader, is viewed as the introduction of changes and the involvement of the leader in the development and introduction of the change. In fact, the leader prepares subordinates to the change and encourages them to change their workplace environment and style of work. Ideally, the transformational leadership style creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. Do you consider yourself a charismatic leader? Why or why not? The leader considers himself to be a charismatic leader, who attempts to breed leaders in his subordinates to create an effective team. At the same time, the leader aims at the creation of the team to maintain the growth of the organization and to unite subordinates, who follow his lead and are capable to take effective decisions and make other people follow their lead. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the leader pays a lot of attention to the loyalty of his subordinates. On the other hand, he is always ready to assist to other employees and his subordinates. In such a way, he attempts to develop leadership in his subordinates and enhance the effectiveness of the performance of the organization. How did you become a leader in your organization? John Walsh became the leader after seven years of work in the company. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that he worked for the company and started as the human resource manager. He worked for five years in other companies. However, as he started to work in our company, he has proved to be quite successful and revealed the leadership inclinations fast. As a result, he has started to progress since the beginning of his career. In the course of seven years he had become the leader of the company. In this regard, the leader points out that leadership skills were extremely important to reach a tremendous success in the company. At the same time, he pointed out that the development of organizational and communication skills were also essential for his professional developed. On the other hand, his charisma was also extremely important because due to his charisma he had managed to gain the support of employees and respect of other managers that contributed to his fast career p rogress. How does your organization develop leaders (or leadership skills)? The organization provides successful managers opportunities for training to develop their leadership skills. In this regard, the company provides its managers with special training courses. In addition, the company develops knowledge sharing management to develop leadership skills in its managers. Through the close cooperation with each other, managers could share experience and develop their leadership skills. In such a way, the development of leadership skills is effective and does not need substantial investments. Connections to organizational behavior The leadership is very important in the contemporary organizations and the organizational behavior depends on the effective leadership style. In this respect, the transformational leadership style is particularly effective, when organizations need changes. In the contemporary business environment, organizations should come prepared to changes because the fast development of technologies and changes in the business environment contributes to the fast development of business and raises the problem of adaptation of changes within the organization. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the experience of John Walsh is quite useful in terms of the improvement of the organizational performance. In addition, the charismatic leadership contributes to the fast development of organizations because the charisma of a leader unites people and helps the organization to reach strategic goals effectively. Conclusion Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the leadership style is very important in the contemporary business environment. The experience of John Welch is very important and helps to reveal effective strategies to reach positive outcomes in the organizational development.

Parameter Dependencies: Problems and Solutions

Parameter Dependencies: Problems and Solutions Abstract This masters thesis concerns development of embedded control systems. Development process for embedded control systems involves several steps, such as control design, rapid prototyping, fixed-point implementation and hardware-in-the-loop-simulations. Another step, which Volvo is not currently using within climate control is on-line tuning. One reason for not using this technique today is that the available tools for this task (ATI Vision, INCA from ETAS or CalDesk from dSPACE) do not handle parameter dependencies in a satisfactory way. With these constraints of today, it is not possible to use online tuning and controller development process is more laborious and time consuming. The main task of this thesis is to solve the problem with parameter dependencies and to make online tuning possible. 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Volvo technology (VTEC) is an innovation company that provides expert functions and develops new technology for â€Å"hard† as well as â€Å"soft† products within the transport and vehicle industry. Among other things VTEC is working with embedded control systems. For one of the embedded control systems particularly â€Å"Climate Control Module (CCM)†, VTEC is working with the whole chain. VTEC does this for Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Construction Equipment, Renault Trucks and Land Rover. The work process for embedded control system developmet is typically as follows: Control Design Rapid Control Prototyping Fixed-Point Implementation Hardwar-In-the-Loop Simulation Online Tuning. It is an iterative process, but there is one problem for the last step, which limits the possibilities of working iteratively. Control design is typically made in MATLAB/Simulink and Fixed-Point implementation is typically made with a tool such as TargetLink. During these steps the parameters may be handled in an m-file. When going to the on-line tuning step however, the parameters are handled in a tool such as ATI Vision, INCA or CalDesk. Once you have taken this step the connection to the m-file is lost. Therefore the last step is somewhat of a one-way step. It is not completely impossible to go back to the earlier steps in the development chain, but the iterative process is not well supported by available on-line tuning tools of today. The following m-script instructions are examples of parameter dependencies that will cause the mentioned problems: Heating = [ -100, -20, 0, 20, 100 ]; BlowerHt = [ 12, 5, 4, 5, 10 ]; Blower_min = min[ BlowerHt]; Defrosting = [ 0, 20, 100 ]; BlowerDef = [ Blower_min, Blower_min, 10 ]; Using the above vectors in interpolation tables, one table with Heating as input vector and BlowerHt as output vector and another table with Defrosting as input vector and BlowerDef as output vector would cause problems during on-line tuning process. Three of the elements are meant to have identical values, but the tools, as it is today would allow them to be tuned individually. This is just one of many constructs, which may be very useful as long as you are in the MATLAB environment but causes problems during the on-line tuning process. 1.2 Goals and objectives The main goals of this masters thesis are: To investigate the problem of parameter dependencies. To find possible solutions. To make online tuning possible for dependency parameters in the development process of embedded control systems.. 2 BACKGROUND 2.1 EMBEDDED SYSTEMS 2.1.1 History of Embedded Systems In the era of earliest development of computers i.e. 1930-40s, generally computers were capable of doing a single task. Over time with the advancement in technology, traditional electromechanical sequencers presented the concept of programmable controllers using solid state devices. â€Å"One of the first recognizably modern embedded systems was the Apollo Guidance Computer, developed by Charles Stark Draper at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory.†[1] After the early applications in 1960, the prices of embedded systems have come down and their processing power has been increased dramatically. A standard for programmable microcontrollers was released in 1978 by National Engineering Manufacturing Association. This standard was for almost any computer-based controllers for example event-based controllers and single board computers. When the production cost of microprocessors and microcontrollers fell, it became feasible to replace old, big and expensive components like potentiometers and varicaps with microprocessor read knobs. With the integration of microcontrollers, the application of embedded systems has further increased. The embedded systems are being used into areas where generally computers would not have been considered. Most of the complexity is contained within the microcontroller itself and very few additional components are needed. So because of this most effort is in software area.(last sentence is difficult to understand). 2.1.2 Common Characteristics Embedded Systems have several common characteristics. Uni-Functional: Embedded systems are usually designed to execute only one program but repeatedly. For example, an ordinary scientific calculator will always do only calculations. While on the other hand, a laptop computer can execute an enormous number of different programs, like web browsers, word processors, programming tools and video games. New programs or softwares are added very frequently. Tightly constrained: All computing systems have constraints on design metrics, but these constraints can be very tight for embedded systems. A design metric is defined as, â€Å"a measure of an implementations features, such as cost, size, performance, and power†. Embedded systems are often desired to cost just a few dollars, they must be designed for minimum size to fit on a single chip, they must be able to perform fast processing in order to process real-time data, and they must consume minimum power in order to extend battery life or may be to prevent the requirement of a cooling fan. Reactive and real-time: Many embedded systems should be able to continually react to changes in the systems environment. They must also compute certain results in real time without too much delay. For example, a cruise controller in cars have to monitor and react to speed and brake sensors continuously. It must compute acceleration or decelerations repeatedly within quite limited time; a delay in computation of results could result in a fatal failure to maintain control of the car. On the other hand, a desktop computer generally focuses on computations with comparatively infrequent reactions to input devices. In addition, a delay in those computations may perhaps be inconvenient to the user but that does not result in a system failure. 2.2 Model Based Design Model-Based design in short MBD is a mathematical and visual method of addressing problems associated with designing complex control systems. It is used in many industrial equipment designing, automotive and aerospace applications. Here in this thesis our focus is on climate control of new vehicles. This methodology is used in designing embedded software. Embedded software development consists of four steps: Modeling a plant. Analyzing and synthesizing a controller for the plant. Simulating the plant and controller. Integrating all these phases by developing the controller. Model-based design is quite different from the conventional designing method. In this methodology designer use continuous and discrete time building blocks instead of using long and complex software coding. This model based design enables designer to fast prototyping, testing and verification. Along with all these advantages, dynamic effects on the system can also be tested in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation mode. Some important steps in model-based design approach are: By choosing appropriate algorithm and acquisition of real-world system data, various types of simulations and analysis can be performed before producing a real controller. The model produced in step one is used to identify characteristics of the plant model. Then a controller can be made based on these characteristics. Using this model, the effect of time varying inputs can be analyzed. In this way the possible errors can be eliminated and it is very convenient to change and test any other parameters. Last step is deployment. Advantages of model based design compared with the conventional approach are as follows: Model based design provides common design environment which is important for development groups from the view point of general communication and specifically for data analysis and system verification. Model based design enable engineers to detect and correct errors in early phase of development. This is crucial point for minimizing time and financial impact of system. Model based design can be reused later for upgrading and for derivative systems which are capable to expand. 2.3 ECU DEVELOPMENT 2.3.1 Conventional Approach for ECU Development The conventional approach for electronic control unit, ECU, development is summarized in following four steps: Some experienced personal define the functions and system architecture and then the hardware engineer design the hardware circuit. Control engineer design the control algorithms and a programmer generate a handwritten code for that algorithms. Then these control algorithm program codes and hardware are integrated and tested by system engineer or maybe hardware engineer. Then on the engine test bench the complete system is tested. There are few problems with this conventional approach for ECU development. First and very major problem is that the hardware circuits are made before the confirmation of control rules and results. Only this factor adds a big risk in the process of ECU development. Secondly if some error is encountered during the program code testing, it is very difficult to judge whether the error is because of software codes or in the control algorithms. This programming of the control algorithm is itself a very time consuming process and it take additional time when some errors are encountered and the process of debugging. Since many people from different field of work are involved in this process so coordination between them also take time and it makes the development cost to increase. [2] Thats why the conventional development process can not satisfy the demand of modern age and its requirements. 2.3.2 Modern ECU Development On the bases of integrated development environment, the modern development of electronic control units can be efficiently completed and tested. Using model based simulation and hardware-in-the-loop simulation it is very easy and convenient to eliminate software errors and to modify the control algorithms. Due to this the development cost is reduced and development efficiency is improved. This modern development process is called V-cycle development process. This process is illustrated in Ffig. 1. (when you use figures from other publications, you have to get permission from the auther. It is not enough to put a reference) Fig. 1. The V-Cycle of model-based software development. [2] This process is summarized as follows: Using very sophisticated tools like MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow and dSPACE TargetLink, the control algorithms are modeled. These control algorithms are confirmed using off-line simulations. The ANSI C code is produced using code generation tool. The one we are using is dSPACE TargetLink. The code produced in above step is compiled and downloaded into the control module and simulation is done in Hardware-in-the-loop mode, which confirms the credibility of the control algorithms. This tested program code of control algorithms is downloaded into the electronic control unit for further test and modification. Finally calibration of the whole control system is done. 2.4 Universal measurement and Calibration Protocol (XCP) â€Å"XCP is a standardized and universally applicable protocol with much rationalization potential. It is not only used in ECU development, calibration and programming, it is also used to integrate any desired measurement equipment for prototype development, functional development with bypassing and at SIL(define) and HIL(define) test stands.†[16] For calibration and measurements, it is common practice to connect electronic control units in a *CAN* network. For this purpose CAN calibration protocol is used extensively. With increasing demands of more sophisticated controllers, new electronic control units are becoming more and more complex and for that reason new networks are being developed such as, FlexRay, TTCAN etc.(give references) To meet the needs of new networks, the measurement and calibration protocol should be more generalized and flexible. This generalized and flexible protocol is XCP (Universal measurement and calibration protocol). XCP is independent of transport layers. So in XCP, â€Å"X† generalizes the various transport layers that * Details about CAN are provided in Appendix A. are used by the members of the protocol family e.g. [9] XCP on CAN XCP on FlexRay XCP on Ethernet XCP on USB and so on (you have to refere to each figure) Fig. 2. XCP support for different transport layers [10]. 3 PROBLEM INVESTIGATION This chapter will give answers to the following questions: What is parameter dependency problem? What is the effect of parameter dependency problem on tuning of embedded control systems? What are the difficulties to solve the problem at different platforms? Note: All examples used in this report are only for illustration purposes and are NOT the actual parameters used in climate control module of Volvo Cars and Volvo Trucks. 3.1 Complete process for developing embedded control systems The complete process for developing embedded control systems is illustrated in Ffig. 3. First step of this development process is to define parameters and that can be done in the m-file. These parameter values are loaded into MATLAB base workspace from where TargetLink/Simulink model fetches these values to simulate the process. After checking the simulation results and doing some modifications if required, C-code is generated by TargetLink. That C-code contains all the information about the control algorithm and input values. In the next step the auto-generated C-code is compiled using a Green Hills Suite. Fig. 3. Complete Production(rapid prototyping process?) Process. Green Hills software together with GNU Make and VBF converter is used to generate a map file and VBF file (Volvo Binary Format). This vbf file is downloaded in the embedded controller. The map file is used to generate A2L file using TargetLink. This A2L file is required by the calibration tool (for this project ATI VISION is used for calibration) and then using this calibration tool we can do parameters modifications in ECU. These modifications are also called tuning. 3.2 Parameter Dependency As all parameters are defined in a m-file, some parameters depend on the values of some other parameters. It may also be possible that the values obtained as a result of calculation between two or more parameters are used in the definition of other parameters. So, all those parameters which contain some other parameters or calculations of some other parameters in their definitions are called dependent parameters e.g. In above example parameters: Parameter 2 is dependent on parameter 1. Parameter 4 is dependent on parameter 2 and 3. Parameter 6 is dependent on parameter 2 and 3. 3.3 Reasons for introducing parameter dependencies Thinking of parameter dependencies a question may arise in minds that, â€Å"Why do we need to introduce parameter dependencies at the first place?† Answer to this question is that, when designing a control algorithm in a tool such as Simulink, it is convenient to use named parameters (variables) instead of hard coded numbers (constants). For instance, if the highest fan available corresponds to a voltage of 13.5V. Designer may want to have a parameter for this, so that instead of using the value 13.5 at many instances of algorithm, the name of parameter specified for that value can be used. If one day that hardware is needed to be changed and for new hardware 13.4V is the maximum that can be used for highest fan level, then it is easier to change one parameter value rather than changing many hard coded values at different instances. Sometimes it is good to have one parameter depending on another. For instance in a look-up table, there are several values in each vector and these values may depend on other parameters. It would be rather limiting if a vector or a matrix could only contains hard coded numbers. So, the use of dependent parameters helps keeping a good structure in the algorithm. It makes easier to work with the parameters. 3.4 Statistics about parameter dependency There are quite significant numbers of parameters which are dependent on other parameters. For instance in Climate Control P3, total number of parameters is 1618 out of which 227 parameters are dependent on other parameters and 1391 parameters are independent. We call independent parameters as â€Å"Base Parameters†. Fig.4 Percent of Dependent parameters 3.5 Parameter dependency problem in development process To analyze the problem of parameter dependency, lets walk through the development process of embedded control systems and find out what exactly is the problem with parameter dependencies. As the process starts with parameter definitions in m-file, so the investigation starts from m-file, see Fig. 5.. To visualize this process, an illustration with an example of parameter with dependencies in its definition is shown as follows: Fig.5. Example of parameter definition in m-file. After defining all parameters, the m-file is run in MATLAB. In this step all the values of dependency parameters are evaluated by MATLAB and are loaded into MATLAB base workspace. Precisely during this loading process the dependencies are replaced by their values and any information about the relation of a parameter with dependency parameter is lost. Fig.6. Dependency loss in MATLAB base workspace. As now the dependency information is lost, so this loss will propagate through all the further steps, for example in C-code generation, A2L file and in strategy(?) file. Following F fig 7. shows that the propagation of dependency information loss. So in C-code there is no information with the help of which we can trace dependency parameters. Fig.7 Propagation of dependency loss from MATLAB to C-code. 3.6 Effect of parameter dependencies on development process The problem caused by parameter dependencies comes to the surface during the calibration step. During calibration the values of parameters are tuned. When the information of parameter dependencies is lost, then we have to tune each parameter value individually. This is shown in the Ffollowing fig 8. Fig.8. Effect of dependency loss on development process. So if a parameter is used, for instance, in the definitions of five different parameters, then we have to tune the value of that parameter at those five locations individually. If there is any calculation involved in any parameter definition, then we must do it manually and update the value. This process of changing values manually is very time consuming and error prone. There is another possibility that to avoid doing these calculations and tuning parameter values individually. We can change the parameter values in the original m-file, where we have all parameter definitions and repeat the complete process again. This is very laborious work and it also takes a lot of time, so this possibility is not so feasible. 4 POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS As the complete process for developing embedded controllers is a multistage process and it depends on four highly sophisticated software platforms. So there can be different approaches to solve the dependency information loss. Following are the possible platforms for doing modifications in order to handle the dependency loss problem. MATLAB TargetLink model C-code Calibration tool Separate windows application Following is the in depth analysis of above mentioned platforms and possibility of finding a feasible solution. 4.1 Parameter dependencies and MATLAB When m-script, containing all parameter definitions, is run in MATLAB, all parameter values are evaluated and stored in MATLAB base workspace. Right at this first step dependency information in m-script is lost. The Rreason of this loss is that MATLAB base workspace support values belonging to only one class type. That can be â€Å"char†, â€Å"double†, â€Å"struct† or any other class but the values can not belong to a mixture of two or more class types, i.e., values cannot consist of two elements of an array belonging to â€Å"char† class and other elements of array belonging to â€Å"double† class.(I guess that a struct can consist of chars as well of doubles) Fig.9. Supported Class types in MATLAB base workspace. In our case of parameter dependency for example, we have an array of eighth elements. Second element and eighth element of our example array are names of some other parameters, so these names belongs to char class and rest of elements of that array are numerical values belonging to double class. So MATLAB evaluates the values of dependency parameters and replace all names with their corresponding values and our dependency information is lost. Although there is a function in MATLAB called â€Å"eval† and this function can be used instead of dependency parameter name but this does not solve our problem because this function will evaluate the values of those parameters and eventually its the value of parameter which is updated in the base workspace and dependency information is still filtered out. Moral of the story is that we can not do anything in MATLAB to save our dependency information until unless MathWorks do some changes in MATLAB so that base workspace would be able to support values belonging to different classes in same definition. 4.2 Parameter dependencies and TargetLink In TargetLink we can use custom lookup tables and we can include custom code. Let us suppose for a moment that by adding these custom lookup tables and using some extra blocks we manage to introduce lost dependency information in TargetLink model. But when TargetLink will generate C-code, most probably it will evaluate all those values and resulting values will be included in C-code. There are two reasons for this behavior of TargetLink: First reason is that, TargetLink work inside MATLAB so all the calculations are done in MATLAB and we face the same problem as described previously. Second reason is that, dSPACE claims that TargetLink generates C-code in the most efficient way, because this C-code is flashed into controller in binary format, so it is the maximum effort of TargetLink to keep C-code as small as possible because of the limited memory of ECU and demand of high operational speed. So TargetLink does not generate extra variables and pointer in C-code until unless some significant changes are done in TargetLink by dSPACE. 4.3 Parameter dependencies and C-code C-code generated by TargetLink can be modified and it is possible to add any kind of extra information but there are two reasons which make this possibility impracticable. First reason is that, this C-code will be flashed into ECU and there is very limited memory in the control unit and bigger C-code will result into a less efficient embedded controller. Second reason which makes this possibility impracticable is that. iIt requires a lot of manual labor every time we change something. This is also error prone. 4.4 Parameter dependencies and Calibration tool In calibration tool like ATI VISION, there is an option to use script written in Vision scripting language or in Visual basic. Instead of doing manual calibration we can automate calibration using the script. In our case, we have matrices with dependencies. So in order to do calibration using thescripting option we have to write function for doing matrix calculations and then that script must be able to evaluate dependencies according to new values. So this option is not so feasible. 4.5 Separate windows application After analyzing all possibilities only one option is left. That is to develop a separate windows application which will extract dependency information from m-script, calculate the values of dependency parameters according to the values tuned in calibration tool and will implement those new values of dependencies back in calibration tool. 5 SELECTED SOLUTION After analysis of all possible solutions, it is deducted that the most feasible solution to the dependency loss problem is a separate windows application which: Extracts dependency information from m-file. Gets tuned parameter values from calibration tool. Calculates all values corresponding to those tuned parameter values. And implements updated values of dependency parameters back in calibration tool. 5.1 Reasons for selecting this solution Among other solutions we have selected development of â€Å"separate windows application†, as a feasible solution. Major reasons for selecting this solution are as follows: Selected solution which is developing a separate windows application does not need any modification of present softwares. This solution is fast, no extra licenses are required for this and it works just according to our requirements. If we choose any solution which includes modification in software tools, then that involves the involvement of tool makers. That process of convincing toolmakers to modify their software according to our requirements and if they agree then the process of developing and releasing new version of software may take very long time. Tool makers would charge a great sum of money to make specified changes or for making an add-on application for the softwares. 5.2 Overview of solution The solution is an application named â€Å"Dependency Calibrator†. It works in two steps. In the first step the m-file is parsed and the information of dependency parameter along with their location in parent parameter areis extracted and rearranged in a way that it can be used in the second step that is calibration. During the second part of the process, first of all the application will import data from VISION so that if user has tuned any value in calibration tool, that data will be updated in MATLAB and then the application will do calculations in MATLAB after that new values obtained as a result of those calculation will be updated again back to VISION. This cyclic process from VISION to MATLAB and back to VISION will update parameter values. If user has changed values which was used by other parameters, those new values will be updated on all locations where they are used. This is shown in the following figFig. 10.. Fig. 10. Overview of solution. The application â€Å"Dependency Calibrator† is divided into two parts. Parser Calibrator Detailed explanation of how this application isn working is as follows. 5.3 Required Softwares Parser works without any requirement of external software but in order to run â€Å"Calibrator† following softwares must be installed on your system: MATLAB R2007b ATI VISION 3.5.3 MATLAB is automatically launched by the application but make sure to launch ATI VISION before you use â€Å"Calibrator† part of â€Å"Dependency Calibrator† application. 5.4 Project file Project file is a key to control the â€Å"Dependency Calibrator† application. Instead of using hard coded paths for different files used in this application, an option is given to the users to select their desired locations. These locations can be specified in a separate file which is named as project file. In this project file the instructions can be given after certain tags. One must be very careful because these tags should not be altered. While user inputs can be given after the symbol â€Å"@†. â€Å"Dependency Calibrator† application is in fact capable of handling multiple m-files and multiple c-files. Directory path for these files can be specifies in project file. Project file contains following tags: VISIONs Device Name @ : After this tag, name of the hardware device which is used in the VISION device tree, should be given. For example, VISIONs Device Name @ PCM Or VISIONs Device Name @ CCM Path of m File @ : After this tag the full path for m-file should be given. If number of m-files is more than one, then this tag followed by file path of those m-files should be given on a new line. Parser will read all these files and will merge them into one file. For example, Path of m File @ C:FolderNamesubFolderFile_Name.m Path of m File @ C:FolderName2subFolder2File_Name2.m Root directory for c files @ : In general practice c files can be generated in different folders but their root directory remains same. So in order to avoid repeating same address and to minimize the chances of error this tag is introduced in project file. So after this tag path of root directory for c files should be specified. Please note that there should be no â€Å"† at the end of root directory path. For example: Root directory for c files @ D:ABC_XYZsubFoldersubSub Folders containing c-files @: After this tag the names of folders which contain c files should be specified. If there are more than one folder containing c files then those folders names should be added after a comma â€Å",†. The parser will then search these folders for all c files contained in them. For example: Folders containing c-files @ FolderMedCfiles,subFoldercFolder Root Output Directory @: This tag should be followed by the path for required location where the user wants the application to generate all files. For example: Root Output Directory @ C: Extra File for calibrating non-calibratable parameters @: After this tag, there should be the path for the file containing names of those parameters which are not calibratable but they are desired to be calibrated in VISION. Those names should be exactly the same as defined in m-file, followed by underscore â€Å"_† and followed by any desired word or character. For example: Extra File for calibrating non-calibratable parameters @ C:ExtraParNames.txt 5.5 Parser The F first part of the complete dependency calibration process is the parser. When â€Å"Parser† is executed, a window appears showing two options, â€Å"Load Project Fil

Creating Financial Security for College Students/Graduates Essay

Creating Financial Security for College Students/Graduates   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the biggest problems facing students today, is the fact that there is no real financial security after earning a degree. Many students find that the little amount of financial aid available, is not satisfactory to provide a stable source of payment for tuition. This is exaggerated by an exorbitant cost of the ever rising education costs. The facts are, it is expensive to get a higher education, and there is little alternative to receiving a degree. Students who manage to finance their college education through government, or private loans, enter a whole new set of problems upon graduation. Student loans are difficult to pay back. Loans generally have high interest rates, and long term effects. Many graduates end up paying for loans decades after their commencement. To these unfortunates, retirement may have to be prolonged, and is still not assured to be stable, as well as payments on cars, houses, and other goods purchased. A call for action i s required among students to invest for the future. Many need the money that could be rewarded with a wise investment in the mutual fund market. There are many jobs today which require a college degree for consideration of employment. Some jobs require the skills obtained in earning a degree while others are attempting to "weed" out a number of job seekers. This increase in the number of jobs demanding degrees is causing more people to continue their education to a higher level. The law of demand states "other things remaining the same, the higher the price of a good, the smaller is the quantity demanded"(Parkin, 69). The good in this case is the job, whereas the price is the education or what it is going to take... ...ture. Now we have happy secure students that have one less thing to worry about. Works Cited Carnes, W. Stansbury, and Stephen D. Slifer. The Atlas of Economic Indicators. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1991. Dalton, John M. How the Stock Market Works. New York: New York Institution of Finance, 1993. Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Lynch, Peter. One Up on Wall Street. New York: Penguin Group, 1989. Malkiel, Burton G. A Random Walk Down Wall Street. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990. Parkin, Michael. Microeconomics. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1996. Schwager, Jack D. The New Market Wizards. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1992. Train, John. The Money Masters. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Train, John. The New Money Masters. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1989.

Eye Strain as a Result of Computer Use :: Technology Computers Health Vision Essays

Eye Strain as a Result of Computer Use In the twentieth century, technology is at an all time high in the world. This technology includes research, stock market shares, computers, medical advances, and a vast variety of other things. Among the advanced technology is a break through of computer use. Almost everyone at sometime in their day is using a computer for one task or another. Computers have taken the world and reshaped the possibilities of ideas and dreams in the past decade. Millions of people are using a computer daily according to Anshel (1996). This work on the computer can ran range from five minutes a day to eight hours a day depending on they type of job a person holds. Today's job market, employees are accustomed to working with a computer. This could include data entry clerks, an internet consultant, a bank teller, a librarian, and especially secretaries. The field is open to just about anyone. Often overlooked are the students that use computers on a daily basis. Many college students depend on the use of computers classes whether it be for fun or recreational use. Sometimes the convience of using computers comes with a high price to pay. The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) says that eyestrain is the leading problem in computer use. This even exceeds such common problems as carpal tunnel syndrome. (Atencio 1996) Eyestrain and eye fatigue lead to many other complications if it is a continuous problem. One of these problems includes myopia. There are many ways of relieving eye fatigue and helping the symptoms of myopia. These problems can be onset in younger years when children are in school. Since most schools in the country are using computers as a main source of education, eyestrain can be a linked to myopia. There are many options people or companies have to improve the conditions under which the person is working. Eyestrain is defined as blurred or double vision, burning, irritation, headaches, gritty eye sensation, eye fatigue, neck and shoulder pain, color perception change, decreased visual efficiency, more frequent errors and reduced efficiency. (Atencio 1996, Palmer 1993, Nunoo 1997) Eyestrain is also known as asthenopia. It simply means visual strain. (Palmer 1993) Dr. Paul F. Bommarito also said that 88% of heavy computer users experience these problems. (Fletcher 1996) Palmer suggest that eye fatigue is often caused by the eye muscles becoming tired much like other muscles in our body.

Multigrade Classes

Multi-grade teaching refers to the teaching of students of different ages, grades and abilities in the same group. It is referred to variously in the literature as ‘multilevel', ‘multiple class', ‘composite class', ‘vertical group ‘,’ family classes, and, in the case of one-teacher schools, ‘unitary schools'. It is to be distinguished from mono-grade teaching in which students within the same grade are assumed to be more similar in terms of age and ability. However, substantial variation in ability within a grade often leads to â€Å"mixed-ability† teaching. There can also be wide variations in age within the same grade, especially in developing countries, where the age of entry to school varies and where grade repetition is common. This condition of â€Å"multi-age-within-grade† teaching appears not to have generated such universal recognition, perhaps because it occurs more often in developing than in developed countries. The summary of experiences from Australia, Bangladesh, Peoples Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand confirmed that: †¢ primary curriculum documents and their associated lists of â€Å"minimum learning competencies† have not been specifically designed for use by teachers in multi-grade schools †¢ school plans, instructional materials and methodological guidelines are often difficult to apply to multi-grade teaching situations †¢ there is a shortage of support materials for teachers and individualised instructional materials for learners †¢ there is a need for more work on the kinds of continuous evaluation, diagnostic testing, remediation and feedback which would best assist multi-grade teaching and added that †¢ although many teachers work in multi-grade teaching situations few countries have developed special teacher training curricula for pre- or in-service training. Teaching practice during preservice is invariably carried out in mono-grade schools †¢ teachers posted to teach in multi-grade schools â€Å"develop a sort of psychological alienation from the school† †¢ the educational system as a whole pays inadequate attention to the proper functioning of multi-grade schools through, for example, not filling vacant teaching positions in rural areas, the absence of systems of teacher accountability, a lack of basic physical facilities in these schools, lack of training for supervisors of multi-grade schools and a general â€Å"inattentiveness of education officers to the needs of these schools† Factors Contributing to the establishment of Multigrade Teaching * * Cultural factors * Socio-economic factors. * Benefits of multigrade teaching * Richer learning environment * Greater community involvement. Development of health competition * Greater understanding between learners and educators Advantages and Challenges of Teaching Multi-level Classes When faced with the challenge of a multi-level classroom many teachers do not know where to start. They fear that the preparation will take much longer, and that the students will be more demanding. Schools that have multi-level classes often have limited budgets, and teachers may fear that they will not be paid for what they are worth. However, it is only by looking at the advantages of the multi-level classroom and employing strategies to overcome the challenges, that teachers can achieve success. Advantages of Multi-level classrooms * Students are able to learn at their own pace * Students learn to work well in a group * Students become independent learners * Students develop strong relationships with their peers * Students become partners in learning Challenges of Multi-level classrooms * Finding appropriate teaching resources and material * Organizing appropriate groupings within the class * Building an effective self-access centre in the classroom * Determining the individual needs of each student * Ensuring that all students are challenged and interested Teaching Method Strategies Experiment with different types of groupings to find the ones that work best. You may find that cross-ability pairs work best for certain types of activities, while like-ability small groups work better for others. If possible, use a wide variety of groupings to keep things interesting for your class. Use a simple schedule that is similar each day. Here is an example: 1. Start with a warm-up that involves the whole group. 2. Break part of the class off into one type of grouping (i. e. pairs) and work with part of the class on a lesson, grammar point, or activity. 3. Break off the class into another type of grouping (i. e. small groups) and have the other students use self-access materials. 4. Bring the class back together for a whole group activity/game. Isolate students within the class who are interested in peer tutoring. This doesn't have to be the student with the highest level of the subject. Your students who fall somewhere in the middle may in fact be the most valuable to you, as they strive to attain a level of competency comparable to the most advanced students. Remind your students that the best way to practice and improve a new language is to teach it to someone else. Consider enlisting a volunteer. Limited budgets or low enrolment are often the reasons behind multi-level classes. For this reason, it may be difficult to convince administrators or managers that you need a paid assistant. If you feel overwhelmed, consider hiring a volunteer. Finding someone who is interested in helping you with your preparation work and teaching may not be as difficult as you think. ARTICLES ABOUT MULTI-GRADE TEACHING/CLASSES Multigrade classes bring more children to school Friday 30th of March 2012 PASIG CITY, March 30 —Will a teacher not hold class if there are just a few enrollees? Should a student drop out if the school is far from home or there is not enough teachers and classroom? If you ask the Department of Education, the answer is no because it continues to find ways to bring children to school in order to complete their basic education. One of these is the holding of multigrade classes. A multigrade class is a class consisting of two or more different grade levels inside a single grade classroom handled by one teacher for an entire school year. It is offered in elementary schools located in distant and sparsely-populated localities, a statement from DepEd said. Figures from DepEd show that there are close to a million enrollees in multigrade classes across the country. Education Secretary Armin Luistro said most of the students attending multigrade classes are learners who belong to isolated and poor communities, indigenous peoples or those who reside in far-flung mountains and islands where schools are far apart from each other. â€Å"This is part of our thrust to democratize access to education and make the learning experience inclusive to as many sectors. In effect, we are bringing more students to school,† he added. If a class does not meet the required number of enrollees and therefore it is not viable to conduct a class of limited number of pupils, the supposed enrollees are merged into a single class and taught by one teacher,† Luistro explained. The small number of students for each grade level; the shortage of teachers; the distance from the community to the nearest school; and the inadequacy of funds and classrooms are reasons that necessitate the organization of multigrade classes. In the Philippine public school system, classes with two grade levels inside a single classroom and handled by the same teacher is called combination classes. Those with three grade levels in one classroom and handled by a single teacher is called a multigrade or multi-level class. This means that a multigrade classroom mixes children with different skills and abilities, different developmental levels and needs while working together under the guidance of one teacher. â€Å"The truth is long before multi-tasking became a buzzword, our teachers were actually already living up to the word,† Luistro said. While DepEd has always recognized the existence of multi-grade classes it was only in 1990 that the department started to consider the formal organization and continuing operation of multigrade classrooms all over the country in keeping with the goal of Education For All (EFA). Thus, DepEd continues to invest in teachers’ training, curriculum development and in the preparation of learning materials appropriate for multi-grade classes to improve elementary education especially in underserved and remote areas. (DepEd) More Than One Million Filipino Students Have Classmates At Different Grade Levels Academia March 30, 2012 The Philippine Department of Education says more than one million students are enrolled in multigrade classes, where three or more grade levels are taught by a single teacher. AsianScientist (Mar. 30, 2012) – Should a teacher cancel a class if there are only a few enrollees? And should a student drop out if the school is far from home or if there are insufficent teachers and classroom? The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) says no. Instead, it has found one way to solve this problem, by holding multigrade classes. In the Philippine public school system, classes with two grade levels inside a single classroom taught by the same teacher are called combination classes. Classes with three grade levels conducted in one classroom taught by a single teacher are called a multigrade or multilevel classes. Figures from DepEd show that there are close to a million enrollees in multigrade classes across the country. Education Secretary Armin Luistro said most of the students attending multigrade classes belong to isolated and financially challenged communities, are indigenous peoples, and reside in far-flung mountains and islands where schools are far apart from each other. The small number of students for each grade level, the shortage of teachers, the distance from the community to the nearest school, and the nadequacy of funds and classrooms are reasons that necessitate the organization of multigrade classes, he explained. This means that children with different skills and abilities, developmental leve ls, and needs are mixed in a class under the guidance of one teacher. â€Å"This is part of our thrust to democratize access to education and make the learning experience inclusive to as many sectors. In effect, we are bringing more students to school,† Luistro explained. â€Å"If a class does not meet the required number of enrollees and therefore it is not viable to conduct a class of limited number of pupils, the supposed enrollees are merged into a single class and taught by one teacher,† he added. Although the DepEd has always recognized the existence of multigrade classes, it was only in 1990 that the department started to formally acknowledge multigrade classrooms, in keeping with the goal of Education For All. Source: Philippine Department of Education. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff. A Review on Multigrade Education by admin on Jan. 09, 2012 Multigrade teaching occurs within a graded system of education when a single class contains two or more student grade levels. It is contrasted with the usual pattern of classroom organization in graded systems where a single classroom contains students of only one grade level. In many graded systems, age and grade are congruent, so a grade level is also equivalent to a particular age group of students. However, this may not be the case in systems where grade level satellite phones repetition and acceleration are common. There are three important reasons why multigrade teaching may occur in both developed and developing countries. First, multigrading is often associated with ’small’ schools in remote and sparsely populated areas. In such schools, there may be only one, two or three teachers, yet they offer a complete cycle of primary education. If that cycle consists of eight grade levels, then each of these teachers must deal with multigrade classes. These ’small’ schools are also sometimes referred to as ‘multigrade’ schools. Multigrade schools have attracted attention in the developing country context because of their potential to increase primary school participation rates. By bringing the school closer to the community, they encourage more children, especially girls, into school. Second, multigrade teaching is also common in larger urban and suburban schools. In some countries, it is a response to uneven student enrollment. For example, a school with a two and a half grade entry may have to combine two grade levels to make up class sizes. Also, in countries where teacher absenteeism is high, and there is no ‘cover’, grades may be combined to avoid having a class with no teacher present. A single teacher then has to deal with two grade level groups together. Third, multigrade teaching may be a deliberate response to educational problems. In developed countries, this is linked to the multiage perspective. Proponents of mixed age grouping argue that there are sound pedagogical reasons for placing students of different ages together in the same classroom. Mixed age classes, it is argued, stimulate children’s social development and encourage greater classroom cooperation. These arguments are seldom raised in the developing country literature, although several commentators take the view that multigrade organized classes are potentially a cost effective means of providing quality education in difficult to reach areas.

Individual Report (Hrm) Essay

According to the chairman of Woolworths, James Strong, â€Å"One of the most significant factors contributing to the country’s outstanding performance is the quality of its people†. According to him involvement and development of people possessing high quality is very important for an organization to succeed (Stone, 2011). Now a day’s workforce is the main factor of organization’s competitive advantage. The workforce is intangible assets of organizations. To gain a competitive advantage, the part of human resource is the best ever, because it is taken as a wealth success as well as the main component of sustainable competitive advantage (Memon, Mangi, & Rohra, 2009). Human Capital includes the skill, attitudes and knowledge of the employees. Today, all the organization maintains sustainable value in the market, so that they mostly use intangible assets as human capital (Javadein, Estiri, & Ghorbani, 2011). When a human capital is valuable, rare and hardly capable it creates a sustainable competitive advantage. For example given below: Table 1: Human capital and Competitive advantage Performance Type of competitive advantage Hardly capable of imitation Rare Valuable Below average Competitive loss —- — No Average Competitive balance —- No yes Above average Temporary competitive advantage No yes yes Above average Sustainable competitive advantage yes yes yes Source: (Colella & Miller, 2006) All researchers are own vision but of this concept as Wright, et al, 1994 indicates that they meet the criteria for human resource Barney is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Guest said in 1990 if management trusts employees and give difficult tasks, workers will reply high motivation, commitment and high performance (Jassim, 1987) to respond. This means that in recent years the sources of sustainable competitive advantage technological, financial but now to human. In other words, we can say that achievement now depends on employees’ skills, confidence and capacity obligations. 2Competitive Advantage Competitive advantage is achieved when a business produces extra profits which are greater than its competitors due to making exclusive product pricing or supply advantage (The VisionLink Advisory Group, 2012). And if the company is to create value over time, the policy the same as another potential competitor also done, but other companies are not able to reap the fruits of this policy to duplicate, then you can say that the organization continues to sustainable competitive advantage. For better compete in the market the capable employees of the successful companies make a product unique, use some different activities and they focus on all of energy areas which affect the organization to maintain sustainable competitive advantage. The Competitive Advantage Process   Image2: Competitive Advantage Process Source: (http://www.vladvisors.com/) According to this Michael Porter’s say that: â€Å"At the time a firm gets profits more than industrial average profit, then the firm possesses competitor advantage over its competitors† (The VisionLink Advisory Group, 2012). Employees play vital roles to achieve the targets which set by organization so instead of this organization also know that to achieve the sustainability in the market so the factor is capable employees. 3Significance of the Study â€Å"The human element has become important information that comes has an essential element to obtain a competitive advantage, especially in the new economic environment.† The objective of this work is to define the importance of workforce in organizational performance and some models of the strategic direction of the organization to describe. These models make it for this individual report to explain the capable workforce is the main resource of competitive advantage. In these models shows that how the workforce can help to organization in stay sustained competitive in the market. To use these models finds that which are the capable employees in organizations will achieve competitive advantage in the market. (Bernardin & Russell, 1998). This effort shows that organization understand the importance of human resources in formulating planning and execution to achieve a competitive advantage. 4Capable Workforce can deliver sustainable competitive advantage Fig3: Adapting these things to develop a Sustain Competitive Advantage Source: (http://www.growourregion.ca) In today’s world if an organization needs to have a growth in present economic environment then it should have more and proper focus on its workforce. The ability to reduce costs, productivity and competitive advantage in the management depends upon the employee’s capability. Sustainable competitive advantage means that the employees of the company always focus on the maintenance and improvement in the enterprises, so the organization easily competes in the market. This competitive advantage helps every business to stand against its rivals in a long run. (Kotelnikov, N.D). Some example according to sustain competitive advantage: 4.1Example: IBM With the talent and experience of professional manpower the IBM deployed worldwide, the organization and practice of people is part of IBM Global Business Services. IBM consultants have a proven track record in creating value for customers with our proven assets, methodology, partnerships and research capabilities; we act as business advisors trust for our customers worldwide (Brousseau, N.D.). 4.2Literature Review of Workforce Workforce is supposed to be major part of the organization. In recent years organization ignored workforce strategies, but after see the importance and control organization began to understand that human resources is essential to create and maintain a competitive advantage. Most of theories show that workforce should be included at the time of formulation of any strategy in the organization. According to Stone 1998 shows that whenever organizational need to formulate new strategy that time they requires identifications of resources, analysis the whole structure and balance the externalities coming from outside or inside the organization at that time workforce plays a very important role (Memon et al., 2009). Workforce is major resource of sustainable competitive advantage. Workforce give helps to organization’s to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through cost management and differentiation. 4.2.1Example: Uk Airlines In this example tell about employees of UK airlines give efforts to utilize the image of airlines in the minds of its customers. The most excellent airline are those which always do our promises to their customers and always make significant value for them, but this thing possible when the employees of the company give better results. In this Airlines Company employee’s plays very vital role for spread image of airline in the market and responsible for deliver promises to our customers, so that airlines company easily achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in the market (Study-Aids, 2010). 5Workforce and Sustained Competitive Advantage: For achieving goals, firstly represent the review of the resource-based view of the firm. And after this concept tell about function of workforce in sustainable competitive advantage. 5.1The Resource-Based View of the Firm According to resource-based firm organization literature shows that the theories of profit and competition are related with the writing of Ricardo (1817), Schumpeter (1934). And in this they both mainly focus on the workforce of the business success as the main determinants in the competition (WRIGHT & McMcMAHAN, 1993). 5.2Workforce affects the sustainability of the organization It is clear that most of the organizations suggest that workforce is the key point of competitive advantage in the world. Workforce is the key point of sustained competitive advantage in the market because less visible role compared to others. Employees working in the organization can play a very important role in production of product and services because the employees are directly involved in it. All these things displayed by the workforce are capable of a sustainable competitive advantage. 5.3Workforce Role in the Sustained Competitive Advantage First, in a static environment, a high level of workforce must have a number of bodies ‘to have productive advantages over its competitors by developing more efficient methods to meet the requirements of the task (Hunter & Hunter, 1984). On the other hand, the dynamics environments some workers affected by the increased efficiency adapted to the individual capacity of the environment. 5.4Function of Manager to rising workforce While managers were greatest impact on business results. It plays vital function in the development of workforce as a competitive advantage continuously (WRIGHT & McMcMAHAN, 1993). According to resource-based view shows all managers are ability to control the characteristics of their business. 5.4.1Example: Honda Last 40 years the Honda had a manufacturing work plants in the United States. In U.S. economy Honda has large growth and spreading out in terms of dollars and number of employees. But the success of the Honda’s depends upon the company employees (Child, 1972). 6Employees Personal Characteristics under Workforce These are some personal Characteristics for employees by which they achieve goals in the company and other side easily achieves sustain competitive advantage in the organization. Such that including aggressiveness, Confidence, poise, decisiveness, toughness, integrity and quick thinking (Child, 1972). Skills: The most important skills for employees to sustainable competitive advantage in the organization are: 1)Communication Skills: Employees have good communication skills by this they easily do business globally which effect organization preview. 2)Organization skills: This is the vital factor for good management. These skills included in the employees having good planning, analytical and goal-setting abilities by through this they achieve good reputation of organization in the market which makes the sustainable competitive advantage. 3)Coping Skills: Employees have flexible and creative were involved in effectively coping with change, as were patience and persistence. These all good skills in employees affect the organization image in the market. 4)Technical skills: If managers have good background in their field so it achieves the objectives of the organization and done the things more efficiently which affects the sustainability of the organization. 7Conclusions Today, intangible assets play an important role in the competitiveness of enterprises, more durable and less active that can be replicated. Workforce can be considered as one of the most important intangible assets, including the knowledge and skills. As a result, management has the capital necessary to achieve competitiveness. The reason of this analysis is verify the capable labor market is the important factor for the organization. By preparing this individual report using some theoretical concepts, which shows that capable workforce is the source of sustainable competitive advantage. 8Reference Bernardin, H., & Russell. (1998). Human Resource Management. A Experimental Approach. 2 Edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Brousseau, D. (n.d.). Organization & Workforce Transformation. Retrieved from http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/strategy/talent-and-workforce-management.html Colella, A., & Miller, C. C. (2006). Organizational Behavior: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley, New York. Memon, D. M. A., Mangi, R. A., & Rohra, D. C. L. (2009). Human Capital a Source of Competitive Advantage â€Å"Ideas for Strategic Leadership.† Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.ajbasweb.com/ajbas/2009/4182-4189.pdf Javadein, S., Estiri, M., & Ghorbani, H. (2011). The Role of Internal Marketing in Creation of Sustainable Competitive Advantages. Retrieved from http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=tasr.2011.364.374&org=10 Jassim, R. K. (1987). Competitive Advantage Through the Employees. Retrieved from http://www.my-world-guide.com/upload/File/Reports/e/egipt/Competitive%20Advantage%20Through%20the%20Employees.pdf The VisionLink Advisory Group. (2012). Creating and Sustaining a Competitive Advantage – The Role and Impact of Effective Compensation and Rewards Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.vladvisors.com/compensation-information/Role-of-Effective-Compensation-Competitve-Advantage-article.aspx The VisionLink Advisory Group. (2012). How Do I Create a Competitive Advantage with My Compensation Programs? Retrieved from http://www.vladvisors.com/compensation-information/Competitive-Advantage-with-Compensation-article.aspx Kotelnikov, V. (N.E). Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA). Retrieved from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/sca_main.html WRIGHT, P. M., & McMcMAHAN, G. C. (1993). Human Resources And Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Resource-Based Perspective. Retrieved from http://ceo.usc.edu/pdf/T9319239.pdf Child, J. (1972). Human Resource Management (Competitive advantage). Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/fathima_sy/human-resource-management-competitive-advantage-1928241 Study-Aids. (2010). Employee Branding as a Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage A Study of Two UK Airlines. Retrieved from http://www.study-aids.co.uk/marketing/market0057.html Hunter, J., & Hunter, R. (1984). Validity and utility of alternative