Alliance Nissan & Renault Essay

Founded in 1999, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has become the longest-lasting cross-cultural combination among major carmakers. This unique partnership is a pragmatic, flexible business tool that can expand to accommodate new projects and partners worldwide. In the past half-decade, the Alliance has emerged as a buffer to protect partners during regional downturns, and it has accelerated Renault and Nissan’s momentum in some of the world’s fastest growing economies. Renault holds a 43.4% stake in Nissan. Nissan holds a 15% stake in Renault. The cross-shareholding model ensures that both partners have a mutual selfinterest and encourages each to pursue â€Å"win-win† strategies that benefit both. Formed on March 28, 2002, Renault-Nissan BV is a company incorporated under Dutch law and equally owned by Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., responsible for the strategic management of the Alliance. The Alliance has helped Renault and Nissan outperform historic regional rivals, elevating both companies into an elite tier. Together, Renault and Nissan rank in the top three car groups globally.  Based on cross-shareholding and mutual self-interest, the Alliance business platform maximizes synergies without destroying brand identity. In order to achieve competitive economies of scale, many automakers are embarking on collaborations similar to the groundbreaking partnership that Renault and Nissan established 13 years ago.

Apple Firm Strategy Analysis Essay

The firm I have chosen to analyze is Apple. Apple, officially called as Apple Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steven Wojniak. It was incorporated on January 3, 1977. (Mohta, 2010) Apple designs and manufactures consumer products such as computers, laptops, tablets, phones and music players and computer software products such as Mac OS Operation System and iTunes. Over the past few years, Apple has gained a large customer base and been able to dominate the market share. Strategic frameworks such as Porters five forces and Strategic focus will help us in analyzing how Apple has managed to sustain its profits over a long period of time. Porter’s five forces framework Threat of Competition When it comes to computers, tablets and music players, Apple dominates the market share by a huge margin. The gross profit for Apple in the year 2012 is $65.64 billion whereas the gross profit for HP and Dell is $27.64 billion and $13.06 billion respectively. (Sparks, 2012) HP was unable to compete with Apple in the tablet market that it has started to consider focusing only on the computer industry. In the smartphone market, Samsung has by far been the biggest competitor for Apple. Samsung has 29.1% of the market share in the smartphone market whereas Apple only has 24.2 % of the market share. (Reisinger, 2012) Threat of new entrants Considering the large customer base Apple has, threat of new entrants is quite low. The new entrants have neither been able to match up to the quality of the Apple products nor to the sales volume held by Apple. Hence, if Apple continues to design and manufacture innovative products, it will be extremely difficult for new entrants to be able to compete with Apple. Threat of Substitutes When it comes to Apple’s hardware products, there are no substitutes as such that could replace it. However, when it comes to Apple’s software products such as the iTunes, which is the music store designed and developed by Apple for the purpose of purchasing and downloading music, there is a high possibility that the customers could look out for alternative sources for music such as limewire, youtube.com. (Mohta, 2010) Power of buyers Apple has always focused on hardware and software integration of its products. Hence, Apple customers end up owning more than one Apple product. As a result of this, switching costs are extremely high. Also, due to the fact that large sales volumes are promised by Apple to the carrier networks such as AT&T and Verizon, iPhones are sold to the customers at a subsidised rate. This is an indication that the carriers have very less buying power. (Sparks, 2012) Power of suppliers Apple has an advantage over its suppliers as it outsources most of its manufacturing and has also started producing its own supplies. Consequently, it also gives Apple a huge competitive advantage. (Term paper warehouse) Strategic focus framework The three value disciplines that are taken up for analyzing a company are: Operational Excellence Apple as a company is highly efficient when it comes to operational excellence. All the departments in the organization starting from the sales forecasting department to the Distributions department are synchronised with each other leading to a highly efficient supply chain. Also, Apple has a limited product line. (Lariviere, 2011) Hence, it is able to provide its complete focus on designing and manufacturing those products rather than drifting away from the organizations objective to sustain profits with a large number of product lines. Customer intimacy â€Å"Apple targets people. It focuses on users. And it lets them decide how and where they will use its products.† (Asay, 2010) Apple has always been a customer focused company where its main aim is to deliver high quality products to its customers. Product Leadership Apple has managed to be a leader in its industry because of the fact it has been able to design innovative products. It has initiated changes to which its competitors had to respond. For example, Apple revolutionised the Smartphone market by introducing the iPhone. Except for Samsung, no other competitor of Apple has been able to come up with a strategy to deviate market focus from Apple. In addition, Apple has always on the lookout for new products to design and new markets to enter. This strategy has led to Apple being a leader in its industry. References Asay. M. (2010). Apple Doesn’t target Markets. It Targets People. GIGAOM. Retrieved from: http://gigaom.com/2010/08/26/apple-doesnt-target-markets-it-targets-people/ Bargaining Power of Suppliers. Term Paper Warehouse. Retrieved from: http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Bargaining-Power-Of-Suppliers/84367 Lariviere. M. (2011). Operations: Apple’s Secret Sauce? The Kellogg Insight. Retrieved from: http://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/operations-apples-secret-sauce/ Mohta, J. (2010). Poter’s 5 forces model case Apple Inc. Slideshare. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/jontymohta444/porters-5-forces-model-case-apple-inc Reisinger, D. (2012). Samsung Pulling away from Apple in smartphone market. CNET. Retrieved from: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57424779-94/samsung-pulling-away-from-apple-in-smartphone-market/ Sparks, D. (2012). Competing with Apple is No Fun. The Motley Fool. Retrieved from: http://beta.fool.com/danielsparks/2012/09/03/apple-2012-50-growth/10776/ Spartanski. (2009). Case Study Apple Inc. Slideshare. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/Spartanski/case-study-apple-inc-2008

A Survey on Fingerprint Mathing Algorithms

A Survey on Fingerprint Mathing Algorithms In this networked world, users store their significant and less significant data over internet (cloud). Once data is ported to public Internet, security issues pop-up. To address the security issues, the present day technologies include traditional user-id and password mechanism and a onetime password (two-factor authentication). In addition to that, using the inexpensive scanners built into smartphones, fingerprint authentication is incorporated for improved security for data communication between the cloud user and the cloud provider. The age old image processing technique is revisited for processing the fingerprint of the user and matching against the stored images with the central cloud server during the initial registration process. In this paper, various fingerprint matching algorithms are studied and analyzed. Two important areas are addressed in fingerprint matching process: fingerprint verification fingerprint identification. The former compares two fingerprint and says they are similar or not; while the latter searches a database to identify the fingerprint image which is fed in by the user. Based on the survey on different matching algorithms, a novel method is proposed. Keywords: image processing, biometrics, fingerprint matching, cloud, security Introduction Automated fingerprint recognition systems have been deployed in a wide variety of application domains ranging from forensics to mobile phones. Designing algorithms for extracting salient features from fingerprints and matching them is still a challenging and important pattern recognition problem. This is due to the large intra-class variability and large inter-class similarity in fingerprint patterns. The factors responsible for intra-class variations are a) displacement or rotation between different acquisitions; b) partial overlap, especially in sensors of small area; c) non linear distortion, due to skin plasticity and differences in pressure against the sensor; d) pressure and skin condition, due to permanent or temporary factors (cuts, dirt, humidity, etc.); e) noise in the sensor (for example, residues from previous acquisitions); f) feature extraction errors. Fingerprint identification system may be either a verification system or an identification system depending on the context of the application. A verification system authenticates a person’s identity by comparing the captured fingerprint with her/his previously enrolled fingerprint reference template. An identification system recognizes an individual by searching the entire enrolment template database for a match. The fingerprint feature extraction and matching algorithms are usually quite similar for both fingerprint verification and identification problems. Fingerprint – Identification and Verification using Minutiae Based Matching Algorithms Fingerprints are commonly used to identify an individual. Research also suggests that fingerprints may provide information about future diseases an individual may be at risk for developing. Fingerprints are graphical flow-like ridges in palm of a human. Fingerprint is captured digitally using a fingerprint scanner. Fingerprints are commonly used to identify an individual. Research also suggests that fingerprints may provide information about future diseases an individual may be at risk for developing. Fingerprints are graphical flow-like ridges in palm of a human, that are unique amongst human beings. The hardware, fingerprint scanners are becoming low cost devices. The two most important ridge characteristics are ridge ending and ridge bifurcation. Automatic fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) have been widely used. An AFIS consists of two phases: offline and online. In the off-line phase, a fingerprint is acquired, enhanced using different algorithms, where features of the fingerprint are extracted and stored in a database as a template. In the on-line phase, a fingerprint is acquired, enhanced and features of the fingerprint are extracted, fed to a matching model and matched against template models in the database as depicted in the figure 1. Among all the biometric techniques, fingerprint-based identification is the most common used method which has been successfully used in numerous applications. Comparing to other biometric techniques, the advantages of fingerprint-based identification are as detailed below: The minutiae details of individual ridges and furrows are permanent and unchanging. The fingerprint is easily captured using low cost fingerprint scanner. Fingerprint is unique for every person. So it can be used to form multiple passwords to improve the security of the systems. Flow of Diagram representing the Fingerprint Identification The above figure clearly explains the simple methodology of fingerprint verification. In off-line process, the fingerprint of all users are captured and stored in a database. Before storing the raw or original image, the image is enhanced. The fingerprint image when captured for the first time may contain unwanted data ie noise. Because our hands being the most used part of our body may contain wetness, dry, oily or grease; and these images may be treated as noise while capturing the original fingerprint. And hence, to remove the noise, image enhancement techniques like adaptive filtering and adaptive thresholding. Original Fingerprint Image. The standard form factor for the image size is 0.5 to 1.25 inches square and 500 dots per inch. In the above original image, the process of adaptive filtering and thresholding are carried out. The redundancy of parallel ridges is a useful characteristic in image enhancement process. Though there may be discontinuities in a particular ridge, we can determine the flow by applying adaptive, matched filter. This filter is applied to every pixel in the image and the incorrect ridges are removed by applying matched filter. Thereby, the noise is removed and the enhanced image is shown in figure 3. Enhanced Fingerprint Image The enhanced image undergoes feature extraction process wherein: binarization and thinning take place. All fingerprint images do not share same contrast properties as the force applied while pressing may vary for each instance. Hence, the contrast variation is removed by this binarization process using local adaptive thresholding. Thinning is a feature extraction process where the width of the ridges is reduced down to a single pixel. The resultant feature extraction is shown below figure 4. Feature Extraction After Binarization and Thinning The process of minutiae extraction is done as the last step in feature extraction and then the final image is stored in database. Operating upon the thinned image, the minutiae are straightforward to detect and the endings are found at the termination points of thin lines. Bifurcations are found at the junctions of three lines. Feature attributes are determined for each valid minutia found. These consist of: ridge ending, the (x,y) location, and the direction of the ending bifurcation. Although minutia type is usually determined and stored, many fingerprint matching systems do not use this information because discrimination of one from the other is often difficult. The result of the feature extraction stage is what is called a minutia template, as shown in figure 5. This is a list of minutiae with accompanying attribute values. An approximate range on the number of minutiae found at this stage is from 10 to 100. If each minutia is stored with type (1 bit), location (9 bits each for x and y), and direction (8 bits), then each will require 27 bits say 4 bytes and the template will require up to 400 bytes. It is not uncommon to see template lengths of 1024 bytes. Minutiae Template Now, the online process starts. At the verification stage, the template from the claimant fingerprint is compared against that of the enrollee fingerprint. This is done usually by comparing neighborhoods of nearby minutiae for similarity. A single neighborhood may consist of three or more nearby minutiae. Each of these is located at a certain distance and relative orientation from each other. Furthermore, each minutia has its own attributes of type (if it is used) and minutia direction, which are also compared. If comparison indicates only small differences between the neighborhood in the enrollee fingerprint and that in the claimant fingerprint, then these neighborhoods are said to match. This is done exhaustively for all combinations of neighborhoods and if enough similarities are found, then the fingerprints are said to match. Template matching can be visualized as graph matching that is comparing the shapes of graphs joining fingerprint minutiae. A 1:1 matching cannot be carried out and we use a threshold value – termed as match score, usually a number ranging between 0 and 1. Higher the value, higher is the match. Figure 6: Few- Matching in online process Minutiae are extracted from the two fingerprints and stored as sets of points in the two dimensional plane. Minutia-based matching consists of finding the alignment between the template and the input minutiae feature sets, that results in the maximum number of minutiae pairs. 1) Weiguo Sheng et.al In their paper, the authors proposed a memetic fingerprint matching algorithm that aimed to identify optimal global matching between two sets of minutiae. The minutiae local feature representation called the minutiae descriptor that had information about the orientation field sampled in a circular pattern around the minutiae was used by them in the first stage. In the second stage, a genetic algorithm(GA) with a local improvement operator was used to effectively design an efficient algorithm for the minutiae point pattern matching problem. The local improvement operator utilized the nearest neighbor relationship to assign a binary correspondence at each step. Matching function based on the product rule was used for fitness computation. Experimental results over four fingerprint databases confirmed that the memetic fingerprint matching algorithm(MFMA) was reliable. 2) Kai Cao et al A penalized quadratic model to deal with the non-linear distortion in fingerprint matching was presented by the above authors. A fingerprint was represented using minutiae and points sampled at a constant interval on each valid ridge. Similarity between minutiae was estimated by the minutia orientation descriptor based on its neighboring ridge sampling points. Greedy matching algorithm was adopted to establish initial correspondences between minutiae pairs. The proposed algorithm used these correspondences to select landmarks or points to calculate the quadratic model parameters. The input fingerprint is warped according to the quadratic model, and compared with the template to obtain the final similarity score. The algorithm was evaluated on a fingerprint database consisting of 800 fingerprint images. 3) Peng Shi et.al In their paper, the authors proposed a novel fingerprint matching algorithm based on minutiae sets combined with the global statistical features. The two global statistical features of fingerprint image used in their algorithm were mean ridge width and the normalized quality estimation of the whole image. The fingerprint image was enhanced based on the orientation field map. The mean ridge width and the quality estimation of the whole image were got during the enhancement process. Minutiae were extracted on the thinned ridge map to form the minutiae set of the input fingerprint. The algorithm used to estimate the mean ridge width of fingerprint, was based on the block-level on non-overlap windows in fingerprint image. Four databases were used to compute the matching performance of the algorithm. 4) Sharat Chikkerur et.al The local neighborhood of each minutiae was defined by a representation called K-plet that is invariant under translation and rotation. The local structural relationship of the K-plet was encoded in the form of a graph wherein each minutiae was represented by a vertex and each neighboring minutiae by a directed graph. Dynamic programming algorithm was used to match the local neighborhood. A Coupled Breadth First Search algorithm was proposed to consolidate all the local matches between the two fingerprints. The performance of the matching algorithm was evaluated on a database consisting of 800 images. 5) Jin Qi and Yang Sheng Wang They proposed a minutiae-based fingerprint matching method. They defined a novel minutiae feature vector that integrated the minutiae details of the fingerprint with the orientation field information that was invariant to rotation and translation. It captured information on ridge-flow pattern. A triangular match method that was robust to non-linear deformation was used. The orientation field and minutiae were combined to determine the matching score. They evaluated the performance of their algorithm on a public domain collection of 800 fingerprint images. 6) Atanu Chatterjee et.al Another method for fingerprint identification and verification by minutiae feature extraction was proposed by the above authors. Minutiae were extracted from the thinned ridges from the fingerprint images and these feature matrices were applied as input data set to the Artificial Neural Network. Post processing was done to remove false minutia. Back propagation algorithm was used to train the network. Extracted features of the input fingerprint were verified with stored trained weights and threshold values. Experiments were conducted on 160 fingerprint images and the proposed system exhibited an accuracy of 95%. 7) Tsai Yang Jea et.al A flow network-based fingerprint matching technique for partial fingerprints was introduced by. For each minutiae along with its two nearest neighbors, a feature vector was generated which was used for the matching process. Minimum cost flow (MCF) problem algorithm was used to find the one-to-one correspondence between the feature vectors and the list of possibly matched features was obtained. A two hidden layer fully connected Neural Network was proposed to calculate the similarity score. Their experiments on two fingerprint databases showed that using neural networks for generating similarity scores improved accuracy. 8) Marius Tico et.al They have proposed a method of fingerprint matching based on a novel representation for the minutiae. The proposed minutiae representation incorporated ridge orientation information in a circular region, describing the appearance of the fingerprint pattern around the minutiae. Average Fingerprint Ridge period was evaluated to select the sampling points around the minutiae. Matching algorithm was based on point pattern matching. To recover the geometric transformation between the two fingerprint impressions, a registration stage was included. The Greedy algorithm was used to construct a set of corresponding minutiae. Experiments were conducted on two public domain collections of fingerprint images and were found to achieve good performance. 9) Asker M.Bazen et. al A minutiae matching method using a local and global matching stage was presented by Asker M. Bazen et. Al. Their elastic matching algorithm estimated the non-linear transformation model in two stages. The local matching algorithm compared each minutia neighborhood in the test fingerprint to each minutia neighborhood in the template fingerprints. Least square algorithm was used to align the two structures to obtain a list of corresponding minutia pairs. Global transformation was done to optimally register the two fingerprints that represented the elastic deformations by a thin-plate spline (TPS) model. The TPS model describes the transformed coordinates independently as a function of the original coordinates. Local and global alignments were used to determine the matching score. Conclusion This paper, we presented Fingerprint identification and verification based on minutiae based matching. The original fingerprint captures is pre-processed and the pattern is stored in the database for verification and identification. The pre-processing of the original fingerprint involves image binarization, ridge thinning, and noise removal. Fingerprint Recognition using Minutiae Score Matching method is used for matching the minutiae points. Usually a technique called minutiae matching is used to be able to handle automatic fingerprint recognition with a computer system. In this literature review, nine papers are explored and an insight is obtained regarding different methods. References: [1] Weiguo Sheng, Gareth Howells, Michael Fairhurst, and Farzin Deravi,(2007), â€Å"A Memetic Fingerprint Matching Algorithm†, IEEE Transactions On Information Forensics And Security. [2] Aparecido Nilceu Marana and Anil K. Jain, (2005), â€Å"Ridge-Based Fingerprint Matching Using Hough Transform†, IEEE Computer Graphics and Image Processing, 18th Brazilian Symposium pp. 112-119. [3] Koichi Ito, Ayumi Morita, Takafumi Aoki, Tatsuo Higuchi, Hiroshi Nakajima, and Koji Kobayashi, (2005), â€Å"A Fingerprint Recognition Algorithm using Phase-Based Image Matching for low quality fingerprints†, IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, Vol. 2, pp. 33-36. [4] Kai Cao, Yang, X., Tao, X., Zhang, Y., Tian, J. ,(2009), â€Å"A novel matching algorithm for distorted fingerprints based on penalized quadratic model†, IEEE 3rd International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications, and Systems, pp. 1-5. [5] Anil K. Jain and Jianjiang Feng, (2011), â€Å"Latent Fingerprint Matching†, IEEE Transactions On Pattern Analysis And Machine Intelligence, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 88-100. [6] Unsang Park, Sharath Pankanti, A. K. Jain, (2008), â€Å"Fingerprint Verification Using SIFT Features†, SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, Orlando, Florida, pp. 69440K-69440K. [7] Anil Jain, Yi Chen, and Meltem Demirkus, (2007), â€Å"Pores and Ridges: High-Resolution Fingerprint Matching Using Level 3 Features†, IEEE Transactions On Pattern Analysis And Machine Intelligence, Vol. 29, No.1, pp. 15-27. [8] Mayank Vatsa, Richa Singh, Afzel Noore, Max M. Houck, (2008), â€Å"Quality-augmented fusion of level-2 and level-3 fingerprint information using DSm theory†, Sciencedirect International Journal of Approximate Reasoning 50, no. 1, pp. 51–61. [9] Haiyun Xu, Raymond N. J. Veldhuis, Asker M. Bazen, Tom A. M. Kevenaar, Ton A. H. M. Akkermans and Berk Gokberk ,(2009), â€Å"Fingerprint Verification Using Spectral Minutiae Representations†,IEEE Transactions On Information Forensics And Security, Vol. 4, No. 3,pp. 397-409. [10] Mayank Vatsa, Richa Singh, Afzel Noore and Sanjay K. Singh ,(2009),â€Å"Combining Pores and Ridges with Minutiae for Improved Fingerprint Verification†, Elsevier, Signal Processing 89, pp.2676–2685. [11] Jiang Li, Sergey Tulyakov and Venu Govindaraju, (2007), â€Å"Verifying Fingerprint Match by Local Correlation Methods†, First IEEE International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications,and Systems, pp.1-5. [12] Xinjian Chen, Jie Tian, Xin Yang, and Yangyang Zhang, (2006), â€Å"An Algorithm for Distorted Fingerprint Matching Based on Local Triangle Feature Set†, IEEE Transactions On Information Forensics And Security, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 169-177. [13] Peng Shi, Jie Tian, Qi Su, and Xin Yang, (2007), â€Å"A Novel Fingerprint Matching Algorithm Based on Minutiae and Global Statistical Features†, First IEEE International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications, and Systems, pp. 1-6. [14] Qijun Zhao, David Zhang, Lei Zhang and Nan Luo, (2010), â€Å"High resolution partial fingerprint alignment using pore–valley descriptors†, Pattern Recognition, Volume 43 Issue 3, pp. 1050- 1061. [15] Liu Wei-Chao and Guo Hong-tao ,(2014), † Occluded Fingerprint Recognition Algorithm Based on Multi Association Features Match â€Å", Journal Of Multimedia, Vol. 9, No. 7, pp. 910—917 [16] Asker M. Bazen, Gerben T.B. Verwaaijen, Sabih H. Gerez, Leo P.J. Veelenturf and Berend Jan van der Zwaag, (2000), A correlation-based fingerprint verification system , ProRISC 2000 Workshop

Gloagburn Farm Shop And Coffee Shop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Gloagburn Farm Shop And Coffee Shop - Essay Example The restaurant also offers take away and picnic arrangements. Though the firm had previously won several awards in various categories, with the rising competition its future doesn’t seem very promising (PKC government, 2012). A situational analysis has been conducted using SWOT and Porter’s five-force analysis to assess its present situation and its future progress. 1.SWOT ANALYSIS 1.1Strengths 1.1.1 Products Gloagburn has a nice breakfast and lunch offering with options like porridge, eggs, bacon brunch and various coffee options. For lunch they offer fresh soup, sandwiches, baked potatoes and fresh bread etc. they also have a wide dessert variety like fruit crumbles, pies, cakes scones and different tarts to name a few. Such an offering is appreciated by the customers as the products a farm fresh that make all the difference (Gloagburn, 2012). The restaurant has also won Scottish Food and Drink Excellence Award 2009 and many other awards in 2004 (PKC government, 2012) . 1.1.2.Restaurant environment The main strength of the coffee shop is its location and its environment of a farmhouse. Customers get a feel of the countryside, which is its main competitive edge. Away from the hustle of city life the serenity and the friendliness of the place is what attracts the customers (Gloagburn, 2012). ... 1.1.4 Ingredients The ingredients are another factor that give the SME its competitive edge over the competition. This is because not every restaurant can boast to have in-grown ingredients like turnips, potatoes, fresh meat etc. 1.1.5 Low cost of production 1. 2 Weakness 1.2.1 The service The services was commendable when the restaurant was smaller, however, with the expansion by increasing the seating area outdoors also, the service is not as sufficient as before. This is because every order is prepared from scratch, which is good however, the wait for meal to arrive is long and the customers have to wait for a long time. The restaurant was fine with a smaller setup however; there are issues especially in terms of services when the restaurant increased on the size. There were some complaints regarding the attitude of the waiters towards the customers, which could in turn be bad for the customer flow and ultimately have a bad impact on the restaurant reputation. 1.2.2. Self-supplier s This is though considered a strength but it is also a weakness. This is because the supplies quantity is limited and thus there is only a certain amount that the restaurant can produce. After this limit is exhausted, more supplies cannot be obtained and thus this limits the expansion of the restaurant. Moreover, if on a particular day, the customers’ demand exceeds the farm’s capacity to produce, the customers will be disappointed. On the other hand, if a commercial restaurant is considered that outsources its supplies, it may not face this problem as it may over stock or under stock depending on the demand predictability (Gloagburn, 2012). 1.2.3 Losses in terms of decayed products. The restaurant may also

Management discussion and analysis of McDonald Company (MD&A) Essay

Management discussion and analysis of McDonald Company (MD&A) - Essay Example McDonald Company is a US based company and has branches worldwide. The company has opened several branches in order to reach out to an ever growing number of customers in other countries. The company aims in opening the branches are to achieve long-term goals, which are maximization of profits and competitiveness in the market (Connolly, 2007 P. 109). When the company has several branches, it is at a better stage of producing products at low cost of production and, therefore, maximizing their profits. In addition, opening several outlets means that other companies will not imitate the company’s product and implement them in their own countries. This enables the company to stay relevant in the market since their products will be unique due to lack of competition. Reference Connolly, B. M. (2007). International Business Finance. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Fried, G., Shapiro, J. S. & DeSchriver, T. (2008). Sport Finance-2nd Edition. New York, NY: Human Kinetics. Question 2 I choose to take an overview of the Management Discussion and Analysis of McDonald Company (MD&A). There are several fascinating things to learn from the company. First, The Company perceives itself as a franchisor and assumes franchising is significant to providing great, locally pertinent client experience as well as driving profitability. Second, McDonald’s revenues include sales by Organization-operated restaurants as well as fees from restaurants managed by franchisees Third, the firm is operated as separate geographic sections.... A, NJ: Pascal Press Question 3 Coast leadership, differentiation, as well as, focus strategies are applicable separately regarding any organization or environment. Any attempt to combine as well as reconciling the three strategies would lead in organizations being stuck along the way. The main reason why the three may not work together is because they differ on various dimensions and brings different requirements. These include resources, industry arrangement, skills, control procedures as well as management method. However, both cost leadership and differentiation strategies are unable to coexist in some firms while reconcilable in other industries. According to various studies done by scholars on manufacturing firms, it is clear that differentiators also engaged variables commonly linked to cost leadership strategy (Brigham et al, 2011 P. 87). Cost leadership strategy on the other side, also showed characteristics normally associated with differentiators. It suggests that there are no pure strategies and that both differentiation, as well as cost leadership, must be taken into consideration. McDonald company is one of American firms that have utilized differentiation strategy. The strategy calls for the creation of both product and service, which offers exclusive attributes, which are treasured by customers. The company learnt that the parent based there purchasing decision mostly on price. The McDonalds marketing executive, therefore, did what was seen as ingenious. They attached a $.50 toy in several of their products including the hamburger, French fries as well as coke. They went ahead, named the product a happy meal, and marketed it to the children. The industry knew that some clients visit its stores only to take a short break from their days work and not

George W. Bush Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

George W. Bush - Essay Example This made an impact on the life of the young Bush. He also traveled far and wide soliciting donations and help from powerful people. (nurture) As a young boy, he was wise-cracking and strong-willed. This is due to his upbringing. He comes from a clan who is well-regarded in society. His constant companions were boys who belonged to politically-influential families and the elite in society. He was carefree, one time he was caught for painting a mustache in his face while in Music class. But he was a leader, President of his class and involved a lot in extra-curricular activities. Sometimes though, he was a problem to his mother because of some reports from school. As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones, one of the oldest secret student societies in the United States whose past members included prominent personalities. He was described as extremely gregarious, but a notoriously poor dresser, made many friends, bridging the growing divide between the public school graduates who were entering Yale and the "preppies." He became a president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and enjoyed parties, drinking, watching and playing football, and dating. He was booked on misdemeanor charge for being part of a prank that involved stealing a Christmas wreath for the frat house. Theories of Personality Freud's theory of personality - the Oedipal complex - works in this stage of the case study. The identification to the father is crucial in the development of the boy - the young Bush had incorporated the moral values and ideals of his president father and has identified himself to him, thus he himself struggled and worked hard to become president himself. As opposed to Freud's theory is the social learning theory which originated from the behavioral writings of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner. According to this theory, the process of learning is of central importance to personality development. Social learning theorists believe that people are influenced by the situations they are in. Bush was much influenced by the situation he was in. He was a student leader - president of a class - and was involved in activities that would make him a leader and a prominent figure in American politics. This means that his personality was learned from school and the environment. The social learning view of personality is vastly different from that of the psychoanalysis of Freud. Freud's concept of psychoanalysis focused on the unconscious mind, or the developmental states that are of primary importance to psychoanalysis. But social learning theorists focus their study of development in learning. Personality is something that is learned, or, the sum total of all the ways that people learned to act, think and feel. It is called social learning because the process is learned from other people. Personality is no more than learned behavior and that the way to understand personality is simply to understand the processes of learning. To social learning theorists, the key concepts in the study of personality are not the id, ego, and superego, as espoused by Freud, but classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and modeling. The

Sexual harrassment in the workplace Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sexual harrassment in the workplace - Article Example The writer believes that sexual harassment is a costly matter at company level and on a personal level for the victims. Consequences companies can face are in three levels: business consequences, legal consequences and personal consequences. Business consequences are such as low productivity among staff members. Sexual harassment reduces the victims’ morale. Some victims who were valuable to the company end up resigning from their jobs. Companies would also have to deal with unnecessary operational costs. In a hypothetical situation, these costs are identifiable when a senior member of the staff in the company goes on a business trip with a junior staff member. The senior member wants the junior member to satisfy their sexual needs and work related obligations. In that case, the cost incurred in funding the junior member’s trip is a waste of company resources (Prekel, 2010). The writer argues that the consequences also extend to a company’s reputation. For exampl e, the writer postulates a situation whereby somebody discovers that a company has cases of sexual harassment. The person finds out again that the management of that the company is lax in dealing with the harassment cases. The writer states that this revelation would dent the company’s image among clients and the public. Consequences under legal actions are such as costs the company will have to incur in litigation. By law, employers should account for any cases of sexual harassment under their purview regardless of their knowledge or ignorance of sexual harassment at the workplace. Another possible consequence could be that a harasser who has faced disciplinary action can take advantage of the fact that, the company does not have a clear sexual harassment policy to challenge the action taken against him. This reaction means that the company would have to incur the cost of defending their action in a court of law financially. On a personal level, victims get

MIDTERM EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MIDTERM EXAM - Essay Example The framers of the Constitution, most notably James Madison advocated the interrelated and interdependent systems of values, political structures and political processes. These interconnected systems are the very essence of a democratic government which derives its authority from its people which consequently makes it a government by the people. With these, it likewise carries the responsibility of safeguarding liberty and the prevention of tyranny, which can be inferred in the Constitution itself. . When the Constitution speaks of values it refers to popular consent and personal liberty among others. The United States Constitution was passed to preserve individual liberties against the incursions by the government. This preservation of individual liberties is all enshrined to what is termed as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the set of prescriptions setting forth the fundamental civil and political rights of the individual; similarly, it imposes limitations on the power of government as a means of securing the enjoyment of the aforesaid rights. The Bill of Rights is distinctively designed to preserve the ideals of liberty, equality and security. The Bill of Rights is enshrined in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. With respect to political structures, the United States Constitution provides for the Separation of Power and the s... This is such, for the reason that no one branch had enough power to dominate the other. These branches of government were independent of each other, but necessitated to cooperate with each other to govern. In the Federalist No. 51, Madison wrote "the great security against a gradual concentration of several powers in the same department consists in giving those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others." And as such, the separation of power prevents a concentration of authority in one person or one group which might lead to an irreversible error or abuse in its exercise to the detriment of the democratic institution of the country. Such separation of powers is designed to secure actions, preclude over action, and prevent despotism and to achieve efficiency. On the other hand, the Principle of Checks and Balances is a system by which the Constitution provides each department certain powers by which it may definitely restrain the other branch form improvident action, which in so doing, maintains the balance among the branches of government and accordingly preserves the will of the sovereign as expressed in the constitution. Political Processes encompasses free and fair elections, majority rules and freedom of speech among others. The free and fair elections are manifested in the constitution wherein it is provided that as a republican government, it is incumbent upon the people to select their representatives who will make decisions for them. Election is a form of participation wherein people engage in political processes of shaping the government's authority. And it is through election

Human rights in Turkey and United Kingdom Research Proposal

Human rights in Turkey and United Kingdom - Research Proposal Example The intention of this study is human right that covers thousands of years of religious, cultural, legal and philosophical developments of history. Many ancient documents philosophies and religious texts included concepts that can be considered as human rights of those times. For example, the Edicts of Ashoka given by Ashoka the Great of India, the Constitution of Medina in 622 A.D., issued by Mohammad. One of the most significant historical documents is the English Magna Carta of 1215. Modern interpretation of human rights is significantly influenced by the various historical documents that lay considerable importance on human rights. Many events led to the formation of the philosophy of human rights. The British Bill of 1689 made many harsh governmental acts illegal in the United Kingdom. Two other important events were when the United States and France adopted the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen respectively, both these revolutions established certain legal rights. These events were followed by many philosophers such as Thomas Paine, Hegel and William Lloyd contributing to the development of the philosophy of human rights. The term ‘human rights’ came into use sometime between Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man and Lloyds writings in The Liberator. In North America and Western Europe many labor unions worked towards making labor laws, regulating or forbidding child labor, the right to strike and the like. National liberation movements, like Mahatma Gandhi's independence movement in India, proved successful in driving out colonial rule. The women's right movement was successful in getting women the right to vote. Among other movements were the civil rights movement and movements on behalf of women and minorities. The foundations of the International Humanitarian Law were laid by the establishment of the Red Cross, the Geneva Conventions and the Lieber Code in 1864. This set the stage for further development of human rights after the two

Nursing acutely ill patient Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Nursing acutely ill patient - Essay Example This work is mainly going to discuss the management of patients admitted in Accident and Emergency departments suffering from Angina. It also focuses on the treatment, pathophysiology, monitoring, and reassurance. Angina can also be referred to as Angina Pectoris1. Angina is condition causes a severe pain in the chest that often spreads to the arms, shoulders and neck. This condition is mainly caused by inadequate blood supply to the heart muscles. Angina is discomfort or chest pain that is caused when the heart section is deprived of oxygen2. It is also subjected to a symptom of heart disease like the Coronary artery disease. There are three main types of angina. They include, variant angina, stable and unstable angina. Variant angina is a type of angina that occurs when one is at rest or during sleeping hours3. It is very easy to treat using medication. This type of angina in not common and occurs free of atherosclerosis that might be there incidentally. 4Some researchers state tha t variant angina occurs because of coronary artery muscle contraction. Stable angina is the most common type of angina that takes place the heart is overworked. It is easy to predict when it can occur, for instance, when carrying out some activities. Stable angina can be relieved either by rest or through angina medications5. The last type of angina, unstable angina, follows an unpredictable pattern unlike stable angina. It can occur during an activity or when at rest. It is rather complex because it cannot be relieved by both medication and rest. Its occurrence may indicate an impending heart attack. 6The symptoms of angina include; sensation of heaviness or pressing pain on the chest under sternum, the breast bone. The pain is mainly experienced in the arms, neck, jaw regions and shoulder. Physical exertion normally increases the condition because angina occurs only when the heart requires excess oxygen beyond the available oxygen from the blood that nourishes the heart. The main causes of angina are extreme temperatures, smoking cigarette, emotional stress, heavy meals and alcohol. Some of the causes of angina are very serious and threatens life. Musculoskeletal is one of the most common causes of chest pain that are common in patients under forty years. Some of the causes of chest discomfort include respiratory causes such as pleurisy and pulmonary embolism, the digestive causes such as esophageal spasm and heartburn7. The worst condition that threatens life is the cardiac chest pain. Cardiac chest pain sums to 18% of the chest pain cases combined. Chest pain reports sums up to 40% of the admissions in emergency hospitals out of which, 5% visits the Accident and Emergency departments. It is very important to differentiate between non-cardiac and cardiac pain in the admissions of chest pain in a hospital, even though, it can be hard to be sure about the nature8. Early assessment helps to know if there is a heart disease within a patient while early treatmen t increases the survival chances of the patient. It is therefore important to do early assessment and early treatment in order to discover the presence of a heart disease and increase the patient’s survival chances respectively. According to various statistics, the incidences of Coronary Heart Disease have been increasing for the last decades; though there were, low death rates. The

The significance of conflict Essay Example for Free

The significance of conflict Essay In the Kite Runner, conflict is evident throughout; physical conflict of the war, Baba’s internal fight against cancer, Hassan’s constant battle with the society he lived in, Sohrab’s struggle to accept and trust Amir, but none more prominent than Amir’s conflict with his emotions and his own image of himself. The entirety of Hosseini’s novel is based around the self-conscious narrative of a guilty man who struggles to come to terms with the consequences of the, decisively wrong, decisions he made as a child, which seems to have caused a domino effect on his whole life, never truly able to make the right choice until the end of the novel when he finally chose to stand up and stand up for what is right instead of running and hiding- saving the last ounce of his brothers happiness, his son, Sohrab. The very first line of the novel is suggestive of Amir’s inner turmoil, â€Å"I became what I am today at the age of twelve†, as it gives the impression that he doesn’t even think himself to deserve being thought of as human, but rather prefers to be looked at as some sort of creature, incapable of acting in a humane manner, through the authors choice for the narrator to use the word â€Å"what†, rather than â€Å"who†, in the hopes of making us dislike the narrator, as he does himself. This emotional havoc that he faces effects the resolution of the story, as the crushing remorse that he has carried with him since he was twelve years old, propelled him forward, so he could finally begin to unload some of it after having done a good deed, his actions pleading for forgiveness from all he has hurt, especially Hassan, his friend and brother. Robert Browning’s ‘The Laboratory’ is a poem about the conflicted emotions of a woman who wishes to punish those who have hurt her, seeming to be very enthusiastic about the crime she was about to commit, though her confidence can be used to mask the way she was desperately trying to fight her conflicted emotions away. In my opinion, the female narrator in this poem is trying desperately to hide the fact that she is undoubtedly terrified of the reality of what she was doing, which is shown in the way Browning writes â€Å"He  is with her, and they know that I know†- the simplistic, monosyllabic structure of this line suggests that the narrator feels that she must remind herself of the thing that her driven her to act in such a way, fuelling her anger so she was able to complete the task with no remorse. As the poem begins in medias res, we aren’t entirely sure of the events that occurred that were able to drive her to such a point, in which she had contemplated taking another person’s life, but we do know that it was these occurrences that caused the confusing mix of feelings that swarmed her mind and affected the resolution of the poem. Her confusion seems to be a result of the narrators need for some sort of revenge, to soothe her pain, heartbreak and humiliation combined with sorrow, as she seems to believe the affair was entirely her partner’s mistress’s fault as she was said to have â€Å"ensnared him†, still loving her companion dearly. This anger pushed her forwards into doing something she wasn’t entirely comfortable in doing, her anxiousness being repeatedly shown throughout the poem in her curiosity, for example â€Å"is that poison too?†, yet she completes the task she set out to so as to punish those she felt necessary. In The Patriot, one of the types of conflict experienced by the narrator would be an internal battle over whether he truly considered himself to be guilty of the crime they were punishing him for. It is suggested throughout the poem, that the narrator is a man who has fallen from grace, after having been considered a God-like figure that everybody respected and looked to for guidance, but failed to provide it, even though he tried his best. For example, a quote from the poem says â€Å"it was I who leaped at the sun to give it to my loving friends to keep†, giving the impression that he really did try to give the best to the people of the town as he cared for them all, considering them as his closest friends, and is trying to convince the reader that he is not guilty, pleading innocence, as the only crime he had committed was being human, and making a mistake. His own opposition to this argument, however, is underlying all of his words, in the repetitive and never changing rhyme scheme, which is indicative of his resignation and acceptance of his fate, choosing unconsciously not to argue with what the people were doing to him, because he, in some ways, agrees with what they are doing as, though he doesn’t feel guilty of the things they say he did,  he feels responsible for his actions causing so much trouble. This affects the resolution of the story as the narrator seemingly allows the people do whatever they please, choosing to surrender without a fight, glad to be gone in the end as he feels he would be safer with God- â€Å"God shall repay: I am safer so.† In Browning’s ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’, there is a more overt physical conflict between two of the main characters of the poem; the mayor and the pied piper. The resolution of the poem was affected by a dispute over an issue of pride and money. The piper was a very proud man, who was well aware of his capabilities and wanted to ensure everyone who knew him, knew that he was their hero, believing he deserved some sort of recognition for his talents, in a rather arrogant manner as he is seen to boast to anyone who will listen about the challenges he had already faced, and those he planned to face, in his ‘career’- â€Å"having left, in the Caliph’s kitchen, Of a nest of scorpions no survivor†, choosing to name drop, to show how impressive he was thought to be. The selfish nature of the mayor is portrayed in the way that he is said to have spent the taxes of the townspeople on â€Å"gowns lines with ermine† for himself and the rest of his â€Å"corporation†, when the town was writhing in rats that were wreaking havoc in everyone’s daily lives. This clash of personalities affected the resolution of the poem greatly as, had the mayor not been so completely concerned with his own wellbeing over that of the town he was supposed to be looking after, and paid what the pied piper was promised and deserving of (â€Å"A thousand guilders! Come take fifty†), the piper would not have been angered and humiliated, and so, would not have resulted in the capturing of the children of the town.

Issues and challenges faced by Starbucks corporation

Issues and challenges faced by Starbucks corporation In 1971, four people fill with passion of coffee open their first coffee retail store-Starbucks in Seattle, Washington. By 1981, the company had 4 retail stores, which were sale whole bean coffee. Howard Schultz, who is the chairman and CEO of Starbucks, was hired and join the marketing team in 1982. At that time, Schultz wanted to create an idea that Starbucks become Americans third place to go, which is a place people can enjoy, relax themselves and not far away from work or home. Hence, Schultz suggested company set up an espresso bar in the retail, hence, the idea was allow to test in the sixth store in 1983. From then on, the development of company increased significantly. Few years later, Schultz bought Starbuck. After Schultz took over the company, Starbucks turn into high-speed expansion stage. By 1992, Starbucks already had 140 stores, which serviced coffee, beverage, cake and some stores even sold jazz CDs (Tuck business school, 2002). Now, Starbucks is worldwide company wi th 17,800 stores in 49 countries including more than 10000 stores in US, 1000 in Canada and 800 in UK (google map, 2010) Methods Data collection methods Methodology As members of Group 8 (ASB 4431 Organisations People Assignment Groups 2010-11) perusing a Masters degree in Bangor University, have done a report on Starbucks critically evaluating the organisations structure, strategy, culture, and management/leadership style. Data collection method The research strategy that the study utilized is the explanatory or Analytical research approach. As this study is based on our analysis of Starbucks, structure, culture, leadership and other issues would be explored; questions will need answering thereby a need to understand the phenomena. The use of a Qualitative data analysis will be employed since the data we use will all be non-numeric data. Saunders et al, (2009) Source of data Secondary data was obtained from already existing data mainly from Starbucks website, other Internet sources, journals and textbooks. Issues and challenges There are three issues considered in this report, first is the resource constrains, most of the articles we found are all available online, however not all of them are free to assess, especially for those authoritative articles that always need to pay to assess, for example, the book named Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, which written by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is a good reference for our report, however, we can not assess it without buying it. Second issues is the lack of critical review for Starbucks, most paper we found was regard Starbucks as the positive example in explaining organisational behaviour, there is no doubt that Starbucks doing a great job in rewarding their employees, however it brings challenges to be critical in our report. The final issues is the ethical and legal issues, as all the article we found can published publicly, and we all using appropriate reference, as a result, there is no ethical and legal issues to co nsider for our report. Analysis In this study, qualitative data analysis has been conducted to evaluate the organisational feature of Starbucks Corporation rather than using quantitative analysis such as statistical analysis.   In order to gather the data, remote data collection, such as Internet search and literature review about has been mainly conducted.   The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the organisation structure, strategy, culture and management or leadership applications of Starbucks Corporation, therefore all information are gathered by internet search and literature review.   In order to analyse gathered data to evaluate feature of Starbucks Corporation, observed data analysis method has been practiced.   Comprehensive search for several facts related to structure, strategy, culture and management/leadership applications of Starbucks, has been executed by using Internet search and literature review.   Afterwards, critical evaluation has been conducted to link all information or ganically.   Finally, all analysis results were integrated and final conclusion has been created. Results Overview of corporate strategy business goals Mission statement A mission statement is a brief description of an organisations fundamental purpose, which is steered in outlining the existence of the organisation; this is to enable members of the organisation to be aware of the companys purpose as well as the general public. (David, 2009) A mission statement should be a short and brief declaration of goals and objectives. The primary goal of any business is to maximize stakeholder worth, which includes shareholders of the business, business employees and clients or customers who purchase business goods and services. (David, 2009; Abell, 1980) Diverse works have outlined what should be covered in a mission statement (Abell, 1980; Pearce and David, 1987). It is not the content of the mission statement that really matters but rather the process used to prepare the document and the principles employed to fulfil the prepared document (Mullane, 2002). In the mission statement of Starbucks which talks about inspiring and nurturing the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighbourhood with principles to live out every day as an organisation to fulfil their mission statement. The principles below are what Starbucks employ in achieving their mission statement; Our Coffee; It has always been, and will always be, about quality. Were passionate about ethically sourcing the finest coffee beans, roasting them with great care, and improving the lives of people who grow them. We care deeply about all of this; our work is never done. Our Partners; Were called partners, because its not just a job, its our passion. Together, we embrace diversity to create a place where each of us can be ourselves. We always treat each other with respect and dignity. And we hold each other to that standard. Our Customers; When we are fully engaged, we connect with, laugh with, and uplift the lives of our customers even if just for a few moments. Sure, it starts with the promise of a perfectly made beverage, but our work goes far beyond that. Its really about human connection. Our Stores; When our customers feel this sense of belonging, our stores become a haven, a break from the worries outside, a place where you can meet with friends. Its about enjoyment at the speed of life sometimes slow and savored, sometimes faster. Always full of humanity. Our Neighbourhood; Every store is part of a community, and we take our responsibility to be good neighbours seriously. We want to be invited in wherever we do business. We can be a force for positive action bringing together our partners, customers, and the community to contribute every day. Now we see that our responsibility and our potential for good is even larger. The world is looking to Starbucks to set the new standard, yet again. We will lead. Our Shareholders; We know that as we deliver in each of these areas, we enjoy the kind of success that rewards our shareholders. We are fully accountable to get each of these elements right so that Starbucks and everyone it touches can endure and thrive. Environmental Mission Statement; Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business Our Starbucks Mission Statement; Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time. (Starbucks: Our Mission Statements) Business strategy To understand and analyse corporate strategy and business goal of Starbucks, we firstly need to have a clue of what corporate strategy is. By Johnson and Scholes, corporate strategy is defined as: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. In the case of Starbucks, the organization is employing Porters Differentiation Focus Strategy. This strategy provides a product or service to a specific market niche and differentiates from competition in specific areas. (Rebecca Larson, 2009) Starbucks does not exist as a low-cost company to the competitors. It focuses on the specialized selections, provides specially tailored lines of coffee and tea related products for a premium price. Starbucks does not promote itself by using traditional means; they generally concentrate on high-level marketing and branding by word-of-mouth, as well as alliances and partnerships. They try not to promote the company, however automatically they are promoted by providing customer support and also their excellent works in which up to now has becoming a successful strategy. By the companys hard work, focusing on details and ethical decision-making, customers have experienced a wonderful service, as a result, the company gradually built up its reputation and becoming one of the most valuable global brands.(Theodore,2002,p.62) It is incredible that Starbuckss achievement with very few commercials, ads or any other kind of marketing means. Starbucks could not become a coffee-related products giant retailer and remain long-term success only by selling coffee on its own. One important part of the companys strategy is strategic alliances, which could also be called joint venture approach. This strategy leads the globalization of the company with higher recognition and reputation of the brand also exposing the brand to other potential customers. The variety of companys products is relatively being expanded demographically and geographically. For example, in order to advance social and economic equality, the company allied with NAACP, the company donated and together with NAACP organized events for social equality has becoming a great success. It showed that Starbucks is no longer a simple business organization, it also exists as a charity and that brings the company higher reputation. They also partnered with Barnes and Noble bookstores to be the in-house coffee shop in 1993, (Isidro, 2004) co-produce coffee-related drinks such as Starbucks Frappuccino with PepsiCo from 1996, formed alliances with ice-cream manufactures and hotel chains to offer Starbucks brand and flavored ice-creams and Starbucks coffees within the hotels (Rebecca Larson, 2009). Explanation of organisational structure Board Committee organization structure of Starbucks The structure of Starbucks Company is shown in Figure 1.   As mentioned by Starbucks Corporation Fiscal Annual Report (2009), as group member of the Board of Directors, Howard Schultz was appointed to Companys chairman and chief executive. Barbara Bass, William W. Bradley, Mellody Hobson, Olden Lee, James G. Shennan, Javier G. Teruel, Myron E. Ullman and Graig E. Weatherup were appointed to director individually. Kevin R. Johnson and Sheryl Sandberg were appointed to Chief Operating Officer individually. Additional, Starbuck Corporation consisted of 38 members of Senior Officers. Board Committees are composed of Audit and Compliance Committee, Corporation Compensation and Management Development Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Composition Job Design Board of Director The Board of Director inclusive twelve members, independence of each member are requested to meet of the NASDAQ Stock Market efficiently. When Board getting direction about recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Board of Directors will appoint a new member in case of there is a vacancy occupation occur on the Board. The Board of Directors of Starbucks Company are responsible for monitoring company powers and ensuring that the company business meet goals which is requested by shareholders. The Board have responsibility to select nominees for the Board of Directors who have appropriate qualifications and diversity of backgrounds experiences. And also, it is in charge of appointing chief operating officer.   (Starbucks Corporation Fiscal Annual Report, 2009) Composition Job Design Audit and Compliance Committee The Audit and Compliance Committee are in charge of financial reporting and internal, external audit processes. The Committee assists the Board of Director reviewing financial issue. The Committee was appointed from the Board of Directors. The Committee have three members at least and all of them shall match The NASDAQ Stock Market requirements independence. The Committee be recommended by the Corporate Governance Committee, and finally appointed by the Board of Director. The Committee has authority to investigate any financial activity and free access to members of management. It is retain independent legal counsel. All employees have responsibility to assisting members of the Committee investigation (Starbucks Corporation Audit And Compliance Committee Charter, 2010) Composition Job Design Corporation Compensation and Management Development Committee The Compensation and Management Development Committee has responsible for working with management to establish appropriate compensation practices for the Company. There are deciding the benefits and compensations for senior officers of the Company. The Committee consists of three members at lease, which one member be required come from Board of Director. The members of Committee will be pointed from Board as well. The Committee conducts an annual review of companys compensation for Senior Officer instead of president and chairman. Together with the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee, the Chair of the Committee shall annually review the performance of the president and chief operating officer and meet with them to share the findings of such review when after discussing with the member of independent directors of the Board (Starbucks Corporation Compensation and Management Development Committee Charter, 2010). Composition Job Design Corporation Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee The Corporate Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures of the Board of Directors. They are intended to constitute and organize appropriately to meet its obligations to Starbucks Company and its shareholders. The Committee will be comprised of at least three members, all of whom have to meet the independence requirements of the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC as well as. Under Board of Directors direction, members of the Committee and a Chair of the Committee shall be appointed. The Board of Directors shall appoint a new member or members, which is a vacancy on the Committee. The Committee have professional capability to assist Board identifying candidates personality. Reviewing the Companys Corporate Governance Principles and Practices annually according to changing shareholders interests and suggesting appropriate modifications to the Board of Directors. And evaluate the overall effectiveness of the organization of the Board Committees performance. Evaluation of the organisation structure of Starbucks According to SeaZone (2009), organisation structure of Starbucks Company is Matrix structure.  Ã‚  This is one type of organisation structures that is presented by Gareth Morgan.   The organisation structure is quite important to manage organisation, it plays important role for organisations activities.  Ã‚  Moreover, the organisation structure is related to its business purpose and aims. (Mullins, 2005)   Matrix structure is the organisation structure that has both of vertical structure and strong horizontal structure.   It requires employees to have two reporting relationships concurrently.  Ã‚  In this structure, employees work in provisional group constituted by employees from different function.  Ã‚  There are two lines of authority in this structure and employees have two bosses in their team namely boss for their project and boss for their function. (Mullins, 2005) Specific future of matrix structure Matrix structure provides organisation flexibility, and contributes to keep security and control of project information.  Ã‚  Moreover, organisation can have a possibility to develop stuff well.  Ã‚  (Mullins, 2005)  Ã‚  However, there are some disadvantages of matrix structure.  Ã‚  At first, there is limitation of number of employees who report to the project manager directly, because most of all stuffs are assigned from department managers.  Ã‚  This situation may lead uncertainty in organisation and employees may be unwilling to accept that their situation is changed constantly and willing that they establish in their functional group.  Ã‚  Next, matrix structure has a possibility that organisation make more complex.  Ã‚  Thirdly, extension of the authority of manager to the stuff coming from other sections can be a course of problem in organisation.  Ã‚  Finally, it is expected that functional group may not attention to their normal tasks and role.  (Mullins, 2 005)   What is required in matrix structure? Matrix structure strongly deeply rely on teamwork spirits, it demand culture of co-operation.  Ã‚  In this structure, managers are required high level of behavioural and management ability and organisation needs culture of collaboration.  Ã‚  It is necessary to educate employees to support other stuffs and to create the teamwork spirits.  Ã‚  Moreover, stuffs must have a special competence to solve the conflict in their team in the matrix-structured organisation.  Ã‚   How organisation structure works in Starbucks There are some disadvantages in matrix structure as mentioned before, however, Starbucks, especially Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks Company, may have understood these problems.   Therefore he gave special statement to employees when he expanded Starbucks structure to reinforce their internal and external communication in 2008.  Ã‚  He has explained the difficulties of doing business in situation in those days and strongly suggested change of not only structure but also employees in order to enhancing the customer experience.  Ã‚  In that message, he also stated that structure of Starbucks Company faced the revolutionary  change, however it was necessary to improve customers and stuffs experiences and recapture the vigour and benefits in the company.  Ã‚  As he explained in that message, he recognised or realised that this structural modification was hard for some stuffs owing to increase and complex of their tasks, however he also described that he made this decision unde rstanding these kinds of issues.  Ã‚  He explained that he had decided this numerous change of structure with speculation and he respected for stuffs concerned.   (Starbucks, 2008) Analysis of organisational culture With the development of economy, the competitions between companies not only aim at the product they offered but also their internal organisation culture. Deal and Kennedy researched organization culture for 15 years and they found that organisation with weak culture always beaten by organisation with strong culture (1999). Edgar Schein who is generally consider the father of organization culture defined that organization is a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problem (1985). Organization cultures pay attentions to individuals in a organization that it establish an appropriate platform make individual join in the organization quickly and help people work together toward the same organizati on goals. In addition, organization culture help employee improve their personal ability and knowledge to maximum. In the meantime, organisation culture forms the external performance and reputation, which are important to decision making during purchasing Starbucks is one of the successful chain coffee stores. It is because it has a unique organisation culture. In order to understand internal culture in Starbucks, we will use the Great Holsfedes cultural framework. Holsfedes used different five aspects to evaluate culture, which are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation (Holsfedes, 1991). . Base on this model, it can reveal that Starbucks have long power distance, because every employee in Starbucks have the same basic rights no special treatment. In addition, for the gander issue, Starbucks view all the employees the same regardless of their gender, thus, Starbucks has high masculinity and femininity. And it also has low uncertainty avoidance; due to it have a vast number of brunch stores abroad, Starbucks has to take huge risk for that. In terms of collectivistic, Starbucks belongs to high collectivistic, although it have branch store everywhere, but there is a core team to conduct the whole company. Starbuck still pay attention to environment and other charity event, so Starbucks is long term oriented. The strong power of Starbucks organisation culture appeals a great number of people, including both consumer and potential employee. Great quality of coffee and well service make Starbucks become a global company with hundreds of chain stores. Its organisation present a great service, consumer always be expected to be confronted with enthusiastic well trained employees with a great number of coffee knowledge and their service always base on consumers need. Starbuck also appeal people because of its values. As we talked above, Starbucks support many organisations in a long term, such as Conservation International, The Earthwatch Institute, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, the African Wildlife Foundation, and Planet Green. Starbucks convey a message that corporations need to concern about the society and environment around them. And then, Starbucks establish diversity internal working environment in order to satisfy the entire consumer. The strong organisational culture in Starbucks also embodied in the way they treat their employees. Starbucks hold a job fairs every year in different places, and there are also some guidelines for manager to interview the candidates and test whether they have full knowledge about the companys product, and who are adaptable, dependable and passionate in interacting with customers. Starbucks also need to deal with hundred of thousands of online applications using software developed by Taleo, this software help to screen out the candidates by answer the basic information and skills-based questions (Weber G. 2005). After recruiting people, Starbucks will also offer 24 hours of trainings to their employees, and learn how to use espresso machines, how to interact with the customers, the process and production of coffee beans. During the training, employees also need to understand the companys mission statement, and bring company culture to their customers (Cesario Minor, Jr. 2009), Starbu cks spends more on recruitment and development than on advertising which in 2004 is $68.3 million (Weber. G.2005), the mangers and assistance mangers also have trainings in computer, leadership and coffee knowledge. As Starbucks offers both product and services, people become an important factor in maintaining the quality, Starbucks treat their employees as partners by connecting their contribution to companys market value, and give the opportunity to share the success in the company, their employees are highly involved in companys activity by reporting their concerns to companys Mission review team, each employee will receive a comment card when they newly hired, and they can write down some suggestion, advice or disagreement in management decisions, the managers will response and sign for all the comment cards within two weeks, and their CEO Howard Schultz also review all the comments every month(Cesario Minor, Jr. 2009), the high involvement also increase the level of responsibil ity to the company. Starbucks also well known in retaining and rewarding their employees by good salary, stock options and health cares, according to Thompson Strickland (1999), the store employees were paid $6 to $8 per hour that is above the average minimum wages, their employees can also paying the initial years price and receiving the current years price by cashing in one-fifth of the shares granted each succeeding year. Part-time staffs is the major workforce in Starbucks, and they receive the same health insurance as full-time employees, the insurance including preventive care, crisis counselling, dental care, eye care, mental health care and treatment for chemical dependency. Howard Schultz also been invited to white house and meet with president Clinton to brief the Starbucks health care programme in 1994. Starbucks have a relative low turnover rage compare with the other companies, the turnover rage for Starbucks was about 65% compare with 150% to 400% for other retailers and fast-food chains, and the turnover rate for store manager was much lower, which is 25% compared with 50% in other retailers. Starbuckss organisation culture, especially the strong spiritual culture appealing lots potential employees, employees not only attracted by the salary, stock plans and health care, they would like to work for Starbucks because the trust, power and autonomy given by the organisation, Starbucks promotion for fair trade and environmental contributions also bring positive image and reputations. Critical evaluation of Management Leadership practices CE for business goal CE for organisational structure Critical evaluation of Management and Leadership practices As we have described previously, the organisation structure of Starbucks is the matrix structure. This structure influence management style and leadership style, too. The matrix structure strongly relies on the teamwork and relationship between employees and managerial stuffs. In the matrix structure, a line of command and report is complicating and the line is changed frequently. Therefore, employees are required more complex work rather than in other organisation structures. Moreover, organisation must provide employees good education system to create teamwork spirits in organisation. Additionally, in order to lead employees in the matrix structure, strong leadership and well-organised management style is necessary. (Mullins, 2005) It would appear that Starbucks Company might be able to overcome with these problems coming from disadvantage of the matrix structure and achieve to create good working relationship atmosphere. Therefore, they have been awarded a prize of 100 Best Compan ies to Work For by Fortune during 1998 to 2009, except 2001. (Starbucks 2010) CE for organisational culture There are two critical issues to discuss in Starbucks culture, firstly, David A. Pace, who has been an Executive Vice President of Partner Resources of Starbucks Corporation since 2002 said that, even company were to hit hard times, the strategy of above-average investment in training and rewarding employees isnt going to change (Weber G. 2005). Starbucks now is an successful company, and Paces announcement really help to build a good reputation on taking social responsibilities, however, once the company suffer from the crisis, can they still keep the promise, if they can, it helps to gain more support from their employee, but if they cant, the employees will feel disappoint and may break down the reputation. Secondly according to Weber G. (2005), Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks on October told Business week Online that, for the following two years, Starbucks would spend more on employee health care costs than it does on coffee. What Schulze said may have both impacts on their employees and customers. For their employees, they will feel appreciate and proud to work for Starbucks, and it may also attract more people desired to work for Starbucks. For Starbucks customers, some may feel Starbucks is a responsible and ethical company and feel comfortable to buy coffee from Starbucks. However, spending less on coffee may misleading other customers that the company will pay more attention on employee health care rather than coffee, customers may feels they are not regarded. Conclusions recommendations Conclusion Business goal Organisational structure As previously mentioned, Starbucks adopts matrix structure for their organisation structure. (SeaZone, 2009)    Matrix structure has a complex aspect owning to the characteristics of that structure, namely it has both of vertical structure and strong horizontal structure.   Matrix structure provides organisation flexibility, and contributes to keep security and control of project information.   Moreover, organisation can have a possibility to develop stuff well. (Mullins, 2005)   On the other hand, matrix structure has disadvantages, for example, it has limitation of number of employee who report to the project manager directly, moreover, matrix structure has a possibility that organisation make more complex. (Mullins, 2005)   However, Starbucks seems to have good relationship and well-organised education system for managerial stuffs to overcome with these disadvantage and they seems to convert these disadvantages to advantages of matrix structure.   Moreover, Howard Schu ltz, CEO of Starbucks, has strong leadership and he is trying to encourage stuffs in order to achieve their business well. (Starbucks, 2008)   In reality, the fact that Starbucks have been awarded a prize of 100 Best Companies to Work For by Fortune during 1998 to 2009, except 2001 gives evidence that many stuffs who are working for Starbucks satisfy to work in this circumstances. (Starbucks 2010) Organisational culture To conclusion, the Comprehensive and thoughtful organisation culture is Starbucks core competitive strategy, which is not only appeal potential employees but also the customers. Almost all the customers satisfied Starbucks services because they are treated very well. At the same time, they are faced with passionate employees and high quality coffee. For employees, they have well trained before they participate in the work formally, which allow them to introduce customer professionally. In addition, employees are satisfied with the wage and even part-time employees have the insurance as well. Feedback makes Starbucks culture special then their company. Their employees have the rights to write down their disagreement or suggestion to company. Recommendations Business goal Organisational structure(included in conclusion) Organisational culture As we know, Starbucks turnover rate is low, because their rewarding system attracts a great number of employees. We recommend company could change its rewarding system to performance base system, which means employees rewarding base on their personal working performance (e.g. set up best employee of the month/year). In terms of health care of employees in Starbucks, it is excellent to treat their employees in such a good way. However, consumers need an image that Starbucks devote itself to improve the quality of coffee and develop the environment in stores. Hence, we recommend Starbucks could increase spending on retail store decoration and offering more kinds of food.

Peter Honey And Mumford Learning Styles

Peter Honey And Mumford Learning Styles Learners have developed different learning styles which suites them best to take studies. Each learning styles has its own strength and weaknesses which differ from the others and It is essential for every learner to know about his or her learning styles because this helps to see areas of weaknesses and look for possible solutions to that weakness. Literature overview There are different theories on learning styles which are David Kolb, Peter Honey,Alan Mumford, Anthony Gregorc , Chickering and Gameson.,Carl Jung and Richard M.Felder . Kolbs learning style According to Kolbs original model, Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience, (David A. Kolb, 1984:1). He introduces four learning styles which are Concrete Experience it is when a learner has a new experience compared to previous experience and has to do .Reflective observation these varies between understanding and previous experience. Abstract Conceptualization Reflection gives rise to a new idea or a modification of an existing abstract concept (Kolb, 1984:1) this is when a learner adjusts to new learning styles. Active Experimentation here the learner uses the knowledge acquired in the real world. Kolbs learning styles are therefore divided into four categories which are assimilators convergers, accommodators and diverges. Assimulators are learners that learn best using sound logical information An assimulator greatest strength lie in creating theoretical models Other strengths are understanding what they are working on this gives them a better direction to solve problems. Curious and enjoys problems this give them more knowledge as more questions are answered. Plans well in advance for exams this makes them more ready to tackle problems. Can organize facts and material well .However they have they have some weaknesses which includes the need of too much information before getting down to work, does not like to try new approaches ,not creative and keeps a number of problems to himself. Collects to much information. Convergers uses practical applications there need what is relevant to them .These one are more interested with facts and desire to go straight to the point. Can wor k well alone which makes them less dependent on others. Get things done in time this does not involves them in late submissions. Pays attention to detail .However there have a number of weaknesses which are Lack of imagination .Not very interested in presentation of your work. Believes that there is only one way of doing things. Does not like others ideas. Accommodators are those who want hands on experiences .Divergers are the one that learn best when they are allowed to observe and collect things from a wide range of collection these learners observe and collect. They have the following strengths unhurried that is there are more stable to situation like exams .Listens to others and shares idea this give them more ideas and different points of view. They are good at seeing the big picture. They can see long-term implications of things. They can see new ways of doing things and has creative solutions. They can multi-task .However they have the following weaknesses they forget the im portant details while understanding the big picture .Does not organize work well .Does not like work or revision timetables.Forgets to bring important books. Gregorc Learning Styles There are divided into three categories which are concrete random, concrete sequential, abstract sequential, abstract random. On concrete random according to Gregorc,They use their instincts and intuition when making decisions.(Gregorc)The learner is divergent ,experimental, inventive therefore the learner is much more involved in creating and acting and usefulness and application of learning .They have a lot of questions about what surrounds them .Concrete sequential efficient and well informed and the learner is more practical and active in making things work. According to Gregorc,They notice and recall details easily and remember facts ,specific information ,formulas, and rules with ease,(Gregorc)They do not rely more on others and hardworking and their work is consistent and has facts. Abstract sequential reflects on information and think about it. According to Grgorc,they prefer systematic processes and are thorough in their work,(Gregorc) .Abstract random is imaginative and ref lect on an previous experience, emotional and holistic .According to Grgorc,they prefer are very perceptive students ,(Gregorc)This one visualize and is intuitive when dealing with ideas . Chickering and Gamson From research there are seven learning styles which are visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social and solitary. According to ( Chickering and Gamson, 2012: 1 ) there is visual/spatial which prefer using pictures and spatial understanding That is one uses visual abilities to learn something for example understanding the demand law by seeing cartoons pictures or lecture videos however this is an disadvantage to the blind. For visual there are helpful tips like turning notes to pictures and making mind and concept maps Aural /auditory-musical is when one prefer using sound and music as a learning style One can learn from playing recorded sound tracks and the helpful tips are repeating materials out loud and in your own words .Verbal /linguistic :You prefer using words, both in speech and writing, These one understand more using their ears , logical(mathematical) prefer using logic, reasoning and systems these prefer facts not theories and they should be convergers Social (interpe rsonal): You prefer to learn in groups or with other people. Solitary (intrapersonal) prefer to work alone and use self-study. They enjoy independency. Richard M.Felder learning styles These learning styles are in seven categories which are active ,reflective ,sensing ,intuitive ,visual ,verbal and sequential learners .Active learners best understand by practising something which is active with it .For example discussion the in group works .They also like the idea of explaining to other learners and application of knowledge. Reflective learners are more independent and they prefer to figure out things alone than in groups. Sensing learners they like to solve problems and dealing with facts that connect to the real world. Intuitive are innovative and can easily get bored with repetitions .Visual learners they learn best using diagrams ,films and pictures. Verbal learners uses sound and audio and get more out of sound .Sequential learners they understand things step by step and easily gets confused well a step is missed or not understood well. Global learners like the big picture and collects large amounts of information without seeing the connections between them an d they get it later. Peter Honey and Mumford learning styles They divided learning styles into four categories which are activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist. Activists like new ideas and experience and they enjoy to act first .They learn best when they work in team work and given challenges and like the idea of leading discussions a lot. They learn less in lectures, thinking on their own and writing. Reflectors like to use different perspectives and learn best by observing for example groups explanations. They learn less when they are leading a discussion .Theorists learn best when they are have clear understanding of a situation and when they are able to ask question to create ideas. Pragmatists they are curious about new things and learn best when give an example to copy .They learn less when there are no recognized benefits and when there are no guidelines Carl Jung learning styles These styles are divided into four learning styles which are extraverts, sensors, thinkers and judgers. He extraverts like to try ideas and thinks on the outer world of the people. Sensors are practical they love details and facts they are also known as intuitors. Thinkers make their choices based on logic and facts. Judgers works with targets. From a research I discovered that I am an accommodator with a number of weaknesses and strengths which I need to adjust. The weaknesses examples are as follows ;does not check work, prioritize well ,neglects subjects that does not interest and not good. My areas of strength like getting involved, working well with people, ask a lot of questions, enthusiastic A diverger is creative and good in seeing the big picture listen to other and share ideas but he or she forgets the important details while understanding the big picture, does not organise w By completing the graph I found that Iam an accommodator and on the positive side an accommodator is totally involved in something of interest for example if he has passion for Maths he or she is mostly likely to spend much of his or her time working out Maths problems, likes to take risk of his or her ideas this means that an accommodator is to much experimental for example writing an exam without being fully prepared. Has a lot of curiosity that as he or she asks a lot of questions and this the accommodator an advantage because as many questions come also means more answers.An accommodator works quickly and he or she is active this benefits a lot in exam time management. Has the capabilities of using senses well that is seeing, feeling and hearing .Which is an advantage if the person does not have any of the disability on senses .However of the other hand an accommodator has the following weaknesses like poor planning of work in advance this is a disadvantage as the accommodator is most likely not to get assignments properly done and does not pre-read before lectures, rarely checks work this leads to many errors in writing essays and assignments, does not understand the question but hurries to write for example answering a question wrongly because of assuming what the question wants this results in loss of marks . An accommodator has a poor time management for example attending lectures late ,forgetting assignments .D oes not prioritise well and easily get distracted with circumstances this diverts all attention to something of a lower priority for example concentrating more on reading books which does not relate to the actual subjects. This accounts for the accommodators failure By recognizing and understanding your own learning styles, you can use techniques better suited to you. This improves the speed and quality of your learning. This can be aided by practicing helpful tips like taking study breaks and physical exercises,

Hero in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey Essay -- One Flew

Hero in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey Randle Patrick McMurphy, the main character in â€Å"One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest†, is the perfect example of a hero. He is committed to a mental institution after faking insanity to get out of a work camp. From the beginning of his presence on the ward, things start to change. He brings in laughter, gambling, profanity and he begins to get the other patients to open up. All of this, however, clashes with the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, who is trying to press conformity and obeying authority. It is then a battle between McMurphy and the nurse, McMurphy trying to set the patients free and the nurse trying to make them â€Å"normal†. The most obvious hero type of McMurphy is an out-law hero. This is evident in his struggle against the nurse and the combine which represent society. He is an outlaw because he is his own person. He has freedom to act how he wants, think what he wants and be what he wants, and society is out to make him be like everyone else, to conform. At first, McMurphy’s rebellion against authority is just a selfish attempt to make his life on the ward more comfortable. But later on he realizes that the other patients rely on him and need him to help them be free. This is seen in the book when Cheswich drowns himself after McMurphy starts to give in to the nurse. Then, McMurphy sees that he has to be the leader and continue to resist authority. In this way McMurphy is sort of the like Christ, whom...

The Day I Didnt Have an Abortion :: Personal Narrative Essays

The Day I Didn't Have an Abortion Have you ever stopped to ponder on the fragility of life? I had always taken life for granted and never gave much thought to how or when my life might end. Then, in June, I was awakened to the realization of just how unstable the balance of life and death can be. I was still a young bride. Jim and I had been married for four years but had been unsuccessful in getting a family started. It was not a matter of not trying. After having experienced two miscarriages and an episode of uterine cancer within those four years, my chances of ever becoming a mother seemed to be so remote as to seem impossible. My doctors had already told me that another pregnancy was "out of the question" and inserted a "loop" (a contraceptive device that is permanently placed in the opening of the uterus) just to make sure that his orders would be heeded. He wanted to prevent any "accidents". Six months passed and my monthly checkups were showing that there were no new growths and no complications. Meanwhile, I was busy getting back into the working world as a junior accountant for a farm equipment dealer in our small northern California town. I enjoyed the work and the association with my coworkers and our customers helped to keep my mind off my unfulfilled mothering instincts. I found myself mothering my coworkers; giving advice, lending a listening ear as well as making homemade breads, brownies and cookies for them. Soon it was time for my seventh month checkup. The doctor went through his routine probing, fluid checks and questioning. All appeared to be in order. However, a few days later, he called to ask that I come to his office. He wouldn't say why, just that we needed to have a little chat. As I placed the phone back in its cradle, I was trembling. This must mean that the cancer had returned. I felt that I had to pull myself together. If it was coming back, this soon, then my life was going to be very short. There were so many things that I had always wanted to see and/or do.