Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Innovation of the iPod Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Innovation of the iPod - Case Study Example "Timing and execution are everything. Being first in an emerging market is neither as important nor can be as lucrative as designing the right products and services to cater to second- and third-stage growth .A smart company commands a premium for successfully blending off-the-shelf technologies into a new and useful product. Essentially, the iPod is a portable hard drive (in the Shuffle and Nano models, a flash drive) hidden inside a simple and beautiful enclosure, accessed through intuitive menus, buttons and a scroll wheel .separately, these parts were forgettable, but together they became unforgettable, Instead of creating a good product and knocking down the price until everyone could afford it, Apple has sold stripped-down versions at lower price points and hoped demand would follow. This strategy helped create Apple's bestselling music player, the bipod Mini." The development of the iPod is well reminiscent of the complex task of an entrepreneur who has to take all the monetary and intrinsic risks which will ultimately bring him success or failure in the cruel world of technology and innovation. (CNN Money 2005,Collingwood, H. 2005)As far back as in the year 2005 financial forecasters were predicting that the stock price of Apple Computer, Inc.had witnessed an increase of almost 6 times its original size . (CNN Money 2005,Collingwood, H. 2005) All this success can be attributed to the iPod digital music player which was introduced only a few years ago and has met unmatched success than any of its contemporary products and thus is an excellent study model in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.The product itself has accelerated the growth of Apples digital music player market in the USA and has helped Apple increase its third-quarter sales to increase by 75 per cent within a single year. (CNN Money 2005,Collingwood, H. 2005)This success is puzzling for most critics in the sense that when originally introduced the iPod was neither the first digital music player, nor initially compatible with the majority of personal computers ( it was only compatible with Apple's own Macintosh computers, which only had a 4% market share of US computer sales). (CNN Money 2005,Collingwood, H. 2005) Before going on to discuss the success story of the iPod entrepreneurship it is worth reviewing what Product innovation entails for the entrepreneurial success. The concept of product innovation pertains to the whole process of bringing a new product or service to the market and which include the stages of product conceptualization, design and development. (Dyson, J.1997) More importantly there will be a need to improve upon the conceptions of production and distribution of the new product. (Dyson, J.1997) As the name suggests that the "innovation" pertains to the something new in terms technology and creativity .The innovation process will involve the activity of people and organisations who will be able to change themselves and the environment. (Dyson, J.1997).One of the most brilliant examples of product innovation comes from IBM which has become popular for successfully transforming itself from a provider of hardware-based products to more software-based services .

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Wall Mart's Strategic Planning Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wall Mart's Strategic Planning - Case Study Example Simultaneously Walton set up two other enterprises called Ben Franklin franchises and Wall - Mart Discount City. The former expanded into 15 more stores by 1962. In 1969 the company became Walt Mart Stores inc. with 15 Ben Franklin stores, 18 Wall Mart spread through out Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri. To-day with combined revenue reaching to 44 billions and spread through out the 42 central and southern states the company has 1720 Wall-Marts, 208 Sam's Whole sale club, and 6 Wall Mart Supercentres in addition to two stores in joint ventures in Mexico. The company has a strategy of identifying areas with under population of 50,000 to open a store and gradually expanded by setting up distribution centres at some place closer to the store with a view to facilitate supply to all the other stores also within a day. The excellent success of the company is considered to be the result of 19 such distribution centres today. The other factor of the success of the company is treating the employees as associate partners having access to complete information about the costs, freight charges, and profit margin. The associates play a major role in the overall and individual success of stores and achieving the company's goals. It will be worthwhile to note here that each of the stores operates independently of the other. This kind of relationship in the organization components known as "pooled interdependence". If there is poor customer service at one store and how the customers view it will have ripple effect on the Wall-Mart as a whole. Basis of establishment of the Strategy: The management of the company prominently relies on the goals achieved. It is treated as a part of the planning process. The top management provides guidelines about the profits and growth. These become the basis of setting of goals. The individual stores provide their own inputs as they have their own annual goals to achieve. However, specific tactical goals are evolved at the division and the stores level. These are then forwarded to the top corporate level for further dissemination, evaluation and measurement for formulating a strategic over all policy. It will be interesting to note a typical target set for an annual goal: Opening 160 new stores; 45 new Sam's Whole sale clubs; 12 - 15 new Wall Mart Super centre; Increasing sales to more than 54 billions; Pursuing a "Buy American" plan to give preference to stocking merchandise manufactured in the United States. The individual stores have a target to achieve a sales increase of 10% over the previous period. Once the goals are established the process of action planning is commenced to provide an outline as to how the goals are to be achieved. It is done at every level. The associates also get a share of the profit above the goals set for every stores. Monitoring: Throughout the year goals achieved are monitored as laid out. But if the Wall Mart has not been satisfied of the result those stores are sold out. The Ben Franklin stores were closed in 1976 and Wall Mart stores were replaced with it. A chain of Helen's Arts and Crafts, the DOT discount drug chain met the same fate. Despite all the evaluation, assessment, dissemination of the in formations and monitoring quite a few of the ventures have failed. Financial aspect: Of interest

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Recycling Behavior Among University Students

Recycling Behavior Among University Students The purpose of our study is to find the factors affecting multimedia students to recycle. We have four independent variables which are health consciousness, health consciousness, rewards convenience, and one dependent variable which is students recycling behavior. What appears unavailable is documentation on critical issues involved and how to address them. This paper, therefore, examines the attitudes portrayed by students towards recycling. We used survey questionnaire to collect data from 100 respondents. The government and the community can use our findings to find ways to make people recycling more and save energy. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter Overview This chapter clearly provides much insight into the importance of the current research. It begins with a quick study on the background of the research. It includes the question in detail and how to get to the answer or solution. There will be an interpretation of what this study is all about and also the scope of the study. This chapter will finally conclude with a brief overview of the research. Background of the research Recycling is a much needed thing in order to keep this planet from turning into a trash dump. A lot of people feel that recycling is a waste of time and insignificant, but it takes less than a minute to throw a paper in a recycle bin just like it take a minute to open a wrap and eat a sweet. But they should know that whatever recycling they do can make a difference for instance one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a T.V for 3 hours, a single glass jar saves enough energy to light a light bulb for 4 hours.    So for everything you recycle it does save energy.   In Malaysia tones of waste are produced, 19000, and all them end up in landfills and there are 230 landfills in Malaysia. And 80 percent of this landfills will be filled in two years, which is really bad because if the landfills reach that capacity in only two years, what capacity would they be in another two years to come?(David Gutierrez, December 2010) What people believe is that not many things can be recycled; maybe years ago it could be believed to be true but not today. Nowadays anything can be recycled; paper can be bound into newspapers, manuals, school books and paper boxes, metals like aluminum, sauce cans and tins, plastics, glass, beverage cartons etc. And there are companies in Malaysia that encourage recycling and they provide recycling machines SMIC (M) Sdn Bhd which provide recycling services of waste, Nikkhsin Sdn. Bhd. Which recycles Aluminum Claddings Automotive Engines : Export Automotive Parts Accessories : Export Disposal Services Garbage Disposal Service, Lian Hong Trading, Kent Soon Recycle Centre Sdn. Bhd, Ganapathy Metals, GMS Purna Impex and Edar Bagus. Mentioned above are the recycle centers that could be found in Malaysia. Recycling is a lesson that one should be taught in a young age, but I shows that most people know about recycling when they are old enough to understand and able to make their decisions. MMU would find ways in which to get through to the students and how the students respond to the information is up to them, thats what our research would be mostly looking, how Multimedia students respond to the education given about recycling. Recycling  does not cost anything, it takes only a little extra time, and one can make an amazing difference to the world. In many regions  recycling boxes  are not provided which people can use to collect recyclable materials for collection at the same time as their domestic waste. 1.3  Objective The research question and also the objectives are established in order to provide a sense of direction on the topic that is being investigated. The research question of this study is to find out: What are the factors affecting MMU students to recycle? The main objective or the reason why we are doing this research is for us to examine the To determine problems faced by students in recycling? To identify factors affecting students to recycle 1.4 Scope of study In accordance of the topic we are studying which is recycling; since this topic is wide we have to narrow it down to the students studying in Multimedia University. The main focus of this study is to find out the effects of recycling, as in the positive of recycling and also the negative of recycling among the students. This study is limited to students only. The geographic scope is limited to the country of Malaysia. These limits nevertheless offer a reasonable base and rationale for the scope of study. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey which was completed by students with the intention of measuring the effects of recycling among students in MMU. Organization Research This part is going to make more factual information by using the following chapter that are given by the textbook and also an order from our perspective lecturer/tutor. Chapter 1: The research is lead by studying the effects ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ which are related to the research objectives and justifications. And it may lead us to a conclusion why recycling is important to our environment and also to our health. Chapter 2: This chapter is going to present a review of the definition of recycling and ways to increase education relating to reuse reduce and recycle, basically programs adopted by MMU to encourage its students to recycle. Chapter 3: This chapter will present the research methodology that was employed in the research, it clarifies how we get the data, and analysis this raw data to organize it into a useful and easy way to make others fully understand it. Chapter 4: The major findings and insights that are emphasized by us in this research which are to discover the basic reasons why some students recycle while others do not recycle at all, and the effectiveness of the programs that were offered by the university in encouraging recycling. Chapter 5: This is the final chapter, conclusion from the research findings and discussions. And also it highlights the limitations associated with the research and a proper recommendation for future research in the specific area, because nowadays everything can be recycled therefore there wont be any excuse students will give for not recycling and many programs provided to learn about recycle and how to do it. 1.6 Justification for Research Looking at the fact that not so many people do not recycle, and thats because the majority do not know anything about recycling , it could that some of them do not know the importance of recycling and finally some will want to recycle and because of lack of resources that will be hindered. That is why we do this study to find the answer to all those questions and to put the 3R perspective .into use. This 3 concept are the main purpose of the recycling which is 3R. From this perspective, we intend to study the recycling behavior among the MMU students. Nowadays, almost all universities is applying environmental friendly concept. Due to this concept, we are looking deeply into these experiences, to learn from the MMU undergraduates and start revealing how the students can inform us to move into the realm of wide-spread institutional transformation. The reason we agreed together to have recycling as our project is mainly because nowadays almost all universities in the world had organize several campaigns about the recycling. MMU also joined in organizing campaign relating to environmental friendly. For example, MMU Convocation 2010s ConvoFests theme is green. Hence, our objective is to know how actively MMU undergraduates feel towards environmental-friendly concept. Apart from it, we will use survey method to gather information that needed by collecting raw data from MMU undergraduates. For the importance, recycling no doubt is really vital nowadays. This is because this will affect the industry future and the environment. At current, we are mainly focused on the undergraduates in the university. If we found out that undergraduates are actively involved in this field, shows that in future there would be more people involved in recycling. This will contribute to environmental-friendly. Our study will benefit a lot of people mostly the government and the community in the vicinity will be benefited. The government will be benefited in terms of the fact that now the environment will be less polluted thus more industries will be built,   The more materials recycled, the less energy is expended to create new materials, the more resources conserved and the more trash and pollutants are kept from entering the environment. Recycling helps to keep water and air clean, saves the wildlife and keeps trash off the streets.   Recycling also helps to control Municipal Services Fees by reducing the total amount of trash to be taken to landfills. And the community will be benefited in terms of clean air to breath and less trash in their streets, good health will also be a benefit to the community because the trash now is recycled rather than being thrown all over. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 definition of recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution by reducing the need for conventional waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production. Or plainly it is returning an item back to its original condition so that it can be reused. Recycling behavior includes environmental consciousness, health consciousness, rewards and convenience. Some of these attributes can be measured objectively while others, in our case, are measured according to students perception. Recycling is so important to the welfare of our community.Majority students already know that recycling helps conserve natural resources, and also know that recycling saves space in our landfills. On the other hand, few know that recycling waste products conserves water, energy, trees, and helps reduce pollution in our drink ing water and air. But for some products its crucial to conserve them example conserving energy by way of recycling is a crucial environmental benefit because it takes far less energy to make new products and put them into working order using recycled waste than it does to make them from entirely new material. In dealing with students more reinforcement should be taken into consideration, like ways to encourage them to recycle, and research shows that rewards work for students. Nevertheless, it seems hard to match the evidence that the reward reinforcement is one of the most effective promotion techniques (Geller et al., 1975; Witmer and Geller, 1976; Luyben and Bailey, 1979; Hamad et al., 1980; Vining and Ebreo, 1990; Needleman and Geller, 1992. 2.2 Definition of students recycling behavior From todays perspective, modern recycling behavior would appear to have commenced in the seventies, when households were exhorted to save paper, cardboard, metals and other materials in an attempt to combat the energy crisis (Ackerman, 1997). The recycling drive involved not only a general urge to take action and reduce wastefulness, but also more specific reactions to the spread of litter, and to the threat of pollution from landfills. Hence, it seemed logical to assume that recycling was not only a high involvement form of behavior but also that there would be many differences between recyclers and non-recyclers (Lansana, 1992). The recycling behavior of students differs with every student, some recycling because they fill it is important in their lives and some of them do not recycle because they see no need to recycle. Recycling behavior is considered as a high commitment since it is considered a environment conduct and in addition the predominant environmental literature emphasizes the idea that individuals who are reluctant to recycle, or who neither recognize the importance of, nor express interest in, recycling waste are the same individuals who are most interested in extrinsic stimuli such as prizes, gifts and financial rewards (Vining and Ebreo, 1990; Oskamp et al., 1991; Dahle and Neumayer, 2001) the study explains that some students recycling behavior is encouraged by rewards or extrinsic value rather than recycling because it is the right thing to do. Study shows that students who behave (focus on external reinforcement) that way have less information about recycling. To be more specific, the response to the reward technique is explained by pointing out that consumers have not assimilated good enough knowledge and evaluations, such as ecological conscience (Bohlen et al., 1993); beliefs ab out recycling (Scholder, 1994); ecological concern (Dunlap and Van Liere; 1984; Bohlen et al., 1993); a favorable attitude toward recycling (Biswas et al., 2000) and recycling involvement (McGuiness et al., 1977; Black et al., 1985. 2.3 factors affecting students to recycle There are lots of factors that affect students to recycle; some factors can be controlled while others cannot be controlled, these factors include collection method (segregated or mixed materials) ,space for collection and storage of reusables and recyclables ,geographical location, particularly in relation to markets for reprocessing materials ,size of institution and volume of recyclable material ,other important factors include local authority facilities, charging structure and support  only to name a few. In fact, consumers learning requirements regarding recycling are easily satisfied since beliefs about recycling have already been acquired by the average citizen and the waste-collection system has reached a high standard of convenience which reduces its perceived cost (Ackerman, 1997). Study shows that educating students about recycling could help also, the factors given above could all exist but when students do not know anything about recycling then everything becomes vague. Education on recycling in fact is one of the major factors affecting recycling, the knowledge gained by students through that education can help them choose whether they want to recycle or not. The question is whether or not recycling continues to be of the high involvement category, and if it is not, whether to assume that responders and no responders to the reward technique display significant differences in terms of knowledge and evaluations. To understand this seemingly paradoxical framework it must be appreciated that nowadays recycling is often not high involvement behavior, since recycling has long since become part of contemporary culture and is no longer regarded as a novelty (Rogers, 1995). 2.4 Relationship between recycling and students behavior Nevertheless, according to recent research, the high involvement decisions model is not the only one which is valid for explaining both ecological (Hartmann et al., 2002) and recycling behaviors (Ratneshwar et al., 2003) and it therefore seems possible to represent recycling behaviors by using other hierarchies of effect (Diaz and Beerli, 2004). Such approaches are based on the fact that (1) much previous evidence points to the existence of associations or correlations, and not of cause and effect relationships, in recycling adoption models (Schlegelmilch et al., 1996) and (2) no works have been found that contradict the protocol of classic effects. Basically the above writers explain that there is a difference between recycling and the behavior of students or their attitude. Some students or in this case majority feel there is an importance in recycling and they want to learn more about recycling because they will like to recycling in the future. But because of less education given about it they Havre no choice but not to recycle. Another group is those students with negative attitude; they feel there is no need to recycle because is none of their business to recycle but some of them need a nudge or a push for them to recycle. And to push students to recycle is through extrinsic benefits or rewards, they need that for them to change their attitude towards recycling, and research shows that rewards are a good way to make students recycle and they respond to that more than anything else involved. According to Petty and Cacioppos elaboration likelihood model, the individual is not motivated to think about recycling but about the promised reward. Therefore, responders engage in recycling via the so called peripheral route and thus show little interest in recycling itself (Young, 1984; Katzev and Pardini, 1987; Vining and Ebreo, 1989).The predominant environmental literature emphasizes the idea that individuals who are reluctant to recycle, or who neither recognize the importance of, nor express interest in, recycling waste are the same individuals who are most interested in extrinsic stimuli such as prizes, gifts and financial rewards (Vining and Ebreo, 1990; Oskamp et al., 1991; Dahle and Neumayer,2001). CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter explains about the design and research method. Firstly, research question has been identifying by the review, hypotheses and theoretical framework. The dependent variable of the research is recycle behavior while the independent variables are; environmental consciousness, health consciousness, rewards/ incentives, nearness or convenience. Second part of this chapter, it will discuss the hypothesis development. 3.2 Research Framework Environmental consciousness STUDENTS RECYCLING BEHAVIOUR Nearness/convenience Rewards/incentives Health consciousness Based on the theoretical framework, it have total of 4 independent variables which will be analyzed towards one dependent variable in this study. The dependent variable which is, Recycle Behavior would be affected in a positive or negative manner based on the independent variables influences. 3.3 Hypothesis Development Hypothesis 1: H0= Environmental Consciousness does not influence Recycle Behavior. H1= Environmental influences Recycle Behavior. Hypothesis 2: H0= Health Consciousness does not influence Recycle Behavior. H1= Health Consciousness influences Recycle Behavior. Hypothesis 3: H0= Rewards/ Incentives does not influence Recycle Behavior. H1= Rewards/ Incentives influences Recycle Behavior. Hypothesis 4: H0= Nearness or Convenience does not influence Recycle Behavior. H1= Nearness or Convenience influences Recycle Behavior. Dependent Variable Dependent Variable is a variable that can be change by the Independent variables or the variable that is being measured in an experiment. Recycle Behavior is our study dependent variable. A habit had by the people to process used material into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful material. It saves a lot of sources. (Environmental Assistance Office (EAO), Infrastructure, Design, Environment, and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center, UNC Charlotte, 2009). Independent Variable Independent and dependent variables are related to one another. The Independent part is what you, the experimenter, changes or enacts in order to do your experiment. The dependent variable is what changes when the independent variable changes. The dependent variable  depends on the outcome of the independent variable. From the study we have 4 Independent variable; Environmental Consciousness, Health Consciousness, Rewards/ Incentives, and Nearness or Convenience. Environmental Consciousness: mean that there is no better measure of environmental responsibility than direct observation of young people, over a significant period where people are minimizing their environmental impact, reducing consumption and reusing and recycling materials. (Bill Hampel and Roger Holdsworth, 1996). H1= Environmental Consciousness influences Recycle Behavior. Health Consciousness: recycle behavior relationship for health consciousnesses is for good health. (Debasmita Chanda, 2006) Example: To have a better life environmental with less pollution problem. H1= Health Consciousness influences Recycle Behavior. Rewards/ Incentives: the expectation of reward when you to do the recycle. Example: Jenny take the 1kg of the tin to recycle, there have a return of RM 3 for the 1kg tin as the reward. H1= Rewards/ Incentives influences Recycle Behavior. Nearness or Convenience: Convenience was determining when students will recycle or not. (Environmental Assistance Office (EAO), Infrastructure, Design, Environment, and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center, UNC Charlotte, 2009) H1= Nearness or Convenience influences Recycle Behavior 3.4 Data Sources We are collecting our study data sources through the internet. Variable Name Description Sources Recycle Behavior A habit had by the people to process used material into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful material Environmental Assistance Office (EAO), Infrastructure, Design, Environment, and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center, UNC Charlotte, 2009 Environmental Consciousness there is no better measure of environmental responsibility than direct observation of young people, over a significant period who are minimizing their environmental impact, reducing consumption and reusing and recycling materials Bill Hampel and Roger Holdsworth, 1996 Health Consciousness recycle behavior relationship between the health consciousness for good health Debasmita Chanda, 2006 Rewards/ Incentives the expectation of reward when you to do the recycle Nearness or Convenience Convenience was determining when students will recycle or not Environmental Assistance Office (EAO), Infrastructure, Design, Environment, and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center, UNC Charlotte, 2009 3.5 Data Collection Method Data collection is simply how information is gathered. There are various methods of data collection such as personal interviewing, telephone, mail and the Internet. There are several data collection methods, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Data was gathered through questionnaires. The items for the questionnaire have formulated according to the questionnaire design. A questionnaire is a set of the question which to record the respond of the answers. According to this research, we decide to use questionnaires that we personally administer to suit the topic of our study. Through the knowledge, we know that questionnaires are popular means of collecting data, but difficult to design and often require many rewrites before an acceptable questionnaire is produced. A questionnaire is composed of questions or statements. A way to learn how to write questionnaires is to look at other samples of questionnaires. Questionnaires may be designed to gather either qualitative or quantitative data. Quantitative questions are more exact then qualitative. Any question must be carefully crafted, but in particular questions that assess a qualitative measure must be phrased to avoid ambiguity. Qualitative questions may also require more thought on the part of the participant and may cause them to become bored with the questionnaire sooner. In general, we can say that questionnaires can measure both qualitative and quantitative data well, but that qualitative questions require more care in design, administration, and interpretation (Schmidt, H. J., 2000) Our study is finding out the recycle behavior among the student, therefore we have formulated the questions to the student in MMU. 3.6 Questionnaire Design Our questionnaire has been distributed to the student in MMU. The questionnaire has been divided into three parts: Part A, B, and C. As Part A of the questionnaire is focus on the personal detail of the student, however the second part is look on the student frequency of recycle. Part C is the independent variables of the study. 3.7 Sampling Method Sampling is the act, process, or technique of selecting a suitable sample, or a representative part of a population for the purpose of determining parameters or characteristics of the whole population. From the study, we decide to use convenient sample as our sampling method. A convenience sample results when the more convenient elementary units are chosen from a population for observation. 3.8 Sample Size We are selecting our study sample size is 100 of MMU student. We felt it was the best and was suitable for the population this is so because in research it has been stated that a sample size between the range larger than 30 and less than 500 is appropriate. The smaller the group size, the harder it is to be certain that the normal curve assumptions have not been violated (Todman and Dugard, 2001). Sample size is one of the four inter-related features of a study design that can influence the detection of significant differences, relationships or interactions (Peers, 1996). 3.9 Unit of Analysis In our study we are interested and gather the information of MMU students. In case of our research we will be focusing to collect the data from the MMU student. Unit of analysis of our research is an individual. 3.10 Pilot study This study is conducted among 4 random students to find out whether it is easily understand by the respondents. The study also knows the recycle behaviour of the respondent. It helps the young generation to create a better future and save the resource to re-use. This study was very successful, because all students understand the questionnaire without confusing when the respondent questioning. The only issue through the study is some of the questions are quite like similar, but meanings of the questions are difference. 3.11 Data analysis Techniques Once the questionnaire is completing gather, the data is done according to the dissertation. We are using SPSS software through the computer to do the data analysis. Regression and correlation analysis was applied to analyze data. The data after the analysis we show it in the table in the next chapter of this. CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Introduction We have distributed 100 copies of questionnaires for our survey. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. Frequencies for each demographic variable were computed. We are using Cronbachs Alpha to assess our reliability (Cronbach, 1951; Hayes, 1998). Higher Alpha coefficients indicate higher scale reliability (Santos, 1999). In addition, Nunnally (1978) suggests that scales with 0.70 Alpha coefficients and above are considered acceptable. Demographic Profile of Respondents Respondents for this study are typically undergraduates of Multimedia University (MMU). As described in Table 4.1.1, majority of the respondents are male (54%), their age is between 21-30 years old (65%). Apart from that, they are taking undergraduate program in MMU (94%), and their income is below RM1000 (59%).Most of them are Malaysian (85%). Besides the race of Chinese (31%), from the Faculty of Business and Laws (79%), are single (99%). From the Table 4.1.2, generally, Majority of the MMU student are recycling (80%). Most of them recycles every month (45%), recycles for years (50%). In Addition, mainly for them to recycle is to save the environment (90%). Most of them recycle plastics (72.5%). For MMU students, they often (29%) recycle in campus. For those who are not recycling, (85%) of them will start to recycle. TABLE 4.1.1 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE SAMPLES DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE Variable Frequency Percent (%) Gender Male 54 54.0 Female 46 46.0 Age Below 21 years old 35 35.0 21-30 years old 65 65.0 Education SPM / STPM / equivalent 5 5.0 Diploma / Degree / equivalent 94 94.0 Master / Doctorate / equivalent 1 1.0 Income RM1000 and below 59 59.0 RM1001-RM2000 30 30.0 RM2001-RM3000 9 9.0 RM3001 and above 2 2.0 Nationality Malaysian 85 85.0 Non-Malaysian 15 15.0 Ethnicity Malay 37 37.0 Chinese 31 31.0 Indian 19 19.0 Others 13 13.0 Marital Single 99 99.0 Married 1 1.0 Faculty FOSEE 1 1.0 FBL 79 79.0 FIST 10 10.0 FET 8 8.0 Others 2 2.0 Table 4.1.2 PORTRAYS AN OVERVIEW OF THE SAMPLES DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE Variables Frequency Percent (%) Do you recycle? Yes 80 80 No 20 20 If yes, How often do you recycle? Every day 9 11.3 Every week 23 28.8 Every month 36 45 Every year 12 15 How long have you been recycling? Days 3 3.8 Weeks 7 8.8 Months 30 37.5 Years 40 50 Why do you recycle? To save the environment 72 90 For fun 4 5 For tradition (my family does it) 4 5 Others 0 0 What do you recycle? Plastic 58 72.5 Paper 5 6.3 Cardboard 8 10 Cans 6 7.5 Bottles 3 3.8 Others 0 0 If you dont recycle, will you start? Yes 17 85 No 3 15 If you ever lived on campus before(i.e. dorms), how often did you recycle when you live campus? Never 12 12 Rarely 19 19 Often 29 29 Always 23 23 I have never lived on campus or recycling was not available 17 17 4.2 profile of respondents Figure 4.2.1 shows the gender of respondents, and according to the pie chart the most respondents are males with 54% secondly is females with 46%.Reason being that the study way conducted inside the university and Multimedia University is dominated by males than females. Figure 4.2.2 shows the age of respondents, and according to the pie chart the most respondents are those who age from 21-30 . The second largest age of respondents are those whose age is below 21 . Basically all of the respondents age from 21-30 the reason being that all of the respondents are students as the research was conduted in MMU. Figure 4.2.3 illustrates the Educational level of the respondents; most of the respondents of the questionnaire survey are doing degree the reason being most of the students in Multimedia University are from Secondary school and they are not at that satge of doing masters or doctorate yet. is shown by the pie chart just a few number of respondents are doing SPM or they already did their them. F

Friday, October 25, 2019

House of the Spirits Essay -- essays papers

House of the Spirits In Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the principal male character. During the course of the novel, Trueba increases his power in the world as he progresses in status from a conservative landowner to a powerful senator. He is tyrannical, treating his family members and the tenants on his family hacienda, Tres Marà ­as, like subjects rather than intimate community. The basis for most of Trueba's actions is the desire for power, control, and wealth, and he pursues these things at any cost, disregarding his emotional decline and the effects of his actions upon the people in his life. The most brutal display of Trueba’s power are the many rapes he performs in Las Tres Marà ­as: â€Å"†¦not a girl passed from puberty to adulthood that he did not subject to the woods, the riverbank, or the wrought-iron bed†¦he began to chase after those from the neighboring haciendas, take them in the wink of an eye, anywhere he could find a place in the fields.† Trueba rationalizes away his guilt, absolves his sins by â€Å"harden[ing] his soul and silenc[ing] his conscience with the excuse of progress† . His actions, however, come back to haunt him later in the novel, when the product of one of his rapes, his illegitimate grandson, Esteban Garcia, becomes a leader in the military regime and captures his beloved Alba, who is tortured and raped by Garcia's men. Trueba also desires control over his wife, daughter, and granddaughter. He wants â€Å"control over that undefined and luminous material that lay with her [Clara] and that escaped him†. In addition, when Clara stated, â€Å"You can’t keep the world from changing, Esteban. If it’s not Pedro Tercero Garcà ­a, someone else will bring new ideas to Tres Marà ­as,† Trueba ... ...aracteristic he had had since childhood, when he used to throw himself on the floor foaming at the mouth, so furious that he could scarcely breath, and kicking like one possessed by the devil†. Trueba is successful politically and financially, but he suffers emotionally. As Trueba's wealth and power grow, his relationships with his family members and tenants crumble. His failure to achieve a balance between his priorities and the needs of other people causes many disturbances in the social interactions throughout his life. Trueba attempts to solve many problems through the use of his uncontrollable fits of rage, and this is his ultimate downfall. Trueba is unable to comprehend the effects of his actions and he refuses to realize his emotional decline, resulting in his long and miserable life until he dies in the arms of his granddaughter, Alba, at an old age.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Associates Capstone Essay

Executive Summary In going through some of things regarding buying the business I think Mike should make sure that the coffee shop is up to code. He should talk to officials about required standards, for running a coffee shop, licenses; the different laws for having the shop in Sunnydale, Illinois, all of will be needed and will help to keep the restaurant running properly inside and out. It is also important that he reviews each file for all employees making sure all documents that are needed for hire are there, reading through and seeing the difference in their duties and the performance prior to him buying the shop and respond accordingly and whatever decisions he makes with each one or if hiring new document all that is done to cover himself within the law. Going through the business files and reading the comments given by customers is important for this will help to give him proper information on what is liked and dislike about the coffee shop and making a plan to change things or get new things to keep them satisfied and coming back, for ex: as accepting credit cards for payments as well as cash. Going more into the business files checking on the finances and accounting is important to be sure all is accounted for, profits are being make and what the next plan would be according to what is found. This will also help in what they are spending for supplies and necessities and where he can save money and use it for other things needed, also go over the income part to see where they can change prices and get better ideas compare the coffee shop to the competitors place and prices. Also make sure all appliances are up to date and properly handle according to code. After reviewing all of these things an going forward making a proper business plan and procedures of moving forward will give Mike a properly ran business with happy customers coming in and employees glad to keep it running and making profits. Regulations In reviewing some of the personnel files on the employees it seems you will have to definitely put together a company/employee/personnel manual. This will help with the government regulations for the State in which the coffee shop is in and it will also spell out what the Company will expect of the employees and what they expect in terms of benefits and other topics related to employment. (The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business, page 203). Be sure that when creating this manual you have included all the necessary rules that you want and intend to enforce, (no drinking on the job, no smoking in the workplace, excessive tardiness, or absenteeism, no sexual harassment, no discrimination in the workplace, no stealing and all other rules that will be enforced, then have a meeting with the current employees and any new employee to review before getting started and have them each sign it to keep in their personnel files. This will let them know that you intend to en force these rules and if not followed the consequences could be termination. Management First thing I would do is create a business plan, Mike is considered the Strategic Manager for the coffee shop and he will need to create a plan, organize it, lead it and control the outcome of all that will happen within the business. He will need to focus on the long term goals of the shop and once he has these can move forward in communicating with the employees. He will then need to meet with each of the employees individually to go over their files, be sure to update them with all proper paperwork and they are legal to work. When discussing things with them do not bring up personal topics: marital status, race, religion, etc. for this would be a violation and is not permitted during any type of interview or meeting with an existing employee or new employee. You can let them know the good things about working for you at the shop and even some things that are not so good, make sure the employee knows what work they will be doing and agrees to it and they will be able to perform these duties, you can also see if they have questions regarding the manual and take care of it at that moment have them sign indicating they have read and understand it. I think he should also review the break room and clean it up putting up the proper documents on the board and take down all that unnecessary stuff on it. He needs to have posted the proper documents of the law with minimum wage and health. The only other thing up there could be the schedule and notes of reminders of what needs to be done. He then should take care of the stock room and office to have them both properly cleaned up things in right places. Once all these things have been accomplished it will make for a better organized area and easier for him to control and lead his employees and have a well established running coffee shop. Finance and Accounting Reviewing the finances is important; it seems they have a very high salary expense (for a coffee shop) and supplies expense that needs attending to. This means checking with other suppliers and their prices. As for the salaries we would need to go over everyone’s positions held and the salary they are being paid and make sure it fits with their positions and pay scale. As I continued going through the files I noticed the income tax/employment tax and other forms were still from 2006, need to get all those updated from previous owner or get them taken care of and all financial and payroll taxes to date. Not filing properly for state taxes/employment/unemployment is a violation and subject to penalties. I would also review the loan that was taken out on the freezer and be sure all payments had been made previously on time and see what the payoff is, he may be able to save monies on paying it off then paying the extra interest each month. Once all of these are reviewed and items that need attention either corrected or forms filled out and all things brought to date, Mike will have a better understanding of the numbers and all within in the business to get him started and ready to go. Make the decisions on what actions need to be taken to achieve these goals. This is part of the strategic planning of the long term goals for the company; it covers major portions of the company. Organizing, Joe will have to get organize the departments, get the right people in place, create the proper systems needed to properly run the company, bring together all resources needed to have it run properly. Now he will have to take these and lead his employees under him to want to be there and work and give there all, with motivation and communication. He will maintain good contact with them to give them what they need to keep the company running properly with all he has organized. Proper leading of employees will help to give more of themselves to produce quality work by giving guidance and inspiration to them. Leading takes place in many areas of the business not just from the top, also from teams, divisions and departments. He will also set values and mission with his leading. Now the last part of the management function is controlling, taking all of the planning, organizing and leading and controlling it to keep it functional. All the other functions isn’t the success of the company it is the monitoring the performance and make changes where necessary. He needs to make sure the plans are being used and goals are being met within the company, also needs feedback in all areas so that he can make changes, to processes, procedures where needed. Financial Statements Checking to be sure all the financial statements have been done and balanced is very important. In checking the business files it seems they balanced but not all were completed, this will help to know where the business stands and where changes could be made. There are 4 parts to the financial statements, income statement, balance sheet, cash flows and owner’s equity. I only noticed 2 of the 4 mentioned in the business files each one of these statements has its own meaning that should be understood even if Mike plans to have someone else handle it, income statement will let him know whether or not the business is profitable, it totals the revenue and then subtracts the expenses associated with making that revenue; results being the pretax profit and after taxes are paid net income. These statements can be done monthly, yearly, quarterly or year to date, I think for Mike monthly would be good for it will show how much he has sold and what it cost to create the sales each month. The balance sheet is a snapshot of how things are at a particular moment, shows the amount of assets and liabilities at a particular point and time, where his income statement shows the flow of money in and out of the company in a specific time frame. His cash flow statement could be the most important for it will tell him whether or not he has enough cash to pay the bills. This statement will reflect investments, borrowing, etc. and other balance sheet changes. The key challenge is that he will need to keep more cash coming in than going out especially with just starting out. His owner’s equity will be the portion of the balance sheet which shows what is left over when all liabilities are subtracted from all assets. This is the number he wants to maximize because it can reflect th e book value of his company. Once Mike has reviewed all of these and are updated he will know what changes will need to be made within the coffee shop from many points. Problem Solving Problem solving and decision making are very important factors in every managers or persons within their business, even in the Coffee Shop for Mike. He will have things that happen or a daily basis and even on an hourly basis in which his skills as the owner and manger are in demand. He may at first with many as a reaction to things react against it, which can cause a downward spiral. He may look at the past and use the old way to fix a current problem and that usually doesn’t work. Mike will need to have a planned approach and then execute it. By doing this he will avoid having the same problem over and over again and use doesn’t continually solve a different problem the same way as the other. There are a few approaches he can take, he can define the problem, look at the potential causes, find different ways to solving the problem, choose which solution is best, make the action plan and then monitor and verify the solution. By doing these things it will help to ensure all is working properly as it should after the solution has been decided. Mike can use these basic steps in his new role as Owner/Manager of the Coffee Shop, making this plan to solve a problem and the decision will make for a better team in the Coffee Shop. Reference(s) Management, Bateman and Snell, Chapter 1 and Chapter 4, 2010 http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Level-of-Management&id=20181389 The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business, Fourth Edition by Edward Paulson http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/article/87158.aspx

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Nature of Love in Sonnets

Write an essay on the nature of love as it is represented in two sonnets from the reader. Why do you think the sonnet form lends itself to talking about love? During the 13th century, literature was mainly focused on love. It is evident in Spenser’s and Shakespeare’s sonnets because they believed in true love. Sonnets were created as a way to express feelings about life issues including love put into words. This essay talks about how the sonnet form lends itself talking about love.It goes on a brief explanation of what a sonnet is; from where it originated from, and yet a detailed understanding of sonnet forms. I also talk about two sonnets extracted from the reader – (sonnet 2 William Shakespeare, 1609) and (– Amoretti 78 Edmund Spenser, 1595) this essay also explains why they loved writing sonnets and to whom it was dedicated to. The sonnet comes from the Italian word, â€Å"sonnetto† which means â€Å"little song†. Originally in the thirte enth century, sonnets were first sung in Italian courtyards expressing romantic love.Around the 1200’s, they were written by Dante and Tasso in Italy, followed by Du Bellay and Ronsard in France before it was introduced and translated in English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century. Basically, the traditional subject of the sonnet has primarily been love because they were written to express feelings of love. Famous writers such as Shakespeare, Petrarch and Edmund wrote their greatest sonnets about love. Why? Because they wanted to impress their mistresses with their great poetic skills.Back in that time, sonnets were used as a statement of their deepest feelings and love was a big part of them. The sonnet is a lyrical poem; it consists of fourteen lines. It has a regular pattern of rhyme called a rhyme scheme and has a specific structure called the iambic pentameter, a term for poem patterns in which each line has 10 syllables beginning with an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable followed by another pair of unstressed and stressed syllables until there are five pairs of syllables. There are three major types of sonnets I will be talking about and they are as different from each other.The first type is called the Petrarchan sonnet also known as the Italian sonnet was created by a Sicilian poet Giacomo da Lentini but was named after Francesco Petrarch because he mastered sonnets perfectly in the 14th century better than Giacomo himself. He fell in love with a young woman he saw at the church. Laura, whose name he was to immortalize in his sonnets, inspired him to write â€Å"the Canzoniere† a collection of love poems consisting of 365 sonnets about her, his true love. Petrarch wrote his sonnets about love.It was the first sonnet form to be written in the English language. The pattern of this sonnet is normally divided into two parts: the octave and the sestet. The octave is the first eight lines that have two quatrain and where the the me or problem is described which have the rhyming scheme of ABAB ABAB; on the other hand, the sestet is what solves the problem normally is the last six lines and it has three possibilities such as CDECDE or CDCCDC or CDCDCD. It usually has a pause between the octave and the sestet called the turn or â€Å"Volta† often being the 9th line.The second type of sonnet, the Shakespearean also known as the English sonnet was developed by the Earl of Surrey in the 16th century. It was named after William Shakespeare because he was the first to write in this form composing great sonnets. He wrote 154 sonnets and most of them were related about love. The Shakespearean sonnet is known to be very easy and simple to write; it is made up of three quatrains and a couplet at the end written in the iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, no wonder it is easy to remember and also follows the alphabetic order.What makes it different from other sonnet forms, is that it is writ ten and printed without a pause in-between the lines. In this type of sonnet, the rhyming lines in each stanza are the first and third and the second and fourth. In the couplet ending, both lines rhyme and follow the same rhyming pattern in all of his sonnets. Shakespeare’s love sonnets are indeed very personal addressing a lot of issues in life. It was believed that he wrote some of his sonnets for a young man which he describes beautiful; some thought if he was homosexual. Well that is something we might never know.Love for Shakespeare was beautiful; he was passionate about love and the sonnet form was a way for him to express his feelings. Through them, he was able to pass personal messages about life issues including, love. How hard it is to mention to whom his sonnets were dedicated to; some say his first 126 were for his love of a young man that questioned many of his sexuality. Of course there was a possibility that he cheated on his wife, Anne Hathaway and wrote some of his sonnets about the women he had his affairs with. Let’s have a look in his sonnet 20 from the reader (William Shakespeare 1564-1616 from sonnets): it s known to be one of the best of his 154 sonnets. It has caused a lot of confusion mainly because it shows a deep love for another man describing him with womanly features – a beautiful looking man. This man, who he could have created has earned Shakespeare’s love, though he points out in the last lines â€Å"Mine be thy love and thy love’s use their treasure† that it is a spiritual and not a physical love. â€Å"Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion†, can such a man-woman exist? This master-mistress is meant for women by the nature's â€Å"application† of the male genital organs.When he says â€Å"An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling† clearly shows that he thinks men are more honest and intelligent than women. It also suggests that a person's ability is tied in with their appearance, and can even suggest that a person having both manly and womanly features is the most beautiful to him . According to my readings this sonnet is proof of Shakespeare's homosexuality; others believe he just wanted to explain the universal nature of love. Now on with the third and last sonnet form, the Spenserian sonnet, named after Edmund Spenser one of the greatest poet in the English literature.Well, it is similar to the Shakespearean sonnet form with three quatrains and a couplet, written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. Some think that this type of form is quite difficult to understand especially new students as it is a mixed of the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean form that creates a stronger link between quatrains, and in a way of a more song-like tone. This fits since the word sonnet means â€Å"Little Song† in Italian. Spenser is well-known for â€Å"Amoretti†, a collection of love sonnets he wrote for his second wife, Elizabeth Boyle after their marriage.In his sonnets, Spenser talks about the love he has for his wife and what she means to him. One good example is the sonnet 78 from the Amoretti sonnets: Lackyng my love I go from place to place, Lyke a young fawne that late hath lost the hynd: and seeke each where, where last I sawe her face, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦beholds her selfe in me ( Amoretti 78, Edmund Spenser, 1595) In Sonnet 78 (amoretti 78 Edmund Spenser), he feels a separation from his fiancee deeply, wandering â€Å"from place to place, lyke a young fawne that late hath lost the hynd† (lines 1-2).He suffers over her departure and spends his time going to the places they spent time together: â€Å"And seeke each where, where last I sawe her face† looks at how much she reminds him of her presence, and instead to turn his eyes inward, that he might â€Å"Behold her selfe in mee† (line 14). Spenser's sonnets detail the admiration and the agonizing aspects of love. He uses very complex words in this sonnet maybe intending to show his writing skills or just the language he used in his sonnets. What would our lives be without love? Which would be their meaning?Without friendship, love experiences, would it be worthwhile to live? The language of love can be expressed in so many ways, through talking, through words maybe that’s why sonnets were created for; sonneteers wanted to impress their great writing skills and love was the best topic in the sonnet. Nowadays the sonnet is rather sung through songs, most songs you listen to is about love, people may not notice it but my opinion is sonnets are a beautiful way to communicate to the reader and will live forever. As you can see, sonnets have played a vital part of the early renaissance in literature.They have been used to talk about specific topic such as religion, politics but were mainly focused on love because it was firstly written about love. Sonnets are considered to be love poems even though afterwards some other writers wrote about their choice of topic. Shakespeare and Spenser were passionate about love and even received love; writing sonnets was a way for them to express their unattained feelings and to immortalize their great work through the sonnet which will live on onto many generations. They thought of love being something beautiful and magical. 1610 words