Relationship to Background Research Essay

Researchers Dunbar and Waynforth (1995) carried out research into human differences in mate selection by focusing on 900 different lonely-hearts ads taken from four different American newspapers. The investigation aimed to see what characteristics males and females looked for in potential mates by analysing each ad and recording how each person described themselves and what characteristics they looked for in a partner. It was found that women were more likely to advertise themselves as physically attractive, whereas males tended to highlight their economic status, displaying their potential ability to provide. Darwin’s theory supports this, as stereotypically good looking women will be good child bearers and provide ample food and care for children, and therefore will be more likely to produce healthy children with good genes for the next generation. Similarly, by highlighting their economic status men label themselves as good providers for children and will be able to care and help throughout the child’s life, meaning chance of survival is higher. Furthermore, stereotypically good-looking men (big, muscley etc) will have a higher chance of survival and therefore pass on these good genes to their offspring. I am going to investigate Darwin’s sexual strategy theory similarly to Dunbar’s methods, by looking into the way in which people advertise themselves in personal advertisements and seeing if they relate with Darwin’s, Andersson and Cunningham’s ideas about physical appearance and also pervious research done by Dunbar. I would be interested in finding out if Dunbar’s results done in America are similar to results that I will find in Macclesfield (England). I would further be interested in seeing if results have changed over time as men and women’s perceptions of each other may have differed in the last few years. His research led to my directional hypothesis which is â€Å"Men will describe their resources more than youth and looks in personal advertisements, women will describe their looks and youth more than resources. â€Å"The aim of the experiment is to find out what characteristics men and women offer when advertising himself or herself as a potential mate and to investigate if there are gender differences between the way men and women make themselves attractive to the opposite sex through lonely hearts advertisements. inspiration My directional hypothesis therefore, as influenced by Dunbar, is that heterosexual men will be more likely to offer resources such as wealth and financial stability. Heterosexual women, however, are more likely to offer youth and physical attractiveness. The null hypothesis would be as follows: there will be no significant difference between how men and women advertise themselves to the opposite sex.

Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) Essay

In the recent Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), orthopedic cases are projected to increase in the Trinity Hospital over the next five years. The assessment displayed that orthopedic cases are likely to flow from 11,800 to 17,338 (+46%); joint and spine procedures by 30%; and outpatient joint and spine procedures are expected to rise by 350%. The assessment highlighted the orthopedic services and the needs of the Trinity community. Some of the needs were shortage on physicians and specialist, gear, physical therapy services, and surgical suites. When looking at the business side of things you must understand supply demand. When demand rises and supply goes unchanged, a shortage will follow leading to greater costs equilibrium and if demand does not change and supply drops a short happens. This means there will be an increase in the overall revenue because of the rise in the demand for the orthopedic services. The community has a high demand for orthopedic services so it is and the population size for the aging community is growing so it is likely these services will be at an all-time high in five years. A recent needs assessment displayed that the current orthopedic cases are expected to rise 46%, with a 30% growth in inpatient joint and spine procedures. As expected outpatient joint and spine procedures are projected to grow by 350%. The orthopedic center is in a high demand area and the numbers show a defined market area within. There are also two private local hospitals in competition with very good orthopedics programs, which makes the need for Trinity’s to have a strong orthopedic program. Research shows that the main location is within the community with a projected population growth of 4%, this sets the demand for a quality orthopedic program to cover the growing community. The needs assessment shows that with an established orthopedic center, it is possible that we are able to provide everyone in the Trinity community with quality service for. It would be very feasible to develop the new center right away in order to meet the demands of the community and provide adequ ate treatment and services with adequate equipment. The orthopedic center development should allow us to incorporate an international trend of providing quality healthcare for all citizens in the community and spending less money. Regardless of the ability to pay we must also look into ways to reduce spending and still providing quality healthcare. The development of a plan that will allow patients to be treated despite financial ability  and health insurance could also help us meet the demand in the community. While our country does not offer a national healthcare system, our facility can incorporate the international trend. In addition to developing an integrated health system developing a selective groups of physicians and healthcare workers to provide adequate services. Currently there are two groups that are moving in the area. Fortunately one group has recently secured office space to open a branch of orthopedic practice on campus with the Trinity community, which helps us move to the integrated healthcare system. This benefit s the Trinity community by providing more services and quality programs to assist more patients. The ultimate goa at Trinity is to provide quality healthcare to all citizens of the Trinity community Robotic surgery and current digital equipment would be complementary to the new orthopedic center in surgical units. In addition to this we are able to accommodate the demands of orthopedic cases we deal with in the facility within our surgical units adequately. The development of the surgery facilities provide the advantage to recruit orthopedic groups that desire to be closer to Trinity and apply for privileges for the facility. There are currently twenty operating rooms that are equipped with the basic setup necessary to accommodate the orthopedic program. The rooms are equipped with two CT scanners, MRI scanner, X-ray, nuclear medicine, mobile PET scanner, and ultrasound services. The nursing staffs at Trinity are devoted and skilled which helps increase orthopedic nursing certification rate to 75% showing that this is a strong area in the facility. Although we may not be highly recommended the drive towards patient quality care it is a major part of the increase in demand of services. Even though all our service lines compliment the orthopedic program, it is clear that we can work hand- in- hand to develop a valued healthcare system and meet the demands, not only for patients but all hospital staff as well. The recent research shows that we could cut cost by building a new 5000 square foot physical therapy/rehab center adjacent to the Trinity campus. The new building costs estimates to about 600,000 verses 700,000 to purchase the space adjacent to the Trinity campus. In order to expand the services by adding a radiology department and have two MRI machines could cost approximately $3,000,000. Currently in the capital reserves we have 25,000,000 so this would be feasible for this service line expansion. Adding an orthopedic center could potential gain approximately 2100 new surgical cases and also gaining about 6500 visits in physical therapy. This can bring the profit margin to about $2,171,500. According to the five year projection plan, it is projected that there will be about $25,000 in gross charges per orthopedic surgical case. It is also clear that there is a $275 in gross charges per physical therapy treatment. 31% is the ratio of cost in charges when calculated. The Medicaid, Medicare and self- pay patients are at an all-time high right now so it is projected that the orthopedic program will increase in revenue and gain more pay-in patients. Developing a bundle payment program can allow the patient insured and uninsured an opportunity to get quality care and treatment in an affordable manor. A community hospital with the orthopedic center in it will be great in the future to help increase utilization, and also make-up for the decreased volume seen with the damage of the OB program and decay of general surgery volumes. An increase in the utilization could help our key financial indicators and also develop an effective profit plan for years to come. In order to increase the amount of specialists that are in the center we will need to target the patients who need total joint care. Developing a patient navigation system for these pacific patients can be a huge way to market the new service line to the community also coordinating care and appointments for the patients. This will also be a chance to provide physicians with the ability to sustain private practices and still work in the facility and have hospital privileges. It is suggested that we continue to work closely with those practices that are moving in the same direction as Trinity help outline the exact plan that has been developed for the marketing. A key marketing strategy that can be used in the marketing area is advertising. Highlighting the high quality services and giving the physicians satisfaction rate which is 90% could convince new patients to come to Trinity. Adding the orthopedic group adjacent to the Trinity campus, a referral service could be developed. The system should be set up as Trinity refers the orthopedic cases to the physicians group who will then in return refer all of their patients to the new orthopedic center for surgery, physical therapy, etc. Working directly with the physicians can give a more unified unit where everyone is able to benefit and also help increase their revenue equally among the practices and the hospital. Marketing can weigh in  on the expanding growth of the orthopedic specialists that are on staff and the new orthopedic center. Patients will be provided with referral information if the patient is in need for physician’s services on Trinity campus. We can also give referral for physicians who are not directly connected to the Trinity facility but have privileges at the facility. These physicians are able to use the referral services and in return refer patients to our facility and the new orthopedic center. Resources Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J., Richardson, W. C., & Donaldson, M. S. (2000). To err is human: Building a safer health system. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. McLaughlin, C. P., & Kaluzny, A. D. (1999). Continuous quality improvement in health care: Theory, implementation, and applications. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers

Me seek death

Triangle Skills to Solve Problems For each word problem below, you must draw a picture and show your work towards a solution. Solutions are given for each problem. Since these are real-life type problems, answers should be decimal approximations as opposed to being in simplest radical form. You are allowed to use anything you know about triangle similarity, right triangles and right triangle trigonometry. This assignment is a learning target and is required to pass this semester.P = Do these problems if you want a Proficient score for this learning target HP = Do Hess problems if you want a Highly Proficient score for this learning target A = All students are required to do these problems P 1) A soccer ball Is placed 10 feet away from the goal, which Is 8 feet high. You kick the ball and it hits the crossbar along the top of the goal. What is the angle of elevation of your kick? (38. 70) P 2) If a person 5 Ft 10 inches tall casts a 7 Ft. 4 inch shadow, how tall is a person who casts a shadow 6 Ft. 8 inches long? Put answer in feet and 4 inches) P 3) Michelle delivers books to school libraries. Her truck has a slide out ramp for unloading the books. The top of the ramp Is 3 feet above the ground. The ramp itself Is 5. 2 feet long. What is the horizontal distance the ramp reaches? Also, what Is the angle of elevation of the ramp? (4. 25 Ft. ; 35. 20) A 4) An airplane is at an elevation of 35,000 Ft. When it begins its approach to an airport. Its angle of descent is 60. What is the horizontal distance between the plane and the airport? Also, what is the approximate air distance from the plane to the airport? 63 miles; 63. 4 miles) P 5) Pete has a 15-foot ladder. The safety instructions recommend he should have he base of the ladder 6 feet from the base of the wall he will lean the ladder against. How high will the ladder reach on the wall? (13. 75 feet) A 6) A lighthouse keeper observes that there Is a 30 angle of depression between the horizontal and the line of sight to a ship. If the keeper Is 19 meters above the water, how far Is the ship from shore? (362. 5 meters) opposite bank. (90 meters) HP 8) Mart is standing 4 Ft. Behind a fence 6 Ft. 6 inches tall.When she looks over the fence, she can Just see the top edge off building. She knows that the building is 32 Ft. Inches behind the fence. Her eyes are 5 Ft. From the ground. How tall is the building? Give your answer to the nearest half-foot. (See diagram below) (18. 7 feet) A 9) A 25-foot ladder is placed against a building. The bottom of the ladder is 7 feet from the building. If the top of the ladder slips down 4 feet, how many feet will the bottom slide out? (slipped 8 feet) A 10) Driving through the mountains, Dale has to go up and over a high mountain pass.The road has a constant incline for 7 miles to the top of the pass. Dale notices from a road sign that in the first mile he climbs 840 feet. What is the height of the mountain pass? (5280 feet = 1 mile). Also, how steep is the i ncline in degrees? (Answer in feet) (6510 Ft. ; 9. 20) HP 11) You want to hang banner that is 29 Ft. Tall. You are thinking of hanging it outside from the third floor of your school, but need to measure to see if it will fit there. The trouble with measuring the direct distance is that there is a large 6 Ft. Tall bush in the way at the base of the school building.You throw a 38 Ft. Long rope out the window to a friend on the ground. She walks away from the building until the pop is taught. Upon measuring, she finds the angle of elevation of the rope to be 700. Will the banner fit on the wall and be completely above the bush? How much space will there be between the top of the bush and the bottom of the banner? (Banner will fit with . 7 off foot to spare) HP 12) Chris is mailing his friend a poster that has been rolled up in a long tube. He has a box that measures 20 inches by 8 inches by 4 inches. What is the maximum length the rolled poster can be? Where you label the dimensions on your drawing on the box won't affect your answer) (21. 7 inches) HP 13) Elena is standing on a plateau that is 800 Ft. Above a basin where she can see two hikers. The angle of depression from her line of sight to the first hiker is 250 and to the second hiker is 150. How far apart are the two hikers? (1270 feet) HP 14) The front and back walls of an A-frame cabin are isosceles triangles, each with a base 10 m and sides of 13 m. The entire front wall is made of glass that cost $120/mm. What did the glass for the front wall cost? $7200) angle of elevation of the sun was 550, the length of the shadow cast by this flagpole as 210 Ft. Find the height of the flagpole to the nearest foot. Also, what was the length of the shadow when the angle of elevation of the sun was 340? (300 feet; 444. 8 feet) A 16) International rules of basketball state the rim should be 3. 05 meters above the ground. If your line of sight to the rim is 340 and you are 1. 7 meters tall, what is the horizontal dista nce from you to the rim? (2 meters) P 17) Eagleburger is 17 miles south of Linebacker, and Linebacker is 5 miles west of Pueblo.Carson lives nine miles north of Linebacker. How many miles will Carson eave to drive altogether from his home to Eagleburger if he stops in Pueblo on the way? (Make sure he goes the shortest distances possible) (28 miles) P 18) A student looks out of a second-story school window and sees the top of the school flagpole at an angle of elevation of 220. The student is 18 Ft. Above the ground and 50 Ft. From the flagpole. Find the height of the flagpole. (38. 2 Ft. ) HP 19) You need to add 5 supports under the ramp, in addition to the 3. 6 meter one so that they are all equally spaced. You should have six supports in all.How long should each support be? Also, what is the angle of descent of the ramp? (220) A 20) A 17-foot wire connects the top of a 28-foot pole to the top of a pole. What is the shortest length of wire that you could use to attach the top of th e short pole to the bottom of the tall pole? (25 feet) A 21) Juanita, who is 1. 82 meters tall, wants to find the height off tree in her backyard. From the tree's base, she walks 12. 20 meters along the tree's shadow to a position where the end of her shadow exactly overlaps the end of the tree's shadow. She is now 6. 1 meters from the end of the shadows.How tall is the tree? 5. 46 meters) HP 22) A giant California redwood tree 36 meters tall cracked in a violent storm and fell as if hinged. The tip of the tree hit the ground 24 meters from the base. Researchers wished to investigate the crack. How many meters up from the base of the tree would they have to climb? (10 feet) HP 23) George is looking out from a window 30 feet above the street. The angle of elevation is 500 to the top off building across the street. The angle of depression to the base of the same building is 200. Find the height of the building across the street. (128. 2 Ft)

Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians - Essay Example The article indicates that initially the Yir Yoront group lacked knowledge concerning metals. Consequently, the group’s culture observed a technology characterized by customary Stone Age tools. The group primarily survived through hunting, fishing, gathering fruits and vegetables from the bush (Sharp 34). Furthermore, the group lacked cultivated plants and kept a dog as their only tamed animal. In contrast to other groups of the time, Yir Yoront developed stone axes that contributed substantially to their economy because it defined their cultural practices. However, toward the end of the 19th century, the metal tools and other European materials started penetrating the Yir Yoront land. Adoption of steel axes led to various changes to the group’s way of life. This included erosion of cultural practices. Although Yir yoronts attempted to resist the influence coming from Europeans, their effort was unproductive since European’s culture eventually spread within the g roup (Sharp 23). This article explains the dynamic nature of culture by highlighting the consequences of intercultural interactions. I support the author’s concepts that the introduction of steel axes among the Yir Yoronts led to the transformation of their social way of life. The Axe occupied a relevant position in the context of the Yir Yoront’s culture. Consequently, processes performed by the too had the potential of affecting the behavior of the group. Steel axes were more effective than stone axes. This meant that they offered an advanced approach of doing things. The modern development provided tactical approaches capable of making work easier. The traditional approaches could not match the developed technology. This forced the group to abandon its ineffective procedures. This indicates that a culture that presents appealing processes that lead to development can always affect the culture of another group. The Yir Yoront eventually had to borrow cultural concepts from the

Dibs in Search of Self (Axline) - Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dibs in Search of Self (Axline) - Review - Essay Example Her insight, comprehension of character, patience, and counseling expertise are apparent throughout, and the book could serve as a manual of clinical counseling strategies. It seems to me that four key themes run through Dr. Axline’s approach: 1. The individuality of each person, 2. The necessity of possessing an optimistic attitude that the individual can be helped, 3. Respect for the individual as a prerequisite for facilitating mental growth, 4. Allowing the individual – rather than the counselor – to lead. Possibly, however, those four themes could be collapsed into one: the all-abiding belief that the human individual is unique, that he has potential and that, when listened to and unconditionally accepted, this potential may flourish. Axline, therefore, seems to be a humanistically-oriented psychologist (of the Rogerian school of counseling), even though play therapy is, undoubtedly, behaviorally inclined. Noting her approach, Leonard Carmichel, in his introduction, has this to say: â€Å"No one who reads this book with understanding can ever again think that human psychological growth, success in a schoolroom, or the acquisition of a complex skill can be achieved merely by overt repetition or by the reinforcement of simple patterns of response.† (p. viii) 1. Acknowledging the unequivocal individuality of each person: In a somewhat Leibnizian stance, Axline posits that each person is an individual unto herself, closed off as a Leibnizian monad in his own world, and therefore the therapist (or another) could attempt to empathize with him or gain some sort of understanding of the workings of his personality, but could never fully enter the client’s experience. When first meeting Dibs, Dr. Axline reminisces on the many children she had encountered each of whom had dealt with their challenges in their own way; some had surmounted their difficulties, others had been overcome, but the Doctor realized there was no pat explanation

Ride along with a Police Officer Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ride along with a Police Officer - Term Paper Example After checking the vehicle registration, the driver would then be requested to provide the driver’s license. The police officer would then request the driver to step out of the car as he communicates to the station confirming the arrest of the traffic offenders. Moreover, we could sometimes ask random cars to pull over hence checking their vehicle condition and their registration numbers. If the vehicle is found to be in bad condition, or the registration expired, the driver would be asked to accompany the police officer to the station. Even though the night was lonely and boring, I got the chance to interact with Officer Ottey. He explained that he has been in the police force for about 5 years. With a smile on his face, I could tell he was proud to be a police officer. Officer Ottey’s father and grandfather were both police officers who died in the line of duty hence he had to join the police in honor of his father and grandfather. Apart from the police is a well-paying job, the officer explained that he is proud to be of service to the society. In the course of our discussion, I found out that the police are one of the diligent and humble people in the society. They are trained to exercise humility and patience when handling criminals. In their department, every police officer is treated with respect from their department heads and their seniors. This is because the training of the police instills discipline and respect to the colleagues and other members of the society. After the lengthy explanations, I was curious to know the qualifications for one to join the police academy. Officer Ottey explained that a person willing should be above eighteen years of age and must possess a high school diploma. In addition, some states require 60 college credits with a clean criminal record for the last 5years.  

United States history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

United States history - Essay Example The issue of democracy in America in general is one which has been debated on and about for ages, and the matter of whether or not capitalism has played a larger role in the defining of American foreign policy when compared to democracy is one which is incredibly significant and relevant overall.There are many different factors which need to be taken into consideration in order to be able to properly determine the answer to this posing, and this particularly in regards to the reasons that America became involved in foreign affairs in the late 19th century, as well as the motivations for their entering both world wars and the progress of the Cold War, for instance. All of these issues have great influence on the matter of whether democracy or capitalism should be considered as being more important in the defining of American foreign policy, and thus they all must be thoroughly addressed and discussed. The aim of this paper is to consider all aspects of both democracy and capitalism wh ich are two tremendously dynamic and substantial subjects on their own, and to compare their similarities and differences in order to be able to properly determine which has played more of a role in creating and defining American foreign policy since the 1800s. We will be able to do this by discussing the previously mentioned issues as well as any and all other key and related factors relevant to this case. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The term democracy is one which is typically used in the context of a political state however the principles are also applicable to numerous other groups and organizations. There are several different forms of democracy, with the most major being: representative, liberal, direct, socialist, anarchist, tribal, and consensus. The representative, liberal, and direct forms of democracy are the most well-known, and they are considered as follows: representative democracy is the form of democracy which involves the selection of government officials by the people, and one characteristic of representative democracy in particular is that of the fact that while the representatives are elected by the people, to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so; liberal democracy is a form representative democracy with free and fair elections along with the protection of minorities, the rule of law, a separation of powers, and protection of liber ties; and the direct form of democracy is one which is largely referred to as being "a political system where the citizens vote on all major policy decisions. It is called direct because, in the classical forms, there are no intermediaries or representatives. All direct democracies to date have been relatively small communities, usually city-states. However, some see the extensive use of referenda, as in California, as akin to direct democracy in a very large polity with more than 20 million potential voters" (Wikipedia, 2007). Capitalism, on the other hand, is a term which generally refers to an economic system in which "the means of production are mostly privately owned and operated for profit, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free market. It is usually considered to involve the right of individuals and groups of individuals acting as 'legal persons' or corporations to trade capital goods, labor, land and money" (Boyer, Clark & Kett, 2002). The first actual theories of capitalism came about in the context of the Industrial Revolution, and this followed the social theorist Karl Marx in particular, and these theories were generally used to criticize the concept. The

Two-Variable Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two-Variable Inequality - Essay Example Write an inequality that limits the possible number of maple rockers of each type that can be made, and graph the inequality in the first quadrant. (2). One classic maple rocking chair requires 15 board feet and this will be designated as (15 cmr) and since one modern maple rocking chair requires 12 board feet this requirement will be designated as follows (12 mmr). The totally available board feet of maple lumber is 3000 feet, therefore, an equation showing the total combination of classic maple rocking chairs and modern maple rocking chairs that could possibly be made out of this amount of materials is represented as shown in the following equation: (3). Finding intercepts of the two variables on x axis (dependent variable) and y axis (independent variable) where either of them is zero, requires substitution of either of the variables with a zero value so as to obtain the maximum possible value of the other variable. The obtained intercepts can then provide end points on the line that will help draw a line that will map out the area of possibility. The inequality line in this case will be a straight, downward sloping solid line portraying a negative gradient, and the lines slopes from left to right because the inequality is a â€Å"less than or equal to† equation (Boyd et al., 1994). The region satisfying the equation falls within the first quadrant and is restricted to the left region of the line and the x and y axes (Boyd et al., 1994). This point (75, 50) falls within the shaded region and it is a point at which the company can satisfy an order of 75 classic maple rocking chairs and 50 modern maple rocking chairs. If the company made 75 classic maple rocking chairs and 50 modern maple rocking chairs the amount of material used would have been: The point (150, 75) falls outside the equation satisfaction region and it is a point at which the company may be unable to produce the designated number of products required at this point.

Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Coursework Example It is important for business managers to understand the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. There is a minor difference between efficiency and effectiveness. Following is the definition and difference between efficiency and effectiveness: Efficiency: With respect to workplace it r refers to the time to perform a work with less time and more accuracy. For example, if a person writes one page with accuracy in 20 minutes and his counterpart writes the same page with same accuracy in half an hour. Then the person that takes just 20 minutes to write a page with the same accuracy that his colleague writes in 30 minutes is more efficient. Effectiveness: with respect to workplace it refers the level of results from the work of employees or managers. In effectiveness the emphasis is on quality rather than on time. In businesses, sometimes quality is more important than time. So in such case it does not matter if someone finishes a work in 20 minutes or 30 minutes. It is the effectiveness of the results that matter. Difference: Efficiency is a work done per unit time whereas, effectiveness is a work done over a comparatively more period of time. Efficiency is based on quality of work and time taken to complete that work. On the other hand, effectiveness is more focused on quality and less focused on the time. Answer: There is no denying of the fact that all businesses are interested in achieving higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness. There are numerous reasons behind this interest of businesses. Following are main three reasons behind this: 2. The quest of higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness make a sense of responsibility in employees and merit for promotion and benefits of employees are determined through efficiency and effectiveness. Answer a: For conducting financial analysis using accounting ratios, Visa Inc. has been selected. Visa Inc. is a global

Planning in the Roman Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Planning in the Roman Empire - Essay Example The emperor also provided a lot of economic opportunities that people could take advantage of. The emporium faced major problems in maintaining security and peace and in governance. The central government also had devolved a lot of its governance responsibility of local affairs and certain imperial duties to the cities. There was a lot of competition within between the cities in the empire. The competition is evident bearing in mind how the senior citizens competitively vie with each other for recognition by the public and for senior civil posts. Cities also competed with each other to gain honorific titles. However, the competition of the cities was to some extent beneficial to the empire as it fostered decorative and architectural developments as they strove to outdo rival cities in the â€Å"splendor of their public monuments and the variety or their urban facilities†(p122). The competitions also brought other potential dangers. Some building projects which were undertaken in cities like Bithynia were left unfinished. Much of the empire’s resources were concentrated on development. New ideas, techniques, buildings and materials for building were employed in a bid to come up with bigger more impressive buildings. More architectural work was done. The focus of the empire was on transforming the existing cities and fostering growth of cities in the urbanized provinces. Civic planning can achieve various benefits if well done and implemented. On the other hand, if not well planned or implemented, it can end up having a lot of negative results. In the empire, buildings would give a sense of solidarity which was not the situation on the ground as the cities were strong competitors. The buildings were magnificent and beautiful which would also have given a sense of unity in the empire, which was not also the case. Many buildings also had been started

Statistics project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Statistics Project Example Referring to Table 1 above, the sales size was significantly, positively correlated with the number of full-time employees (Ï  = 0.237, p From the onset, it is clear that the relationship between the number of part-timers and sales size does not follow a linear pattern. This is because of the earlier noted correlation coefficient that is not statistically significant. The bivariate relationships between the sales size and each of the independent variables are shown in Figures 1-4. The scatter plots indicate whether the nature of the relationship between two variables can be depicted either in a linear or non-linear manner. A linear relationship indicates that the rate of change in one variable results in a proportional change in the other (Bryan and Heagerty 2014). If the relationship is non-linear, it is impossible to arrive at the same conclusion as above. From Figure 1, the rate of increase in the size of sales (in square meters) does not appear to correspond to the increase in the number of

Taxation Tasks Essay Example for Free

Taxation Tasks Essay 1) Patty owned Patty’s Cakes in Jacksonville, Florida. She sold her business to Fruity’s, Inc. a national pastry company. There was a non-compete agreement in the contract for the sale of her business. In the non-compete, Patty agreed not to work in any capacity in the food industry for 10 years on the entire east coast. A court would likely determine that the non-compete agreement a) violates federal law b) is unenforceable c) is enforceable d) both A and B 2) A liability that may extend from an employee to the employer if the employee is acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time the liability arose is called: a) vicarious liability b) employee liability c) employer liability d) adverse liability 3) A person who contracts with a principal to perform a task according to her or his own methods, and who is not under the principal’s control regarding the physical details of the work is called a/an: a) Contingent worker b) Temporary worker c) Independent contractor d) All of the above 4) Benita works as a nursing assistant in a retirement home run by Cottonwood Care Centers, a national operator of facilities providing care for the elderly. Benita works 53 hours a week. After looking at her payroll stubs for the past 6 months, she concludes that she has not received sufficient overtime pay. She complains to her supervisor but the company takes no action. a) Benita can bring a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) b) Benita can bring a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) c) Benita can bring a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). d) Benita can bring a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor, under Executive Order 11246 5) Ling frequently stocks shelves for Ace’s Market on an as needed basis. Ace pays Ling $5 per shelf. One day Ling falls off a broken ladder while stocking a shelf. Line is seriously injured: a) If Ling is determined to be an independent contractor, he is eligible for workers’ compensation b) If Ling is determined to be an employee, he is eligible for workers’ compensation c) Ling is eligible for workers’ compensation whether he is an employee or an independent contractor d) None of the above 6) ABC, Inc. solicited bids from various independent contractors to landscape the grounds of its new office complex. Drew, head of facilities management told Patty, his secretary, that he would not accept any bids from Hispanic contractors. Drew explained that he would authorize hiring only American contractors to work on the grounds. A Hispanic contractor brings a lawsuit against ABC for discriminations. a) Drew’s refusal to hire Hispanic companies is a violation of the Independent Contractors Act of 2006. b) Drew’s refusal to hire Hispanic companies is a violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act c) The Hispanic contractor cannot prevail in a discrimination case because John’s conversation with his secretary is confidential and cannot be used as evidence. d) Drew’s refusal to hire Hispanic companies is not a violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act because that law does not cover discrimination against independent contractors. 7) BRC Partners is a consulting firm. Sam and Arnie are analysts for BRC. Sam was hired as an employee and Arnie was hired as an independent contractor. They both work in the same BRC office under the same supervisor. They both must work Monday through Friday during the standard business hours. Both are required to report to weekly staff meetings. Sam is paid a salary and the proper federal and state tax withholdings are made. Arnie does not receive benefits like retirement and health insurance and his is paid by the project with no federal and state withholdings. Arnie signed a contract that clearly stated he was an independent contractor and not an employee. a) BRC has properly classified Arnie as an independent contractor b) BRC has improperly classified Arnie as an independent contractor c) BRC has improperly classified Arnie as an independent contractor, however, its contract with Arnie is binding and BRC will have no liability under federal or state law for the misclassification. d) BRC has improperly classified Arnie as a independent contractor, however, its contract with Arnie is binding and BRC will have no liability under federal and state law for the misclassification, but Arnie will have liability under federal and state law. 8) Pilar is hired by Axel, Inc. as an independent contractor. To avoid a determination by the IRS that Pilar has been misclassified as an independent contractor, Axel should: a) provide training to Pilar b) pay her by the hour c) pay FICA d) none of the above 9) Clarence works as an independent contractor for the law firm of Kafka, Rivera and Grisham. a) Clarence will be responsible for making payments for his Social Security (FICA), estimated federal income tax payments, estimated state income tax payments and Medicare. b) Clarence will be responsible for making payments for his FICA and Medicare and the law firm will be responsible for withholding payroll deductions for his federal and state income taxes. c) Clarence will be responsible for making payments for his Social Security (FICA) and Medicare, but the law firm will be responsible for making estimated federal income tax payments, estimated state income tax payments for him. d) Clarence will be responsible for making payments for his Social Security (FICA), withholding deductions for his federal and state income taxes and Medicare. 10) Which of the following is not covered by the EEOC’s definition of contingent worker? a) an employee hired through a staffing firm b) a temporary, seasonal, or part-time worker c) an applicant d) an independent contractor

The Role Of Stereotyping In Fairytales English Literature Essay

The Role Of Stereotyping In Fairytales English Literature Essay Fairy tales have a great history in Europe and they were transmitted from the one generation to the other by oral speech, until the Grimm brothers decided to commit many of them, around 1815. The fairy tales stories are very important for childrens psychology, as psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim says, because they communicate with the unconscious of the child, through their secret messages, like the battle between the good and the evil, where the good always wins. So, the children feel more hopeful and ready to pass through the difficulties that emerge in their lives (Salkind, 2004). Fairytales contain material that influences a lot the feelings and the cognition of children. Contemporary research has shown they are not coming into the world as black slates, but they bring reflexes, predispositions and capacities, with their birth. Although schemas, the cognitive structures, that represent organized knowledge about a given concept or stimulus, that influence perception, memory and inference, (Hewstone, Stroebe Stephenson, 1997, p.617), are transmitted to them through the contact with their guardians and the society (Hewstone et al., 1997). Another effect of fairytales is the elongation of some schemas, specially those that concern gender. There are three types of schemas, according to Baron and Burne (2009); those that have to do with persons, with roles and with events. The role schemas, that are correlated with specific social roles, concern the way that people act and are like. Gender identity is one of the major role schemas that people cope with (Baron, Branscombe Burne, 2009). Gender roles affect the behavior of men and women throughout their life, social and personal. Some characteristics of the male stereotype is that the man is able to be a leader, aggressive, forceful, competitive, independent, individualistic and defending his own beliefs. On the other hand, woman is affectionate, compassionate, shy, soft-spoken, tender, she loves children and she is sensitive to the needs of others. Men are also considered as the owners of their family and like the head of the wife. Stereotypes like that have still their place in many religions, but are also tought to the children through the fairy tales. Women are still presented as followers of the active male figures or helpless with the need to be rescued. Children attain the meaning of gender identity, the fact that they are boys or girls, by the age of two and between the ages of four and seven, they realize that the gender is a basic attribute of the person. As they grow up they come in contact with the stereotypes that concern what it means to be male or female, and they are enforced by their environment to show these traits Children also, learn gender stereotypes very early in their life. By the age of two they know to accord stereotyped behaviors and traits with each gender and at the ages between three and six, they seem more strongly sex stereotyped than adults. Furthermore they are convinced that these stereotypes are true. In particular, in the research of Urberg (1982, cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994), it was found that children espouse unconditionally the gender stereotypes at the age of five, but at the age of seven they become more conciliatory. Another finding of the same research was that children tend to stereotype oth er children more than stereotype adults. In another study of Haugh, Hoffman Cowan (1980, cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994), it was shown on a screen to two groups of children of three and five year old, a shortcut with two twelve month infants playing. The children of the first group were told that the infant on the left was male, and on the right female, and to the other group the opposite. Both groups described the babies labeled as males, with characteristics like big, mad, fast, strong, loud, smart, and hard, while the female labeled as small, scared, slow, weak, quiet, dumb, and soft. As for the predictions that children can make about the preferences of the two sexes, in the study of Martin (1989, cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994), it was found that children of all ages tented to predict the characters interest about some toys, based on his or her gender. But only the younger children relied absolutely on this trait. It seems that younger children are more categorical with gend er stereotypes, and the gender of an individual is determinant for his or her characteristics and habits (Baron, Branscombe Burne, 2009, Golombok Fivush, 1994). The research about the gender roles in fairytales, has shown that even though women represent more than the half percent of the population, they are represented much less in childrens literature. Research during 60s decade found that women were underrepresented in a big amount in the book titles, central roles and the illustrations of popular childrens stories. After the political changes of the decades of 70s and 80s, it was found that women are better represented in childrens literature, but the male characters were represented double times. When a woman had a leading role was described as the males that had the same character. But when she had a secondary role, she was described with the traditional characteristics, as passive and depended (Golombok Fivush, 1994, Godden Godden, 2001). Furthermore, it was found by a research of DeLoache et al., cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994, that children get in contact with the gender stereotypes not only through the characters of their stories, but also by the way that their parents present the gender roles, while they are reading them a book. In particular, mothers that were reading a book to their children were presenting the 90% of the characters with unknown roles as males. Also, when they were asked to read a picture book with bears of indetermined gender, the 62% of them represented the bears to their children as male and a small percentage, about the 16% as female. It was also observed that the bears that were labeled as females, where those that were not been presented to interact with other bears (Golombok Fivush, 1994). According to the Banduras Social learning theory, cited in Cole Cole, 2002, gender is formed by social factors. He supported that the childs behavior is formed by that one of the others and specific by parents behavior, through the learning processes of reinforcement and observation or imitation of a model. Other factors responsible for socialization can be the teachers, the peers and generally the people that get in contact with the child, without underestimating the role of media, like tvs and children readings (Cole Cole, 2002). It has been observed that parents provide to their children except of patterns of imitation, rewards, when the behaviors of the last are compatible with their gender and they punish them for the behaviors that are not accord with it. In the studies of Beverly Fagot, cited in Cole Cole, 2002, in families, it was found that the parents were praising their daughters when they were trying clothes, dancing, playing with their dolls, or when were following them and they were punishing them when they were exploring things, running and climbing around. Contrary they were praising their sons when they were playing with cubes and they were punishing them, when they were playing with dolls, giving or asking for help. These findings are also supported by other studies, like those of Langois Downs, cited in Cole Cole, 2002. Except of the rewards, it has been observed by studies that the fathers in contrast with the mothers, treat their sons much more different than their daughters. More specifically they were considering boys as more strong and taugh and they were enforcing them to do similar activities, while they were rating them more strict than their mothers when they were playing with dolls. Also, when the boys were between the age of two and twelve, they were becoming stricter, more equable, less affectionate and more directional than with their daughters. Furthermore, it seems that the pressure to the boys to conform to their gender role, is bigger than this one that touch girls. As a result the gender role of boys is more cohesive than for the girls, something that continues to exist in mens and womens roles, when the male characteristics and roles are acceptable for women, while the opposite is not acceptable. Another stereotypic role for women in fairytales is that they have to stay in silence. Its inappropriate for them to express their thoughts and claim for their rights. This could be like an insult to their husband and only evil women, like witches, are taught with these behaviors. The only way for the women in fairytales to speak is only after asking a mans permission. Its also common for the man in fairytales to hit his wife when she dares to interrupt him. Women can only express themselves by crying and show helpless (Afanasev, 1973, Bottigheimer, 1986). In Snow White, Brothers Grimm classic fairy tale, the female gender is represented in a negative way. Snow White is displayed as being frightened, naive and helpless, and the evil Queen, her stepmother, the only other prominent female character is a narcissist. Thus, after reading or hearing this fairy tale, society begins to mold into these stereotypes. This quote demonstrates what society considers to be womens role. These traits are presented when the huntsman spares Snow Whites life and when the Dwarfs expect Snow White to do house work in order to live safely with them. Although the queen ironically is very powerful in this fairy tale, she also falls into the stereotype for females. She only uses her power for negatives, rather than positives, scheming vindictive plots on Snow White throughout the whole story. In which, naive Snow White falls victim, not once but three times. The evil queen sends the huntsmen to kill Snow White. This setting introduces the readers to Snow White as a scared helpless girl, a typical expected role of a female (Zipes, 2000). Although there are exceptions, the rule is that a woman has to lose her voice and her identity in order to provide a place in the society for herself. There are specific gender roles in the classic fairy tales that state that the men have the voice and the women are to be collateral. In the classic fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, the character of the seventh daughter is being taught what it is to be a woman. When she complains about grooming for her first trip above water, her grandmother remind her that someone cant have beauty without paying a cost. A woman must be beautiful and must suffer for the cost in silence. Silence is repeated throughout the tale as being a virtue. The mermaid suffers the pain and blood of her feet and the cutting out of her tongue as to be with her love, even though the man does not want her in return. The Disney version of this tale also shows Ariel learning about the importance of outward beauty and suppression. Ursula convinces Ariel that she doesnt need her voice in the human world. She has her beauty, her lovely face and she can use her body language. A woman can live in the mans world, only if she will lose her opinion. At first, Disneys Ariel seems not to follow the typical stereotype role for a woman. She is active, curious and rebellious sometimes. However, when she falls in love, her independent character, transforms into a dependent woman that only wants to become the wife of her beloved man. Moreover she decides to sacrifice her voice, as to become a human, and leave her underwater kingdom to live next to her man (Bell, Haas, Sells, 1995). Another example of the importance of women silence, is in the story of The Merchants Daughter and the Slanderer where the king decides to marry her only when it is mentioned to him that she is quiet and vestal. The value of silence is correlated with those of speech and power. Generally in fairy tales the speech comes from people that have authority, which most of the times are not the women. The women that appear to speak are evil, like witches, and only when they give a curse to their enemies, as it was mentioned before (Afanasev, 1973, Bottigheimer, 1986). Another stereotype in fairy tales, is that the mans role is to work and provide food to his family by this work. Besides that, in many fairy tales, the opposite fact happens. In Constantino Fortunato of Straparola, it is a woman, the mother Soriana, who provides the food to her three adult sons, who end helpless when she is dead. Their only way to survive is to use the items she left them and because they do not have any qualifications for work they become dependent on other people. Because of the fact that they have never worked, they do not appreciate the people who help them and they forget each one when a new person who can help them appears. And thats what Constantino does when is been ensured to him the marriage with the princess. In this fairytale the sons are completely dependent on their mother who has the main character in that. She is described as a very poor woman who had three sons, a description that appears in many points of the story. The important to notice is that never this family is been demonstrated as a poor family, but there is only a really poor mother and her sons. The sons are not considered as independed members of this family and they are not responsible for their poverty, even though they are old enough to have a job. They stay sideliners even when their mother is dead. Their only way to survive is to wait for their neighbors to ask them to borrow some of the items their mother left and give them something in return. When Constantinos brothers get a sweet like a gift from their neighbors they eat it by themselves and they dont keep anything for him but only advice him to ask the cat for help. That is what happens and the cat begins to provide everything to the young man, even his marriag e with the princess. When he becomes a prince he has to face many responsibilities but even in that time he denies to do it and continues to count on womens of the palace help (Zipes, 2000). Another common characteristic for the women in fairy tales is their passivity. Most of them when they find themselves in trouble, are waiting for a male to rescue them and dont take the situation in their own hands. In the story of The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion the sister of the family has to endure every day the minatory visits of a dragon, without doing anything to protect herself like to escape, but only waiting for her brothers to come back from a hunter travel, to save her (Afanasev, 1973). Another message that fairy tales give to women is that disobedience to men and possible will for power will be strict punished. The womans role is to serve the husband and do the housekeeping. In the Mayoress fairy tale, the woman explains to her husband her intention to become mayoress and he decides to punish her with some elder men. Because of her inability as a mayoress she spends the public money and then its impossible to collect the taxes in time. Even though she makes efforts to control the situation, the Cossack decides to punish her by beating her. The meaning of this story is that this woman should never desire a position of power and disobey her husband. Generally this story teaches women to stay allegiant to the authority of their husband and also men that women are incapable for positions that have to do with the public affairs and power. Beauty is another value that is overestimated in fairy tales. Usually we meet in their pages, young and beautiful girls to be chosen by men with power, but ugly and much older, like what happened in Beauty and the Beast and the ugly girls to be rejected not only from men but also from society. It is also common that the beauty is correlated with traits, like honesty, purity, virginity, delicacy and modesty. Beauty is also a virtue that has to be well protected from the world outside and be well guarded like a treasure. In the story of Dawn, Evening and Midnight the king watches his daughters during all day not allowing to anyone else to see their beauty. He doesnt even leave the sun or the wind to touch them. It is obvious that he adores his daughters only because they are extremely beautiful. It is not only the beauty that determine a wedding but also the ability of woman for reproduction. More specifically, it is the ability of the woman to make male children. It is considered as an ability of the woman to control the sex of her child, something that does not correspond to the contemporary knowledge and when she fails to make a boy, she is usually considered as cursed or worthless and she is driven away from her husband. This is obvious in the Singing Tree and the Talking Bird, when the king chooses his future wife only after she promises him to make three children, two males and one female. No other traits are more decisive than this, like the worth of a woman is considered first of all, with her ability of reproduction (Afanasev, 1973). It seems that even nowadays fairytales attribute to women the stereotyping traits of their gender, like passivity and silence, and to men those of power and courage, as it was shown through the fairytales of Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Ariel and The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion. Although there are traditional fairytales like Constantino Fortunato, that shows the woman in a position of power, this one of the head of the family and modern, that describe their heroine with some male characteristics, like Ariel of the Little Mermaid, who is independed and curious, before falls in love with a man, it seems that social sciences have to make a lot of efforts to modify the gender stereotypes in children literature (Zipes, 2000, Afanas ev, 1973).

Food Processing Industry Analysis

Food Processing Industry Analysis 1.0 Introduction A strategic management process like strategy analysis, strategy formulation, and strategy implementation are important for an organization. (Anthony H,2008) 2.0 Strategy Analysis Macro-environment can act as an analysis which provide early warning system for organizations to anticipate threats, opportunities, and develop appropriate responses (Ginter and Duncan,1990) in the discerning trends in general environment which may impact upon its industry and markets. Strategy analysis can make organization to focus on factors and conditions which influence a firms profitability within an industry and focus on predicting the dynamics of competitors actions, responses and intentions. (Anthony H,2008) This tool of analysis will discuss about PEST framework, Porters Five forces framework and SWOT analysis for BreadTalk in BreadTalk Group Ltd. 2.1.0 Analysis of food processing industry 2.1.1 PEST Analysis PEST analysis is a useful tool to help Breadtalk Group Ltd to help detect and monitor all weak signals to recognize the discontinuities or fractures to shape the environment. PEST refers to political, economic, social and technological. i) Political Factors The political factor encompasses all legal elements like legislation, taxation, deregulation philosophies, labour training and etc. (Anthony H,2008) All organization within the food processing industry are forced to innovate and cut costs to remain competitive to prevent new entrants as new entrants will enter the market with lower cost and more clearing understanding of consumer needs by offering more innovative products and services. Increasing globalization and trade barriers has created an opportunity and challenge to BreadTalk as BreadTalk can enter the market by emerging companies in political stable country to explore the new market especially in markets where bread could be luxury but at the same time BreadTalk will have to challenge with all type of sources to source for low cost high quality from world over. ii) Economic factors The strengthening of an economy will generally benefit industries but its effect will vary according to which factors are most affected. The economic factors include interest rate, disposable income, inflation, gross domestic product, unemployment rates, budget deficit and surplus, personal savings rate, business savings rates and exchange rates. (Anthony H,2008) The rise and fall of commodity and raw material and rise in fuel prices all over the world cause the rise of purchasing costs for BreadTalk and the extra cost has to pass over to consumers by increasing the prices of products. The credit crunch can impact BreadTalk as it might decrease the power of purchasing of consumer and BreadTalk may face competition from local small bread retailers who offer at more affordable prices though less delicious to cost conscious consumers. iii) Social factors Social factors include all cultural changes like social cultural within the environment or country and it would influence consumer spending patterns. Social cultural include traditions, lifestyles, values, attitudes, beliefs, tastes, and workforce diversity. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk forays into the markets of China and India and social factors come into understanding. Chinese and Indian customers have different culture in lifestyle, and they have different opinions and needs on the current products offered. iv) Technological factors No doubts that major changes taking place in the general environment that are impacting the competitive environment are technological. Technological factors include product innovation, applications of knowledge, new communication technologies and etc. The rapid rate of changes of technology has allowed new entrants to enter the market at a lower cost base. (Anthony H,2008) Modern processes and machinery with many communications devices now can now be used by BreadTalk to ensure the cost of labor and production are reduced and orders to process faster due to globalization and changes in technological factors. 2.1.2 Porters five forces framework The five forces of Porter are, threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, Bargaining power of suppliers, threat of substitute product and intensity of rivalry Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is when new competitors decide to enter an industry and reduce profits being earned by incumbent firms and to decrease level of customers loyalty within the food processing industry. (Anthony H,2008) With BreadTalks product differentiation and high brand name recognition and customer loyalty, it will prevent new entrants to enter the market, so the threat of new entrants will be low. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers have the influence power for an industry to force down prices and offer higher quality as consumers purchase represents a sizable proportion of organizations overall sales. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk produced products that are potentially lower price for customers as they design its own products and have their own factories. BreadTalk enhance customer loyalty by enhancing existing customer and getting new customers by providing positive shopping experience through good customer services, so the buyer power is high. Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers have the power of bear or apply in an industry by raising price or reducing the quality of products. (Anthony H,2008) The increase of supplier power is the mirror image of increase buyer power. BreadTalk uses a strategy of building greater loyalty and long-term relationships marketing with suppliers and retailers and then to result in improve performance in work and provide good service to customers. Threat of substitute products or services By having a products or services that meet similar needs will make customers switch to substitutes in response to a price increase on product. (Anthony H,2008) In Singapore, there are many substitutes for bread like hawker centers and restaurants like Delifrance and McDonalds are close substitutes in terms of pricing and perform the same function to sell food. Intensity of rivalry among firms in an industry When an organization exhibit a high level of rivalry, it will cause the industrys profits to reduce because of aggressive competition on price as when rivalry cut down on price, the other organizations will cut down price to sustain in their market positions. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk main competitors are Four Leaves, Prima Deli, Q-Bread, Sweet Secrets, Bengawan Solo, and so forth. BreadTalk is facing an intense rivalry competition from both small-scale production like small family-fun in the neighbourhood and large retailers like Sunshine and Gardenia which produce affordable products. Due to this intense competition, BreadTalk attempted to enter Chinas market for diversity purposes. SWOT analysis SWOT analysis refers to strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strength and weaknesses refer to the BreadTalkss internal environment within the firms control while opportunities and threats refer to BreadTalks external environment which the firm has less control. Strength The BreadTalks concept is unique from the traditional bakeries in the market as BreadTalk has a wide menu of confectionery products like breads, buns, pastries and cakes which allows the menu change on daily basis to satisfy customers varied needs. BreadTalk will introduce new products every four months to cater customers changing taste.(competitive strengths,2009) Other than this, strategic locations is one of the competitive strength. BreadTalks retail outlets are mostly near the public transport systems like bus terminals, the Mass Rapid Transit Stations, and the Light Rail Transport stations.(competitive strengths,2009) Weaknesses There is very much reliant on Singapore with a small domestic market of five million and it is also underserved in the emerging economies of Asia, in result this might drag BreadTalks company performance in long term fairly saturated with little growth in local market. Although BreadTalk offers a wide range variety of products, it does not have halal certificate, so it is very hard and critical to penetrate into the Muslim market, Malaysia market and Indonesia markets. Opportunities BreadTalk oppose its main weakness by expanding and emerge its market in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries with its affordable, low-priced high volume breads. Other than this, the increase of popularity of online shopping has provided an opportunity to BreadTalk to lower expenses by expanding its business into the realm of virtual marketplace. Threats Existing bread related firms like Gardenia, Ya Kun and Sweettalk are also competing BreadTalk directly to offer bread with fillings and more variety of bread, this move will significantly effect on BreadTalks revenue of the sales of bread. If the health conscious alternative like Subway decides to sell low priced bread, BreadTalk will face a challenge. 2.2 Value Chain Analysis There are two analytical tools like Value Chain analysis and Benchmarking to asses whether BreadTalks costs are competitive with those of rivals as is a crucial part of company situation analysis. Value Chain analysis is more suitable for BreadTalk Group Ltd. A companys businesses are consists of all activities undertaken in producing, designing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product and service which perform internally combine to form a value chain. Value chain analysis was devised by Porter (1985) which helps us to assess an organizations resources to determine its strengths and possible weaknesses. Value Chain contains two types of activities which are primary activities where most value for customers is created while support activities facilitate performance of the primary activities. For bakery goods maker like BreadTalk, its primary activities would be producing bread from raw material to semi finished products by the activities emulsifiers, enzymes, sourdoughs and yeasts, supply chain management, recipe development and testing, mixing and baking, packaging, sales and marketing and then distribution. For its support activities, it would be quality control, hu man resource management and then administration. Value Chain analysis has a few characteristic: To combine costs for all activities in a companys value chain to define the companys internal cost structure To compare a firms costs activity by the activity against costs of key rivals from raw materials purchase to and price paid by ultimate customer To pin point the source of cost advantage or disadvantage on its internal activities 3.0 Strategy Formulation Strategy formulation can be argued that it can constitute differential firm performance and allows BreadTalk to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and to accomplish their objectives and mission. An organization must be mindful of its ability before it can implement strategy during the strategy formulation stage. Business level and corporate level strategy will be discussed as BreadTalk Group Limited used these two strategies to improve the companys performance. Business Level Strategy Business level strategy can work as separating out and formulating a competitive strategy at the level of individual business unit and sometimes referred as strategic business unit (SBU) which focuses upon a particular market or markets for its products and services.(Anthony H,2008) Business unit is needed to devise a strategy to allow it compete successfully to the marketplace and contribute to corporate strategy. Business level strategy can be evaluated by using Porters generic competitive strategies as business strategy is always in pursuit of a sustainable competitive advantage.(Anthony H,2008) Porters seminal work on industry and competitor analysis (Porter 1980) argues that what will drives an organizations performance and differential firm performance and it is also referred as to the positioning of the firm within the industry to take advantage and the attractiveness or profitability of an industry is determined by his five forces framework. Generic Competitive Strategies Performing different activities or similar activities in different ways which will be recognized as being superior to its competitors can create a sustainable competitive advantage. Porter (1980) argues that competitive strategy develop a defendable position in an industry which enable the firm to deal effectively with the five competitive forces and generate superior return on investment for the firm. BreadTalk can achieve it by following these steps; first, BreadTalk can offer its products at a lower price than rivals but without sacrificing the quality of products. Second, BreadTalk can produce differentiated product with premium price for customers who perceive better value than from rival firms, third BreadTalk should choose which market segments to compete within. Porter (1980) developed three generic strategies to help organization to outperform rivals and position itself against the five forces within the industry which are Overall Cost Leadership Strategies, Differentiation Strategies and Focus Strategies. Overall Cost Leadership Strategies This strategy involves firm to be the lowest-cost producer within the industry and target its products and services at a broad market to outperform rivals within the industry as it charge lower prices and its lowest-cost-base can still earn superior profits where the rival simply cannot match. According to Porter, cost leadership strategy require organization to pursue aggressive construction of efficient-scale facilities, vigorous pursuit of cost reductions from experience, tight cost and overhead control, avoidance of marginal customer accounts, cost minimization in areas like research and developments, service, sales force and advertising. (Porter 1980, p.35) BreadTalk generate above-average profitability where intense competitions exist in Singapore. Its lower cost base allows BreadTalk to still earn returns after other higher cost direct main competitors like Gardenia, Four Leaves and my bread (CIMB research report,2009) to competed away their profit through rivalry. A low cost position allows BreadTalk to defend itself against buyers who can only price down to the next most efficient competitor. BreadTalk provide a hedge against any increases in their input prices when facing with the bargaining power of suppliers as BreadTalk is being a low-cost producer. BreadTalk is at advantageous position to compete prices to prevent the threat of entry and acts as barrier to entry. Differentiation Strategies Differentiation strategy means organization produce unique or different products or services at a broad market for consumers and it also acts as an opportunity to meet different customer needs. Customers willing to pay a premium price for unique products and services. The major benefit of this strategy is that rivals will find it difficult to imitate. Organization can differentiate their product offerings like design, brand image, market abilities, reliability, creativity, customer service and so on. BreadTalk different themselves from other bakeries with their open-concept design and space-age looking store facades which actually allowed customers to view the bakers while they are working and it also generated interest in customers of their products.(Unique Concept and Branding,2009) BreadTalk also offer wide range of baked products every four months to satisfy every customers. All the creative and innovative differentiation methods will set BreadTalk away apart from their competitor.(Wide Range of Products, 2009) Corporate level strategy Corporate level strategy can be defined as the scope of the industries and markets within which the organization competes in order to achieve its organizational purpose.(Anthony H,2008) The managers of business units have freedom of action to create their business level strategy with the knowledge of local markets, customers and competitors and show their business strategy ultimately to contribute to the corporate strategy. Corporate parenting exists when an organization is made up with multiple business units which those levels of management that are not part of customer-facing and profit run business within the multi-business organization.(Anthony H,2008) There are many strategies in corporate level strategies like Growth Strategies, related diversification, unrelated diversification and so forth. Growth Strategies Ansoft (1965) invented a matrix to analyze different strategic directions organizations can achieve and there are four strategies for organization to follow, market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification. i) Market penetration Market penetration will increase market share in existing markets by using existing products aiming to get new customers to maximize organizations profits. Organization will improve its products quality and level of service and add on with promotional spend before the firm will achieve market penetration. This strategy is relatively low risk as organization will use the existing resources and capacities to penetrate to the new market. (Anthony H,2008) In 2009, BreadTalk successfully penetrate new markets and also infiltrated in countries like Singapore, PRC, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand with 119 outlets and 182 franchise outlets in Indonesia, Philippines, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, India, Korea, PRC.(BreadTalk Financial Review 2009) ii) Market development Market development involves entering new markets with organizations existing products like targeting new market segments and new geographical areas. Certain social and cultural adjustments will be made to ensure the products will meet the needs of particular geographical market segments. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk increase their market share by penetrating their near existing market like Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan and India with their existing products. BreadTalk has good store locations in Chinas fast multiplying shopping malls which are easy to be found.(Daily Bread,2008) BreadTalk is trying to get halal certificate in order to fully develop its expansion in Malaysia and Indonesia. Other than this, BreadTalk had made some changes on its current existing baked products to fulfill the demand of china and India customer as they have different cultural beliefs and preferences in baked products Product development Product development will develop new products to sell in existing markets. A strategy of product development is necessary where organizations are faced with rapid changes in consumer markets and shorter product life-cycle. In food processing industries, organizations are forced to continually develop new products to keep competitors on the defensive and maintain and grow their market share. (Anthony H,2008) In bakery industries like BreadTalk, BreadTalk has to produce new products to maintain its position in the market to prevent its competitor to overtake it positions as customers will change to competitors products and services if BreadTalk never change its menu of serving. BreadTalk always produce with new baked products every four months to satisfy customer needs to sustain its position in the existing markets. The latest special was spring summer(fresh from oven,2009) Diversification Diversification can be defined as develop new products to serve new markets, in another word, organization that move away from its current products and markets to turn into new products and new markets to broaden its scope of activities are the steps of diversification for organizations. Broadening the scope of the organization can help to spread risk by reducing the reliance of any one market or product. (Anthony H,2008) Not only they offer convenient atypical of other typical bread stores, BreadTalk diversified their business by opening restaurants like Din Tai Fung targeting on family market as their priority market other than relying too much on the competition in the local food processing industries. BreadTalk diversify their operations in other countries like China to open a new market trying to dominate the new market and be dominant by importing the concept of smart food beverage retail and sells western-style baked goods.(Daily Bread,2008) BreadTalk now not only have Bakery business, they have diversified into Restaurant and Food Atria businesses. On 17 December 2007, BreadTalk Group Limited acquires and manages the franchise agreement with J.co Donuts coffee. 4.0 Strategy Implementation The best formulated strategy in the world would fail if the strategy is poorly implemented. In order to implement effective strategies, it requires organization to be sufficiently flexible in its organizational design and effectively communicated and properly resourced, the changes must be clearly understood and properly coordinated with stakeholders inside and outside the organization. Strategy implementation allocates resources for strategy-critical activities and establish strategy-supportive policies and to motivate people to pursue the 4.1 Management issues There are a lot of management issues in BreadTalk like annual objectives, policies, resources organizational structure, restructuring, rewards, resistance to change, natural environment, supportive culture, operations, and human resources to be implemented. BreadTalk has to manage conflicts in the management issues but not all conflict is always bad and no conflict may signal apathy. Conflicts can energize the opposing groups to action and also can help managers to identify problems. (Fred R. David, 2009) According to Chandlers (1962) strategy-structure relationship, he says when a new strategy is formulated, new administrative problems will emerge and cause the organizational performance to declines and then a new organizational structure will be established and finally organizational performance will improve and BreadTalk experienced this issue when they start implementing their formulated strategies. In order to let BreadTalk to be more effieciency, workers must be treated well in order for them to work willingly for the firm as employees are the greatest asset for company. Human resources strategic responsibilities are to assess staffing needs and costs, develop performance incentives, employee stock ownership plans, child care policies, work-life balance issues. (Fred R. David, 2009) By implementing all the extra benefits to workers, it will diverse workforce like improves corporate culture, improves employee morale, increases creativity, increases productivity, enables the organization to move into emerging markets, maximizes brand identity, leads to higher retention of employees, decreases complaints and litigation, decrease interpersonal conflict, reduces training costs and so forth. 4.2 Marketing strategies In a successful strategy implementation, organization will be in a good market and providing and experiencing well services and products and raise needed working capital. Marketing variable will affect success or failure of strategy implementation. Marketing issues like market segmentation and product positioning are centrally important to implementation. (Fred R. David, 2009) Marketing segmentation can be defined as company subdividing markets into smaller segments which can be reached more efficiently and effectively with products and services that match customers unique needs and buying habits while product positioning can be defined as the way of a product defined by customer on important attributes like the place of the product occupies in customers minds relative to compete products.(Kotler P, Armstrong G,2008) BreadTalk is facing problem of marketing segmentation around all its outlets around the world when implementing and formulating its corporate strategy level. 4.2.1 Marketing segmentation Marketing segmentation is linked to corporate level strategys growth strategy on market-development, product-development, market-penetration, and diversification. Market segmentation will directly affect the marketing mix variables like product, place, promotion and price. (Kotler P, Armstrong G,2008) Product Product means the combination of products and services offer by a company to their targeted markets. Product influence can affect on consumer behavior and it is important for the marketers to differentiate their products from competitors to create a perception to consumer that the product is worth purchasing.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) In order to sustain and maintain its strong brand name, BreadTalk has to offers more than 150 varieties of baked products, special occasions products and other services to provide more choices to customers and make its company to be different from its strong competitors like Gardenia in order to sustain in the market and success on its strategy formulation. Place Place means how the offer of product available to target consumers. Places of a product and services can influence on consumers buying power. A perfect location of a services or products should be in a convenient and strategic place to ensure consumers can find and buy them easily.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) In order to support to its strategy formulation and implement it, BreadTalk only open its outlet location near public transport systems like bus terminals, Mass Rapid Transit, and Light Rail Transport, departmental stores, supermarkets to attract potential customers and to mark down sales territories as having high customer traffic flow is crucial to Breadtalks success of retail outlets and avoid customers change their buying power to competitors offerings. Promotion Promotion means activities that communicate the merit of the product and persuade target customer to buy it. Promotions can influence consumers thoughts, emotions and experiences about purchasing and using the products.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Every 4 months BreadTalk will offer special new baked products with promotion and for normal promotions with discounts for customers so that customers will not get bored and turn to alternative or competitors and inform consumers about products and services while creating favourable images and perceptions. Price Price is the amount charged on the products which need to be paid to obtain the products. The price of products and services often influence consumers whether to purchase them or not.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) BreadTalk has to offers affordable prices on their products even sometimes at loss to capture potential customers and capture the loyalty of existing customers as their local competitors are offering lower cost to compete with BreadTalk but at the same times, BreadTalk offers some offerings with higher prices but this will not deter customers to purchase as customer believe their products or services are higher quality or more prestigious . Market Segment Basis Organization must try different segmentation variables in alone and combinations to find the best way to view market structure and there are few major variables mostly used in segmenting consumer markets, the Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral. .(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Geographic Geographic can divide a market into different geographical units like region, country size, city size, density, climate and so forth. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Although Singapores population is higher than Madium, singapores competitor is much higher and intense as it is a modern country, Madium has bigger field and resources and it is a potential opportunity for BreadTalks business. Demographic Demographic can divide a market into groups based on variables like age, family size, family life cycle, income or occupation, education, religion, race or nationality. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Madiun is a small city in Indonesia and small population, despite small but there is no store that can satisfy their needs from south to west, but BreadTalk enter the market with its innovative and creative products and they understand what different cultured customer wants as they have been successful in all business wide, from small population to big. Once they obtained the halal certificate, they started to penetrate into muslim markets like Jakarta, Malaysia and then Madiun. Psychographic Psychographic can divide a market into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Customers in Madiun likes healthy food, BreadTalk as offered four new varieties to compromise as healthy meal and giving the state in rice in their country. Behavioral Behavioral can divide a market into groups based on use occasion, benefits sought, user status, usage rate, loyalty status, readiness stage and attitude toward product. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) BreadTalk has developed a strong brand name and brand loyalty to customers, therefore customers are willing and they have the readiness to buy. BreadTalk sometimes will offer promotions to stimulate purchases. 5.0 Strategic Leadership Management issues can be solved by using strategic leadership. Leadership is concerned with creating a shared vision of what and where the organization is trying to aim and achieve, and formulate strategies to bring up needed changes to achieve this vision while management is about coping with the complexity to produce orderly and consistent results. Leadership activities are more to formulating strategy and then motivate and inspire employees while management activities implement strategy and control behavior and solving problems to ensure the strategy is implemented. (Fred R. David, 2009) The role of leader can help creating a learning organization and help to develop in shared vision and shaping the value of an organization. The learning organization can be defined as an organization which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transform itself and (Senge,1990) it comprises adaptive and generating learning. Adaptive learning is the ability to cope with change s in ones environment and generative learning is about creating change by being prepared to question the way we look at the world. (Fred R. David, 2009) The chairman of BreadTalk, Dr. George Quek, as known as the founder is a very good leader in leading its marketing team as he has 30 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. The chairman is always assisted by his senior management whom have vast experience in the food and beverage or retail industries, when a leader leads a team successfully, the performance rate will be maximum.

Phaedra Essay -- essays research papers

Theseus was the son either of Poseidon or Aegeus the king of Athens. His mother was Aethra. The childless Aegeus consulted the Delphic Oracle and was told not to untie his wine skin until he returned home. He did not understand what the oracle meant and so visited his friend King Pittheus of Troezen. Realizing that Aegeus was going to beget a powerful son immediately after the celebration feast for his safe return to Athens, Pittheus made his guest drunk and put him to bed with his daughter Aethra, and so Theseus was conceived. Before he left for home, Aegeus took the pregnant Aethra to a great boulder underneath which he placed his sword and sandals. He told her that, should she have a son, she must wait until he was strong enough to raise the boulder before she sent him to his father's court. After Aegeus' departure the wily Pittheus said his daughter's lover was really Poseidon. When Theseus came of age, Aethra explained that he was heir to the Athenian throne and he retrieved the sword and sandals. On his journey to Athens he slew several desperate bandits, a fearsome son of Hephaistos, and a dreadful sow, the daughter of the monster Typhon. At Eleusis, then a kingdom separate from Athens, Theseus was forced to accept the challenge of a wrestling match with its king, Cercyon. The aggressive ruler died as a result of the contest, so Theseus became king of Eleusis, which he later added to the Athenian kingdom. On his arrival in Athens, Theseus learned that his father A...

Hydrofoils and How They Work :: Hydrofoil Physics Boat Boating Watercraft

What is a hydrofoil? A hydrofoil is a watercraft that is supported on ski-like pontoons while in motion, with the bulk of the hull remaining entirely above the water (Encarta Encyclopedia 2002). Hydrofoils were first seen about in 1869. Emmanuel Denis Farcot was issued a patent on a boat that he had developed to go faster through the water because of less resistance. If you look at his design, he was using many little foils along the side of his boat to lift it out of the water in order to reduce the drag on the hull of the boat. Hydrofoils are not only used on boats. Guidoni and Croco took the idea of hydrofoils and put then on seaplanes. Their main reason for puting foils on the plane was to make the landings smoother and to make takeoffs much quicker. The plane can get out of the water much faster with foils because there is less drag inhibiting the plane from gaining speed to get airborn. This is useful when taking off of short lakes or in rough water. There are many purposes for hydrofoils. The main reason people or buisnesses install hydrofoils onto their watercraft is to decrease the drag of the boat as it travels through the water. By decreasing the drag, the watercraft is able to travel at higher speeds while burning less fuel. This makes use of the watercraft much more economical and provides a smoother, more comfortable ride because the watercraft rides above the reach of most of the waves. Another reason to use hydrofoils is because they are fun. The picture below shows a water ski that has been transformed into something that you sit on with your feet in front of you while you are "floating on air" behind a ski boat. When used on sail boats, hydrofoils can increase the top speed by quite a bit. Once the hull of the sail boat is out the the water the drag from the water is much less. Simply explained, there is less surface area "rubbing" on the water to slow the boat down. This means that even with gentle winds, a small boat can really get moving. Most hydrofoils lift the watercraft that they are supporting in the same way that airplane wings keep the plane supported in the air. With enough lift on the water foils, the hull of the watercraft is lifted out of the water.

Critique of Geoffrey Canadas Fist Stick Knife Gun Essay -- Fist Stick

Critique of Geoffrey Canada's Fist Stick Knife Gun The Book â€Å"Fist Stick Knife Gun† by Geoffrey Canada is a biographical account of his childhood in the south Bronx. He and his 4 brothers were raised by only their mother. She would survive on no more than ten dollars a week. He moved several times as a child until finally landing on union avenue, the place were many of his life lessons were learned and at times applied. He learned about the ranking process of kids on union Ave. and how the only way to improve your status was to use your fists to fight your way up the chain. Looking back Geoffrey Canada notices the major shift in attitudes concerning the rules of the streets. What once was harmless fist fighting has now turned over to guns. His opinions can be seen in his title â€Å"Fist Stick Knife Gun†. One of the earliest lessons he ever learned was from his mother. She told all four of her boys to never let people think they were afraid and that they were never to become victims. This is shown with each word that Canada uses in his title. The first phase of his life consisted of â€Å"Fist†. He recalls the time when he first moved to Union Ave and he was trapped inside his apartment because he hadn’t established himself in the neighborhood. He would sit up in his 3rd floor apartment and jealously looked on, as all the other kids would play in the streets. One day his older brother John had enough and walked outside to face his fate. The rest of his brothers followed and eventually each got beat up as a pass to the streets. None of them showed their fears or their pain, a lesson that they first learned from their mother. This was only one of many steps/ factors in becoming an established individual not to be reckoned with. Age was the other factor to be considered. Th e older you were, the more respect you got from others. There were the young adults, who were the biggest and badest on the block. They weren’t usually around to defend their turf because they all belonged to a gang, however everyone knew they ruled all. Next were the mid-teen boys who were the â€Å"real rulers of Union Ave (18)† They were the ones who enforced the rules. The lower categories were the early teens and the pre teens. The early teens were just learning the rules whereas the pre teens couldn’t go off of the sidewalk. Geoffrey belonged to the lowest rung, the sidewalk group. As time wen... ...hese rules. They may seem unfair and even ridiculous to us outsiders, but that’s because we have more options of obtaining success than those caught in the belly of the slums. These codes are all that they have and without them, they would have no meaning in their lives, nothing to live up to day in and day out. They give these people a reason to wake up in the morning and a sense of pride that can’t be provided in any other way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Geoffrey Canada gives his readers a rare opportunity to look inside the life of a ghetto kid and what they have to go through just to survive. He also provides answers to the many questions asked of why certain things happen the way they do in the Bronx. He used his childhood experiences and turned them into a unique tool when helping the youth of today. Now that he works as a youth councilor he sees that the problem in the slums has gotten dramatically worse with the emergence of guns. It used to be about pride and status, now any thug with a gun can be feared in the community. This, to Canada is a major problem because guns gives kids a sense of power, a strong feeling that is often abused and results in someone, even an innocent person dead.

Analysis of Secure Real Time Transport Protocol on Voip over

Mohd Nazri Ismail / (IJCSE) International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering Vol. 02, No. 03, 2010, 898-902 Analysis of Secure Real Time Transport Protocol on VoIP over Wireless LAN in Campus Environment Mohd Nazri Ismail Department of MIIT, University of Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), MALAYSIA [email  protected] unikl. edu. my Abstract- In this research, we propose to implement Secure Real Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) on VoIP services in campus environment. Today, the deployment of VoIP in campus environment over wireless local area network (WLAN) is not considered on security during communication between two parties.Therefore, this study is to analyzed SRTP performance on different VoIP codec selection over wired. We have implemented a real VoIP network in University of Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Malaysia. We use softphone as our medium communication between two parties in campus environment. The results show that implementation of SRTP is able to improve the VoIP quality between on e-to-one conversation and multi conference call (many-to-many). In our experiment, it shows that iLBC, SPEEX and GSM codec are able to improve significantly the multi conference (many-to-many) VoIP quality during conversation.In additional, implementation of SRTP on G. 711 and G. 726 codec will decrease the multi conference (many-to-many) VoIP quality. Keywords- Codecs, Softphone, SRTP, WLAN I. INTRODUCTION AND RELATED WORKS University of Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) has implemented a real VoIP over wireless LAN in campus environment. This implementation is not covered any security features. Therefore, the objective of this study is to enable the security function using Secure Real Time Transport Protocol (SRTP).We will study the performance of SRTP on different codec such as G. 711, G. 726, GSM, iLBC and SPEEX. iLBC is a speech codec developed for robust voice communication over IP, it uses 13. 33 Kbps. It provides low delay and high packet loss robustness for low-bit rate codec’s. SPEEX codec is open source patent-free audio compression format designed for speech. Codec is an algorithm used to encode and decode the voice conversation. Secure Real Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) defines a profile of Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP), intended to provide ncryption, message authentication and integrity and replay protection to the RTP data in both unicast and multicast applications. Previous work is to evaluate the trade-off existing between quality of service and security when SRTP [6] is employed to protect RTP (Real Time Protocol) sessions on VoIP calls [5]. There is no such study has been conducted on comparison of VoIP one-to-one call and multi conference call (many-to-many) performance using SRTP functionality. With its promise of inclusion, innovation, and growth, VoIP also brings challenges. VoIP is not easy to secure.It suffers all of the problems associated with any Internet application, and VoIP security is complicated by its interconnection to the PS TN. A host of trust, implementation, and operational complexities make securing VoIP particularly complex. In fact, the same aspects that make the VoIP software model so powerful—its flexible, open, distributed design—are what make it potentially problematic [7][8]. Various security requirements have to be met to secure VoIP transmission: Authentication, Privacy and Confidentiality, Integrity, Non repudiation, Non replay and Resource availability [9].The threats faced by a VoIP are similar to other applications including: unwanted communication (spam), privacy violations (unlawful intercept), impersonation (masquerading), theft-of service, and denial-of-service [10]. II. METHODOLOGY We have setup a real wireless network environment to analyze and measure implementation of VoIP service using security function (SRTP) at University of Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in Malaysia. This study posits several research questions: i) what is the STRP performance level of the VoIP over WLAN based on one-to-one call and multi conference call? nd ii) which codecs are able to provide better improvement of VoIP conversation? Figure 2. 1 and Figure 2. 2 show the flow of VoIP conversation call between one-to-one and multi conference. We measure our voice quality using human perception. Mean Opinion Score (MOS) technique is the best approach to measure and ISSN : 0975-3397 898 Mohd Nazri Ismail / (IJCSE) International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering Vol. 02, No. 03, 2010, 898-902 validate voice quality between one-to-one call and multi conference call. Figure 2. 3 shows the measurement of VoIP performance over WLAN using SRTP implementation.We also test on different codecs selection such G. 711, G. 726, GSM, iLBC and SPEEX. III. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS Figure 2. 1: VoIP over One-to-One Conversation This section measures and compares VoIP performance over WLAN using SRTP function. In voice and video communication, quality usually dictates whether the experience is a good or bad one. Besides the qualitative description we hear, like ‘quite good' or ‘very bad', there is a numerical method of expressing voice and video quality. It is called Mean Opinion Score (MOS). MOS can be tested using: i) human perception; ii) simulation model; and iii) automated system [1] [2].MOS gives a numerical indication of the perceived quality of the media received after being transmitted and eventually compressed using codecs. MOS is expressed in one number, from 1 to 5, 1 being the worst and 5 the best. MOS is quite subjective; as it is based figures that result from what is perceived by people during tests (refer to Table 3. 1). We will select five different users to evaluate and rate the VoIP performance using SRTP and without SRTP functionality. When users cannot get a dial tone or there are excessive delays in ringing the other party’s phone, VoIP performance is unacceptable.Call quality is a function of packet loss rate, delay, and jitter is typically represented as a MOS [3], [4]. Table 3. 1: Mean Opinion Score (MOS) Ratings Mean Opinion Score (MOS) Ratings Excellent 5 (Perfect. Like face-to-face conversation Figure 2. 2: VoIP over Many-to-Many (Multi Conference) Conversation Good Fair Poor Bad or radio reception) 4 (Fair. Imperfections can be perceived, but sound still clear. This is (supposedly) the range for cell phones) 3 (Annoying) 2 (Very annoying. Nearly impossible to communicate) 1 (Impossible to communicate) Figure 3. shows the configuration of codec protocol such as G. 711, G. 726, GSM, iLBC and SPEEX. This 3CX softphone is able to active ‘Echo Cancellation’ and ‘SRTP’. The VoIP experiments will receive two types of modes: i) one-to-one call conversation; ii) multi conference call (many-to-many). Figure 3. 2 shows the result of VoIP one-to-one conversation. Figure 3. 3 shows the result of VoIP multi conference (many-to-many) call. Figure 2. 3: Measurement and Evaluation of VoIP over WLAN using SRTP Approach ISSN : 0975-3397 899 Mohd Nazri Ismail / (IJCSE) International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering Vol. 2, No. 03, 2010, 898-902 improvement on VoIP quality performance and at the same time able to provide element of security (refer to Table 3. 3 and Figure 3. 5). The significant improvement is GSM and SPEEX codecs after implemented SRTP. Table 3. 2: Multi Conference without SRTP User Codec Figure 3. 1: 3CX Softphone Codec and SRTP Configuration G. 711 G. 726 GSM iLBC SPEEX User 1 3 4 1 2 5 User 2 3 3 1 2 4 User 3 2 3 1 3 4 User 4 3 4 1 2 4 User 5 2 4 1 2 5 Figure 3. 2: One-to-One Call Conversation Result Figure 3. 4: Users Rate VoIP for Multi Conference Call Without SRTP Table 3. : Multi Conference with SRTP User Codec G. 711 G. 726 GSM iLBC SPEEX Figure 3. 3: Multi Conference Call (many-tomany) Conversation Result Most of the users agreed and rates this VoIP without SRTP will provide a good quality for G. 711 and G. 726 codecs. Other users agreed a nd rates 4 to 5 ratings for SPEEX codec without using SRTP during multi conference conversation (refer to Table 3. 2 and Figure 3. 4). After implemented SRTP on VoIP during multi conference session occurs, it shows some User 1 2 3 4 5 5 User 2 1 3 4 5 5 User 3 1 2 3 4 5 User 4 2 2 3 4 5 User 5 1 2 3 4 5 ISSN : 0975-3397 900Mohd Nazri Ismail / (IJCSE) International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering Vol. 02, No. 03, 2010, 898-902 Table 3. 5: One-to-One Call with SRTP User Codec G. 711 G. 726 GSM iLBC SPEEX User 1 2 3 2 4 5 User 2 1 3 2 4 4 User 3 1 2 2 4 5 User 4 2 2 2 4 4 User 5 2 3 2 4 5 Figure 3. 5: Users Rate VoIP for Multi Conference Call With SRTP Most of the users agreed and rates this VoIP oneto-one call without SRTP will also provide low quality for G. 711, G. 726 and GSM codecs. Other users agreed and rates 3 and 5 ratings for iLBC and SPEEX codecs without using SRTP during one-to-one call (refer to Table 3. and Figure 3. 6). After implemented SRTP on VoIP during o ne-to-one session occurs, it shows significant improvement on VoIP quality performance for G. 711, G. 726, GSM, iLBC and SPEEX over WLAN (refer to Table 3. 5 and Figure 3. 7). Table 3. 4: One-to-One Call Without SRTP User Codec G. 711 G. 726 GSM iLBC SPEEX User 1 2 1 2 3 5 User 2 2 2 2 3 4 User 3 2 1 2 4 4 User 4 1 1 1 3 4 User 5 1 2 2 4 4 Figure 3. 7: Users Rate VoIP for One-to-One Call with SRTP Figure 3. 8 and Figure 3. 9 show the average MOS score for VoIP conversation over one-to-one call and multi conference call (many-to-many), respectively.VoIP Conversation over Multi Conference Call: Before implemented SRTP, the average MOS score for G. 711 is 2. 5, 3. 5 for G. 726, 1 for GSM, 2. 1 for iLBC and 4. 5 for SPEEX. After implemented SRTP, the average MOS score for G. 711 and G. 726 are decreased the ratings approximately 1 to 2. 5. GSM, iLBC and SPEEX codecs show the average MOS score are 3. 5, 4. 5 and 5. GSM, iLBC and SPEEX codec show the increasing of VoIP performance after i mplemented SRTP (refer to Figure 3. 8). VoIP Conversation over One-to-One Call: Before implemented SRTP, the average MOS score for G. 711 is 1. , 1. 4 for G. 726, 1. 8 for GSM, 3. 5 for iLBC and 4. 2 for SPEEX. After implemented SRTP, the average MOS score shows the significant improvement for G. 711, G. 726, GSM, iLBC and SPEEX codecs. Therefore, implementation of SRTP can improve the VoIP quality performance for one-to-one call over WLAN (refer to Figure 3. 9). Figure 3. 6: Users Rate VoIP for One-to-One Call without SRTP ISSN : 0975-3397 901 Mohd Nazri Ismail / (IJCSE) International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering Vol. 02, No. 03, 2010, 898-902 dependency conditions that could influence voice quality.Future work, we will extend our experiment on VoIP over VPN implementation in Campus environment. References [1]. Moura N. T. ; Vianna B. A. ; Albuquergue C. V. N; Rebello V. E. F & Boeres C. â€Å"MOS-Based Rate Adaption for VoIP Sources†. IEEE International Confe rence on Communication, pp. 628-633, 2007. [2]. Masuda M. & Ori K. â€Å"Delay Variation Metrics for Speech Quality Estimation of VoIP†. Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEIC) Technical Report, Vol. 101(11), pp. 101-106, 2001. [3]. R. G. Cole & J. H. Rosenbluth. â€Å"Voice over IP Performance Monitoring†. SIGCOMM Computer Communication Rev.Vol. 31(2), pp. 9-24, 2001. [4]. L. Ding & R. Goubran. â€Å"Speech Quality Prediction in VoIP Using the Extended e-Model. Global Telecommunication Conference, GLOBECOM ’03. IEEE, Vol. 7, pp. 3974-3978, 2003. [5]. Alexandre P. ; Edjair M. ; & Edjard M. â€Å"Analysis of the Secure RTP Protocol on Voice over Wireless Networks using Extended MedQoS†. Proceedings of the 2009 ACM symposium on Applied Computing, pp. 86 – 87, 2009. [6]. M. Baugher, D. McGrew, M. Naslund, E. Carrara, & K. Norrman. â€Å"The Secure Real- Time Transport Protocol (SRTP)†. RFC 3711 (Proposed Standa rd), March 2004. [7] Douglas C. Sicker & Tom L. VoIP Security: Not an Afterthought†, FEATURE: Q focus: Voice Over IP, Vol. 2(6), pp. 56-64, 2004. [8] Vesselin I. , Theodor T. , & Amdt T. â€Å"Experiences in VoIP telephone network security policy at the University of Applied Sciences (FHTW) Berlin†, Proceedings of the 2007 international conference on Computer systems and technologies, Bulgaria, Vol. 285(3), 2007. [9] Wafaa B. D. , Samir T. , & Carole B. â€Å"Critical vpn security analysis and new approach for securing voip communications over vpn networks†, Proceedings of the 3rd ACM workshop on Wireless multimedia networking and performance modelling,Chania, Crete Island, Greece, pp. 2-96, 2007. [10] Nekita A. C. , & Chhabria S. A. â€Å"Multiple design patterns for voice over IP security†, Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communication and Control, Mumbai, India, pp. 530 – 534, 2009. Figure 3. 8: VoIP Conversa tion over Multi Conference Call over WLAN Figure 3. 9: VoIP Conversation over One-to-One Call over WLAN IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK Based on the results, implementation of SRTP using GSM, iLBC and SPEEX codecs are able to generate high quality of VoIP conversation WLAN for one-to-one conversation and multi conference call (many-to-many).After implemented SRTP for multi conference call (many-to-many), the MOS result indicates that G. 711 and G. 726 codec will decrease the performance of VoIP conversation over WLAN. Overall of our finding, it confirms that enable SRTP will improve and increase the quality of one-to-one VoIP conversation and VoIP over multi conference call (only for iLBC, GSM and SPEEX codecs). Since the manual/human MOS tests are quite subjective and less than productive in many ways, there are nowadays a number of software tools that carry out automated MOS testing in a VoIP deployment.Although they lack the human touch, the good thing with these tests is that the y take into account all the network ISSN : 0975-3397 902 Copyright of International Journal on Computer Science & Engineering is the property of Engg Journals Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.