Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Watching tv makes you smarter free essay sample

In this excerpt, Steven Johnson takes a look at the development of television narratives over the past few decades. In this, he argues that many of the shows that our population deems bad TV, are relatively healthy for our brains to watch. Johnson compares hit TV shows like Dragnet and Starsky and Hutch to that of more recent shows like The Sopranos. He explains how early television like Dragnet and Starsky and Hutch follow a strict linear narrative with little variation of the plot while The Sopranos â€Å"will often connect to three different threads at the same time, layering one plot atop another† (283). Therefore, shows like The Sopranos demand a lot more attention from their audience, engaging them with complex characterization and intertwining multiple episodes. This is what Johnson defines as the Sleeper Curve. Johnson goes on to compare reality television over the decades. He takes a look at earlier shows like The Love Boat and The Newlywed Game and compares them with newer shows like The Apprentice and Survivor. We will write a custom essay sample on Watching tv makes you smarter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He explains how the earlier reality TV is more structured, and how the rules are mapped out beforehand, therefore requiring less focus to pay attention. However, Johnson compares the structural similarities in today’s reality TV to that of a video game. â€Å"†¦the rules aren’t fully established at the outset. You learn as you play† (290). By this video game structural method, shows like Survivor and The Apprentice keep the audience more engaged and develop more critical thinking. Johnson concludes the excerpt by finally establishing his argument. â€Å"What I am arguing for is a change in the criteria we use to determine what really is cognitive junk food and what is genuinely nourishing† (293). This argument poses a change in how we rate television. Johnson is saying that even though shows like The Sopranos and 24 display acts of obscenity and violence, they are subsequently more valuable in brain development than shows that are more linear in plot less obscene. â€Å"You have to focus to follow the plot, and in focusing you’re exercising the parts of your brain that map social networks, that fill in the missing information, that connect multiple narrative threads† (292). What Johnson is posing is instead of monitoring what children watch or we watch based on obscenity and violence, we should take a look at a program’s narrative development. â€Å"In the end, the Sleeper Curve tells us something about the human mind. It may be drawn toward the sensational where the content is concerned – sex does sell, after all. But the mind also likes to be challenged; there’s real pleasure to be found in solving puzzles, detecting patterns or unpacking a complex narrative system† (292-293).

Saturday, November 23, 2019

A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay Example

A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay Example A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay introduces the story; Lolita, or the Confession of a White Widowed Male,(Nabokov, Vladmir Lolita, 3) as written by a middle-aged European pedophile named Humbert Humbert. The essentials of this title immediately strike you as controversial considering that a lolita is a promiscuous young girl and a confession is an admission of ones sins. Hum is viewed as the victimizer by others, but views himself as the victim. He blames Lolita for his disposition, but also feels responsible for causing Lolita so much pain. How can a twelve-year-old girl have so much power over an adult? Who is the victim and who is the victimizer? In the following essay this topic of discussion will be examined thoroughly as we explore Humbert and his love interest, Lolita. The novel is written in first person narrative which creates a pragmatic depiction of Humbert; an obsessive, disillusioned and deviant character. He is full of contradictions and says I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita. (Nabokov, Vladmir Lolita, 7) which meant that he was conscious of the situation he was entering, however he made an excuse for himself to ease his conscious. In part one, you are taken back in time to Hums childhood where you are introduced to his Howell 2 childhood sweetheart, Annabelle. It then becomes evident that his obsession with Lolita started with Annabelle. He was hau nted by the memories of his lost love, therefore the only way to kill Hums pain was to incarnate Annabelle with another. Upon meeting Lolita, Humbert immediately recognizes the similarity between the two. Lolita was a fatal consequence of that princedom by the sea in my tortured past. (Nabokov, Vladmir Lolita, 11) Humbert becomes obsessed with Lolita, this obsession is displayed through his actions, behavior, dialect and need for total control. Humbert manipulates and controls Lolita, as well as others in the novel and even the reader, exhibited by directly addressing them as his jury. Humbert rationalizes with the reader about his obsession with Lolita, manipulating them into thinking he is mentally ill and does not know that his actions are wrong. This is precisely what his plan is; to get the readers to sympathize with him. Humbert starts his manipulation with Lolitas mother, Charlotte, who falls madly in love with him. He recognizes the opportunity to take advantage of Charlottes endearment for him and decides to trick Charlotte into thinking that he is in love with her and marries her to stay close with Lolita. However he does not succeed in doing this because Charlotte is jealous of the affection Lolita receives from Humbert. He successfully ridicules Charlotte for example, as a representative middle class american uffoon but he fails to see that her very inadequacines expose him as well. In some ways Charlotte is very much like Humbert. Charlottes hopeless passion for Humbert for example parallels Humbert for Lolita. Despite Humberts ridicule ,Charlottes romantic feelings are not so different from his, belying his claims that his ecstasies are special. (Wallace, Howell 3 4:2493-2494) Charlotte is very selfish, materialis tic and easily influenced by media. Charlotte Haze has her perceptions and her mode of expression shaped by soap operas, psychoanalysis and cheap novelettes. Humbert is familiar with the patterned experiences and cliched phraseology of these forms and is able to use his knowledge to deceive Charlotte. (Winston, 4:2487) As a writer, Humbert is able to use his literary skills to create Charlottes perfect romantic fantasy, enabling him to be intimate with Lolita without Charlotte noticing. Eventually Charlotte becomes jealous when the majority of Hums attention is directed to Lolita and sends her to summer camp, with proceeding plans to send her to boarding school when she returns home. When Charlotte reveals er plans, Humberts obsession with Lolita comes to an extreme when he considers killing Charlotte for the sole purpose of being next to Lolita. Ironically, Charlottes jealousy leads her to find out the truth of Humberts feelings towards Lolita and in an attempt to expose him for the pedophile he really is, it struck by a vehicle and killed.? Lolita is much like her mother in her fondness for Humbert. Her admiration for him is visible th roughout the book. For example, Lolita has various scribbling and doodles of the two of them together on the walls of her room and the cliched DL HH, enclosed in a heart, carved into her headboard. She also make her adoration evident by the affection she displays. She never leaves his side when they are together and is very flirtatious with him. When Humbert picks Lolita up from Summer Camp after her mothers death, Lolita informs Humbert that she had been unfaithful to him by experimenting sexually with a boy from camp. Lolita is seemingly mature for her age, and is referred to by Humbert as a nymphet. This allegation proves true by her promiscuity at camp Howell 4 and her vampish behavior. Humbert shares with us that he was not at fault in his relationship with Lolita and that it was her who seduced him. This could very easily be regarded as truth due to the path of action she takes. For example, in the Enchanted Hunters hotel room the morning after she returns from camp Lolita questions Humberts past relationships and asks him if he has ever had sex as a child. When he answers no, she proceeds to copulate with him. Humbert states that, for her, sex was just another activity between children, unconnected to what adults do behind closed doors. Lolita likes to play on Humberts emotions, she will intentionally tease him then push him away when he gets close. She often contradicts her actions by threatening to tell the police that Humbert raped her after having sex with him. Lolita constantly hurts Humbert with her indifference and rebuffs him when he pleads for her affection. Humbert often buys gifts for Lolita as an attempt to keep her interested in him. Humbert eventually comes to realize that his continual sexual activity with Lolita has given her an impression that attracts other men and boys. He ries to prevent Lolita from having any other interaction with the male species, and allows Lolita to interact with other girls her age and participate in select activities like horseback riding, tennis and theater in exchange for sexual favors. Humbert often bribes Lolita with money in exchange for intercourse. Humbert emphasizes to Lolita that if she turns him in for rape she will become a ward of the state and be enrolled in t he state-run reformatory school. His desire for Lolita is so strong that he neglects her feeling as a human being, keeping her just content enough to still want intercourse with him. Lolita is very deviant and is able to convince Humbert to take her away on a road trip to Howell 5 wherever she wants to go. He assumes that she just wants to be with him and agrees, little does he know that Lolita has planned to escape him and elope with another man. Lolitas theatrical experience makes it easy for her to deceive Humbert. He observes a man, which seemed to be following them on their journey, but dismisses it for a hallucination. Lolita had been in contact with the man the whole time her and Humbert were traveling. Lolita soon convinces Humbert that she is ill and is taken to a hospital. Humbert decides to stay in a motel close to the hospital, and when he returns to retrieve Lolita, he is informed that she had already been checked out by another relative. This whole plot Lolita had planned provides useful information about her character, taking on the assertion that she had manipulated Humbert into thinking that she was in love with him. Deceiving him so that he would not be suspicious of her other lover. This proves that Lolita was the more manipulative of the two in a romantic setting. Although Lolita had toyed with Hums emotions and pretended to love him, she could have suffered from adolescent bipolar disorder, but was never diagnosed with it. Lolita had almost all of the common symptoms of early-onset bipolar disorder; marked irritability, frequent mood swings, impulsivity, restlessness, silliness, aggressive behavior, rages and explosive temper tantrums, oppositional behavior, grandiosity, hypersexuality, confusion, manipulative behavior, bossiness, lying, and depressed moods. While there is continuing debate over the validity of the diagnosis of mania in hildren, since 1994 a number of systematic clinical investigations and family/ genetic studies have begun to shed light on the presentation and naturalistic course of childhood-onset bipolar disorder, suggesting a developmentally different Howell 6 presentation in young children as compared to its adult form. Adult-onset and juvenile-onset forms of BPD have certain similar features and comorbidities in common, but in the juvenile form of the disorder, the complexities wrought by the frequent overlap of symptoms with other disorders that are far more commonly iagnosed in childhood has had a confounding affect on clinical diagnostic practice for years. (Papolos, Cockerham, Hennen) If she had had this disorder, it could explain why she had been back and fourth with Humbert. She was often irritated with him and often had mood swings after intercourse. Given this information about Lolita were true, it would be in irony that Humbert was suffering from an illness of the same type, trying to make the reader believe that he was indeed mentally ill. Some may think that Humberts relationship with Lolita would be the primary cause of her bipolar nature. However, Lolita displayed signs of adolescent bipolar disorder far before their first sexual encounter. In spite of Lolitas voiced desire for Humbert, Humbert should not have exploited Lolita either. He knew from the beginning that his feeling for her were wrong. Although pedophilia remains illegal, and our culture still considers it morally wrong, recent changes in the APAs own diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM) have reopened the discussion of the psychological dimension of pedophilia. History of the Diagnosis. In the DSM-III, the American Psychiatric Association contended that merely acting upon ones rges toward children was considered sufficient to generate a diagnosis of pedophilia. (Rind) Howell 7 The years after Lolita left were spent being studied by psychologists in various sanitariums for not only the exploitation of young girls, but the Murder of Claire Quincy, Lolitas other Lover. Humbert would have then been labeled a pedophile and received medical help to cure him. However, he also exhibited severe skitzotypical behavior, therefore making it near impossible to diagnose him. He would purposely take on symptoms he did not have, make up illusions, and lie about dreams and thoughts he had, causing a falsified diagnostic. Instead of accepting that he had an illness, Humbert wanted to keep his and Lolitas affair sacred. He may have also had a personality complex which is exhibited in his paranoia and fits of rage, which would explain why he killed Quincey so violently. In conclusion, both Humbert and Lolita were possible victims of mental illness which would have caused them to behave out of the normal character. Each one abused the other, Humbert in pursuing and obsessing over Lolita and Lolita in encouraging Humberts desires for her and making him think that it was acceptable to do so. Humbert really did love Lolita, despite the relationships immorality and was extremely hurt when he had found out that Lolita left him for another man. Humbert is the hero with the tragic flaw. Humbert is every man who is driven by desire, wanting his Lolita so badly that it never occurs to him to consider her as a human being, or as anything but a dream-figment made fleshwhich is the eternal and universal nature of passion.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Greed Field Ventures Limited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Greed Field Ventures Limited - Essay Example Allison Madison has been in agricultural production since 1980s. He inherited a vast land at different locations. All together he inherited about 1150 acres. Only about half of the total farm land was cultivated at the initial stage. Farming was highly seasonal. Hence there the capital base was small. The turnover was about $89,500.00. Only the farm lands close to villages were cultivated. Labour was provided by villagers and seasonal migrants. There were no built structures except small round-shaped mud warehouses scattered in the village settlements. The crops produced were crops produced in the neighbouring village settlements. They were all cereals: maize, millet and guinea corn. Although production was above subsistence level, farm produce were largely sold in the village market. Thus prices were highly variable and unpredictable. There was no proper record of the inputs and outputs in the production process. Except for the processing of maize stalks into fence, there was no val ue added to the production process. By late 1990s Allison has settled down. The acreage inherited was fully utilized. The types of crops produced have increased. Ground nuts, soya beans and rice were produced. Manual labour was complimented by tractors. Two tractors were hired. The size and type of crops produced were not for village market. Two warehouses were consequently built, where farm produce were stored and sold when prices are favourable. A truck with capacity of conveying 3 tonnes was bought purposely for transporting produce to distant markets and buyers. Allison was assisted in the management of the farms by his son, with a degree in business administration, and his nephew with a diploma in agricultural economics.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Different Facets of Mental Functioning Essay

The Different Facets of Mental Functioning - Essay Example Cognitive psychology began to distinguish itself from an older branch of psychology, behaviorism, when researchers realized that to study the mind often meant studying processes that could not be directly observed, such as the â€Å"stimulus-response† experiments common to behaviorism.               A central concern of linguists in the cognitive arena is the relationship between language and thought. The linguistic relativity theory, put forth by Benjamin L. Whorf in 1956 states that language either determines thought or influences it heavily. The famous â€Å"Eskimos have 27 words for snow† notion, under relativity, means they perceive snow differently from, say, a Florida resident, and therefore have a more highly developed categorizing system for snow. However, the theory did not take into account that different environments, whether physical or created, may affect how much time and effort people focus on various things, which is then reflected by language. Later studies by Heider-Rosch (1972, 1973, in Eysenck, 1984) on color perception across languages with vastly different color naming systems seem to show that it is thought that determines language. However, there may be some cultural or culturally-based learning differences as evidenced by studies on bilingual individuals.            The central focus, then, of cognitive psychologists is the structure and processes of the mind, which are generally equated with representation (the structures) and computation (the processes), as well as the inclusive dynamic systems process (Braisby & Gellaltly, 2005). Representation deals with what things are about, such as the subject matter of a book -- versus its physical qualities such as molecular structure, weight, and dimensions -- is what the book is about. Computation is how the mind processes information and it is in this area that the mind is most often linked to computers and how they learn. Two major systems of computation have been developed, and supporters argue for the relative importance of them or some interaction of both.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

NA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NA - Essay Example Blanchard, Ken Blanchard (Author) †º Visit Amazon's Ken Blanchard Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central Zigarmi and Patricia Zigarmi (Author) †º Visit Amazon's Patricia Zigarmi Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central Drea categorized the different types of people in four classes, according to their level of competence and commitment. The categorization is as follows: C1: These employees show low levels of skills but high level of commitment. These individuals are highly motivated therefore they cooperate and show eagerness to improve their skills. They take directions in a very positive and productive manner. C2: These employees possess reasonable level of skills, however, not enough to take the responsibility of the task independently. It might be a new task or nature of work for them but they show willingness to do the work. C3: Such employees possess high levels of skills and are very experienced in their line of work. However, they lack the confidence to take responsibility of the task independently. C4: These types of employees are very skilled and confident enough to take the whole responsibility of tasks on their own shoulders. ... styles of leadership for the management of different types of individuals (depending on their level of commitment and expertise): Directing: The roles are defined for the subordinates by the leader and the tasks are explained to them. The tasks are monitored very closely for their precision and accuracy. The leader has full power to make decisions therefore minimal suggestions are taken from the subordinates. Coaching: The leader is responsible for the definition of roles and tasks. However, the leader takes suggestions from the subordinates in the decision making process. Supporting: The decisions are made with mutual consent (between the subordinates and the leader) about the approaches that should be followed in the execution of tasks. More control is with the individuals who actually perform the task. Delegating: The leader participates in the decision making processes, however, the extent and time of his participation is decided by the subordinate. The subordinates (who are assi gned the work) have full control over the tasks. 2. Utilization of the Information in the Practical Field The book highlights an important aspect of leadership that is often ignored in the organizations; the match between the leadership style of the leader with the maturity level of his group members. Productivity can only be witnessed if the tasks and roles that are assigned by the leader fall under the competence level of the subordinates. The reader of the book gains useful knowledge about the different styles of leadership that seem to be simple enough to be practiced in real life. The authors have given simple explanations and details about the situational leadership theory that can be grasped and adapted by readers in an effective manner. The first step in the application of this

Friday, November 15, 2019

Artificial Intelligence and Approaches to Music Education

Artificial Intelligence and Approaches to Music Education Abstract The goal of this paper is to review the principal approaches to Music Education with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Music is a domain which requires creativity, problem-seeking and problem-solving respectively, from both learner and teacher, therefore is a challenging domain in Artificial Intelligence. It is argued that remedial intelligent tutoring-systems are inadequate for teaching a subject that requires open-ended thinking. Traditional classroom methods are sometimes favoured because tutors can focus on individual differences and enhance creativity and motivation. However, it can also be argued that AI is a mechanism which enables those without traditional musical skills to ‘create’ music. Almost the only goal that applies to music composition in general is ‘compose something interesting’ (Levitt, 1985). This paper will review different approaches to AI in Music Education. Approaches considered will be: Intelligent Tutoring Systems in Music; AI based Music Tools; highly interactive interfaces that employ AI theories. 1. Introduction This paper will review some of the approaches to using Artificial Intelligence in Music Education. This particular field is of high interdisciplinary and involves contributions from the fields of education, music, artificial intelligence (AI), the psychology of music, cognitive psychology, human computer interaction, philosophy, computer science and many others. AI in education itself is a very broad field, dating from around 1970 (Carbonell, 1970) and has its own theories, methodologies and technologies. For brevity, we will abbreviate Artificial Intelligence in Education to AI-ED, following a standard convention. Definitions The scope of AI in Education (AI-ED) is not decisive, so it will be useful to consider some definitions. A common definition is: any application of AI techniques or methodologies to educational systems. Other definitions which focus more narrowly are, for example: any computer-based learning system which has some degree of autonomous decision-making with respect to some aspect of its interaction with its users (Holland, 1995). This definition suggests the requirement that AI techniques reason with the user at the point of interaction. This might be in relation to best teaching approach, the subject being taught or any misconceptions or gaps in the student’s knowledge. However, AI-ED in a wider context is sometimes defined as: ‘the use AI methodologies and AI ways of thinking applied to discovering insights and methods for use in education, whether AI programs are involved at the point of delivery or not’ (Naughton, 1986). In practice, these contrasting approaches form a continuum. Music: An open-ended domain A useful distinction in AI-ED is between formalised domains and the more open-ended domains (‘domain’ means subject area to be taught). In relation to domains such as mathematics and Newtonian dynamics there are clear targets, correct answers and a reasonable clear and concise structure to follow for success. Whereas in open-ended domains such as music composition, there are in general, no clear goals, no set criteria to follow and no correct answers. The focus is based upon, as mentioned earlier, ‘Compose something interesting’ (Levitt, 1985). Rittel and Webber (1984) describe this particular problem in domains as ‘wicked problems’. In such domains there cannot be a definitive formulation for the problem or the answer. Wicked domains such as music composition require learners to not just solve problems but also seek problems (Cook, 1994). The term problem seeking is used in a number of disciplines such as animal behaviour (Menzel, 1991). Cook (1994) imported the term into AI in Education in particular reference to the sense of philosopher Lipman (1991). In this sense Cook (1994) refers to the term ‘problem seeking’ as follows: Problems are treated as ill-defined and open-ended There is a continual intertwining of problem specification and solution Criteria for completion is very limited Context greatly affects the interpretation of the problem Problems are always open re-interpretation and re-conceptualisation In relation to expressive performing arts and music composition there is no goal or problem to be solved. The learner must find or create goals and problems which then may need to be revised, modified and rejected where best suited to his/her taste. 2. Computer-Aided Instruction It is worth considering briefly the music education programs that negligibly use AI as a background to AI approaches in education. Historically, computers used in music, and most other subjects, were associated with the theory of learning behaviourism. These particular systems (branching teaching programs) stepped through the following algorithm (O’Shea and Holland, 1983), Present a ‘frame’ to the student i.e. Present the student with pre-stored material (textual or audio visual) Solicit a response from the student Compare the response with pre-stored alternative responses Give any pre-stored comment associated with the response Look up the next frame to present on the basis of the response An example of this kind of system was the GUIDO ear-training system (Hofstetter, 1981). Branching teaching programs tend to respond to the user in a manner that has more or less been explicitly pre-planned by the author. Therefore, this tends to limit the approach to a simple treatment. Multimedia and Hypermedia Multimedia and hypermedia has had a great impact on music education and transformed music education software programs, giving a different emphasis from the earlier behaviourist programs. Recent educational music programs such as Seventh Heaven, Ear Trainer, Interval and Listen aim to provide practice in recognising or reproducing intervals, chords or melodies. MacGAMUT is a classroom simulation program that dictates exercises and provides a detailed marking scheme. Other programs such as MiBAC Music Lessons, Perceive and Practica Musica offer a comprehensive ear training program including scales, durations, modes and tuning. See Yavlow (1982) for information on the aforementioned programs. Since the domain is relatively clear-cut and non-problematic, ear training and music theory are popular methods in non-AI music education programs. There are many useful musical computer tools applicable to education such as music editors, sequencers, computer-aided composition tools, multimedia reference tools on CD-ROM Masterworks and much more. 3. Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Music: A ‘Classical’ Approach The history of AI in education can be divided into two periods, the ‘classical’ period (1970 – 1987) and the ‘modern’ period (1987 to present day). In the classical period, the three component ‘traditional’ model of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) was the most common and influential idea. This model was sometimes extended to a four component model. After 1987, ideas had shifted to finding alternative ways around the traditional model. However, this was limited due to research available at those times, and the traditional model remains influential and is still used to the present day. Each of the three components of the traditional model can be considered a separate ‘expert’ system’. The traditional ITS model (Sleeman and Brow, 1982) consists of three AI components, each an expert in its own area. The first component, the domain model, is an expert in the subject being taught. So in the case of a vocal tutor, the domain expert itself would be able to perform vocal tasks. This requirement is essential if the system is to be able to answer unforeseen questions in relation to the task in hand. The second component is the student model. Its purpose is to build a model of the student’s knowledge, capabilities and attitudes. This will allow the system to vary its approach in accordance to the individual student. In essence, the student model can be viewed as a checklist of skills. This is sometimes modelled as an overlay i.e. a tick list of the elements held in the domain. Sophisticated models may view it as a deliberately distorted element or a faulty ‘expert’ system. These errors are intended to mirror a student’s misconceptions. A fair diagnosis of a student’s knowledge, skills, capabilities and beliefs is often a hard problem in AI. One partial way around the diagnosis problem would be to ask the student about their capabilities, beliefs, previous experience and so on. A more stringent approach is to set the student tasks specifically designed to analyse their skills. The results can then be used to construct the student model. The third component of the traditional ITS model is the teaching model. Typically, this may consist of teaching strategies such as Socratic tutoring, coaching and teaching by analogy (Elsom-Cook, 1990), to simply allowing the student to explore available materials unhindered, with or without the guidance of a human teacher. The fourth component is an interactive user interface for the tasks mentioned, if it is used. Note that not all Intelligent Tutoring Systems consist of all three components. It is common to have a central focus on one maybe two components, and omit, or greatly simplify the others. In particular, most ITS’s in music focus on the expert or student model. Irrespective of the emphasis, ITS models require an explicit, formalisable knowledge of the task. However, many skills in music correspond to wicked problems and are resistant to explicit formalisation. This narrows the number of areas ITS models can be applied to in music education. An example area is Harmonisation. It is one of the few musical topics for which relatively detailed, rules of thumb can be found in a textbook. But even here, the traditional ITS model may not be effective. There are two systems from the classical ITS period, which are good examples of the potential and limitations of the ITS approach in music, Vivace and Macvoice. 3.1 Vivace: An expert system Vivace is a four-part chorale writing system, created by Thomas (1985). Vivace is not an ITS model in itself, yet has formed the basis of one. It takes an eighteenth century chorale melody and writes a bass line and two inner voices that fit the melody. It uses text from books, abstracted from the practice of past composers, to employ rules and guidelines for harmonisation. These rules can be categorized into four types: firm requirements, preferences, firm prohibitions, less firm prohibitions. There are three specific problems which can be identified for any human or machine when trying to harmonise on the basis of the rules. The first problem is indeed common in beginners’ classes, to satisfy all the formal rules and produce a composition which is correct but aesthetically unsatisfactory. The second problem is that most of the guidelines are prohibitions rather than positive suggestions. Milton Babbit observes that ‘the rules†¦are not intended to tell you what to do, but what not to do’ (Pierce, 1983). In other words, if we view harmonisation as a typical AI ‘generate and test’ problem, the rules constitute weak help in the testing phase, but little help in well focused generation. The third problem is that it is quite impossible to satisfy all of the preferences at any one given time. Some preference rules may have to be broken. A clear order of importance of preference rules is not assigned by traditional descriptions in fact, it is not at all clear that any fixed order would make sense. However, it is possible to write a rule-based system that implements text book rules. In principle, a traditional ITS system can use these rules to criticise student’s work and serve as a model of the expertise they are supposed to acquire. In relation to the limits aforementioned, how useful or effective would such a tutor be? Thomas used the tutor to illuminate the limitations of the theory. By using Vivace, Thomas was able to establish that text book rules are an inadequate characterisation when performing such a task at expert level. Thomas discovered using only conventional rules about range and movement the tenors voice would most certainly move to the top of its range and stay there. Thomas suggested that there must be a set of missing rules and metra-rules to fill theses gaps. He used a Vivace experimental tool to establish this gap. In each experiment Thomas had to use his intuition to decide upon whether the results were musically viable or not. Thomas discovered that many of the traditional rules were overstated or needed redefining. He also unveiled new guideline and was able to understand the task at a more strategic level. With the assistance f her human pupils, Thomas formulated a number of heuristics for ‘what to do’ rather than ‘not what to do’. Experiments with Vivace enabled Thomas to realise the need to make human pupils aware of high level phase structure prior to detailed chord writing. As a result of her experiments, Thomas was able to use her new knowledge about the task, as a result of ‘teaching’ her expert system, and write a new teaching text book based on her findings. Part of this knowledge was used in a simple commercial ITS, which criticises student’s voice-leading (MacVoice). 3.2 MacVoice MacVoice criticises voice-leading aspects of four part harmonisation. It is a Macintosh program based on the expert system Vivace. The MacVoice also includes a music editor as part of its interface. MacVoice makes it possible to input any note, any chord at a time or a voice at a time, or notes in any disconnected fashion. As soon as a note is placed on the stave, it will display its guess as to the function of the corresponding chord in the form of an annotated Roman numerical. Three are two important limitations of this system as follows: firstly, all chords must form Homophonic blocks (all notes must be of the same duration); and secondly, the piece must be in a single key. There is one other menu function, called ‘voice-leading’.This particular function inspects the harmonisation in line with a set of base rules for voice-leading, indicating any errors. MacVoice is quite flexible to use. MacVoice has been used practically at Carnegie Mellon University. MacVoice does not give positive strategic advice. It only points out errors. It does not address the efficiency or any other benefits of the chord sequences involved. Further research on this topic may include a visual display of what the voice-leading constraints are, or the possible preferred outcomes. 3.3 Lasso Lasso was formalised by Lux (1725). It is an intelligent tutoring system designed for the 16th century counterpart and is limited to two voices. Newcomb’s approach focuses on intending to provide simple and consistent guidelines to help students know what is required to pass exams. The process of codification of the necessary knowledge goes beyond that of text book rules and guidance. Like Thomas, Newcomb was aware of this, however, approached it using a probabilistic manner, analysing scores to find out such facts as ‘the allowable ratio of skip to non-skip melodic intervals’ and ‘how many eighth note passages can be expected to be found in a piece of a given length’ (Newcomb, 1985). Also, the knowledge used for criticising students work is being coded as branch procedural code. There are also unvarying canned error messages, help messages and congratulatory messages. This will assist students, offering some form of motivation. Lasso is a very impressive system. It has a quality musical editor, tackles complex musical paradigm and has been used in real teaching contexts. However, there are some intrinsic problems. The rules are at a very low level, and there are a high number of them. There is a system rule which prevents over one hundred comments being made about any one given attempt to complete an exercise. For example, typical remarks made by Lasso include; â€Å"A melodic interval of a third is followed by stepwise motion in the same direction.† â€Å"Accented quarter passing note? The dissonant quarter note is not preceded by a descending step.† (Newcomb, 1985). The quantity of relevant text required to put in help context of myriad low-level criticisms could easily overwhelm students. Students complained that it was so difficult to meet Lasso’s demands that they were forced to revise the same task repeatedly. A solution to this problem would be to incorporate general principles to govern the low-level rules. Using such codified principles will reduce the number of comments required to relevant text and generalise observations. 3.4 Concluding remarks on Intelligent Tutoring Systems: A ‘Classical Approach’ The traditional Intelligent Tutoring System approach assumes an objectivist approach to knowledge. Such systems depend on the assumption there is a well-defined body of knowledge to be taught and can be put into precise concepts and relationships. This works with four-part harmonisation and 16th century counterparts. However, in a more open-ended context, an objectivist approach can be very limited. In domains which are artificially limited, teaching of rules drawn from practical experience tends not be a very good approach. Using verbal definitions to teach a musical concept is limited and does not compare to the knowledge required to identify the true meaning of these definitions to be an experienced musician. It is all very well to define a chord, a dominant eighth in terms of its interval pattern and provide general rules but to an experienced musician the ‘meaning’ of a chord or a dominant eight is much more depending on the context. Being able to intelligently manipulate structures is far more important than to just being able to understand and obey a set of rules, which an experienced musician will be capable of doing so. Rather than just a set of explanations, a student needs a structured set of experiences making them more aware of musical structures, being able to manipulate them intelligently and most importantly, more capable of formulating sensible musical goals to pursue. 4. Open-ended Microworlds: The Logo Philosophy A contrasted idea from the classical approach of AI in education, which is just as influential as the notion of an ITS is the Logo approach (Papert, 1980). The Logo philosophy has particular attractions to open-ended domains such as music. It focuses its approach on the idea of an educational microworld. An educational microworld is an open-ended environment for learning. Therefore, there are no specific built-in lessons. The Logo approach in associated microworlds does not need to involve much, or indeed any AI at point of delivery. However, their designs tend to be strongly influenced by AI methodologies and tools. A simple version of AI programming language is used to build microworlds. Students are encouraged to write or modify programs as a means of exploring the domain. Logo doubles as the name of programming language based on Lisp, used for just this purpose. There are three distinct elements in the Logo approach: Logo (and similar languages) as a programming tool; Logo as a vehicle for expressing various AI theories for educational purposes; and Logo as an educational philosophy. Firstly, we will briefly explore Logo as an educational philosophy. In its early work, Logo was mainly used for mathematics learning, poetry and music. One of the versions encouraged children to produce new melodies by rearranging and modifying melodic phrases. The learning philosophy was aimed to enable children to have a better understanding of the concept by making them envision or pre-hear a result. Thus, enabling them to work out how to achieve it, and realise the reason behind obtaining an unexpected result. This learning philosophy was derived from a number of sources, including the psychologist Piaget’s notions of how children construct their own knowledge through play. The Logo approach in relation to microworlds can be somewhat complex. Students are sometimes provided with a simplified version of an AI model in some problem domains. For example, in the case of music composition, fragments of illustrative material can be generated using generative grammars as models of particular composition techniques. The supplied programs can be used by students to explore, criticise, and refine their own (or someone else’s) model of process. Notice that none of the three components in the ITS model are required in the Logo approach. In practice, students need some form of guidance from teachers in order to make use of their full potential using Logo systems. If there is no guidance from a teacher the students risks only learning a technique without appreciating the wider possibilities and understanding the true meaning of being an experienced musician. The educational philosophy associated with Logo has been applied to a number of systems in music at different levels and in different ways, as mentioned below. 4.1 Music Logo System: Bamberger’s System Jeanne Bamberger’s Music Logo System (1986, 1991) can be used to work with sound cards or synthesisers. It uses programming elements called functions to structure and control musical sounds. Music Logo’s central data structure is a list of integers representing sequences of durations and pitches, which can be stored separately. These can be manipulated separately before being played by a synthesiser. So for example, to play A above middle C for 30 beats, then middle C for 20 beats, then G for 20 beats , the following expression might be used. Play [a c g] [30 20 20] Programming constructs such as repeat can easily be understood by beginners to do musical work. Using arithmetic and list manipulation functions, note and duration list can be manipulated separately. Features such as recursion and random number generators can be used to build complex musical structures. Common musical operations are provided (list manipulation functions). For example, one function takes a duration a pitch list and generates a number of repetitions of the phrase shifted at each repetition by a constant pitch increment, creating a simple sequence (in a musical sense of the term). Bamberger’s Music Logo System also provides other musical functions, such as retrograde (reverses a pitchlist), invert (processes a pitch list to the complimentary values within an octave), and fill (makes a list of all intermediate pitches between two specified pitches). To try and guess a musical outcome, manipulate lists and procedures or conversely iteratively manipulating lists of representations to try to reproduce something previously imagined, Bamberger suggests many simple exercises. These techniques, in many ways, are a reflection of educational techniques suggested by Laurillard (1993) for general use in higher education. There are two particular classes of phenomena suggested by Bamberger, which emphasises the importance of ‘shock’ and learning experiences. Firstly, perceptions of phrase boundaries occur in melodic and rhythmic fragments dependent upon small manipulations of the duration list. Secondly, there is an unpredictable difference between degree of change in the data structure and the degree of the perceived change produced. In priniciple, the Logo system allows students to focus on manipulating any kind of musical structuring technique. However, in practice the focus tends to be on simple, small scale structures such as motives, and their transformation. 4.2 A series of microworlds: Loco Peter Desain and Henkjan Honing developed a series of microworlds and tools applying the Logo philosophy. The first series was the LOCO (Desain and Honing, 1986, 1992). The second was POCO (Honing, 1990), followed by Expresso (Honing, 1992) and LOCO-Sonnet (Deasin and Honing, 1996). All of these microworlds carefully reflect the thought behind AI methodologies and how they can be applied to music education. LOCO is similar to Bamberg’s Logo, in the sense it also focuses on music composition. The central component is a set of tools for representing sequences of musical events, which can be interfaced with any output device or instrument. It is also flexible enough to take input from practically any composition system. Microworlds provided each offer tools for useful style-independent composition techniques, particularly stochastic processes and context free music grammars. Two musical objects provided essentially are just ‘rests’ and ‘notes.’ LOCO’s time structuring mechanism is simple and elegant. There two relations, Parallel and Sequential – used to combine arbitrary musical objects. Sequential is a function which causes musical objects in an argument list to be played one after another, whereas, Parallel is a function that causes arguments to be played simultaneously. It is quite simple to nest a parallel structure within a sequential structure, and vice versa. Sequential and Parallel objects are treated as data which can be computed and manipulated before they are played. The result- arbitrary time structuring can be applied with much flexibility. As mentioned earlier, LOCO provides a base for composing using stochastic processes and free grammar context. Various effects can be produced, depending on how variables are defined, including; A random choice among its possible values A choice weighted by a probability distribution A random choice in which previous values cannot recur until all other values have been chosen Selection of a value in a fixed circular order The above are easily put together using composition (in a mathematical sense) of functions. For example, the value of an increment could be specified as a stochastic variable. This can produce a variable that performs a Brownian random walk. Brownian variables can be used, for example, as arguments in commands to instruments within a time-structured framework. These techniques can be used to construct concise, easy to read programs for transition nets and other stochastic processes. Using general programming language in each case, the operation of a program can be modified. See Ames (1989) for more information in the compositional uses of Markov chains. The primary design goals of LOCO include ease of use by non-programmers to experts. A more recent version of LOCO, LOCO-Sonnet mirrors LOCO but also includes a graphical front end. Sonnet is a domain independent data flow language originally designed for adding sound to user interfaces drawn from Jameson’s (1992) Sonnet. It is designed for use by both novices and experts alike. LOCO has been used in workshops for novices and professionals and even has courseware available. 4.3 Concluding comments on the Logo approach The Logo approach is known to be associated with constructivism. Constructivism, in the aspect of knowledge and learning, suggests that even in the cases where ‘objectively true knowledge, exists simply presenting it to a student limits the effects of their learning. It based on the assumption that learning arises from learners being interactive with the world, which will force them to construct their own knowledge. The result of this ‘knowledge’ will vary between individuals creating unique ideas and outcomes. This fits in very well with open-ended domains such as music where the basis of knowledge is learning how to create your ‘own’ masterpiece. Unlike classical Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Logo requires intensive support from a human teacher. This can be viewed as both weakness and strength of the program. Intelligent Tutoring Systems and the Logo approach were both influential ideas of AI in education in the early years. As both strengths and limitations were noted over the years, combining characteristics of the two became a prime focus of research which led to Interactive Learning Environments (ILE). We will talk about this after a brief discussion on AI-based tools. 5. Applications in Education: focus on AI-based tools There are a number of application tools employing AI but its purpose is not primarily educational. However, it is useful to consider some of these systems as they nevertheless have clear educational applications. There are quite a few programming languages based on AI languages such as LISP and CLOS that have a relatively similar technical aspect to that of the Music Logo systems described earlier. However, the philosophy of use may be quite different. The commercial system Symbolic Composer (for Macintosh and Atari) is one example of this difference. It has a vast library of functions, including neural nets facilities, used for processing, generating and transforming musical data and processes, commonly built on Lisp. The system is primarily aimed at composers and researchers. Another culture which offers an educational paradigm with many links to AI culture is the Smalltalk culture. An example of such a system is Pachet’s (1994) MusES environment, implemented in Smalltalk 80. It is aimed at experimenting with knowledge representation techniques in tonal music. MuSES includes systems for harmonisation, analysis and improvisation. Finally, an example of a commercial program is Band in a Box (Binary Designs, 1996). It takes a chord sequence as input and at output can play an accompaniment based on the chord in a wide variety of styles. At one moment in time this would have required AI techniques but in today’s era it is a conventional method. 6. Supporting learning with Computational Models of Creativity 6.1 A cognitive support framework: constraint-based model of creativity â€Å"I noticed that the [drawing] teacher didn’t tell people much†¦.Instead, he tried to inspire us to experiment with new approaches. I thought of how we teach physics: we have so many techniques-so many mathematical methods – that we never stop telling the students how to do things. On the other hand, the drawing teacher is afraid to teach you anything. If your lines are very heavy, the teacher can’t say â€Å"your lines are too heavy† because some artist has figured out a way of making great pictures using heavy lines. The teacher doesn’t want to push you in some particular direction. So the drawing teacher has this problem of communicating how to draw by osmosis and not by instruction, while the physics teacher has the problem of always teaching techniques, rather than spirit of how to go about solving physical problem† Feynman (1986) â€Å"John and I†¦.were quite happy to nick things off people, because†¦you start off with the nicked piece and it gets into a the song†¦and when you’ve put it all together†¦of course it does make something original† Paul McCartney quoted in (Moore, 1992) There are limitations present in both traditional AI approaches in education mentioned earlier (ITS and Logo). ITS’s don not work very well in problem-seeking domains and Logo type approaches require support from a human teacher in order to be effective. One way of investigating these problems has been addressed by MC (Holland, 1989, 1991; Holland and Elsom-Cook, 1990). ‘MC’ is an acronym for both ‘Meta Constraints’ and ‘Master of Ceremonies’, which is a general framework for interactive learning environments in open-ended domains. We will focus on the domain model rather than the teaching model. The current version is designed at teaching ab initio students to compose tonal chord sequences, with partic

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Corporate Strategy and Policy

1. Statement of Purpose: Corporate Strategy & Policy Any meaningful organization has certain mission, objective(s) and goal(s) and a strategy to achieve them. Business environment consists of all those factors that have a bearing on the business, such as the strengths, weaknesses, internal power relationships and orientations of the organization, government policies and regulations, nature of economy and economic conditions, socio-cultural factors, demographic trends, natural factors, global needs and cross-border developments. Business is an integral part of the social system. Social system influences business, which in turn is affected by the business. Corporate governance is concerned with holding the balance between economic and social goals and between individual and commercial goals. The governance framework (that creates policies) is there to encourage the efficient use of resources and equally to require accountability for the stewardship of those resources. The aim is to align as nearly as possible the interests of individuals, corporations and society. The incentive to corporations and to those who own and manage them to adopt internationally accepted governance standards is that these standards will help them to achieve their corporate aims and to attract investment. The initiative for this adoption by states is that these standards will strengthen the economy and discourage fraud and mismanagement. The foundation of any structure of corporate governance is disclosure. Openness is the basis of public confidence in the corporate system, and funds will flow to the centers of economic activity that inspires trust. My exposure to two corporate cultures, seven years with Andhra Steel Corporation Limited, a public limited company and 20 years with Manipal Hospital, corporate hospital managed by Manipal Health Enterprise Private Limited, had given me glimpse in corporations functioning. For five years I worked as officer taking care of secretarial functions, in Andhra Steel Corporation Limited. Jobs involved share transfers, Fixed Deposit settlements, arranging shareholders’ meetings, AGMs, Board of Directors Meeting, maintaining minutes of the meeting, Interacting with internal and external auditors, printing and presentation of financial statements, safe holding of 20000 files of Calcutta Registered office as per ruling of Honorable Calcutta High Court in response to a winding up petition. Mittal group controlled India’s largest mini steel industry, I had interacted with many private limited companies of the group, and strategies developed were applied across: one unit procured raw material, another made semi finished (billets) and another produced finished product (Tor Steel). I worked for 8 years as executive at Manipal Hospital, implementing the corporate policies, the vision and mission of the Group. I had implemented corporate social responsibility for 5 years by operating social work department. All through I had witnessed a transformation of Medical Relief Society of South Canara into a private limited company, Manipal Health Systems Pvt. Ltd. Now poised with foreign operations, the group now strategically runs Manipal Health Enterprises Private Limited along with Manipal University. 20 hospitals of national/international status, including well known Kasturba Medical College & Hospital at Manipal, and 10 educational institutions under Manipal University are part of this group. This transition had given me an opportunity to study the new perspectives – how the trust’s social responsibility later became CSR. The company strategically acquired, merged and made alliances with other companies and effectively dealt staff migration and retrenchment with HRM strategies. My studies on Human Rights Law and management gave me a theoretical perspective on corporate governance in Globalization. Knowledge is an ocean. This realization has given me the courage to apply for fellowship program in IIM-B. My Primary interest is on Corporate Social Responsibility strategies and policies. My ultimate aim is to found a Management Journal of international repute that would publish research findings in Management and Healthcare that can strategically facilitate affordable healthcare to the community. Let our strategies and policies protect all of us.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Important Events in Louisiana History Essay

The State of Louisiana has a colorful and important past unbeknownst to laymen. These events helped shape the picture of its culture and what is the present day United States. In the 18th century, this state was established as a French Colony and within a little over 30 years, was passed on to the Spanish after the French-Indian War. Control of Louisiana allowed ships from Europe or Mexico to dock from the ocean and move inland through the Mississippi river. The influence of the empires at the time, are still carried over to today. This state recognizes no â€Å"official language† but some residents speak French and Spanish. Aside from this, most of the population is made up of Christians due to the influence of its colonizers. During the 19th century the most important event was the inclusion of this state to The United States of America. The French held the territory at the time but the newly formed United States was worried that at any time, France could close off the Mississippi and form a chokehold on the existing trade routes. President Thomas Jefferson authorized the liaison to France to negotiate a purchase for the territory around the river to prevent a stranglehold. Napoleon at the time encountered too many setbacks with his plan for Louisiana and decided to sell the whole territory. The liaison, Robert R. Livingston, worried that approval from Washington might take too long decided to push through the talks and came to a price of fifteen million US Dollars. President Jefferson was surprised at first but decided to push through with the purchase since it would double the government’s current land area and make way for the expansion west. This served as a precedent fro the purchase of territory and did not spill a single drop of blood. It paved the way for frontiersmen in the years to come and paved the way for the United States to be connected to two great oceans. In1901, speculators in Louisiana discovered oil. Along with forestry, this introduced a wave of economic growth which introduced economic growth. This alleviates the United States’ dependence on foreign oil and places worth on this area of land which was previously valued only for its accessibility to the Mississippi river. Reference List 1. About Louisiana. Louisiana. gov. Last checked 06 May 2008 from http://www. louisiana. gov/wps/wcm/connect/Louisiana. gov/Explore/About+Louisiana/

Friday, November 8, 2019

Merger Negotiations between Boeing and Airbus Company

Merger Negotiations between Boeing and Airbus Company Introduction Mergers refer to business associations that involve two or more companies amalgamating to form a single business entity. Through mergers, companies can achieve greater levels of efficiency through exploitation of benefits that are associated with economies of scale as well as enabling the company to exploit new markets and freeze out competition from other firms in the same industry.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Merger Negotiations between Boeing and Airbus Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this case, Airbus, an aircraft manufacturing company based in France and Boeing, a US based aerospace company which is one of the largest in the world are interested in forming a merger. Through this business association, the two companies would reap benefits associated with economies of scale such as increased overall output and diversified markets which would consequently increasing profitabili ty and investment of the new entity. The new company would also gain from the popularity of the two companies in Europe, America and Asia hence marketing its services will be much easier across the world. However, careful corporate strategic negotiations are essential for the two companies to reap the benefits associated with company mergers failure to which may result in merger failure causing detrimental effects to the company. Companies should adhere to the general rules when engaging in mergers. First, both companies should hold open and extensive negotiations to ensure that the entire process promotes the interests and goals that the new entity wants to achieve. Both companies should critically analyze financial prospects and performance that allow them merge without posing the risk of future business failures. Both aerospace companies perform well financially in the industry and the merger is likely to succeed without risk of bankruptcy. Both companies should uphold trustworth iness to ensure credibility of the process especially through presentation of accurate financial records and other records required to justify the merger. Evaluating merger prospects In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the merger, Boeing company board of directors should appoint a special negotiation committee that is charged with the responsibility of evaluating and justifying the merger. The committee should be comprised of experienced and high integrity board members who should negotiate the terms of the merger with the team from Airbus Company.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The committee members and negotiators should ensure that the negotiation process yields the required results through identification and addressing the fundamental goals on the onset of the process in order to highlight the key issues relevant for the successful accomplishmen t of the merger (Kimathi Kimathi, 2010). The committee should seek expert assistance from competent advisors in addressing the key and major issues such as profitability and future projections of Airbus. These experts provide guidelines on complex issues such as financial evaluation, design and implementation of the merger as well as legal and taxation regulations (Kimathi Kimathi, 2009). Failure to consult experts on various fields may result to lack of credibility as well as biased and uninformed decision making by the Boeing negotiating committee. These members should be appointed in such a way that they do not portray any elements of conflict of interest to ensures that the committee decision is based on the corporate merits of the associations and not merely from external influences geared towards personal gain (Kimathi Kimathi, 2010). If an individual has potential gains from the business association between Boeing and Airbus, he should not be appointed as a negotiating mem ber since his decision may be biased. The committee should also assess the suitability of the deal by reviewing financial records of Airbus, management depth and succession, business plans and projections among other important information in order to make the decision as to appropriateness of the merger (Kimathi Kimathi, 2010). It should keep proper and accurate records for references during the process and should remain focused to the accomplishment of their task which striking the best financial deal with Airbus.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Merger Negotiations between Boeing and Airbus Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Once the merger between Airbus and Boeing has been justified, extensive financial analysis of Airbus Company must be conducted. Through this process, problems may be detected that eliminates the company from further consideration of the merger. However, problems that can easily be rectified should not hinder the commencement of the process (Madura, 2006). Mergers often require a lot of money to finance since they may involve one firm purchasing the existing stock of another (Madura, 2010) hence the Boeing should assess whether it has available resources to finance the merger in order to go ahead with negotiations. Boeing Company and Air bus merger is justified on the grounds that both companies are in the same industry and dominate in terms of profitability. Merging the two companies would link the American and the European market as well creating the incentive to exploit the world market at large. It would also lead to increased profitability of the new establishment hence availing resources for investment and innovations in the aerospace industry. Process of Negotiating a Merger In order to negotiate effectively, I would ensure I have done adequate research on Airbus Company before hand. Collection and evaluation of information that is important in the n egotiation process as well as devising a defensive plan to protect sensitive information that may be required by Airbus Company but the company may not be legally required to submit it (James, 2007). The company should set realistic expectations from the merger to enable the negotiators insist on the company’s aspirations during negotiations and continually reassess them as new information from Boeing company is obtained through out the negotiating process (James, 2007). The negotiator should take control of the bidding process to ensure that the Boeing Company achieves the best realistic deal. As the lead negotiator I would ensure sustained credibility throughout the negotiation process (James, 2007). When a negotiator proposes a position he should be objective and should support himself with the appropriate rationales. He should also act within limits of time which have been reasonably set by both companies by avoiding wastage of time from the onset of negotiation process.A dvertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The negotiator should also be aggressive and upon determination that the deal is appropriate he should see to it that the merger is signed. He should actively participate in drafting of the contract to ensure that the interests of Boeing that negative issues do not crop up before the deal is concluded (James, 2007). As a negotiator, I would strongly uphold the values of Boeing Company. However I would also ensure that I am flexible such that I can accommodate values of Airbus Company. Factors that Hinder Effective Negotiations However, there are various issues that may render the negotiation process unsuccessful such as unreasonable preconditions whereby if the two CEOs cannot agree on division of power in the integrated business (James, 2007), Strategic leaks may destroys trusts among Boeing and Airbus and delay tactics employed by either of the companies to delay the process for calculated purposes. In addition, companies may use musical chairs whereby the negotiators are constant ly substituted leading to overall derailment of the process (James, 2007) Conclusion Merging business is a complex process that requires careful considerations by the companies involved. This is because it involves restructuring of various departments of both companies to fit the strategic plan of the new entity. In the event that Boeing and Air bus companies decide to merge, it is important for the two aerospace companies to follow the necessary procedure to asses the suitability of the merger to ensure its success. Reference List James, G. (2007). James Freund, ten rules of mergers and acquisitions bargaining, CBS Interactive. Web. James, G. (2007). Four common deal killers, CBS interactive. Web. Kimathi Kimathi, Corporate attorneys, (2009). Seven top strategies for negotiating a merger and acquisition transaction. Worldwide legal directories. Web. Madura, J. (2006). Introduction to business, New York: Cengage learning.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The Human Comedy essays

The Human Comedy essays One Day Homer Macauley signs up for a telegram delivery job and gets it. While he delivers these letters he discovers the truth about love, hope, and pain seeing the reactions on the faces of the people when they receive the message. He relates his life to the letters awaiting one from his brother Marcus who is in war. When he is not out sending telegrams he goes to school in which he is very admired by all of his teachers but Mr. Byfield who despises him. Being a poor boy is held against Homer, which Mr. Byfield emphasizes trying to get him in trouble. Getting on with the story. Homer is later faced with a life experience when his telegram advisor, Mr. Gangley, dies when he is typing an incoming message a message that states "The Department of war regrets to inform you that your son Marcus........", not finishing the statement. Later, when homer returns home he sees a young soldier on his steps. He is ovious that he is injured, but he is also holding a message. It is a message from a dead Marcus Macauley. Homer invites him in and the ...

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Television Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Television - Case Study Example Virgin Media, the Cable Company in which Sir Richard Branson's empire is a major shareholder accused Sky of using its dominant position in Pay-TV to stifle competition. According to Sky, the row between the companies started because of the Virgin's refusal to pay the asking price. Virgin says that Sky is trying to dominate the market by asking 'more than double' charges for its channels with a view to 'coerce' virgin customers to switch to new providers by denying access to basic channels. Sky maintains that the price it wants is 'reasonable' taking into account the benefits it provides to the Virgin customers. It also says that it has adopted a 'product differentiation' along with the 'price increase' by offering new 'high definition' service, where the quality of the broadcasting will be better. "It denies allegations by Virgin that it is demanding "more than double" the amount currently paid." (BBC News 2007) According to Richard and Mark (2007) "Sky added that its offer of 3p per Virgin Media customer per day is still on the table should the cable group wish to return. Sky added that it is still willing to supply its channels directly to cable households." Marketing The strategy behind the move of Sky is to reposition its channel Sky one by revamping it to include live football and UK TV premieres of big US films giving Sky One a content which is being currently offered under Sky's premium sports and movie channels. Couple with this Sky is providing programmes in High Definition (HD), which it claims as a key selling point. With this differentiation and improvements in the products Sky demanded higher charges from Virgin. Virgin Media's View Point: Virgin Media implies that Sky is using its dominance in the market to its advantage. Steve Burch, the Chief Executive of Virgin says "we will not allow Virgin Media or our customers to be the victim of Sky's market power." Virgin says that it cannot afford to pay the charges being demanded by Sky since as per the costing calculations virgin would end up in paying Sky 1.23 per month per subscriber that is more than one third of the 90p cost outlined by Sky. Moreover Sky is also demanding a 'minimum guaranteed payment' that is twice the current annual payment being made by Virgin to Sky. "Virgin has closed the gap with Sky to some extent by signing deals with major content owners to offer programmes on demand - though these do not include US drama 24 and mainly cover older series" (Chris Tryhorn 2007) Strategy of Virgin Media: To combat the pressure from Sky Virgin had already signed deals with some content owners to provide programs on demand. Virgin Media would continue to charge the customers at the same level without any reduction for the loss of Sky channels. Virgin says it would compensate the viewers with 2700 hours of on-demand viewing. Effect on the Customers of Virgin: With the Sky basic channels going off the cable, the viewers would end up paying more for lesser channels, although Virgin says it will compensate the customers with more hours on-demand viewing. Around 3.3 million subscribers of Virgin would loose channels like Sky One, Sky Travel, Sky News and Sky Sports News. They will not get the value for the money they pay to Virgin. This would result in the subscribers switching over to other providers where they may get full value for their money. Effect of BSkyB and Virgin

Friday, November 1, 2019

You Decide Week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You Decide Week 7 - Essay Example aled that one of the company’s sales persons, Pat Lawson, was currently exhibiting problems coping with new procedures and technology to service customers better and increase sales. She had been with the company for 15 years and was revealed to have serviced the company’s largest customers effectively. With Pat’s struggles, she was reflecting on quitting her job. In this regard, in the capacity of Bob Yeader, the Sales Manager, the following analysis of the situation, the problem and the options are hereby evaluated: The apparent root problem for Pat’s supposed difficulties in coping with the current situation is the installation of new procedures and technology designed to improve customer service and increase productivity and sales. As validated by Jack Mason, Bob Yeader’s consultant, the lack of appropriate training to orient their people on the use of new technology and procedures was the main culprit for Pat’s dilemma: her inability to cope with requirements posed by the new technological procedures without being properly trained. 1. Status Quo: Do Nothing. Wait for the natural courses of action to happen. In this alternative, the most probable scenario is that Pat Lawson would eventually tender her resignation. The advantage of this option is that there would be no changes in the work place and, as suggested by George Fish, new graduates could replace Pat’s position immediately. However, the disadvantage of this alternative is that both Chris Nihil, the HR Manager, and Jack Mason acknowledge the exemplary performance of Pat Lawson, who has been with the company for 15 years. The competency in handling large and complicated accounts has already been recognized to be attributable to Pat’s experience in the field of sales and customer service. By doing nothing, the company would be losing Pat and it might cost them more to train new hires to do Pat’s responsibilities. 2. Provide Training for the New Technology and Procedures. The standard