Major Scientific Discoveries of the 19th Century free essay sample

Scientific knowledge expanded rapidly, and influenced the way Europeans viewed the world; perhaps more profoundly than at any other time in history. Among these changes was Louis Pasteur discovery of the germ, which opened up a whole new world in health care. This led to Europeans using soap and taking showers more often, a huge market for antiseptics and disinfectants opened up, new methods for food preservation were discovered and used, the invention of the refrigerator, avoiding being around people who are sick or appear to be sick, people being much more picky about what they eat such as not eating foods that were undercooked, fell on the ground, or a bug landed in it, and much more effective methods developed to prevent wide spread of disease. Another major development in 19th century Europe was thermodynamics, which investigated the relationship between heat and mechanical energy. Machines were the focal point of the Industrial Revolution. We will write a custom essay sample on Major Scientific Discoveries of the 19th Century or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thus the efficiency of those machines became a major concern to scientists and industrialists. Charles Darwin challenged the idea of a special divine creation of each species of animal and concluded that all life had gradually evolved from a common ancestral origin in an unending struggle for survival. This completely changed the way people viewed the natural world and led to Herbert Spenser said that the human race was driven forward by a constant specialization and progress by a brutal economic struggle. The poor were the weak and the prosperous were the chosen strong. Spenser’s philosophy became known as Social Darwinism, which was very popular with the upper middle classes. It later became the justification for presumed Anglo-Saxon superiority. Many advancements in technology, medicine and human behavior occurred in Europe during this period. The 19th century gave witness to the Scientific Revolution and changed the world forever.

Madame Butterly Essays - Madama Butterfly, Nagasaki, Operas

Madame Butterly Essays - Madama Butterfly, Nagasaki, Operas Madame Butterly Act I At the turn of the current century, in the picturesque gardens of a lovely Japanese villa on the outskirts of Nagasaki, a local marriage broker, Goro, explains that he has arranged a marriage with an adolescent Japanese girl for Lieutenant Pinkerton of the United States Navy. Both the marriage contract and the accompanying rental agreement for a home are presented to Pinkerton for his pleasure and convenience during the term of his service in Japan. Both are cancelable upon the same conditions: thirty days' notice. When United States Consul, Sharpless, comes calling, he warns Pinkerton that such an arrangement invites tragedy. The young lady in question, he says, Cio-Cio-San, is known as Madame Butterfly because of her femininity and sensitive nature. Certainly this sort of cavalier treatment will eventually break her tender heart. The self-indulgent Pinkerton ignores the older man's advice, making it clear he considers the wedding a game, that he'll be glad to be married legitimately someday in the United States to an American woman. Butterfly appears, accompanied by her family. She is an innocent girl of fifteen, who arrives carrying her most precious personal treasures in her sleeve a little jewelry and a dagger her father used to commit suicide on orders from the Mikado. The marriage ceremony proceeds and the assemblage toasts the couple. In the midst of a happy moment, the Bonze, a Japanese priest, sweeps in with a stern denunciation of the bride. She has forsaken her religion and turned to Christianity in deference to her new husband, he announces. He declares her an outcast and the entire family supports his damning judgment. Pinkerton sends them all away and proceeds to woo Butterfly. They proclaim their attraction to one another in a love duet and the curtain falls as the couple happily enters their new home. Act II Madame Butterfly has lived alone in the little home above Nagasaki for three years now. The short marriage with Lieutenant Pinkerton ended when he returned to America and he hasn't been heard from since. Her maid and friend, Suzuki, tries to reason with Butterfly about the distinct possibility that this man will never return. The tragically loyal Butterfly answers with the aria Un bel di vedremo, describing her vision of the Lieutenant's ship reappearing on the horizon and Pinkerton himself ascending the hill to their home. The American consul, Sharpless, arrives with a letter he wishes to read to Butterfly. However, Goro interrupts to present a potential suitor to the young woman, an offer she firmly refuses. Knowing the letter he carries announces the wedding of Pinkerton to an American girl, the Consul asks Butterfly what will happen if her husband never returns. She declares that impossible, but if it were to be, she says, she would kill herself. She produces her young son, Trouble. He has been so-named she explained until Pinkerton comes home. Then the child's name will become Joy. Sharpless realizes he can't reason with her and departs. A cannon from the harbor announces the docking of Pinkerton's ship. Butterfly and Suzuki happily prepare the house for his arrival. The scene closes quietly as the women and child settle down to watch for Pinkerton's appearance on the hillside path. Act III Trouble and Suzuki have fallen asleep waiting for the Lieutenant. Only Butterfly keeps the vigil. The sun is rising, but Pinkerton has yet to make himself known. Butterfly takes her child to his room to tuck him into bed, to the tune of a lullaby. At that moment, Consul Sharpless arrives in the garden, accompanied by Pinkerton and his American wife, Kate. Realizing what has occurred, Suzuki is brokenhearted. Glancing around at the once idyllic hideaway where he lived with the lovely Butterfly, Pinkerton sings a farewell to this home, to the past. Entering the room once more, Butterfly captures the essence of the scene immediately. She tells Kate that Pinkerton may have the child if he will return for him later. The emotionally shattered Madame Butterfly blindfolds Trouble, steps behind an ornamental screen, and stabs herself to death. Pinkerton rushes into the house calling to her, Butterfly! Butterfly! But his concern comes much too late. He kneels beside her lifeless body.

Shakespeare in love and Romeo and juliet Movie Review

Shakespeare in love and Romeo and juliet - Movie Review Example In this way, Will-as he is referred to throughout the film-becomes less of a historical figure and more of a literary character in his own right; Stoppard has created a Romeo with wisdom, showing the audience what might have happened to the tragic lovers had they been less rash. Although Will is fresh faced and handsome like his counterpart, Romeo, he also has maturity and the ability to think things through. Essentially, although many parallels exist between the works, each positive and negative turn of events in Shakespeare in Love speaks to responsibility and sacrifice for the greater good rather than the impulsiveness and selfishness of youth. In the original play, Romeo and Juliet, it is love at first site, with the two falling in love upon first meeting and marrying soon after. Although Romeo woos her with beautiful words, it is clear that attraction is rooted in the chemistry they feel upon meeting more than anything else. Their families are locked in a perpetual feud and Juliet is betrothed to another man, which makes their love forbidden. This of course makes the affair more exciting but more complicated as well. When Romeo is banished for murder, Juliet concocts a plan to fake her own death but Romeo is never informed of it and kills himself in grief. Waking to find him dead, Juliet kills herself and their families are left to deal the fall out from their deaths. We are left to believe that they agree to restore peace among them. Shakespeare in Love, on the other hand, related the story of a young noble woman who falls in love first with Will's poetry, his ability to use words to paint pictures and invoke deep emotions. Many of these words are used within the film, creating a play within a play. Rather than create a direct parallel, wherein all of the elements follow a recognizable predetermined path based upon the play, Stoppard chooses to sprinkle these elements throughout the action. The feud, for example, is not between the families of the lovers for example, but between two play houses-The Rose and The Curtain-and their playwrights-Marlowe and Shakespeare. However, the death of Marlowe and the shutting down of The Rose sparks a truce between the two houses. "Will Shakespeare has a play. I have a theatre," (Stoppard) says the owner, Burbage, when he offers his stage to the now defunct players. Loss brings together these warring groups, just as it did in Romeo and Juliet; however the lesson here is greater. When both children are dead, a truce serves only to prevent further bloodshed. It will not bring these children back nor allow them to enjoy the peace that their deaths have brought. It is a bittersweet victory. However, when the two play houses form a truce, they are both elevated beyond their previous quality, producing a play worthy of the Queen's approval and praise as one that is able to truly demonstrate love. This diversion from the play serves to move the action forward by giving the play a stage, it provides everyone involved with some measure of success, and one could learn a lesson in cooperation-if they were so inclined-as neither party could have reaped the rewards on their own, our lovers Will and Viola included. Another parallel between the plays is the morning after the lovers have first consummated their love affair and are torn from each other by the quickly approaching

Nurses as patient advocates reporting negligence by other health care Essay

Nurses as patient advocates reporting negligence by other health care providers - Essay Example Advances in the 21st century are seeing many new developments in the field of healthcare forcing the nursing faculty to reinforce effective and appropriate education and take up more challenging and leading roles. This becomes of primary importance by virtue of the nature of the profession nursing is. As such, the primary goal of nursing is to provide quality health care to patients. One of such challenges is to be advocates to their patients. By the nature of their profession, nurses are bestowed upon the opportunity to work closely with physicians of their patients. Thus any incompetence, negligence, carelessness and even malpractice on the part of physician or other health professionals may be recognized by the nurses. Patients and their relatives, who are ignorant of various aspects of medical fraternity fall prey to the incompetence and unethical deeds of their physicians and suffer in silence. In such situations, nurses must take up the role of advocates and provide justice to the patients and their relatives by voicing the injustice matter. This must be done with the intention of better care of the patient. It is of course not an easy task to whistle blow! Whistle blowing means "going public or speaking out to ones professional organization or to the media in order to protect the welfare of patients because of a perceived wrongdoing on the part of others" (Elen; cited in ANA, 2001). Whistle blowing is a major source of moral distress and mental trauma to the nurses because it makes the nurses weigh between the duties of the nurses and the obligations of providing justice to the patients and their relatives. Taking up the role of patients advocates is not without risk for the nurses. Whistle blowing can lead to loss of job, negative reactions from coworkers and even legal consequences (ANA, 2001). It can cause undue loss of privacy of the patient, tarn the image of the physician and institution and also cause loss of provider to

Family Law and the various areas that are involved in the legal Essay

Family Law and the various areas that are involved in the legal processes - Essay Example Another very detrimental part of this research is in the concept of domestic violence and how it is perceived in society. This is an issue that often goes unreported and therefore many cases are left with unanswered questions as to how and why it happens. The laws surrounding it are also included in this research. The main goal is to provide more insight into what laws are set up to assist families and protect their rights in various situations. Also, what new reforms are taking place and how they are being implemented and carried out to improve the quality of life for families The Family Law Act that was approved and passed in 1996 radically changed the way a lot of legal issues involving family related areas were previously handled. It has had a tremendous impact on specific views of divorce proceedings, consultations for marital breakdowns, the welfare of children, marriages that are of the same sex; and a mass variety of other family related areas. ... king a divorce are especially affected by the new legislation as instead of granting a quick divorce to a couple, the legalities have become stricter and now function in a slow and systematic process to allow for time to consider the well being of the children involved and the effect the divorce proceeding might have on both parties with consideration to finances and living accommodations. Now, more than ever before within the UK, marriage is being considered as a top priority. This specific area that unites a family is considered to be deserving of extra attention and efforts to maintain it and keep it from becoming a problem that disintegrates and deteriorates the whole family structure. Therefore, a good variety of legal implementations are being made in the family courts that have already been introduced to persuade couples from divorcing but rather seek counsel and evaluate their relationships thoroughly before opting to dissolve of them altogether. Marriage is a highly valued principle of life so there are certain steps that have to be taken before a petition for divorce will even be looked upon by the court system and achieve any form of consideration. Some of these phases of the family legal process have been placed in the following outline: The institute of marriage should be supported more so than divorce Any and all applicable steps to save the marriage should be utilized by the couple whether it be marriage counseling or by alternative means such as living apart for a specified period of time If the marriage is found to be unsalvageable it should be absolved with the least amount of stress possible to both parties and with respect for the children's welfare Consideration should be given to the children's needs and wants as well as their rights entitle

Risk management in project development

Risk management in project development Risk Management In Software development Abstract: Risks are always associated with any kind of project development. It is important to identify and control the risks associated with any project as important it is to develop a project. Especially with software projects there are many unexpected problems which may hinder the software development process. It is crucial to control these risks from the technical development of components for a project to be successful. Hence the software industry is seeing software development risk management as an important practice to minimize the occurrence of risks associated with the project. This research papers gives an insight into various risks associated with software development and the methods to reduce these risks. Introduction: Risk management is a very interesting topic in todays world. Now as days we see that software is an essential part of any application and is used in every company for various purposes. Software has become an important part of life and is practically used in everyday life for various purposes. Now days, due to increase in software companies and usage of internet, a lot of complex and large software projects are developed. These projects have constraints of resources, cost and schedule. So it becomes necessary to build these projects risk free as there are many factors and constraints associated with it. In the present competitive world, there are a lot of companies making various softwares which are large scale and small scale. With this huge scope developing software, comes the risks of managing and developing successful software. Technology is advanced tremendously but still the problems and risks related to software development exist. Research has shown that 85% of all projects being developed fail due to various risks associated with project development. Out of these 40% completely fail due to incomplete requirements and 46% due to cost and schedule over runs and improper functionality. So, effective risk management is important for successful project development. Risk: A Risk is the occurrence of an event which can adversely affect or hinder the development process. A risk is any event which is likely to happen or not but if it does happen will have a negative effect on the project. Risk cannot be classified into various categories but it is the types of risks that need to be identified which are associated with a project. The risks may vary from managing team members, resources and changing environment or technology. Technical risks lie at the heart of most of the causes of software project failures. Technical risks can be defined as the possibility that the application of software engineering theory, principles, and techniques will fail to yield the right software product. Technical risk is comprised of the underlying technological factors that may cause the final product to be: overly expensive, delivered late, or unacceptable to the customer. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) Risk Management and Factors Responsible for Risks: Risk Management can be defined as An application of appropriate tools and procedures to contain risk within acceptable limits by identifying, addressing, and eliminating potential problems before they damage a project.(Dhlamini, J. 2009). It contains processes, methods and tools for managing risks associated with a software project. The basic aim of risk management is to early analyze and identify the risks associated with the project development and take the necessary steps change the course of action to minimize the risks. Risk Management is basically a continuous and formalized process of assessment which requires a team-oriented and needs open communication between all the members. The various factors responsible for risks in development of software projects are scope, resources, cost, communication, integration, time scale, quality and contracts. Every factor has its own risk and affects the project development in a way if not managed properly. Like if the project is outsourced there are times when the communication is not clear between the offshore and onshore team. Most of the times to cut the costs the management, might not use the right sources required for the project resulting in a failure. Sometimes the requirements are not defined properly with may result into a product which is not per the expectations thus affecting the quality of the product. At times, while the project is half way through and there is a change in the technology and company policy which may affect the project. Many times, stakeholder conflicts may also affect the project cost and deadline. Integration is also an issue if many teams are participating in project development. Risk Management Models: There have been various approaches and models proposed for software risk management based on the research on the risks associated with projects and the experiences of the project managers and professionals. There are a few basic approaches for risk management. They are traditional and risk-oriented method. The traditional approach is very generic to all the projects deals with the risks associated with all the projects in general and specific to a particular project. The second approach is risk-oriented which deals with identifying the risks associated with a specific project and aims to deal with those risks before they harm the project. Goal Driven Software Development Risk Management model is a risk-oriented approach to deal with the risks associated with the software project development. There are many such models that were proposed like the first one proposed by Barry Boehm in 1988. His proposed a framework by collecting all the requirements and measures together. SEI (Software Engineering Institute-1997) also proposed a risk management framework. The goal of this framework was to help the manager, developers and other decision makers to identify the risks at an early stage of development, so that appropriate measures can be taken at the right time to minimize the risk. Karolak in 1996 also proposed a model for risk management to handle high level risks. This model proposed a model to handle the risks which affect the cost and time of project development. The various methodologies for risk management are given below: a) Goal Driven Software Development Risk Management Model (GSRM): The GSRM is risk management approach which consists of a model of four layers to manage risks in software development. The advantage of using a layered approach is that any technique can be applied to any layer at any time without affecting the other layers. The diagram for the GSRM is shown below, Goal Layer: This is the first layer in GSRM where identifying, elaborating and modeling of goals are done based on the components to be developed for project to be successful. Success of a project can be defined as anything like meeting the deadlines, within estimated cost, fully functional project, meeting the user requirements, etc. So, success means identifying all the technical component development to be done as early as possible. In GSRM, the goals can be identified as project scope, business needs, user requirement, cost estimation, schedule, etc. So these goals in the development process must be ensured to be within project scope, maintained under decided budget and to realistic time scale, achieve all the business needs and reduce risks based on the nature of project, for a successful project development. Many times these goals may be too high so they are divided into small goals which can be achieved at different levels of abstraction. So it is important to attain these small goals to attain the final goal. Due to this, it is easy to model the development components where satisfying the goal makes it easy to final project fulfillment. (Islam, S. 2009) Risk-Obstacle Layer: This is the second layer in the GSRM model, which identifies the risks associated with the project development. These risks can be considered as potential obstacles which are identified from the early developed components and can affect the project goal. Many times there are processes that depend on each other and if there is an obstacle in one of the process it may cause obstruction in other processes also. Obstacles can be due to human error, wrong information, vague/incomplete requirements, miscommunication, wrong technology implementation, etc which may obstruct the achievement of goals resulting in affecting the time scale and cost of development. So risk obstacle identification is done through questionnaire, cross checking the requirements and brainstorming with the stakeholders. A set of brainstorming session and questionnaire is followed after the initial set of components developed to identify the risks before they worsen. These risks are then assessed by the assessment laye r. (Islam, S. 2009) Assessment Layer: This is the third layer in GSRM, where the risk is properly analyzed and explained the event that caused the risk to occur. The risk event that has caused the risk has two properties: likelihood and severity. Severity increases the negative impact of the risk event and likelihood is the possibility of a risk occurring due to the event. There are some risk factors that can give rise to one risk event which may cause many obstacles leading to disturbing the final goal. So this allows in analyzing the various risk factors and the impact that these risks will have on the set of goals to be achieved. So this layer considers risks metrics to identify the likelihood of occurrence of the risk event due to the risk factors. These risk metrics considers the risk factors, risk occurrence likelihood and risk severity for analyzing and measuring the risks which makes the process very easy and simple to identify the risks at early stage of development. For the assessment this model uses Bayesians subjective probability for analyzing the risks events that occurred due to risk factors. In this model, on those risk events that have a negative effect on the goals to achieve are considered. So, this layer basically gives the risks in the order of likelihood and severity that may affect the satisfaction of the final goal to be achieved through obstruction link. (Islam, S. 2009) Treatment Layer: This is the last layer in the model and this layer is to identify the set of actions that can be taken to reduce the risks and also selects the most appropriate action required for the particular risk so as to minimize the effect of the risk in achieving the final goal. Basically, this layer comes into action when the goals, risk factors and risk events have been identified and analyzed by the previous layers and a cost effective measure is required to be implemented to achieve the goal. For this, there can be various agents within the development environment like humans or some tools are used to satisfy the goals. So it is very important to consider the cost benefit of using a particular agent. Hence it becomes very much necessary to model, reason and trace a situation in the software development atmosphere to control and minimize the risks to attain the final goal. (Islam, S. 2009) Boehms Model: Boehm proposed a model in 1988 for risk management in software development. This model was based on spiral model and proposed a framework for minimizing the impact on risk by integrating risk management methods into software development model. The main idea behind this approach is to remove the anticipated risks at an early stage to avoid their occurrence and effect on the later stages of development. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) Boehms model stated that risk management can be divided into two subcategories i.e. Risk control and Risk Assessment. Risk Assessment can again be sub-divided into risk identification, risk analysis and risk prioritization. Risk Control can be sub-divided into risk management planning, risk resolution and risk monitoring. In risk assessment, the risks are basically identified, their impacts are analyzed and a priority is set based on the impact of analyzed risks. Then in Risk Identification all the possible risks that can arise during the project development phase. So this consists on maintaining checklists, suggestions, documentation, assumption analysis and decomposition. The risk analysis stage where the potential of the risk is identified and the probability of its occurrence. It includes the analysis of performance and network. Now once the risk is identified and analyzed comes the risk prioritization stage. In this stage the risk is prioritized based on the value of the impact of that risk. This basically helps in exposing the risk so that it can be taken care of before it aggravates. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) An example for the above can be given as below where the risk factors affecting Satellite Experiments software are given in the table below. The table below shows various factors affecting the project development. The column of Unsatisfactory Outcome shows the various reasons affecting the project. The second column shows the probability of that occurrence on the scale of 1-10. The third column shows the loss occurrence and the last column shows risk exposure. Software Engineering Institute (SEI): The framework provided by the SEI for software risk management is to enable three groups, namely the Software Risk Evolution (SRE), Continuous Risk Management (CRM) and Team Risk Management (TRM). The main motive behind developing this framework is to enable the decision makers like the stakeholders, customers, managers and engineers to identify the risks associated with the software development cycle like analysis, requirement gathering, developing, integrating and testing, so that appropriate minimizing strategies can be applied at the right time. These methodologies have relatively three fundamentally different objects i.e. risk prevention, risk mitigation and correction and ensuring safe system failure. To achieve these three objectives there are seven principles for risk management. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) They are, Shared Product Vision: It focuses on results. It is based on sharing product vision related to a common purpose and shared ownership. Teamwork: It defines working together as a team for achieving a common goal by pooling skills, talents and knowledge. Global Perspective: The system design and development is viewed from a global perspective of building a larger system. Identifying the potential of the final product from a global perspective and also the impact of adverse effects like cost and time overrun or not meeting the requirements. Open Communication: Making sure that communication is open between all the members involved in the project at all levels. By supporting formal and informal communication where required. Supports a consensus-based process where individual is allowed to give an opinion regarding the risk associated with the project. Forward-Looking View: It thinks about tomorrow, identifies the associated uncertainties and possible outcomes along with managing project resources and activities. Integrated Management: Making risk management an integral part of project development process. Adopting risk management tools and methodologies to project development process. Identification is the first step in SEI model. In this step the issues which will affect the project goal are identified. In the next step of analysis, these risks are analyzed by the decision makers to work on these risks. In the planning stage these risks are prioritized in the order of value which might affect the final goal. Then each risk in the order of priority is taken into consideration and a study is done on that risk is done during planning so that an appropriate action can be taken against them to avoid the risk and minimizing their impact. Then proper measures are taken so as to make sure that are risks are handled as they are planned. Thus tracking of all the measures taken is done to see if things are going as planned and all the necessary control measures are executed. Communication present at the center of the model facilitates connection between all the steps in the model. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) While implementing the SEI model all the activities follow a sequence of steps. The risk and mitigation database lies at the center of the model and is responsible for all the communication between various activities. It is responsible for identifying all the risks and making an entry for all the new risks that have been identified. Risks like cost overrun, increase in time scale, resources problem, vague requirements, improper functionality, improper testing, inefficient testing tools and no time for testing. Many times the risks are identified before they arise actually. Like increase in the cost of development, lack of proper resources or incomplete requirements. At times when huge projects are to be handled, they are generally broken into smaller sub-parts. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) In each sub-part different methods and criteria of handling risks. In this case, there is less time and cost required to handle these risks and is efficiently handled. These risks are prioritized based on their impact value, dependency, cost and resources required to minimize them. Risk mitigation plan is then made based on the priority of the risk, so as to give preference to high probability risk. This plan is documented so as to keep a track all the risks in the order of priority and a record of all the risks that are handled and ones remaining. This plan is then updated on regular basis as and when a risk is taken care of and they no longer exist. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) Riskit Method: Riskit Method was proposed by Jyrki Kontio in 1996 which mainly focused on goals and stakeholders. This model is very much based on theoretical concepts based on the experience. This model was proposed based on the previous developers experience. The main characteristics of this model are fully operational definition of process, risk management, scope, focus, authority, processes and steps for identifying and defining goals of the project. Riskit method has five elements of risk. Risk Elements in Riskit Method: Risk Factor: It is an attribute which may affect the likelihood of occurrence of a risk. Risk Event: It is an event of occurrence of a negative incident. Risk Outcome: It is a situation that occurs between the risk occurrence and before corrective measures implemented. Risk reaction: It is an action taken in response to the occurrence of the risk and the effect of the risk occurrence. Risk Effect Set: It is the effect of the risk event occurrence and the set of characteristics which are affected by the risk event. The seven steps in Riskit process are: Risk Management Mandate Definition: In this step the scope and frequency of risk management are defined with all the stakeholders being recognized. The output of this step is to mandate risk management like how, why, when, where, what, whom, etc. Goal Review: In this step all the predefined goals of the project are reviewed and refined and the new refined goals are clearly defined. Then the stakeholders associations analyze the redefined goal. Risk Identification: In this step, various potential risks associated with the project are identified and listed down. Risk Analysis: In the analysis phase, all the identified risks are classified in the order of priority. These risks effects are then estimated for all the possible scenarios. Then the probability of utility losses due to these risks is estimated. Finally, a graph is prepared based on the estimated risks and their scenarios. Risk Control Planning: Now, once the risks have been graphed based on their value of impact, the most important risk is taken for risk control planning. Then all the members decide and propose control actions to be taken for a particular risk. Then a controlling action is decided and finalized. Finally, the decided action is taken to control the risk. Risk Control: In this phase, the action for risk control decided in the previous stage is executed, resulting in reduced risks. Risk Monitoring: After the risk control stage, the risks are monitored to check their situation resulting risk status. (Dhlamini, J. 2009) FMEA Technique: FMEA technique is a risk management technique which stands for Failure Mode Effect Analysis. These days due to heavy competition companies realize the need for innovation but fear failure or sometimes ignore the risks associated with it, resulting in failure. Due to bad design, implementation and testing it may result in heavy loss, incomplete functionality or even decline in market share. To overcome this fear of failure and we need a process that will identify the failure modes that will damage customer satisfaction, recognize the reason for failure and see the causes of failure. This will help to identify the critical failure areas and take the necessary action to avoid the situation. So FMEA technique is used which provides a tool for recognizing the risk areas from design to production which may lead to failure. (Stunell, P. 2003) The FMEA process consists of a certain steps. The first step is identification of the risks that can occur during the project development process from design to development. In this step, first raw information is gathered from the stakeholders, managers and team members and previous projects in a structured format so that a knowledge base is create to identify all the potential risks that can arise leading to project failure. The next step is to assign a value to that risk based on its probability of occurrence, the impact of risk and detection based on the analysis of team members, stakeholders and other professionals. Then a Risk Priority Number (RPN) which is used to identify the probability of occurrence of a risk and the effect of its occurrence. This will help in taking a corrective measure at the right time so that the product goes as decided and has customer satisfaction.RPN uses rating scales based on the severity of the consequence for a particular risk, probability of the failure due to its occurrence and probability of a risk occurrence. (Stunell, P. 2003) The rating is done on the scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 based on this rating the severity of the risk is calculated. For example, in the rating of 1 to 5, generally a risk whose value is 5 is very likely to occur than the one having a value 1. The figure below shows a scale of 1 to 5. Then once this is done a graph or scatter plot is created based on the RPN and risk value. Then based on these calculated values a priority list is created for all the risks. A risk response plan is created after the priority is created and the risks are re-evaluated based on the RPN and risk value. Once the risk is identified then accordingly the corrective steps are taken to reduce the risk. After the action is taken again, the calculations are done to see the effectiveness of the action. This helps in knowing the percentage reduction in RPN. (Stunell, P. 2003) Advantages Disadvantages of Risk Management: Advantages: Risk Management helps in early detection of problems associated with the project. It helps in preparing the development team to face the future problems. It reduces overall cost of the development which might increase due to risks associated with the project. Helps in taking the right steps like proper developers, technologies, time scale, etc. Disadvantages: It takes time during the initial stages as it requires analysis and information gathering on the possible risks associated with the project. It may also increase the overall cost of development. My View-Point: This paper is based on my research on the various risks associated with the project development and the methods to minimize these risks. Since the advancement of technology and scope for software development a lot of complex projects are developed. But there are always some risks associated with the development of these large scale projects. Risks can be like cost increase, resources problem, time schedule and many more. Many methods are proposed based on the experience of the managers and other professionals to avoid and minimize the risks associated with software project development. Based on my experience with projects and understanding of these methods I feel that risk management is as important as project development. Risk Management should be a part of software development cycle because it important to manage and identify the risks associated with the development as important it is to develop a full functional product under the given time and cost to satisfy the customer. Many times unexpected problems may arise during the development phase or testing phase which may result in backtrack to the design phase resulting in increasing cost and time scale. At times, developers may leave a project half-way which may result in resource problem. So risk management implementation in project development may give the stakeholders, developers and managers to time to analyze the risks associated with the development and prepare themselves risks to come in advance. From my research on the above methods of risk management, I feel that goal driven approach and FMEA technology are better to be used for various types of project. Goal Driven Software Development Risk Management Model is a goal based approach. In this model the goals of the project are defined at the very start of the project like the error free requirements, end user involvement, scope, business needs, realistic time scale, cost estimation and managing resources. This will reduce the occurrence of unexpected problems during the development process. Even if a risk arises unexpectedly, it has a series of steps to follow like the obstacle- link layer for the obstacles that arise for a decided goal to achieve. Then the analysis layer which is used to analyze the obstacle and the treatment layer where a proper action is taken based on the analysis layer. This approach is really good for small and medium sized projects as they are with one team and the user can be in direct communication with them and the team knows the whole development cycle. FMEA technology is mainly used in managing risks in large complex projects. In this technology first the risks which are likely to occur are decided based on the experience of senior professionals and stakeholders. Then, this raw information is made as a knowledge base and all the other risks are also identified. Then these risks are prioritized based on their value of impact on the project development. After that these risks are analyzed and a document is made. Then based on this analysis a corrective method is decided and implemented to reduce the risk. This really helps in large projects because the basic risks are associated with all the teams working on the project but few risks are face by the teams working on different modules. So these teams have their own set of risks to handle and the basic ones of they occur. This will reduce the time and cost in risk management as teams will face their own small risks to handle rather than a single team on large project handling all the r isks alone. So FMEA technology can be used for managing risks in large scale projects. Other projects are equally useful but they cannot be implemented alone. They are combined with other models to control risks associated with software development. 7) Conclusion: Risk Management is an integral part of any project development cycle. It is something that the software industry needs to pay equal attention to as software development. This is because the statistics show that more than 70% of the projects fail due to various reasons and risks associated with them. There have been studies done in this area and professionals have proposed and implemented various methods for risk management. But still this problem does exist in the industry. Project development should plan a risk management plan along with the development plan to make sure that the project is completed on time, within the estimated cost and to the full satisfaction of the customer. Thus Risk management is very beneficial and extremely important for any project to be successful and satisfy the customer needs. 8) References: Boehm, B. (1989). Software acquisition gold practiceà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ formal risk management. Retrieved from http://www.goldpractices.com/practices/frm/ Boehm, B. (1991). Software risk management: principles and practices. IEEE Software, 8(1), Retrieved from http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=625015 doi: 10.1109/52.62930 Boehm, B. (1998, 12 5). Software risk management. Retrieved from http://sunset.usc.edu/classes/cs510_2003/notes/ec-files/Software_Risk_Management.ppt Boban, M. (2003, 11 02). Strategies for successful software development risk management . Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HeDQ2Ow8nUYJ:www.efst.hr/management/Vol8No2-2003/4-boban-pozgaj-sertic.doc+risk+management+in+software+developmentcd=16hl=enct=clnkgl=us Dhlamini, J. (2009). Intelligent risk management tools for software development. Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers Association, 33-40. Examining risk priority numbers in fmea. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.reliasoft.com/newsletter/2q2003/rpns.htm Islam , S. (2009). Software development risk management model: a goal driven approach. Proceedings of the doctoral symposium for ESEC/FSE on Doctoral symposium, 5-8. Prikladnicki, R. (n.d.). Risk management in software development: a position paper. Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:EkxHkf-j8d4J:gsd2004.cs.uvic.ca/camera/prikladnicki.pdf+risk+management+in+software+developmenthl=engl=uspid=blsrcid=ADGEESi3waZpt2SvUyFxBL_yCBTqZw3dRNjeK-Q9UorompBDJtxpg4tyvOhcf-25jgS1-2GymhNqyjtfKrUdMVgqa8wPaUo35ZJ_GCCzvA7V7Abvtz6hkEWK2N0BkcCAn5F36b1jpaGzsig=AHIEtbRhFabMWP1F7cCeNUCDQUVFhhh3Hw Stunell, P. (2003). How to Improve productivity in design and development. Retrieved from http://www.stunell.com/PDFs/Engineering%20FMEA-Version-2-2.pdf William, L. (2008, 08 14). Risk management. Retrieved from http://openseminar.org/se/modules/21/index/screen.do

Clifford Olson: Canadian Serial Killer Essay -- Biography Biographies

Clifford Olson: Canadian Serial Killer Clifford Olson is one of Canada's well known serial killers. He showed no sign of sympathy for the public all throughout his life and would eventually end up killing many innocent people and spending a good portion of his life in jail. Clifford Olson was born on January 1st 1940, in Vancouver, British Columbia. While he was growing up he was always in trouble. Even as a child in school her was referred to as a bully and not a nice kid. Then as he grew up things didn't change for the better the just got worse. As a teenager and young adult Olson found himself in trouble with the law quite frequently. From the year of 1951 to 1981 ( ages 17-21) he had 94 arrests. He was put in jail for some of them and served time for cries ranging from fraud to armed robbery. While in prison Olson was known for two things. One was for being a homosexual rapist and the second was for being a snitch, and helping out the police. Olson helped the police by getting his friend named Garry Marcoux (also in jail), to give a detailed description and confession to raping and mutilating a nine year old girl. Somehow Olson was able to get Marcoux to write down his confession. Olson them gave this to police and it was used to convict Marcoux of that crime. Once Olson had served his time and was released he went to live with the mother of is son. One would have thought that he had learned his lesson and would try to turn his life around. However very unfortunately that was not the case. In November of 1980 A young girl, 12 years old, named Christine Weller went missing. She would later prove to be one of Olson's first murder victims. Christine was abducted from her home in Surrey, BC. Her mutilated body ... ...ack of his van, police found an address book containing the name of Judy Kozma. Along with this and other evidence the police were able to charge Clifford Olson with the murder of Judy Kozma 6 days later. Olson knew that he was going to be put back in jail and was suspected on some of the other murders that he had committed.. So Olson made a deal with the prosecution. In his deal Olson' s family, (wife and son) were to be paid $10,000 for each of his victims. This was very controversial. In exchange Olson would provide the information on the known murders and gave the police direction to 6 outstanding bodies. Olson kept his part of the deal and so did the prosecution. The money was paid to Olson's family on schedule. On January 11th 1982, Clifford Olson pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder. For this he was sentenced to 11 concurrent life terms in prison.

Psychoanalytic Analysis Essay

Richard, 44 years old, was referred by his doctor who felt that he had a major drinking problem. Initially, Richard resisted seeing himself as a problem drinker and preferred the idea that he was depressed. Richard exhibits impulsive binge behavior, engages in frantic efforts to avoid feelings of loneliness, shows a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships, displays inappropriate anger, and manifests extreme mood swings. Nevertheless, it appears that Richard has no significant medical problems or medical history. Richards’s mother died when he was 10 and his father sent him to a private boarding school, feeling that he could not manage to bring up his son by himself. Richard felt that he was abandoned by both of his parents ? by his mother who died and left him and by his father, just when he had most needed his love, companionship and support. He has had three marriages, each of which ended when his wife left. Typically, each woman grew tired of his continual drinking binges and all that went with his alcoholism: getting fired from job after job, not being a father to his children, being abusive both verbally and physically to her and being extremely dependent on her. Consequently, Richard thinks that he did not have what it takes to keep a wife and eventually grew increasingly bitter towards women since they all left him when he needed them the most. In the aspect of his work, he feels a great deal of anger towards his former boss who fired him. He complains that when he was broke his boss took his job away from him and didn’t offer him support. Thus, in his eyes, important men always let him down including male friends who broke contact because of his drinking. Diagnosis (based on the criteria of manifestations), Psychodynamic Analysis, Use of Free Associations, Theoretical Treatment and Conclusion Based on the manifestations presented on the overview of Richard’s case, we can classify him to belong in the group of Psychiatric Disorders known as Personality Disorders. Personality Disorders are â€Å"pervasive chronic psychological disorders† characterized by an individual’s unique psychological traits and inability to form or maintain interpersonal relationships that revolve around the sphere of family, friends, and work environments ((MentalHelp. net, 2001). Richard’s salient manifestations are further classified into the Borderline type of Personality Disorder. Dombeck (2001), in his article â€Å"Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms† enlisted the following symptoms, which are usually seen in persons with this state: †¢ â€Å"Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation †¢ Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self †¢ Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e. g. , spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) †¢ Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior †¢ Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e. g. , intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days) A chronic feelings of emptiness †¢ Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e. g. , frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms† (Criteria summarized from: American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. ). Hence, as we can see in the aforementioned clinical manifestations, Richard can truly belong in this type of disorder.  A question may be generated in our minds as to the factors that can trigger the occurrence and aggravation of this disorder in an individual. In line with this, we can device the Psychodynamic approach, which will lead us to trace and analyze the advent of this condition to a person. According to Ballas (2006), one of the root causes or risk factors of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is abandonment issues in childhood. As we can observe, we can directly relate this factor to Richard’s case since he perceived her mother’s death and his father’s decision to send him to the boarding school as abandonment. This issue has affected him in these ways: when his mother died, there was somewhat a feeling of loss as any individual could have when a loved one passes away. However, this feeling was aggravated by the decision of his father. Instead of comforting him, sending him away was the remedy because his father in turn had doubts if he can bring up his son properly. The decision of father was not helpful to the grieving Richard who absolutely by that time needed the support system to help him make it through. Further, this may have caused a significant anxiety, which can prompt the Richard’s disorder. Hence, this disorder as anxiety-related. As defined by Gale (1998), anxiety is an unconscious strategy in which an individual would want to avoid a negative stimulus in view of the fact that it causes a somewhat threat on his or her ego integrity. This must have played a role in Richard’s condition. In this way, defense mechanisms are the way to unleash their feeling within. Defense mechanism is defined and expounded as a psychological mechanism to lessen tension and to protect the ego from potential threat. Defense mechanisms can help an individual cope with anxiety or it can also be harmful. The defense mechanisms that we will be dealing with are still based on the definitions on the same article. As we can evaluate Richard’s symptoms, we can clearly discern the defense mechanisms that he used. Denial was one of them. It was characterized by his resistance to the fact that the doctor said that he has a major drinking problem. Denial was his attempt to eliminate the threatening information that he was confronted. Projection was also used in the aspect of his unsuccessful marriages. It was characterized by blaming his wives who left him to cover up the feeling of inadequacy as a husband to them. In other words, he projected his mistakes to other people. He also used displacement as a defense mechanism, as revealed by his an abusive husband and father. On the other hand, he exhibited five of the criteria for the disorder: impulsive binge behavior, frantic efforts to avoid feelings of loneliness, inappropriate anger, pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships and extreme mood swings. The use of free association is helpful in this case as it can help to connect the details of the Richard’s thoughts and experiences. According to Chiriac (translation by Cristea, 2008), in her article â€Å"About the Free Associations Method†, free associations are useful in a way that â€Å"thoughts are autonomously activated by chance verbal associations, influence conscious psychic life in a frequently dramatic manner and the task of psychoanalysis is to bring such complexes to the surface of conscious mind and eventually integrate them into the patient’s life†. Thus, Richard’s thought may have been unveiled and interpreted by the doctor with the use of this method. Levin (2001) shared some important details in the treatment of BPD in her article in MentalHealth. et. She said that the treatment of choice for BPD, as with most personality disorders, is Psychotherapy. Further, it must be noted that making contract with the individuals with suicidal attempts is essential and must be taken as an initial action. Medications may be prescribed. However, there are still controversies on this matter. She also emphasized that the therapists or the clinicians must be firm in handling this individuals because BPD patients are difficult to deal with. As she recommended, the most successful and effective comprehensive approach to date has been Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy. This psychotherapy seeks to teach the client how to learn to better take control of their lives, their emotions, and themselves through self-knowledge, emotion regulation, and cognitive restructuring and is often conducted within a group setting. In addition, hospitalization will also be of great help since it provides a highly-structured environment necessary for the individual’s independence. As with this disorder, medications are not specifically prescribed. Nevertheless, some medications such as antidepressant and anti-anxiety agents may be necessary to alleviate associated symptoms. Hence, Levin (2001) also emphasized the importance of self-help and support groups for patient’s suffering from this disorder. Therefore, a sufficient understanding of the case has been achieved by those aforementioned points that have been discussed. We have traced how Richard has gotten his condition through a careful analysis of the objective manifestations, which have been presented in the overview of this study. We can associate how the events in Richard’s childhood contributed to the intrapsychic conflicts and anxiety that had developed in him in the course of time. We have utilized some defense mechanism that he used in order to protect his ego from anxiety-provoking stimuli. In this way, we knew how his past had greatly affected his interpersonal relationships, which include that of his previous wives and even on his children. Moreover, the symptoms that he manifested were useful in order for us to identify the disorder that he is into and so we knew that he has five of the necessary criteria to classify him in the Borderline type of Personality Disorders. On the hand, the use of free association method is valuable to recognize the underlying details behind Richard’s disorder. Finally, we learned how psychotherapy is necessary to treat his psychiatric condition, how support-system plays a vital role in achieving proper treatment goal and how hospitalization is necessary to facilitate structured environment for Richard. Thus, we learned how the living environment can truly impact a person’s psychological aspect, or should we say his integrity as a holistic being, throughout his lifetime.

Free Essays on Vanderbilt Family

Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794-January 4, 1877) was an American steamship and railroad builder, executive, financier, and promoter. He was a man of boundless energy, and his acute business sense enabled him to outmaneuver his rivals. He left an estate of almost $100 million. Vanderbilt was born to a poor family and quit school at the age of 11 to work for his father who was engaged in boating. When he turned 16 he persuaded his mother to give him $100 loan for a boat to start his first business. He opened a transport and freight service between New York City and Staten Island for eighteen cents a trip. He repaid the loan after the first year with an additional $1,000. He was rough in manners and developed a reputation for honesty. He charged reasonable prices and worked prodigiously. The War of 1812 created new opportunities for expansion, and Vanderbilt received a government contract to supply the forts around New York. Large profits allowed him to build a schooner and two other vessels for coastal trade. Vanderbilt got his nickname "Commodore" being in command of the largest schooner on the Hudson River. By 1817 he possessed $9,000 in addition to the interest in the sailing vessels. Well on the way to fame and fortune, Vanderbilt sold his interests and turned his attention to steamboats in 1818, observing the success of Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston on the Hudson River. He went under the employ of Thomas Gibbons, operating a ferry service between New Brunswick, New Jersey and New York City, which was an important link in the New York-Philadelphia freight, mail, and passenger route. He charged his customers one dollar while other captains charged four dollars for the same trip. There was opposition from Fulton and Livingston, who claimed Vanderbilt was breaking the law as they had a legal monopoly on Hudson River traffic. They sued Gibbons, and the case reached the Supreme Court. In the famous 1824 decision, Gibbo... Free Essays on Vanderbilt Family Free Essays on Vanderbilt Family Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794-January 4, 1877) was an American steamship and railroad builder, executive, financier, and promoter. He was a man of boundless energy, and his acute business sense enabled him to outmaneuver his rivals. He left an estate of almost $100 million. Vanderbilt was born to a poor family and quit school at the age of 11 to work for his father who was engaged in boating. When he turned 16 he persuaded his mother to give him $100 loan for a boat to start his first business. He opened a transport and freight service between New York City and Staten Island for eighteen cents a trip. He repaid the loan after the first year with an additional $1,000. He was rough in manners and developed a reputation for honesty. He charged reasonable prices and worked prodigiously. The War of 1812 created new opportunities for expansion, and Vanderbilt received a government contract to supply the forts around New York. Large profits allowed him to build a schooner and two other vessels for coastal trade. Vanderbilt got his nickname "Commodore" being in command of the largest schooner on the Hudson River. By 1817 he possessed $9,000 in addition to the interest in the sailing vessels. Well on the way to fame and fortune, Vanderbilt sold his interests and turned his attention to steamboats in 1818, observing the success of Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston on the Hudson River. He went under the employ of Thomas Gibbons, operating a ferry service between New Brunswick, New Jersey and New York City, which was an important link in the New York-Philadelphia freight, mail, and passenger route. He charged his customers one dollar while other captains charged four dollars for the same trip. There was opposition from Fulton and Livingston, who claimed Vanderbilt was breaking the law as they had a legal monopoly on Hudson River traffic. They sued Gibbons, and the case reached the Supreme Court. In the famous 1824 decision, Gibbo...

Movie Review Essays

Movie Review Essays Movie Review Essay Movie Review Essay Name: Course: Lecturer: Date: Movie Review The PBS documentary â€Å"Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement† examines the struggles of Mexican Americans in securing their rights. It mostly focuses on demonstrations and the struggles that Mexican Americans went through in the sixties. It examines different topics such as the land issues in New Mexico, the mistreatment and discrimination that Mexican Americans faced in their quest for the realization of equal treatment, and the challenges facing Mexican Americans as they demonstrated in various parts across the country. When America went to war with Mexico, it ended taking up a substantial share of land belonging to Mexico. Many Mexicans in these regions found themselves foreigners and tenants in the land that had belonged to them for many generations. Some leaders emerged who were courageous enough to face the federal government, and to unite the people towards fighting for their land. The problems that faced Mexican Americans in the rural areas might have been different from those facing the Mexican Americans in the urban areas, but the people united towards fighting for a common purpose that was to be treated as equal citizens, and to realize an end to discrimination. Throughout the documentary, Mexican Americans demonstrate their willingness to regain what belongs to them. They did not abandon their culture, and this is clear in the role that music, dance, and poetry played in the civil rights movement I have learnt several things from the documentary. Many Mexican Americans were poor, and this denied them the opportunities that the white Americans had in terms of education, jobs, and housing. Many Mexican Americans fought in the Vietnam War, where many ended up losing their lives. The efforts of the soldiers fighting in the war were never recognized, for the soldiers came home and they could not find any jobs. Mexican Americans were willing to work together with African Americans during the sixties, with the aim of addressing the needs for the poor. However, the shooting of Martin Luther King Jr. ended this relationship, and the two communities started having disagreements. Mexican American women were not passive during the civil rights movement. They wanted to join the men as they fought for equality, and they took an active role in the movement. Many Mexican Americans had faced different forms of discrimination. To some extent, this made them ashamed of their identity. Mexican Americans wanted to be in a nation where they would have their own political party, schools, and other social systems. This was similar to the segregation rule that was present in the African American community though not to the same extent. African Americans had their own schools. These schools were not well equipped, and this denied the African American the same opportunities in education as the white Americans. The idea of segregating the community from the rest of American society would not have benefited Mexican Americans. It would have denied them the chance to learn from other people as they worked and learned together. Moreover, it would have advanced the discrimination that they already faced. Many people do not realize the struggles that the Mexican American community faced over the years. They do not realize what the people had to endure so that they could secure their rights and the rights of their children. The leaders and organizers who led the people are rarely mentioned in history. They are not celebrated as much as other civil rights leaders. The Chicano movement was significant in ensuring equality in America. The people never gave up their quest although they were not successful in realizing all their goals. Their tenacity and willingness to end discrimination and prejudice has contributing to making America what it is today; a land that recognizes the rights of the minority and is willing to give all people the same opportunities. Work Cited: Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. NLCC Educational Media, 1996. Documentary

Regal Marine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Regal Marine - Essay Example The product life cycle has four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. During the introduction stage sales are low because there are few customers buying the product (Netmba, 2011). The product needs advertising in order to attract new customers. The profits during this stage are nonexistent due to the fact that expenses are high and sales are slow. Regal Marine losses money when new boats are introduced, but eventually if the products survives and stays in the market during its entire product life cycle the firm generates a profit from the model. The maximum amounts of profits are generated during the growth stage. The growth stage of the product life cycle is considered a period of rapid market acceptance and substantial profit improvement (Kotler, 2003). Regal Marine should produce a lot of units during this stage. Investments made in advertising during this stage have a high return. The third stage of the product life cycle is the maturity stage. Competition is high during this stage which causes sales to decline (Valuebasedmanagement, 2011).The firm should lower its advertising expenses during this stage because the product is well known. The final stage, declining, is a period of downward sales and eroding profits. At the end of the declining stage the boats model is taken off the market.

The European Central Bank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The European Central Bank - Essay Example (ECB, n.d.) From the moment of its inception, the European Central Bank has been a favorite target of criticisms from economists and political leaders alike. Surprisingly, among its staunch critics are European countries themselves which suffer economically because of the oftentimes rigid and unreasonable policies ECB follows. This paper will thus examine how the political and economic world perceives the performance of the central bank in this regard. Commentaries from analysts, studies done by independent economic research bodies, and the media will be the three main sources for this research. "The list of challenges is long and a lot of work lies in front of us." This was the concluding statement of Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, member of the ECB Executive Board during a speech on a conference in Vienna, Austria in 2004. However, she was optimistic that the system would be able to handle challenges that would be present along the way. (ECB, 2004) Among the many challenges present is how to balance decision-making with regards to rate increase to benefit all the economies of the EU member states. Because the ECB does not only cater to a single economy, it has this inherent challenge. An increase in rate would mean a negative effect on a country with a growing economy while it is a positive move for a country with a high inflation rate. The GoCurrency website cited that "several larger economies in the euro area (Germany, for example) that were recently coming out of an economic slump were unhappy as the higher rates would stunt their growth."(GoCurrency, 2006) One classic example often mentioned by analysts is the effect of low interest rates in countries with property bubbles such as Ireland. Because "the ECB was keeping rates low to help the stodgy economies of France and Germany, where growth was weak and needed nurturing, the need of the Irish to raise rates to help their already ailing economy is not addressed". (Louth, 2007) With the recent slump in mortgages in the American market, ECB is once more in the dilemma of raising rates in September or not. It should be noted that this is the first time since September 2001 that there is a proposed increase in rates. (MECB Update, 2002, p 3) Jean-Claude Trichet, President of ECB, indicated in August that the ECB "will raise its key refinancing rate to 4.25 from 4.0." (TodayOnline, 2007) However, there has been pressure from the world community to halt this intended rate increase. The article that appeared on the Business World website entitled "NCB: Another ECB hike could be risky", quoted NCB analyst Dermot O'Brien as saying that the credibility of the ECB may be in question if it does not proceed with the intended rise in rates and sticking to its original plan would be seen as immature stubbornness. This is the current dilemma. (Business World, 2007) With the "surprisingly weak growth figures for the