RFID in the Retail Supply Chain Issues and Opportunities

RFID Technology RFID is an acronym which stands for radio frequency identification. It is a wireless technology which uses electromagnetic fields in identifying animals, people or objects (Violino, 2013). Many authors contend that RFID is a technology that will tend to replace or supplement other technologies such as barcode (Violino, 2013). RFID is composed of two parts; the tag and the reader.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on RFID in the Retail Supply Chain: Issues and Opportunities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The tag is simply a tiny microchip with a code. The code is the heart of the technology. It is invoked when identifying the object to which the tag is tied to. On the other hand, the reader is an apparatus that transmits the wireless frequencies to the tag inquiring its location. In operation, when the tag senses the request from the tag, it sends back the code fixed to it. History of RFID The concept of RFID technology is not a new technology in the world. It can be traced back in the 19th century when progress in scientific inventions in the field electromagnetisms was being advanced. Reid (2005) notes that innovation in the field of electronic induction by Faraday and the explanation put forward in the operation of electromagnetism using equation by James Maxwell laid the basis for RFID growth during the early days; this was the beginning point in RFID technology which is being widely used today. Reid (2005) also shows that the use of automatic RFID systems begun with the development of the automated object detection systems. Among these systems was the radio transmitter. The radio transmitter designed in 1926 had the capacity to detect objects at a distance. The real application of the RFID system was during the World War II. The technology called â€Å"Identify Friend or Foe†, IFF was used by the British Royal Air Force to facilitate pilots and radar officers disting uish between friends and enemies using RF signals (Royal Air Force, 2006). In 1960’s, the technology was fitted in trucks accessing secure facilities. Reid (2005) indicates that by 1980’s, the technology was commercialized, hence, more chips were produced and made available to facilitate tracking and managing of properties such as razor blades, animals and railway cars on a large scale.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Why the Technology? The problems experienced in tracking shipping containers, automobiles and train cars were enormous, hence, a creative solution to contain it was necessary. Because RFID technology had been used during the WWII and was successful, businesses viewed the used in the business environment, it will yield similar results, thus, RFID was seen as an ideal technology to adopt. RFID was able to track and locate objects in real-time. Addit ionally, the mobility of the technology made possible to be tagged in rail cars. For example, by 1994, the United States had fitted RFID in rail cars. Also, the problem in toll collection was inescapable. Hence, it was very cumbersome to collect tolls from various stations. The RFID, therefore, was important in solving this problem (FTC, 2005). Efforts to deploy RFID in the 1980s and 1990s was a success because tags fitted in the equipment’s relayed data in the database automatically and in real-time. FTC (2005) point out that the counterfeit and insecurity were widespread in the casino industry, thus, to mitigate this concern, RFID technology was vital in containing counterfeit and enhancing security. One of the early casinos to embrace this technology was the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas. The casino fixed the RFID chips on gaming tables and gambling tokens to detect counterfeits, fraud, prevent theft besides improving service delivery FTC, 2005). Other than casinos, most countr ies have incorporated chips in travel documents to guard against theft and security (FTC, 2005). Benefits of RFID Though the costs of implementing an RFID system are high, coupled with the risks, the technology offers countless benefits to individuals and businesses. Traiman (2001) point out that RFID reduces distribution and warehouse labour costs. This is because the technology is efficient in replacing labour intensive activities and the point of operations. The RFID is able to track with accuracy products, cartons and pallets with sensors in wherever location they are in the warehouse.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on RFID in the Retail Supply Chain: Issues and Opportunities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More RFID offers improved planning and forecasting (Traiman, 2001). The technology makes the supply chain management visible facilitating planning and forecasting. This helps in tracking the location of invento ry in the supply chain. Businesses lose millions of dollars per year due to theft. With RFID, these losses are avoided (Traiman, 2001). RFID track items in the supply chain creating efficiency and minimal errors. In the retail system, the technology reduces theft to higher margin as all products are tracked in real time. RFID technology is consistent and in real-time, thus, it saves customers time in selecting the product of choice enhancing his/her experience. Similarly, customer’s product placed in a cat is easily tracked and if kiosks comprise of shopping experience, businesses are able to make automatic offers on related items improving the customer’s experience. Advantages of RFID Compared with other products such as bar codes, RFID has many advantages to the business and individuals. Reid (2005) illustrates that RFID perform well in different environments. For example, in adverse conditions, tags can be deployed allowing and operate without any hindrances. RFID p rovides real-time updates. The tags have been designed to enhance communication and retention of information with the on-board memory. Thus, this strategy can be used by the businesses to carry out preventive maintenance of records and calibrate history among others. Reid (2005) explains that this process can be achieved automatically with no human intervention. RFID has the advantage of trace-ability. Traiman (2001) explains the embedded chip is able to recall, document and track history of a single object or item in real-time by incorporating user data, UIC and other information on-board. This saves time which would have been otherwise used in doing the same manually. Disadvantages Despite fixing efficiency and streamlining operations, RFID has elicited major challenges in the society and the business world. Albrecht (2005) cites that as the RFID technology becomes less sophisticated and expensive, the concern regarding privacy has arisen. The society fears that people could be bo und to specific information concerning their purchasing behaviour by unscrupulous retailers (Albrecht, 2005).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More FTC (2005) illustrates that some devices such as walkie-talkies and forklifts in the neighbourhood of an RFID hamper efficiency and functionality of the technology. As both devices use radio frequencies, there is a problem of signals getting mixed up. The cost of implementing RFID technology is high. It covers the purchase of readers, tags and softwares. Hence, basing on the size of the organization, it can be time consuming and very expensive in the long-run. FTC (2005) notes the cost of tags is high, hence, depending on the size of the organization, it might cost the organization a lot of money. Political aspects Mixed reactions have elicited on the use of RFID technology. One of the issues is the debate on regulatory and legal system. FTC (2005) point out the technology can be abused by people with ill intent. It can be used to perpetuate criminal activities such as stalking, though advocates for the technology cite its usefulness in preventing crime, theft and forgery, criminal may exploit gaps in the system causing considerable harm. Thus, there is a policy vacuum on how the technology can be used effectively within the confines of the legal system to guarantee protection of users’ data. Also, Kelly and Erickson (2005) point out the privacy concern of data stored in RFID databases. Using RFID might elicit conflict with existing regulations that guide data protection because the RFID technology is invisible. The available data protection laws in various jurisdictions are not clear on/or is not prepared to develop laws to regulate the omnipresent data processing. Furthermore, RFID allows data to be collected and stored in a central database. Critics allay fears that this aspect can lead to theft of personal data and encourage misuse which is in contradiction to the right of privacy enjoyed by individuals (Kelly and Erickson, 2005). However, pundits advocating for this technology cite it has beneficial to the society when used appropriately. For examp le, in the medical care, the technology can be used to save a life. However, the user has to make a choice of either using the technology or not (Kelly and Erickson, 2005). Social Setting A lot of issues generated by the use of RFID technology in a social setting are wide with far reaching implication, not only to businesses, but also on individuals. Of importance is the management of data stored on these devices. There are fears that information stored in such systems may lead to misuse of personal data because RFID tag has a unique ID which may be linked to personal identifiable information. Violino (2013) point out that threats such as action, preference, association and constellation associated with the daily life of an individual feels threatened by the RFID technology. Similarly, Kelly and Erickson (2005) illustrates that societal privacy threats such as the erosion of individual liberties are at risk. This is because there is rising concern that the RFID technology allows sto red data to be transferred across stakeholders, networks and organizations. This concern amplifies as the data linked to different objects becomes connected to identify users without their consent. If such data is used to fix profiles, its viability may curtail the right of choice of users and contribute to making unstructured decisions in regard to an individual (Kelly Erickson, 2005). Kelly and Erickson (2005) points out that as the RFID tag is becoming more widespread through deployment of related applications, there is a potential risk of â€Å"function creep†. For instance, he cites that the intention of embedding RFIG tag in casino chip was well thought. It was intended to contain counterfeit and improve security. However, the technology together with personal identifiers might be used to track how individuals play and record winnings and losses. Such applications, coupled with profiling events which a user has no control of may cause intrusion to an individual’ s privacy. Pest Aspect Albrecht and McIntyre (2005) indicates that an RFID microchip has been widely used in agriculture, particularly in woody plants to store and retrieve pertinent information on their health. The microchip collects various information such as pesticide usage, soil fertility among others. The information is linked to the database for analysis. Other than incorporating RFID in plants, the technology is placed strategically in ground to automatically detect pests, making their eradication much faster (Albrecht McIntyre, 2005). However, there are rising concerns that the using the technology has negative potential on the environment because leaky metals may leave harmful toxins in the soil causing diseases and increasing pest resistant. Social Sorting Social sorting is a process of using data to identify, classify, order and control the population. Various arguments have been advanced on how the RFID system perpetuates social sorting. Albrecht and McIntyre (2005) in dicates that using RFID may necessitate new forms of surveillance. Although other methods of surveillance such as access badges, internet and video cameras exists, compared to these technologies, RFID arouses more reaction because it strengthens misuse because of aggregation of information about an object or an individual. The information collected through surveillance might be altered, cloned allowing identity usurpation and used for unintended purposes such as discrimination and victimization of individuals. Relation to the Panoptican and RFID Panopticon bears close resemblance to RFID technology. Samatas (2008) explains that Panopticon changed the European justice system from being a corporal punishment system to a prison architecture that fixed self-control. Prisons were constructed in a round figure that allowed prisoners at the centre to be visible to the surveillance guards. As a prisoner was conscious of being watched, he subjected himself to the authority of the disciplinar y system. Similarly, the RFID posses the same concept and is more distressing than Panopticon though its technology based. Similarly, because it is chip based surveillance is enhanced as the chip can be attached or fixed on almost everything and tracked in whichever location the object might be (Samatas, 2008). Another similarity is that Panopticon was a perpetually stressing a de-humanizing aspect. This is in close resemblance to RFID technology. RFID knows exactly where an object is, in this way, there is an expression of fear commonly unknown to others. Because surveillance technologies are aligned with humans, it creates emotions in human beings because they feel their independence and control is under observation (Samatas, 2008). References Albrecht, K 2005, Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID, Thomas Nelson Inc, Tennesse. Albrecht, K and McIntyre, L 2005, Spychips: how major corporations and government plan to track your ever y move with RFID. Web. FTC 2005, Radio Frequency Identification: Applications and Implications for Consumers. Web. Kelly, EP and Erickson, GS 2005, â€Å"RFID tags: commercial applications v. Privacy rights†, Industrial Management Data Systems, Vol. 105. No. 6, pp. 703 – 713. Reid, AS 2005, â€Å"RFID Tags and the European Union: Really free internal distribution?†, Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, Vol. 4. No. 1/2, pp. 1 – 30. Royal Air Force 2006, Royal Air Force History. Samatas, M 2008, From thought control to traffic control: CCTV politics of expansion and resistance in post-Olympics Greece, in Mathieu Deflem, Jeffrey T. Ulmer (ed.) Surveillance and Governance: Crime Control and Beyond (Sociology of Crime Law and Deviance, Volume 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 345-369. Traiman, S 2001, Tag, you’re it! The EPC tag could revolutionize the retail supply chain, Retail Systems Reseller. Web. Violino, B 2013, What is RFID?, RFID Journal. Web. This essay on RFID in the Retail Supply Chain: Issues and Opportunities was written and submitted by user Tanner H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

45 Idioms About the Number One

45 Idioms About the Number One 45 Idioms About the Number One 45 Idioms About the Number One By Mark Nichol English is replete with idiomatic expressions featuring numerical values, including dozens pertaining to the number one alone. Here’s a list of most (if not all) of the idioms in the latter category. 1. all in one breath: said of something spoken excitedly without pause 2. all in one piece: safely 3. all rolled up in one: combined 4. all-in-one: with all required features 5. as one: as if a group were one entity 6. at one with: in agreement or solidarity with another 7: do (someone) one better: do something that is an improvement on what someone else has done 8. for one thing: said to introduce one of two or more reasons (though the phrase might follow the statement) 9. for one: a qualifier expressing that someone represents an example 10. hole in one: said of a significant achievement, in reference to achieving a goal in golf with a single hit of the ball 11. if it’s not one thing: part of a saying (with the rest, â€Å"it’s another (thing)† often not said but implied) expressed when one is exasperated by the latest in a series of inconveniences 12. in one ear and out the other: said of advice or information that is not heeded or retained 13. in one fell swoop: all at once or within a short period 14. it’s been one of those days: said when multiple things have gone wrong in succession 15. it’s just one of those things: said of something unfortunate that must be accepted 16–17. look after/take care of number one: said in reference to focusing on one’s own safety or concerns over that of others 18. not one iota: not even a bit 19. number one: oneself (see â€Å"look after number one†) 20. on the one hand: from one point of view (sometimes paired with â€Å"on the other hand†) 21. one and all: everyone 22. one for the (record) books: said of a significant achievement 23. one good turn deserves another: an expression about the importance of reciprocity 24. one-hit wonder: an artist who achieves only one commercial success 25–26. one heck/hell of a (something): a reference to someone being markedly bad or good at something 27. one in a million: rare or unique, often said about someone with a distinctive quality 28–29. one jump/step ahead: said of someone who anticipates or innovates 30. one man’s meat is another man’s poison: something one person likes may not be suitable for another person 31. one-night stand: an activity or encounter that lasts only one night 32. one-note: said of something lacking variety 33. one of a kind: unique 34. one of the boys: someone accepted into or part of a group 35. one of these days: said of an expected event that will occur someday or soon; also, sometimes expressed as a threat, with the consequence implied but not stated 36. one of those things: said of something unwelcome but inevitable 37. one person’s trash is another person’s treasure: something of no value to one person may be valuable to another 38. one that got away: a missed opportunity 39. one-track mind: said of someone with a single-minded focus 40. one-trick pony: someone or something with only one distinguishing feature, skill, or talent 41. one up on: said of having an advantage over someone 42. one way or another: somehow 43. square one: the starting point of developing something or solving a problem (often in the phrase â€Å"back to square one†) 44. the one and only: said of something unique 45. there is more than one way to skin a cat: more than one procedure will work or more than one solution is available Other number-oriented idioms, including those that mention the number one but in which the focus is on another number, such as â€Å"Two heads are better than one,† will follow in a later post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Contronyms (Words with Contradictory Meanings)Time Words: Era, Epoch, and EonLetter Writing 101

10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 1)

10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 1) A lot of people think that once a book is written, the work is done. Often times, especially if you are a self-published author, the work is just beginning. After the brainstorming and drafting, writing and revising, editing and publishing comes the†¦ selling. There are only so many times you can say, buy my book! But the fact of the matter is, you need to continue placing your book in front of your audience if you have any prayer of selling copies. To help, I’ve come up with a list of ten ways you can blog about your book. I am breaking this article up into two parts, so read on for the first five suggested ways to blog about your book and then check back in next week to learn the second set of ways to increase your book sales through your blog without being pushy or annoying. The Inspiration Every story has to start somewhere. If you write about the inspiration behind the story, you don’t even have to wait until it’s published to engage your audience. Readers will feel like they are getting a behind the scenes sneak peek at your work in progress and endear them to the project right from the start. In this post, I shared all about how I turned my friend’s reality into inspiration for a fiction story. Writing Tips   Another topic you can talk about before you publish are the techniques you are using to write the story. For example, for my most recent book, I wrote about outlining, writing sprints, and using YouTube for research. First Chapter and Cover Reveal   A few weeks before you publish, give your readers a little teaser Music Play Lists   Mark Parsons wrote Road Rash, a â€Å"band-on-the-road† story about growing up- and growing into yourself. There probably isn’t a better scenario on the planet for a novel playlist. Being both a writer and a musician, Mark wrote this article for Huffington Post: 10 Best Road Trip Songs. Your book doesn’t have to be about music though to pull this off. Wisconsin based author Valerie Biel created playlists for her YA historical fantasy novels. Playlists are a great content addition to her website and also an excellent way for readers to create the atmosphere of the book to enhance their reading experience. Book Trailers Another way you can engage readers is â€Å"As authors, we want to give readers as much information as possible about our books so they can decide if it’s worth their precious time and money because let’ face it, this is a busy and expensive world. A book trailer can do this in 60 seconds or less using visuals and music. If a picture says a thousand words, adding tone and music says ten thousand.† – Teri Case, author of the award-winning novel Tiger Drive and forth-coming title, In the Dog House Once the trailer is finished, you can write a post about the creation process, including how you chose the images and music, how you scripted the video and any tips and tricks you’d recommend for other’s looking to give a book trailer a try. Okay! That’s it for today! Be sure to come back next week for the second half of the list!! (Click here for Part 2)

Curating a Weekend Film Festival Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Curating a Weekend Film Festival - Essay Example Man Aran Date of Release: October 18th 1934 Director: Robert Flaherty Starring: Michael Dillane, Colman King, Maggie Dirrane 4. Moana Date of Release: January 7th 1966 Director: Robert Flaherty Starring: Fa'agase Su'a-Filo, Ta'avale 5. White Shadows in the South Seas Date of Release: November 10th 1958 Director: W.S. Dyke Starring; Irvon Thalberg Catalogue/Program Essay These films have been chosen due to their belonging to the docu-fiction genre, as well as their setting on beaches. Robert Flaherty’s name conjures up an array of complex debates with regard to films and documentaries, ethics, how others are represented, the director’s role, argument, ideology, gendered imagery, collaboration, ethnography, non-preconception, community, fantasy, voice, idealized or realistic cinematography, racialized bodies, and deep immersion in one the beach field (Usai, 2008). Flaherty worked or directed only 10 fiction films in his entire career. Nanook of the North, which was releas ed in 1922, the Louisiana Story, released in 1948, and Man of Aran, released in 1934 are the popularly analyzed and recognized of his films. This, in part, is caused by the fact that these are the films that were dissected and filmed by his widow and collaborator Frances Flaherty, in the mid to late 50s, which she founded following his death at the Film Seminars held for Robert Flaherty (Christopher, 2009). She did this in order to advance his thoughts on artisanal filmmaking that he used as a way of exploration. Moana, which was released in 1926, was rarely screened because of theatrical legalities of copyright that he faced from paramount. Famous Players Lasky, a Hollywood studio that was later merged with paramount Studios and was directed in Samoa, financed the film for production (Christopher, 2009). The film occupies an obscured and awkward position in the legacy left by Flaherty. It is neither a well thought out narrative of silent film neither is it a documentary exemplar. I t is what documentary scholars have long considered as among the very first in the genre of docu-fiction. The response by Famous Players Lansky, which was lukewarm, to Moana took the Flaherty’s towards views that were anti-Hollywood, especially following the holding back of exhibition and marketing by the studio after its debut in NYC (Christopher, 2009). Following his departure from MGM production of the film White Shadows of the South Seas, he went on to exhort that doing business with Hollywood was like sailing in a boat with a glass bottom over a sewer. Famous Players Lansky, in the mid 20s, looked towards the lucrative nature of overseas markets. Walter Wagner, a producer at the studio, imported realist methods of filmmaking that connected profit motives with the increase of world knowledge through foreign film-shoots (Rugg & Sedwick, 2009). He advocated for natural drama, which is a film that constructs stories through focusing on native actors, family, and animals in t heir natural habitats. Ernest Schoesdack and Merian Cooper were incorporated into the studio and taken to Thailand for the production of Chang in 1926. Stark Love in 1927 was about N. Carolina’s mountain people, Redskin in 1929 dealt with the Navajo people, and the Vanishing Redskin In 1926 dealt with the Monument Valley. Within this context of larger markets and studios, Lasky approached Flaherty for the production of another Nanook of the North, for which he was given a blank production check (Rugg & Sedwick, 2009). Polynesian cultural imagination and fantasy as a paradise that was pastoral and uncontaminated countered industrialization and urbanization’s realities and infused it into the post WWII popular culture (Obrist &

Dr. Tyrone Hayes lecture Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dr. Tyrone Hayes lecture - Movie Review Example I find this part of the video interesting when testing the role steroid hormone in the testing amphibian development in comparison with human beings. The metamorphosis and the sex differentiation of these animals in this part of the video is quite amazing and logical in our environmental studies as students. 3. Discuss the pros and cons of toxicity testing on animals do you think that animals testing is justified? Do you think it gives accurate results that can be related to human beings? Support your reasoning. The toxicity testing in animals to some extent is justified especially towards the environmental studies. The pro of these studies revolves around human beings welfare especially in relation to the pet animals which they could contact various disease through. This will give an answer and control measures to various infections shared between human beings and animals. Cons on the other hand are concerning the results arrived at via these research works. Example is the Dr Hayes induction of mammary and prostate cancer in the research laboratory rodents to highpoint on the atrazine as a possible course of reproductive cancer in humans. This research work to some extent was never justified. We can generate interest in the regulation of the environmentally harmful chemicals through the reduction of various chemically related diseases such as cancers. This is because the chemicals induced in the environment contain a larger quantity of heavy metals. These heavy metals when human beings are exposed to, are the causative agents of various deadly infection

Ebay Case Meg Whitman Essay Example for Free

Ebay Case Meg Whitman Essay In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, an on-line company whose purpose was to facilitate an environment where people could not only exchange goods, but also have discussions, make connections, and form relationships. He carefully crafted a culture based upon, â€Å"trust, respect, autonomy, empowerment, and equality,† and sought for the eBay community and company to be reflective of those principles. eBay was successful because Omidyar realized that a respectful, symbiotic relationship with this on-line community was critical, â€Å"because eBay wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for [the] community. In 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as CEO to strengthen the eBay brand and to develop a stronger marketing strategy. In this, she was remarkably successful. In little over a year, eBay registrants grew from 88,000 to 3. 8 million users. The company successfully went public, revenue just about doubled every quarter, and acquisitions and partnerships were made to increase the customer base. However, the rapid growth under Whitman caused a major problem for eBay: it put a strain on the culture and the community upon which eBay was successfully founded. With growth came the need for more rules and policies. For instance, Whitman made the decision to ban the sale of firearms to keep the company free of legal liabilities. Many in the community and company were shocked and outraged by this policy because it violated the eBay values of open communication and trust. Also, the acquisition of Butterfield and Butterfield, a prestigious, high-end auction house, was taken as a slap in the face. It violated the eBay value of respect, and the community saw this purchase indicative of the company’s priorities being focused on higher profit margins, not building and maintaining relationships with its existing community. There are clear reasons why the eBay community felt its culture was being left behind in the wake of rapid growth. First, the strategic design of eBay dramatically changed under Whitman’s management. eBay was previously built upon a small, flat and flexible team of engineers who worked together without many formal chains of authority. This open work environment perfectly mirrored the community Omidyar sought to create online, and the internal company practiced its values of respect and trust on a daily basis. However, Whitman correctly recognized that as the company grew, more formal structures and positions would have to be put into place to bear the burden of greater demand. With expert consultation, she reorganized the engineers. She eventually added eleven different vice presidents in upper management. In little time, the company transformed from an informal, flat model to a formal functional structure. This enabled growth, but it also created tall hierarchies that diminished the culture of open communication. For instance, lower-level employees and the eBay community both back-lashed at the decision of banning firearms for largely the same reason: they had no idea such a policy was forthcoming. Upper management made this decision without outside consultation. Even though it was the right decision for the company, it was handled and presented in a way that violated the culture eBay was built upon. In 1999, Whitman formally created a Community Watch group to monitor the website for fraud. Initially, eBay â€Å"counted on its users to abide by its user agreement and take much of the responsibility for safeguarding the site themselves. But, the community had grown too large to be self-monitored. Again, the decision was appropriate, but so many structural changes implemented in so little time was too much for the community to absorb without reaction. Moreover, the political nature of eBay changed rapidly. Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s founder and developer, had the rare gift of leading with b oth referent and expert power. He used this power to create a strong sense of community throughout eBay. He also used his referent power to give Whitman legitimacy in both her position as CEO and in her consequential actions. His support was effective at getting the company to align behind her decisions, but the external community did not see this support and were more suspicious of the company’s new direction. Whitman’s decisions were all sound and applauded by Wall Street. But the community saw what was once a democratic forum turning into a big business. Her lack of consultation with the community lead one user to brand eBay as having a â€Å"cavalier attitude,† and a â€Å"political agenda. † Lower level employees also saw this lack of communication. Where there were once full company meetings weekly, now they were held, at most, once a quarter. Power was concentrating. Clearly, this power shift was positively causing growth but negatively affecting culture. In her defense, Whitman was not indifferent to the culture at eBay. She stressed hiring people who understood and wanted to expand the eBay culture. But at the same time she outsourced customer service to a location in Utah, far from where the gatekeepers of the eBay culture were to be found. Therefore, those directly working with the community may have been the least in tune with its values. Also, she applauded and maintained the â€Å"no penalty† culture where everyone could voice their opinions and feel free to change their minds. However, with the growth of the company, there were fewer opportunities for a voice to be heard, less direct contacts with upper management, and fewer voices involved in major decisions. This led to decisions being made that were sound individually but not corporately when placed in the eBay culture. It also proved difficult to spread this culture to the plethora of newly added users. And it is critical because it built the community, which built the company, and if it is removed, those elements that made eBay a unique success will be gone. Therefore, eBay needs to find a way to maintain its culture. One way to correct this problem would be to implement more cross-functional teams internally. These teams would recreate the initial eBay structure of being team-based, autonomous, and flat. They would allow different departments to address problems and offer valuable input into pending company policies. This lateral flow would lead to decisions that would keep more in line with the original eBay culture, thus satisfying the community at large. The downside to these teams is that it gives Whitman and others less authority to use in making decisions for the company. Another alternative would be to create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This would create an opportunity to communicate values as well as pending or upcoming policy changes. This system of polling through email would empower the community to have a cogent voice once again and would reestablish the feeling of one-to-one communication. The downside is that if the company decided to go in a direction different than that of the community, those polled and involved could lose faith and optimism in exercising their voice. Finally, Whitman could create a separate company under the eBay name where she could make mergers and acquisitions without alienating the base users and without directly affecting the company. This would help maintain the existing eBay culture, but it would do nothing to repair any damage done. Moreover, having a different arm will not expand their user community of eBay, which is eBay’s vision. Whitman should create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This mechanism would be two-fold in design. First, eBay would create a oalition of the â€Å"top sellers,† those truly engrossed in the eBay community and whose interests are aligned with both company and community. Upper management would formally integrate the opinions and responses of this group (on issues ranging from policy to community values) into its decision-making processes. Also, the use of widely sampled polls of eBay users on the same issues would help th e company get a feel for how the broader community at large feels about important issues. This would be positive for the community because it would give them a legitimate voice in the company again, just as it had at eBay’s inception. It is important to remember that eBay is unique in that the community it serves is the company itself. Soliciting, responding to, and implementing the voice of this community improve eBay; even with its now more functional structure, it will only help the company know the needs and opinions of its community, which will strengthen business. The downside to this move is that after hearing out the top sellers and looking at the data of a poll on a particular issue, Whitman and upper management may still feel that an unpopular direction needs to be taken. Some users may feel patronized and refuse to participate in future polls. Even so, many in the community will be appreciative to at least be involved in the process and to be forewarned of pending changes. Once again there will be a dialogue with the community that will attribute value, trust, and respect to its opinions, even in disagreement. In this manner, eBay can grow and still stay small.

Essay --

Sparkles, Dancing, Jumping, and Music great combination or do you not agree? Figure Skating as a result was mashed up together to create such a beautiful but dangerous sport. Skating as a Winter Olympic sport has a long history and even with the proper equipment can be dangerous. Figure skating was originated in Europe, it was first stared by an American though named Jackson Haines. Jackson was born in New York in 1840 and died in 1875 in Finland from Tuberculosis. There was a big skating/dancing craze they called it because it swept America because of the combination that Haines did with bringing Dance into the rink. There was local skating clubs that had been formed and also competitions but nothing serious was made from it until some years after the 19th century. In 1921 was when Figure skating was made and officially created from a Skating Association (known as U.S. Figure Skating). When the Association was made later on through the years more associations made and now there are more than 600 association's throughout the country. Until the early '20s there were no standards set for you to be able to compete or to perform. Today there is there are tests, figure, free skating, moves in the field, pair, dance and synchronized team skating all of it is measured and judged by a lot of the different branches of the associations of the sport. It is said that over the years no other country has won more Figure Skating medals or been more passionate about the sport more than the United States. About all the attention went to the women's singles, because the U.S. Women have won seven Olympic titles, and some have transformed from Ice Princesses into Entertainment Icons. One of the women is Sasha Cohen she won a silver medal, Sarah H... ...which could take forever to put on. It takes a lot of labor to make a single dress, Longmire who has been designing costumes says that they have to be constructed carefully for close-up photography. Longmire says that it is basically a bathing suit because its just a one piece outfit. Figure skating has it's interesting history, also it has it's danger zones, and it has it's beautiful equipment which makes the whole experience amazing. The History is long and full of very bright and great icons that have made there mark on the ice. The Dangers can also teach you what the risks are before you try something so you know the consequences. The Equipment is what makes the whole performance come alive and it will make you, you if you had your personality to the outfit and the right touch to everything. Figure skating can be something interesting, dangerous, and fun to do.

Philippine Literature During Japanese Period Essay

During the Japanese Occupation, when Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military authority, writing in English was consigned to limbo. It picked up after the war, however, with a fervor and drive for excellence that continue to this day. Stevan Javellana’s â€Å"Without Seeing the Dawn† (1947), the first postwar novel in English, was published in the United States. In 1946, the Barangay Writers Project was founded to help publish books in English. Against a background marked by political unrest and government battles with Hukbalahap guerrillas, writers in English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft and techniques. Among the writers who came into their own during this time were: Nick Joaquin, NVM Gonzalez, Francisco Arcellana, Carlos Bulosan, F. Sionil Jose, Ricaredo Demetillo, Kerima Polotan Tuvera, Carlos Angeles, Edilberto K. Tiempo, Amador Daguio, Estrella Alfon, Alejandrino Hufana, Gregorio Brillantes, Bienvenido Santos, Dominador Ilio, T.D. Agcaoili, Alejandro R. Roces, Sinai C. Hamada, Linda Ty-Casper, Virginia Moreno, Luis Dato, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido, Manuel A. Viray, Vicente Rivera Jr., and Oscar de Zuà ±iga, among many others. Fresh from studies in American universities, usually as Fulbright or Rockefeller scholars, a number of these writers introduced New Criticism to the country and applied its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In this way were born the Silliman Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1962 by Edilberto K. Tiempo and Edith L. Tiempo) and the U.P. Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1965 by the Department of English at the U.P.). To this day, these workshops help discover writing talents and develop them in their craft.

Independence day speech Essay

independence Day- the day when British left the golden bird free from their rule. But the bird was left looted, harassed, with the slightest of hope to survive. Then followed a long fight for the survival of golden bird. 64 years have passed and the country is still ‘developing’. The whole world says and even we believe that we are the citizens of an independent country. But a question always keep on hovering in my mind, the answer to which I never found out. You also give it a try. Is India really free? Are we not bound by so many handcuffs of ever growing poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, crimes, men-women inequality, limited technology and the worst of all which potentiate other bounding forces too- Corruption? Shocked seeing the figure Don’t be because there is still a large figure behind the scene which the CBI has failed to suspect. â€Å"Angrez chale gaye par inhe chod gye†- the best phrase that can describe our corrupt politicians and high commanding officers. And why only blame these famous names. Even an  ordinary man is giving them a tough competition- Wrong ways to save income tax, Under table income, and what not. Fighting with any outsider is easy but how to fight with someone amongst ourselves. How to punish a crow from within a group of parrots? And what adds to the tragedy is that everyone is inside this dirty cave of corruption. Those who are in the light of honesty and truthfulness don’t want to make an initiative to clean this dirt. A grand salute to those great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Swami Vivekanand, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Bhagat Singh who broke a revolt against British and drove them back to their home. Today again we need such leaders to drive corruption out of this beautiful country. Then we all will proudly say that â€Å"Yes!! We are the citizens of an independent country which flies unbound in the sky of glory and success†. Happy Independence Day to all !! Let us vow to make our country a free bird again. Jai Hind!!

How to Make a Green Fire Halloween Jack-o-Lantern

How to Make a Green Fire Halloween Jack-o-Lantern One application of green fire is using it to light your Halloween jack-o-lantern. This is a super-easy effect that produces spectacular results (watch the video). Heres how you do it: Key Takeaways: Green Fire Jack-o-Lantern The green fire jack-o-lantern is a colorful flame-filled Halloween pumpkin.The project involves dissolving a salt in a flammable solvent and igniting it.The green flame comes from the emission spectrum of the chemical. Either the boron ion or the Copper II (Cu2) ion will produce a green flame.The project should only be performed by adults. While the salts used in this project are not particularly toxic, they are not safe to eat. Methanol (methyl alcohol) is toxic and should not be handled or inhaled. Green Fire Jack-o-Lantern Materials You only need a few simple materials for this project: Carved jack-o-lantern. Traditionally this would be a pumpkin, but you could use a watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.Boric acid (usually found in pharmacy or pest control section of store)Methanol (such as Heetâ„ ¢ fuel treatment, found in the automotive section)Aluminum foil or heat-safe container that fits inside your jack-o-lanternLong-handled lighter Boric acid is a different chemical from borax (commonly sold as the laundry boost 20 Mule Team Borax). Pure boric acid is used to make a disinfectant solution and as a powder to kill and control cockroaches and other insects in the home. Boric acid dissolves better than borax in methanol, so it produces a better green flame. However, if you cant find boric acid, you can substitute borax and still get green fire. The green flame color is used in the flame test to help identify sample chemical composition. Nayef Hajjaj / EyeEm / Getty Images Other Substitutions Switching out borax for boric acid is not the only substitution you can make. You can use copper sulfate as the salt and a different alcohol for the solvent. Good choices include rubbing alcohol (contains one or more different alcohols), ethyl alcohol (ethanol), or isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol). These alcohols are less toxic than methanol, plus they contain water. The water is important because it dissolves the copper sulfate so it can color the flame. Copper sulfate is sold as a pure chemical and also as a root killing chemical. It is available online and at some home supply stores. The container should be labeled as copper sulfate, copper sulphate, or copper sulfate pentahydrate. If you get copper sulfate, you can also use it for other projects, such as growing blue copper sulfate crystals or making a copper sulfate geode. Fun Fact: The copper ion can emit either green or blue light. Cu2 is green, while Cu is blue. Unfortunately, changing the copper oxidation state is not a simple matter. It requires a series of redox reactions that could cant easily do at home. Start the Green  Fire! Technically all you need to do is sprinkle boric acid in a heat-safe container, add a little methanol, set the container inside the jack-o-lantern and light the fire. Its important to use a long-handled lighter, since the vapor pressure of methanol is very high and you will hear that whoof sound when you light the mixture. The best result, in my opinion, comes from lining the inside of the jack-o-lantern with aluminum foil and using the pumpkin as the heat-safe container. You can sprinkle boric acid inside the jack-o-lantern, splash a little methanol around, and light the decoration. The aluminum helps contain the liquid, plus it is reflective so it enhances the brightness of the display. Do not add more fuel to the burning fire; wait until it goes out. Safety note: dont do this indoors! Holiday Clean-Up Tips The green fire can get very hot, so there is a good chance your pumpkin will get somewhat cooked by lighting it this way. The methanol is burned away by the fire, leaving some boric acid residue with your pumpkin. While boric acid is not particularly toxic, you dont want kids or animals to eat this jack-o-lantern, nor is it ideal for compost since too much boron can be toxic to plants. Be sure to throw your jack-o-lantern away before it rots in place. Just remember the pumpkin contains boric acid, so dont let anyone eat it.

Changing Face Of Rural Consumer In Emerging Markets Economics Essay

Changing Face Of Rural Consumer In Emerging Markets Economics Essay India is growing at an average annual rate of 7.6 for the past many years and it is expected to continue growing at an equal if not faster rate. The rapid economic growth is increasing and enhancing employment and business opportunities and in turn increasing disposable incomes. The rural consumers in India account for about 73 percent of the total consumers. In recent years, the lifestyle of a large number of rural consumers in India has changed dramatically and the process of change is going on. The buying behaviour of the rural consumers is influenced by several factors such as socio-economic conditions, cultural environment, literacy level, occupation, geographical location, efforts on the part of sellers, exposure to media etc. As the benefits of growth trickle down, an increasing number of people are moving up from the economically weaker class to join the middle class. The middle class with its rising numbers and incomes is thus becoming the biggest market segment. The afflue nt class too will continue to grow in terms of size and value, albeit, at a slower pace than the middle class. Most of the companies are going rural because of large and diverse markets, increase in literacy level and changing life style of the people. Even globalization and liberalization expanded the Indian rural market. Several studies have shown that rural consumers are generally ignorant and they are also unorganised. Under these circumstances, the sellers or the manufacturers, exploit the consumers. Though, the consumers in India have been provided with various safety measures against their exploitation. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the changing face of rural consumer in emerging markets. Key Words: Globalisation, Rural Consumer, Rural Market, Rural Potential. Introduction Rural consumers in emerging markets of developing countries are among the largest and fastest growing segments of the world’s population. In a country like India, where a substanti al number of the rural people are living below poverty line, having high level of unemployment and poor literacy level; consumer awareness continues to remain low. Above all about 70 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas. There are about 6, 38,365 villages in the country as against about 300 cities and 5,161 towns. Of the 121 crore Indians, 83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore stay in urban areas, as per the Census 2011. Even in urban areas, a large number of people live in slums whose life is not better than those living in rural areas. This clearly highlights that India is still dominated by rural population. There were 7,935 towns in 2011 as against 5,161 in 2001. About 13.3% of India’s population and 42.6% of urban population reside in 53 cities having more than a million people, while the remaining 7,882 cities account for 47.4% of the urban population. There has been a steady increase in the number of cities from 5 in 1951 to 35 in 2001 to 53 in 2011 having a population of more than 10 lacs. About 31% of the urban population lives in the top-20 cities and about 51% of the country’s urban population lives in the top-100 cities.4 A report on survey conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) says that there are 720 million consumers across the villages in rural India. Hence, the development of the nation largely depends upon the development of the rural population. Agriculture is the main occupation of the rural people for their subsistence. It has been observed in the report that the condition of the rural consumers is deplorable because they are being exploited in the rural markets on account of lack of competition among the sellers. Although the rural consumers face various problems like fake brands and spurious products, misleading advertisements, unfair warranties and guarantees, and unreasonable pricing but it hardly affects their passion to buying because they want to buy those prod ucts which reflect their prosperity level. Similarly, with globalization and liberalization, rural market in India expanded its potentialities across the world. Globalization describes a process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication, transportation, and trade. Globalization can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant locations in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice – versa. Globalization generally means integrating our economy with the economy of world. Globalization had its impact on various sectors including agricultural, industrial, financial, health and many others. Globalization has helped in:

Clarifies the problems, and relates these problems to appropriate Term Paper

Clarifies the problems, and relates these problems to appropriate management theory, suggests 3 practical initial strategies the company could consider to address the issues - Term Paper Example Specific issues that will be discussed in this paper include: the problems that affect leadership, suggestions on how to solve them, the benefits that result from the suggestions, and the theory of leadership. The culture in Ecobot was one that undermined its employees. The mindset was that ‘labor is cheap’ which resulted to the organization investing most of its resources on the machinery and the processes. The culture got justification from the fantastic results and strong performance of the company. The human resource was forgotten as a result. The statement that labor is cheap meant that employees were dispensable and that resources should not be set aside to invest in them. Such a culture resulted to poor working conditions and low morale from employees. The customers were affected as a result due to the lack of customer service, which is viewed by the increased customer complaints. Ecobot should change its organizational culture. It should embrace policies and values that aim at empowering their employees. It can do so by rewriting its corporate goals and visions to statements that aim at making the organization the best in its field while treating its employees well (Thompson, 2014). It should adopt practices that empower its employees such as training programs, involving them in decision making procedures, and changing the mindset of everyone in the organization that employees are a valuable resource that should be invested in (Dwayne, 2010). Ecobot has raised the leadership roles of its leaders such that they do almost everything as the employees watch. Such an environment is not good for the leaders as they may overwhelm themselves with the operations, which may result into frustration, fatigue, and stress. Their productivity levels will decrease reducing the profitability of the company. Empowering leaders to such extremes result to mistreatment and demeaning of employees. It may also lead to embezzlement and