Red Box

A. Case Overview Redbox is a wholly-owned subsidiary by Coinstar, Inc. For only $1 per night it offers movie rentals. The first kiosks were located at McDonald’s. On 31 March, 2010, the total number of installed Redbox and DVDCpress Kiosks was 24,800. Redbox’s main strategy is to have kiosks that contain mostly new releases of movies on DVDs in shopping areas that are visited a lot. The rental fee is cheap, only $1 per night and the whole order and return process is fast, simple and easy for the customer.With its many kiosks, Redbox built a strong brand reputation. B. Analysis The SWOT analysis shows that Redbox’s strengths are its brand recognition and financial power, with being successful it can add more kiosks at good locations. It has built relationships with the chain retailers of its parent company Coinstar, Inc. and it offers value by offering very affordable movie rentals to customers. Redbox’s weakness is that it offers no online delivery yet. It s opportunities are expansion to other underserved and very good areas in the US, Puerto Rico, and UK.It can also further its expansion internationally. There is lots of existing and potential revenue growth at existing kiosks. Redbox has the strength to attract customers away from other competitors like Blockbuster. Redbox’s threats are services like Netflix that offer movie streaming online, companies that offer internet delivery of movies, Blockbuster building new kiosks and movie theaters when people are tired of watching movies at home. Redbox has lots of potential for further growth in revenue and popularity.It has to pay attention to shifts in customer’s preferences on how to watch a movie and adapt to changes. Porter’s Five Forces show that competition from rivals is strong, especially Blockbuster and Netflix. There is no product differentiation in movies. The threat of new entrants is weak because in order to compete with Redbox, it requires a lot of ca pital and building same good relationships to suppliers (movie production companies) as Redbox already has. The movie as a product can be easily substituted and people can buy instead of rent or watch something online.The buyers’ bargaining power is modest because buyers can either rent or buy or watch online and the switching costs are low. C. Recommendations Redbox should not miss the chance on expanding internationally. With its cheap movie rentals, it can attract customers from all classes in all countries and not be affected by economic crisis so strongly. It should also continue to do research on where to locate more kiosks and it should think about offering internet movie rentals. Also, it should continue to build and nurture good relationships with its suppliers.

Society’s Perception of Affirmative Action

I both agree, and disagree with what the author is saying in this article. He starts by saying that our chances of succeeding are influenced by the generation of our family that came before us, and by our network of friends and acquaintances. He applies the term â€Å"social capital,† to this. He then goes on to say that the government needs to take responsibility for ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity get a job, be accepted into a university, or move up in their company. The next five paragraphs are spent arguing against â€Å"color-blind absolutism,† that is, the idea that we should ignore race altogether. To this point in the article, I could not agree more. I believe most rational thinking people learn from their parents, older siblings and even their extended families. They see the mistakes that their families made and want to do better. In my family for instance, I am the youngest of six children. My parents grew up in farming communities and had little or no education. I was the first in the family to go straight through high school and graduate. Only the four youngest of six children received a high school diploma or equivalent, and only myself and one of my brothers has had any education beyond that. I see this as a natural evolution that takes several generations. Some of my older siblings did not see the value of an education, or of planning your future and setting goals. While I saw the mistakes they made, it took me several years to realize that my success was dependent on setting goals, and the actions I took to achieve them. I also agree with the author assertion that society cannot be completely colorblind. We do not need to pretend that we are not different, we need to accept and embrace each other's differences. We need to recognize and respect the each other's cultures. Color and race will forever be used, just as height and weight are used to describe people. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging our differences, as long as we do not perceive those differences as negatives. I have to disagree with the remainder of the article. He has taken offense, apparently, to the perception that blacks need to be given preferential treatment to achieve a degree of success. I believe that he is arguing that affirmative action is demeaning to blacks, but what he should be arguing against is not affirmative action, but white society's perception of affirmative action. Used as it was intended, affirmative action does not give minorities preferential treatment, it gives them an opportunity to compete with other applicants of equal qualifications. Human nature being what it is, opportunities do not always present themselves solely because of a persons skills, qualifications, or persistence. I recently read that a high percentage of positions are filled not through newspaper ads, or recruiting agencies, but through word of mouth. The best place for employers to look for new employees is often from their current employees. If this is true, then unless your work place is already racially diverse, most of your new hires are likely to come from similar racial or ethnic background as the majority of your workforce. Breaking this cycle takes a conscious effort. I believe this is the case in organized labor organizations. Perhaps there is no conscious effort to keep blacks or minorities out, but a desire to get one's family and friends in, so that they too may enjoy the benefits of a good job. I believe I benefited from affirmative action when I joined the union apprenticeship program. Had it not been for the pressure applied on unions to diversify, there is little doubt in my mind that someone's son or nephew would have received that position. And that person would most likely have been a white male. The intention of affirmative action is to level the playing field, not to tilt it in the direction of minorities. If it is improperly used, we must not blame the program; we must blame the people that are administering it. Universities should not lower standards, but encourage academically qualified minorities to apply and support programs that help increase the pool of qualified applicants. While it is true that an individuals success depends largely on that individuals own drive and self determination, history has taught us that things are not going to get better without some governmental intervention.

Analysis of the Marks of an Educated Person Essay

In an analysis of â€Å"The Marks of an Educated Person† the author writes about three different individuals and shows whether or not they qualify as educated people. He also writes about the purpose of education and what it means to be an educated Christian. The author refers to three individuals in his writing: Mary, Tom, and Pat. He talks about their personalities and their concentrations towards education. Mary is a narrowly focused individual that focusses on her major, her electives, her extracurricular activities, and her work experience. Mary is trained in her specific area but she is not educated. I see myself as being a lot like Mary. I feel like I spend a lot of time focusing on the same things as Mary. Tom is a popular, socially successful person. He is a social conformist, therefore he is not educated. Pat enjoys learning and has a broad education in many different areas. She has skills in other areas other than her major. It is my desire to be more like Pat. I want to find enjoyment in learning and hope to become a â€Å"jack of all trades† in the field of education. Being broad is one important thing to me; I would like to be able to have a wide range of knowledge instead of only having knowledge in one area. The author then introduces Aristotle stating that education should prepare a person for an active life marked by excellence. To me this means that a person should have a wide array of knowledge. Aristotle refers to the good life as â€Å"fulfillment† or â€Å"self-actualization†. Unlike during the time of Aristotle, fulfillment now seems to bring feeling of satisfaction and Aristotle meant is as an achievement. Self-actualization now sounds individualistic and self-centered; for Aristotle it represents the full actualization of human capacities in the activities of their lives. This is significant because it shows the change in thought over the generations. This supports my thoughts that people of earlier generations were â€Å"more educated† than people of our times. I do not know if this is lack of good education or the mindset of the people now-a-days. I think that Aristotle is right when he says that education should prepare a person for an active life marked by excellence. Characteristics of an educated person show that they should be reflective and moral in everything that they do and be thoroughly responsible of everything they do. I think that I have at some points in my education shown these characteristics but also had lack of these. I think that I have shown the lack of reflective ness and morality because of not having someone there to make me do things that I am responsible for doing and being away from home has affected me also. I feel like I am a responsible person who Aristotle says is one of the things you need to have to be an educated person, but here of late I have realized that I have fallen away from being a responsible agent and am working back to that state. In the section titled â€Å"The Marks of an Educated Christian† the author talks about â€Å"spiritual virtues† which are an unreserved commitment to God and his purposes for us in this world, a confidence in the gospel, and a self-giving devotion, also known as faith, hope, and love. I believe that spiritual virtues are important because they give direction to people in all aspects of their lives. If a person has faith, hope, and love for God, they can find answers to any problems they may be facing. Moral virtues are qualities of character like love and fairness, the courage of one’s convictions, a thorough going integrity, and a commitment to justice and love in every area of life. The importance of both spiritual and moral virtues should be a big thing in the lives of Christians but what is important to Christian colleges is breadth of understanding, openness to new ideas, intellectual honesty about other views and about the problems in one’s own, analytic and critical skills, not just verbal skills and powers of communication but grace and eloquence therein as well, the ability to say the right thing in the right way at the right time. This is important because this builds us as human beings not just students. As human beings be are to gain as much knowledge as possible to bring us closer to God. In non-Christian colleges the focus is solely on education. I think that the approach of a Christian college is more beneficial to its students because it builds them as people more so as just students. But moral and intellectual values are not enough. Being responsible we need to have conscientiousness, helpfulness, a servantly but not servile manner, decisiveness, self-discipline, persistence, the ability to correct one’s course and start afresh, to maintain good family relations, active involvement in church and community, to be an effective agent of needful and helpful change. You can see all of these at work here at Greenville College. Here at GC the importance of all of these things are equally stressed. Community is a big word used here at Greenville and having a requirement of volunteer work in the courses enforces students to be a part of their community. After reading â€Å"The Marks of an Educated Person† I now realize areas that I need to work on in my life as I strive to be both an educated person and an educated Christian. I feel like in some areas that were mentioned in this reading I have been better in the past than I am now. I hope to work towards these goals and be more of an educated person and to be more like Pat.

Project mangment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project mangment - Essay Example The ideal required wind energy can be found at high altitudes where continuous wind speeds occur. In general the sea coastal areas and / or hilly areas are more preferred locations to establish the wind mills because of uninterrupted flow of wind. Wind – movement of air is called wind. The wind moves everything whatsoever comes in its way. Wind turbines or wind generators, like propeller blades of aircraft, turn and power electric generator generates an electric current. In more simplified it is stated that a wind turbine is opposite of a home fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind in fan, a wind turbine uses wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades on the tower and spins a shaft which is connected to a generator to generate electricity. This production of electricity mainly depends on the velocity of the wind. Only higher wind velocity throughout the year makes the wind mill project viable. The wind turbine system consisting of blades, shafts, gears and generator is operated through a sophisticated computer controlled system installed at the base of the tower which also have sensors to sense the wind speed and its direction to switch on and off the wind turbine generator. Generally the user company gives a time limit or schedule for building and operation of wind mill project and the supplier (s) and / or contractor (s) should abide by the given time table as much as possible. However in certain cases the delivery time of many materials is long which delays for completion of project. Prevalent circumstances like human factors, whether or other natural calamity also sometimes create late completion. Ideal time for completion of project could be 3-4 months. Most countries maintain whether, oceanic and atmospheric records for different purposes including future prediction, study, educational research, etc. These information are

Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Operations Management - Assignment Example simulation of safety engineering, training, education process, video gaming and technology for the purposes of optimizing performance. To study simulation models computer experiments are used. At advanced level simulation is used with scientific modeling of human systems and natural systems to enable researchers to gain full insight of these human and other natural systems. In addition, simulation can be used to indicate the eventual real effects of some alternative courses and conditions of action. This operation process is also used where real systems are not applicable since they are not accessible or they are not acceptable to be used (Greasley, 2004) There are several softwares that are used in simulation process as an operation process in companies and other institutions. These softwares are classified into two major categories open source software and proprietary software. Open source software include ASCEND, DWSIM, Sage and GNU Octave. The proprietary softwares include Arena software, AMESIM and APmonitor (Buckley, 2005) In this report the simulation software used to carry out the operation analysis of the discrete-event model is the Arena software. Arena is a discrete event automation and simulation software that was developed by Systems Modeling and was acquired by Rockwell Automation in the Year 2000. This software uses the SIMAN processor and simulation language. In this software the user must build an experiment model through placing models that show the logic or processes. Lines are used to join or connect these modules together, as well as, showing the flow of different entities. The modules have specific actions compared to flow, entities and timing. The precise representation of these modules and entities relative to real life objects depends on the decision of the modeler. Using this software statistical data like work in progress and cycle time levels are outputted and recorded as reports. This software is integrated with Microsoft technologi es such as visual basic for applications for further automation in cases where specific algorithms are required (Altiok & Melamed, 2007). The software also supports importation of Microsoft Visio flowcharts. Moreover, the software allows outputting to or reading from excel spreadsheets, as well as, access databases. Problem description The problems that the Arena software is used to solve in this report are problems of determining the breakeven point, total cost incurred before breakeven point, the profit earned by the company at a given units of product sold of a given company and also the determination of point of indifference in production. This report uses two case studies that are analyzed using the Arena software. In the first case the company is considering to add a new line of production, which requires leasing new equipment for a monthly payment of ?6,000. The company’s variable costs would be ?2 per unit and they would sell for ?7 each. The company’s manageme nt needs to determine the number of units needed to be sold in order to break-even. Secondly, the company would like to determine the profit or loss it will make if 1,000 units are made and sold in a month. Thirdly, the company needs to know the number of pies it requires to sell in order to realize a profit of ?4,000. Finally, the company would like to know if it sells 2,000 units, and the profit target is ?5,000, then what price it should

EMPLOYEE RESOURCING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

EMPLOYEE RESOURCING - Essay Example rt will finally attempt to provide necessary recommendations which may affect employee resourcing issues that may help ADT Ltd establish a policy to satisfy all members of staff. The recommendations would be drawn from case studies in UK from a legal stand point with the aim of showing the effectiveness of work-life balance and flexible working for APT Ltd as a measure of motivating the employees as well as motivating them. Employees are the backbone of every organisation hence effective recruitment, improving their performance as well as putting measures that reduce staff turnover are major factors that determine success of business during the contemporary period. More often than not, employ resourcing mainly depends on the available human resources tools and their ability to cope with the environment they will be operating in. Before attempting to give a critical analysis of how ADT Ltd can establish a policy to satisfy all members of staff through striking a fine balance between flexible working and work-life balance, it is imperative to give a definition of employee resourcing for easier understanding of the issues raised in the case study. Recruitment involves searching for and obtaining qualified job candidates and it gives the organisation the opportunity to select the most appropriate persons to fill its job needs (Carrell, R. et al 1995). Effective recruitment often attracts individuals to the organisation and also increases the chances of retaining the individuals once they have been hired. Thus, recruitment efforts seek to satisfy the needs of job applicants as well as the needs of managers hence the need for careful consideration by the HRM. ER in itself is more concerned with people management of how work is done and who would do it. In some cases unemployment rates may be high for instance in UK but still there would be shortages of people with particular skills that are in demand and often the few with those skills often find themselves working

Teenage pregnancy in the uk and possible strategies to prevent it Research Proposal

Teenage pregnancy in the uk and possible strategies to prevent it - Research Proposal Example It is for these reasons a policy was evolved in early 1990s to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies progressively and to reduce it by at least half by the year 2010. The brief literature review shows teenage pregnancies do not show any signs of abating and the problem is exacerbated by the tendencies of the teenagers giving a second birth before they reach 20 years. There are also fears that babies born to teenage mothers will themselves become teenage mothers due to built-in culture developed over generations. Systematic literature review is the sole research methodology adopted for the dissertation. The above results of literature review conducted justify a detailed secondary research further on the issue of teenage pregnancies in the U.K. This proposal is for a dissertation as part of the researcher’s B.Sc. Health field curriculum at the University of East London at the end of the degree in level III. The chosen topic is â€Å"Teenage Pregnancy In The UK And Possible Strategies To Prevent It† on which the researcher is required to make a systematic literature review as a secondary research. Teenage pregnancy worldwide is causing concern as it is associated with girls’ health mostly as unwed mothers susceptible to mortality as child bearers at the adolescent age without full grown body and HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Half the world population comprises of people, less than 25 years of age. People between the ages 10-19 are adolescents. The adolescents in their second decade of life contract STIs, HIV/AIDS more than any other age group. This target population is the hope for governments to substantially reduce the incidence of the said diseases. Only a very few countries have achieved limited incidences of STIs and HIV mainly by teaching their adolescents safe sexual practices. Among U.S., Canada, France and the U.K., the U.K. has

Health History Worksheet Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health History Worksheet - Term Paper Example Paternal grandfather First and last initials: SM Birthdate: 1933 Death date: 1994 Occupation: Retired as Plumber Education: 7th grade Primary language: English Health summary: Occupation: Housewife Education: 4th grade Primary language: English Health summary: He was diagonised with Diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. She died from an asthma attack. Father First and last initials: JO Birthdate: 1957 Death date: Still alive Occupation: Businessman Education: College degree Primary language: English Health summary: He was diagnosed with diabetes. He died of a heart attack. Father’s siblings- Summary of any significant health issues The father’s 2 brothers have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Maternal grandfather First and last initials: TP Birthdate: 1928 Death date: 2002 Occupation: Army General Education: 8th grade Primary language: English Health summary: He was diagnosed with being obese, and had high cholesterol. He died from stroke. Maternal grandmother First and last initials: AP Birthdate: 1935 Death date: 2008 Occupation: House wife Education: 3rd grade Primary language: English Health summary: She was diagnosed with breast cancer and high blood pressure. She died from heart failure.

Policy in Lundy Marine Nature Reserve Yields Positive Results Article

Policy in Lundy Marine Nature Reserve Yields Positive Results - Article Example It is administered by the Torridge district of the county of Devon. It has a total area of 4.24 km2 and has a resident population of 18 people located at the south of the island. The island was leased by the National Trust to the Landmark Trust. It was named as the 10th greatest natural wonder in Britain by the 2005 opinion poll of Radio Times (wikipedia, 2006). Due to the development of the aqualung, Lundy's incredibly diverse marine plants and animals were discovered. The array includes rare and unusual species such as the solitary cup corals, sea fans and sponges. An explanation offered for the diversity is the variety of underwater habitats in its seabed. The variety in shelter coupled with the also varied water current conditions present in the area gave opportunities for a wider variety of species that can inhabit the waters of the island. (Lundy Org, 2006) This discovery served as the stimulant for legislation aimed at protecting the area. It started with a 1971 proposal by the Lundy Field Society to establish a marine reserve and finalized with the 1986 announcement of the then Secretary of State for the Environment designating Lundy as a statutory reserve. Lundy is England's only statutory Marine Nature Reserve. The reserve is managed in partnership by English Nature, the Environment Agency, Devon Sea Fisheries Committee (DSFC), the National Trust and ... A warden is employed by the Landmark Trust for the oversight of the reserve. (ENO, 2004) Policies The Marine Nature Reserve employs a zoning scheme and is illustrated below (Lundy Org, 2006): Zones within the Marine Nature Reserve: The Red Area is the No-Take Zone The Yellow Area is the Refuge Zone: no fishing except potting or angling. The Green Area is the Recreational Zone: restrictions the same for the Refuge Zone (yellow) but be aware of other water users The Black Circles indicate legally Protected Wrecks : no diving or fishing without a license from English Heritage is allowed The Blue Area covers the rest of the Marine Nature Reserve and is the General Use Zone: all activities allowed except spear fishing. A prominent feature of the zoning scheme is the NO TAKE ZONE (NTZ). This zone employs the policy of prohibiting fishing and even collection of any kind of sea life in the waters east of Lundy. The implementation of this policy is ensured by the DSFC as it is incorporated in their by-law. The NTZ has coordinates north to Lat 51 12.04N, south to Lat 51 10.07N and east from Lundy's shores to Long 004 39.00W. Anchors and diver shot lines within 100m of the Knoll Pins is also prohibited in this zone. The No Take Zone was predicted to be able to enhance populations of fish and shellfish stocks within and outside the closed area by establishing a refuge for fish and shellfish stocks. Greater catches of fish for fishermen around the edges of the closed area was also seen as probable. The island's tourism industry was also seen as a direct beneficiary of the project. The reserve employs the following system (Lundy Org, 2006): Since underwater wildlife

Epistemology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Epistemology - Essay Example Different idealists have a different perception regarding how the substance is dependent on the consciousness. Therefore there are many diverse types of idealism. Subjective idealism is mainly simple and it can be said that this type of idealism is the most popular type of idealism. These idealists believe that substance is formed from the rational elements of the mind which examine it. For example, the feeling spectators have when going through a number of sensations is all that there actually is to those sensations. Subjective idealism might look a bit odd although there is the existence of definite reasoning behind it. Absolute idealism is the belief that the reality of tangible things rely on one fundamental psychological reality and not on the psychological elements of each person as an observer. These idealists believe that there is only one fundamental mental or holy object or standard whose psychological action and element strengthens the continuation of the tangible world. P luralistic idealism is a belief that numerous individual minds exist and jointly they motivate the subsistence of the world. They believe that person mind is the main foundation of reality.The term idealism was first coined by Leibniz (1646-1716), he used this term to while talking about the philosophy of Plato. However, in the history, this term normally signifies a time period from the end of the 1700s till the initial years of the next century. In actuality, idealism has a much wider historical scale.

Sales and inventory documentation Essay Example for Free

Sales and inventory documentation Essay Why Inventory Control? Control of inventory, which typically represents 45% to 90% of all expenses for business, is needed to ensure that the business has the right goods on hand to avoid stock-outs, to prevent shrinkage (spoilage/theft), and to provide proper accounting. Many businesses have too much of their limited resource, capital, tied up in their major asset, inventory. Worse, they may have their capital tied up in the wrong kind of inventory. Inventory may be old, worn out, shopworn, obsolete, or the wrong sizes or colors, or there may be an imbalance among different product lines that reduces the customer appeal of the total operation. Inventory control systems range from eyeball systems to reserve stock systems to perpetual computer-run systems. Valuation of inventory is normally stated at original cost, market value, or current replacement costs, whichever is lowest. This practice is used because it minimizes the possibility of overstating assets. Inventory valuation and appropriate accounting practices are worth a book alone and so are not dealt with here in depth. The ideal inventory and proper merchandise turnover will vary from one market to another. Average industry figures serve as a guide for comparison. Too large an inventory may not be justified because the turnover does not warrant investment. On the other hand, because products are not available to meet demand, too small an inventory may minimize sales and profits as customers go somewhere else to buy what they want where it is immediately available. Minimum inventories based on reordering time need to become important aspects of buying activity. Carrying costs, material purchases, and storage costs are all expensive. However, stockouts are expensive also. All of those costs can be minimized by efficient inventory policies. Inventory Control Inventory control involves the procurement, care and disposition of materials. There are three kinds of inventory that are of concern to managers: †¢ †¢ Raw materials, In-process or semi-finished goods, †¢ Finished goods. If a manager effectively controls these three types of inventory, capital can be released that may be tied up in unnecessary inventory, production control can be improved and can protect against obsolescence, deterioration and/or theft, Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 1 of 8 The reasons for inventory control are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Helps balance the stock as to value, size, color, style, and price line in proportion to demand or sales trends. Help plan the winners as well as move slow sellers Helps secure the best rate of stock turnover for each item. Helps reduce expenses and markdowns. Helps maintain a business reputation for always having new, fresh merchandise in wanted sizes and colors. Three major approaches can be used for inventory control in any type and size of operation. The actual system selected will depend upon the type of operation, the amount of goods. The Eyeball System This is the standard inventory control system for the vast majority of small retail and many small manufacturing operations and is very simple in application. The key manager stands in the middle of the store or manufacturing area and looks around. If he or she happens to notice that some items are out of stock, they are reordered. In retailing, the difficulty with the eyeball system is that a particularly good item may be out of stock for sometime before anyone notices. Throughout the time it is out of stock, sales are being lost on it. Similarly, in a small manufacturing operation, low stocks of some particularly critical item may not be noticed until there are none left. Then production suffers until the supply of that part can be replenished. Such unsystematic but simple retailers and manufacturers to their inherent disadvantage. Reserve Stock (or Brown Bag) System This approach is much more systematic than the eyeball system. It involves keeping a reserve stock of items aside, often literally in a brown bag placed at the rear of the stock bin or storage area. When the last unit of open inventory is used, the brown bag of reserve stock is opened and the new supplies it contains are placed in the bin as open stock. At this time, a reorder is immediately placed. If the reserve stock quantity has been calculated properly, the new shipment should arrive just as the last of the reserve stock is being used. In order to calculate the proper reserve stock quantity, it is necessary to know the rate of product usage and the order cycle delivery time. Thus, if the rate of product units sold is 100 units per week and the order cycle delivery time is two weeks, the appropriate reserve stock would consist of 200 units (I00u x 2w). This is fine as long as the two-week cycle holds. If the order cycle is extended, the reserve stock quantities must be increased. When the new order arrives, the reserve stock amount is packaged again and placed at the rear of the storage area. This is a very simple system to operate and one that is highly effective for virtually any type of organization. The variations on the reserve stock system merely involve the management of the reserve stock itself. Larger  items may remain in inventory but be cordoned off in some way to indicate that it is the reserve stock and should trigger a reorder. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 2 of 8 Perpetual Inventory Systems Various types of perpetual inventory systems include manual, card-oriented, and computer- operated systems. In computer-operated systems, a programmed instruction referred to commonly as a trigger, automatically transmits an order to the appropriate vendor once supplies fall below a prescribed level. The purpose of each of the three types of perpetual inventory approaches is to tally either the unit use or the dollar use (or both) of different items and product lines. This information will serve to help avoid stock-outs and to maintain a constant evaluation of the sales of different product lines to see where the emphasis should be placed for both selling and buying. Stock Control A stock control system should keep you aware of the quantity of each kind of merchandise on hand. An effective system will provide you with a guide for what, when, and how much to buy of each style, color, size, price and brand. It will reduce the number of lost sales resulting from being out of stock of merchandise in popular demand. The system will also locate slow selling articles and help indicate changes in customer preferences. The size of your establishment and the number of people employed are determining factors in devising an effective stock control plan. Can you keep control by observation? Should you use on-hand/onorder/sold records? Detachable ticket stubs? Checklists? And/or physical inventory? If so, how often? With the observation method (the eyeball system), unless the people using it have an unusually sharp sense of quantity and sales patterns, it is difficult to keep a satisfactory check on merchandise depletion. It means that you record shortages of goods or reorders as the need for them occurs to you. Without a better checking system, orders may only be placed at the  time of the salesmans regular visit, regardless of when they are actually needed. Although it may be the simplest system, it also can often result in lost sales or production delays. Detachable stubs or tickets placed on merchandise provide a good means of control. The stubs, containing information identifying the articles, are removed at the time the items are sold. The accumulated stubs are then posted regularly to the perpetual inventory system by hand or through the use of an optical scanner. A checklist, often provided by wholesalers, is another counting tool. The checklist provides space to record the items carried, the selling price, cost price, and minimum quantities to be ordered of each. It also contains a column in which to note whether the stock on hand is sufficient and when to reorder. This is another very simple device that provides the level of information required to make knowledgeable decisions about effective inventory management. Most smaller operations today, except for the very smallest, are using some form of a perpetual online system to record the movement of inventories into and out of their facilities. In a retail operation, the clerk at the register merely scans the ticket with a reader, and the system shows the current price and removes the item from the inventory control system. A similar process occurs in a manufacturing operation, except that the sale is actually a transfer of the inventory from control to production. This is a particularly critical system in a large operation such as a grocery store where they regularly maintain 12,000 plus items. Often a vendor will provide on-site or computerized assistance needed to help their smaller customers maintain a good understanding of their own inventory levels and so keep them in balance Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 3 of 8 Inventory Control Records Inventory control records are essential to making buy-and-sell decisions. Some companies control their stock by taking physical inventories at regular intervals, monthly or quarterly. Others use a dollar inventory record that  gives a rough idea of what the inventory may be from day to day in terms of dollars. If your stock is made up of thousands of items, as it is for a convenience type store, dollar control may be more practical than physical control. However, even with this method, an inventory count must be taken periodically to verify the levels of inventory by item. Perpetual inventory control records are most practical for big-ticket items. With such items it is quite suitable to hand count the starting inventory, maintain a card for each item or group of items, and reduce the item count each time a unit is sold or transferred out of inventory. Periodic physical counts are taken to verify the accuracy of the inventory card. Out-of-stock sheets, sometimes called want sheets, notify the buyer that it is time to reorder an item. Experience with the rate of turnover of an item will help indicate the level of inventory at which the unit should be reordered to make sure that the new merchandise arrives before the stock is totally exhausted. Open-to-buy records help to prevent ordering more than is needed to meet demand or to stay within a budget. These records adjust your order rate to the sales rate. They provide a running account of the dollar amount that may be bought without departing significantly from the pre- established inventory levels. An open-to-buy record is related to the inventory budget. It is the difference between what has been budgeted and what has been spent. Each time a sale is made, open-to-buy is increased (inventory is reduced). Each time merchandise is purchased; open-to-buy is reduced (inventory is increased). The net effect is to help maintain a balance among product lies within the business, and to keep the business from getting overloaded in one particular area. Purchase order files keep track of what has been ordered and the status or expected receipt date of materials. It is convenient to maintain these files by using a copy of each purchase order that is written. Notations can be added or merchandise needs updated directly on the copy of the purchase order with respect to changes in price or delivery dates. Supplier files are valuable references on suppliers and can be very helpful in negotiating  price, delivery and terms. Extra copies of purchase orders can be used to create these files, organized alphabetically by supplier, and can provide a fast way to determine how much business is done with each vendor. Purchase order copies also serve to document ordering habits and procedures and so may be used to help reveal and/or resolve future potential problems. Returned goods files provide a continuous record of merchandise that has been returned to suppliers. They should indicate amounts, dates and reasons for the returns. This information is useful in controlling debits, credits and quality Issues. Price books, maintained in alphabetical order according to supplier, provide a record of purchase prices, selling prices, markdowns, and markups. It is important to keep this record completely up to date in order to be able to access the latest price and profit information on materials purchased for resale. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 4 of 8 Controlling Inventory Controlling inventory does not have to be an onerous or complex proposition. It is a process and thoughtful inventory management. There are no hard and fast rules to abide by, but some extremely useful guidelines to help your thinking about the subject. A five step process has been designed that will help any business bring this potential problem under control to think systematically thorough the process and allow the business to make the most efficient use possible of the resources represented. The final decisions, of course, must be the result of good judgment, and not the product of a mechanical set of formulas. STEP 1: Inventory Planning Inventory control requires inventory planning. Inventory refers to more than the goods on hand in the retail operation, service business, or manufacturing facility. It also represents goods that must be in transit for  arrival after the goods in the store or plant are sold or used. An ideal inventory control system would arrange for the arrival of new goods at the same moment the last item has been sold or used. The economic order quantity, or base orders, depends upon the amount of cash (or credit) available to invest in inventories, the number of units that qualify for a quantity discount from the manufacturer, and the amount of time goods spend in shipment. STEP 2: Establish order cycles If demand can be predicted for the product or if demand can be measured on a regular basis, regular ordering quantities can be setup that take into consideration the most economic relationships among the costs of preparing an order, the aggregate shipping costs, and the economic order cost. When demand is regular, it is possible to program regular ordering levels so that stock-outs will be avoided and costs will be minimized. If it is known that every so many weeks or months a certain quantity of goods will be sold at a steady pace, then replacements should be scheduled to arrive with equal regularity. Time should be spent developing a system tailored to the needs of each business. It is useful to focus on items whose costs justify such control, recognizing that in some cases control efforts may cost more the items worth. At the same time, it is also necessary to include low return items that are critical to the overall sales effort. If the business experiences seasonal cycles, it is important to recognize the demands that will be placed on suppliers as well as other sellers.  A given firm must recognize that if it begins to run out of product in the middle of a busy season, other sellers are also beginning to run out and are looking for more goods. The problem is compounded in that the producer may have already switched over to next season’s production and so is not interested in (or probably even capable of) filling any further orders for the current selling season. Production resources are likely to already be allocated to filling orders for the next selling season. Changes in this momentum would be extremely costly for both the supplier and the customer. On the other hand, because suppliers have problems with inventory control, just as sellers do, they may be interested in making deals to induce customers to purchase inventories offseason, usually at substantial savings. They want to shift the carrying costs of purchase and storage from the seller to the buyer. Thus, there are seasonal implications to inventory control as Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 5 of 8 well, both positive and negative. The point is that these seasonable implications must be built into the planning process in order to support an effective inventory management system. STEP 3: Balance Inventory Levels Efficient or inefficient management of merchandise inventory by a firm is a major factor between healthy profits and operating at a loss. There are both market-related and budget-related issues that must be dealt with in terms of coming up with an ideal inventory balance: †¢ †¢ †¢ Is the inventory correct for the market being served? Does the inventory have the proper turnover? What is the ideal inventory for a typical retailer or wholesaler in this business? To answer the last question first, the ideal inventory is the inventory that does not lose profitable sales and can still justify the investment in each part of its whole. An inventory that is not compatible with the firm’s market will lose profitable sales. Customers who cannot find the items they desire in one store or from one supplier are forced to go to a competitor. Customer will be especially irritated if the item out of stock is one they would normally expect to find from such a supplier. Repeated experiences of this type will motivate customers to become regular customers of competitors. STEP 4: Review Stocks Items sitting on the shelf as obsolete inventory are simply dead capital. Keeping inventory up to date and devoid of obsolete merchandise is another critical aspect of good inventory control. This is particularly important with style merchandise, but it is important with any merchandise that is turning at a lower rate than the average stock turns for that particular business. One of the important principles newer sellers frequently find difficult is the need to mark down merchandise that is not moving well. Markups are usually highest when a new style first comes out. As the style fades, efficient sellers gradually begin to mark it down to avoid being stuck with large inventories, thus keeping inventory capital working. They will begin to mark down their inventory, take less gross margin, and return the funds to working capital rather than have their investment stand on the shelves as obsolete merchandise. Markdowns are an important part of the working capital cycle. Even though the margins on markdown sales are lower, turning these items into cash allows you to purchase other, more current goods, where you can make the margin you desire. Keeping an inventory fresh and up to date requires constant attention by any organization, large or small. Style merchandise should be disposed of before the style fades. Fad merchandise must have its inventory levels kept in line with the passing fancy. Obsolete merchandise usually must be sold at less than normal markup or even as loss leaders where it is priced more competitively. Loss leader pricing strategies can also serve to attract more consumer traffic for the business thus creating opportunities to sell other merchandise as well as well as the obsolete items. Technologically obsolete merchandise should normally be removed from inventory at any cost. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 6 of 8 Stock turnover is really the way businesses make money. It is not so much  the profit per unit of sale that makes money for the business, but sales on a regular basis over time that eventually results in profitability. The stock turnover rate is the rate at which the average inventory is replaced or turned over, throughout a pre-defined standard operating period, typically one year. It is generally seen as the multiple that sales represent of the average inventory for a given period of time. Turnover averages are available for virtually any industry or business maintaining inventories and having sales. These figures act as an efficient and effective benchmark with which to compare the business in question, in order to determine its effectiveness relative to its capital investment. Too frequent inventory turns can be as great a potential problem as too few. Too frequent inventory turns may indicate the business is trying to overwork a limited capital base, and may carry with it the attendant costs of stock-outs and unhappy and lost customers. Stock turns or turnover, is the number of times the average inventory of a given product is sold annually. It is an important concept because it helps to determine what the inventory level should be to achieve or support the sales levels predicted or desired. Inventory turnover is computed by dividing the volume of goods sold by the average inventory. Stock turns or inventory turnover can be calculated by the following equations: Stock Turn = Cost of Goods Sold Average Inventory at Cost Stock Turn = Sales Average Inventory at Sales Value If the inventory is recorded at cost, stock turn equals cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory. If the inventory is recorded at sales value, stock turn is equal to sales divided by average inventory. Stock turns four times a year on the average for many businesses. Jewelry stores are slow, with two turns a year, and grocery stores may go up to 45 turns a year. If the dollar value of a particular inventory compares favorably with  the industry average, but the turnover of the inventory is less than the industry average, a further analysis of that inventory is needed. Is it too heavy in some areas? Are there reasons that suggest more inventories are needed in certain categories? Are there conditions peculiar to that particular firm? The point is that all markets are not uniform and circumstances may be found that will justify a variation from average figures. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 7 of 8 In the accumulation of comparative data for any particular type of firm, a wide variation will be found for most significant statistical comparisons. Averages are just that, and often most firms in the group are somewhat different from that result. Nevertheless, they serve as very useful guides for the adequacy of industry turnover, and for other ratios as well. The important thing for each firm is to know how the firm compares with the averages and to deter- mine whether deviations from the averages are to its benefit or disadvantage. STEP 5: Follow-up and Control Periodic reviews of the inventory to detect slow-moving or obsolete stock and to identify fast sellers are essential for proper inventory management. Taking regular and periodic inventories must be more than just totaling the costs. Any clerk can do the work of recording an inventory. However, it is the responsibility of key management to study the figures and review the items themselves in order to make correct decisions about the disposal, replacement, or discontinuance of different segments of the inventory base. Just as an airline cannot make money with its airplanes on the ground, a firm cannot earn a profit in the absence of sales of goods. Keeping the inventory attractive to customers is a prime prerequisite for healthy sales. Again, the sellers inventory is usually his largest investment. It will earn profits in direct proportion to the effort and skill applied in its  management. Inventory quantities must be organized and measured carefully. Minimum stocks must be assured to prevent stock-outs or the lack of product. At the same time, they must be balanced against excessive inventory because of carrying costs. In larger retail organizations and in many manufacturing operations, purchasing has evolved as a distinct new and separate phase of management to achieve the dual objective of higher turnover and lower investment. If this type of strategy is to be utilized, however, extremely careful attention and constant review must be built into the management system in order to avoid getting caught short by unexpected changes in the larger business environment. Caution and periodic review of reorder points and quantities are a must. Individual market size of some products can change suddenly and corrections should be made. Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Edited by SCORE 471 Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 8 of 8

The Impact Of Social Policies On Wellness Essay Example for Free

The Impact Of Social Policies On Wellness Essay The continual interdependence of states in global economic relations has necessitated debates on environmental, health and social related issues, making adoption and executions of policies the remedy for the various shortcomings in various sectors. Since policies are at the core of addressing major issues, the efficiency of health policies are affected by poverty, level of education and socio-economic status. (Leigh 2004:1-2) The impact of global policies on health, nonetheless has improved the quality of life, as more awareness is been mounted, the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) stands as a tool for measuring the impact of global and public policies on health. This cuts across environment, health, gender issues, and the continual relevance of policies has been seen in the EU’s adoption of policies to protect the environment and health. (Samuel Kefee 2007: 1-4) The role of governments stemming from the Federal governments still depends on adoption and execution of policies, the other tiers of government should work alongside the policies and ensure efficiency of services. The impact of Medicaid and other non-governmental organisations shows the role of networking and cooperation towards achieving efficiency and service delivery. The impact of health issues on welfare has refocused the direction of policies towards the health and environmental sectors. More funding needs to be directed at the Medicare services. The arguments of state welfarism and health have resulted in arguments of the best way to manage the welfare of citizens. The role of public or social policy in addressing the health, environmental and other issues is however crucial, the recent trend of paediatric obesity is associated with the United States Culture of consumption of energy dense foods and less exercise. ( Krishnamoorthy, etal 2006: 1-5) A need to turn around the whole situation requires effective policies and execution.

Comparison of Subculture and Countercultures

Comparison of Subculture and Countercultures In any society there are not only cultures, but also a variety of subculture and countercultures that develop within society. Subcultures and countercultures are formed by generalizations, occupation, class, lifestyle, likes, dislikes, etc. [1] Basically subculture is a group of people that differentiate from the larger culture that they belong to. In earlier 1950s, there has been a distinction between an accepted majority style and a subculture as an active minority style. Dick Hebdige argued that a subculture is subversion to normality. Subcultures tend to be perceived as negative and have a nature of criticism. Subcultures bring together individuals who feel neglected and allow them to develop a sense of identity. [2] Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior deviates from the societal norm. Although distinct countercultural undercurrents have existed in many societies, here the term refers to a more significant, visible phenomenon that reaches critical mass and persists for a period of time. It is important to distinguish between counterculture, and subculture. [3] Subculture A subculture is a group of individuals that do share some qualities that the majority of society share, but the group has its own values, beliefs, norms, behavior, etc. Subcultures tend to be created when society endures problems or enjoys common privileges. Most individuals within a subculture have common interests and beliefs.   Types of subculture   Following are the major types of subculture. Organizational Culture A type of subculture that allows members to have solidarity, community, and social relationships that influence individual behavior. It is the way an organization deals with the environment.   Counterculture It is a type of subculture that completely disregards societys norms and values and creates new ones.   They tend to develop when people will not conform to the mainstream.   They have their own beliefs, problems with cultural integration, and have their own material culture. [1] Racial or nationality subcultures These subcultures tend to vary in their values, ambition and beliefs which get reflected in their consumption priorities, spend save patterns, purchase behavior, use of credit, social traditions and customs etc.Nowadays multiracial societies like America comprised of citizens who come from different nationalities or belong to different races. Religious subcultures: Most societies of the world today consist of people subscribing to different religions, which may differ in their beliefs, values and customs. The religious subgroups may follow different custom, have important rites of passage (like birth, marriage and death) performed in different ways and have different festivals. [4] Counter culture vs. Sub culture Counterculture can be defined as a group whose behavior deviates from the societal norm. It is different to the mainstream culture in their politics, norms, social beliefs, and way of dress and social structures. (or) A counter culture is one that reacts against the prevailing culture in place. Example: Throughout the last century examples of counterculture might be the suffragettes, the green movement, polygamists and feminists, punk movement and the infamous hippie counterculture movement of the 1960s, are formed and exist to oppose the dominant culture. All of these counter cultures have specific beliefs and values that cause social change. Counter cultures are large movements that cause social change. Counter cultures are against mainstream culture.[5] Members of a counterculture come together around their desire to reject movements within the larger, dominant culture. While members have this opposition in common, they may not share religious or political affiliations, similar socioeconomic situations, or values. Countercultures can be both negative and positive. They can also become larger when more people are involved and assimilate into the mainstream just as subcultures in general have this potential.[6] Biker Gangs, drug users, career criminals, prisoners, and terrorists have in common that they all have negative perceptions from society and are countercultures. [7] Subculture A sub culture can have its own beliefs, norms and values, but they are generally able to exist within mainstream culture. Their beliefs or manner of being may be different enough to make them stand out, but they are not at odds with society. Subculture is a culture shared and actively participated in by a minority of people within a broader culture. Examples: sub cultures might be Goths, emos, surfies, homies etc. Jews and Tea Party members are both examples of subcultures in the U.S. While the Jewish subculture is based around shared religious values, the Tea Party movement was primarily founded around dissatisfaction with the political status. Sub cultures tend to also share common interests and experience. Sub cultures can exist within mainstream culture.[5] Sub cultures are united by common aesthetics, interests and experience. Subcultures are distinctive segments of the larger culture of a region or society that are marked by shared interests in music or cultural phenomena, membership in a specific ethnic or religious group, or shared socioeconomic status. While some subcultures exist in contradistinction to the societys dominant culture, others exist harmoniously within it. Subcultures incorporate large parts of the broader cultures of which they are part, but in specifics they may differ radically. Subcultures bring together like-minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and allow them to develop a sense of identity. Subcultures can be distinctive because of the age, ethnicity, class, location, and/or gender of the members. [6] The qualities that determine a subculture as distinct may be linguistic, aesthetic, religious, political, sexual, geographical or a combination of factors. They certainly play an important role in any individual life and help to explain how each person develops a frame of reference. [7] Everybody has their own perceptions on society, values, and life in general. Values, attitudes, gestures, and sanctions tend to stem from the dominant culture in ones life. Throughout the dominant culture that a person spends his or her time in learning and changing through different experiences many subcultures have developed. Subcultures allow people, who share similar interests to assimilate, socialize, gives them a sense of belonging and fellowship among peers.  [8] Similarities Countercultures and subcultures both identify themselves in juxtaposition to the dominant culture of a society. Members usually dress and behave in different ways than average citizens of a society and are usually identifiable by their different appearances. Differences Culture is made up of an amalgamation of subcultures. So, a single subculture is a small segment of the larger culture, which is usually defined by shared socioeconomic status or a common cultural interest. A counterculture, on the other hand, is defined by their opposition to the dominant culture. A member of a counterculture may oppose the prevailing cultures values. Or, it could just oppose certain segments of the culture, or certain subcultures. A subculture is differs slightly from the dominant culture in a society, while a counterculture opposes the culture or subculture itself.[6] Literature review Dick Hebdige argued that a subculture is subversion to normality. Subcultures tend to be perceived as negative and have a nature of criticism. [9] According to Hebdige, subcultures are actually an alternative and reconfiguration of the dominant cultures. As his all very brief references to black and West Indian cultures suggest that he considers these cultures to be transplanted dominant cultures within British society. This misrepresentation raises the question of whether ethnic groups or minorities fit into Hebdiges notion of what constitutes either a parent culture or subculture. [10] According to Wolfgang Ferracuti, subculture is a normative system of some group or groups smaller than the whole society .This implies that there are value judgments or a social value system which is apart from and a part of a central value system. But a subculture is only partly different from the larger culture, and cannot be totally different from the culture of which it is a part; otherwise it is what Wolfgang called contra culture. This implies that the subculture has some major values in common with the dominant parent culture. The transmission of sub cultural values involves a learning process that establishes a dynamic lasting linkage between the values and the individuals .But also important to Wolfgangs subculture of violence theory is the notion that people may be born into a subculture. They argue that the black subculture actually values violence and that it is an integral component of the subculture which experiences high rates of homicide. Just as the dominant society punishes those who deviate from its norms, deviance by the comparatively non-violent individual from the norms of the violent subculture is likewise punished, either by being ostracized, or treated with disdain or indifference. Also, the more a person is integrated into this subculture, the more intensely he embraces its prescriptions of behavior, its conduct norms, and integrates them into his personality. The subculture of violence theory might be even more relevant today than it was when it was first published, especially with regard to juvenile crime. It seems to be a common fear that adolescents today are more violent and lacking in empathy than those of only a generation or two ago. Parker (1989) criticisms of the black subculture of violence model are many: First, the use of global indicators describing an entire class of people, southerners or blacks, assumes that these communities are homogeneous in values and lifestyle, an assumption that is clearly false for any group as large as these groups. Second, particularly in the case of blacks, it entails an implicit pejorative indictment of urban minority residents and communities, which is unfair and racist in nature. Finally this approach ignores the role of institutionalized racism itself in producing a link between violence and racial composition. Wolfgangs subculture of violence theory has had its share of critics. Erlanger (1974), Parker (1989), Shihadeh and Steffensmeier (1994), are just a few of the investigators who have failed to find the theory useful in explaining sub cultural violence. Other authors have found that the sub-culture of violence theory is a useful model, particularly when it is used along with other theories Benedict and Baron. Kennedy and Baron call for such an integrative approach, and assert that often, different theories may complement one another. Finally, still other researchers continue to rely upon the model. 11] Scholars differ in the characteristics and specificity they attribute to counterculture. Counterculture might oppose mass culture,  or middle-class culture and values. Counterculture is sometimes conceptualized in terms of generational conflict and rejection of older or adult values. It typically involves criticism or rejection of currently powerful institutions, with accompanying hope for a better life or a new society. Countercultures tend to peak, and then go into decline, leaving a lasting impact on mainstream cultural values. Their life cycles include phases of rejection, growth, partial acceptance and absorption into the mainstream. According to Sheila Whiteley, recent developments in sociological theory complicate and problematize theories developed in the 1960s, with digital technology, for example, providing an impetus for new understandings of counterculture. Andy Bennett writes that despite the theoretical arguments that can be raised against the sociological value of counterculture as a meaningful term for categorizing social action, like  subculture, the term lives on as a concept in social and  cultural theory to become part of a received, mediated memory.[12] Conclusion The term counter-culture is not entirely an adequate way of describing all of the changes that took place for several reasons: some changes were a progression of events throughout the century, other changes were due to scientific discoveries which have always produced new ideas and ways of looking at the world, and many changes can be better described as movements or ideologies.[14] Subcultures allow people, who share similar interests to assimilate, socialize, gives them a sense of belonging and fellowship among peers.   Sub cultural studies often involve participant-observation, and may variously emphasize sociological, anthropological, or semiotic analysis in order to address the organization and production of relational, material, and symbolic structures and systems. [15] Suggestion Healthy sub-cultures share leaderships conceptualizations of how tasks should be accomplished; how employees can advance and take on greater responsibility; how employees interact with each other; the ways in which change is accepted and accomplished; and how new knowledge is acquired and perpetuated. Distinct, healthy sub-cultures are organizationally aligned in their understanding of how they must perform to produce successful and acceptable results and outcomes. Leaders actively seeking to influence their organizations culture must consider sub-cultures. The major point here is to make sure that you are integrating and linking your sub-cultures into the broader, intended cultural objectives. Accept and foster productive sub-cultures while consistently communicating how employees must perform in order for the organization to be successful.[13]

Miltons Mosaic Law and Law of Grace Comparison :: Milton Religion Religious Law Moses Essays

Milton's Mosaic Law and Law of Grace Comparison Certainly anyone who has been involved with Sunday school at church, has taken a religion class, or has any knowledge of the Christian religion has heard of Moses, the man who carried a big stick, parted the Red Sea and led the Israelites out of slavery into the â€Å"Promised Land.† However, there is more to Moses’ story than a forty-year excursion through the desert. Besides his role in freeing his people, Moses also served as a vessel for the Word of God. The events that this man was so instrumental in have been referenced throughout history, and the Law of Moses provides the basis of John Milton’s discussion of divorce in his 1644 treatise Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. In his exposition, Milton compares the approaches on divorce put forth by the Mosaic Law and that proclaimed by the Law of Grace, and uses them to support his own beliefs on the issue. As Milton argues his case for divorce, it becomes clear that he manipulates Scripture to support his points. To understand how Milton’s use of Mosaic Law, it is crucial to understand what it is. After Moses led the Hebrews through the desert, he was enlisted by God to act as a mediator between the Him and His people. Moses received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai and received from God â€Å"multifarious enactments, by the observance of which Israel [was] to be moulded into a theocratic nation,† thus the installment of Mosaic Legislation on the Israelites. (Moses) Starting with the Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses is â€Å"the laws that God gave to the Israelites through Moses; it includes many rules of religious observances given in the first five books of the Old Testament.† (Mosaic Law) Among the guidelines set forth by God through Moses were guidelines regarding diet (Leviticus 11:3), the consecration of priests (Exodus 29:5-9) and marriage (Exodus 22:16). While the Hebrews were expected to abide by the laws laid out in the Old Testament by Moses, the coming and crucifixion of Jesus negated many of these laws, as the Law of Grace took precedence over everything prior. In his Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, Milton uses scripture from both the Old and New Testaments and argues that the Law of Moses was more lenient than that of Grace, and therefore makes more sense.

Blackberry Winter :: essays research papers

Blackberry Winter   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Robert Penn Warren’s â€Å"Blackberry Winter† is the story of one young boy’s sudden and painfully realistic venture from behind the blissful cloak of childhood innocence into the more brutal reality of the world. Warren captures this transition through the eyes of the young and happily naà ¯ve Middle Tennessee farm boy, Seth. When the story begins, the nine year old Seth is lingering on the very edge of his innocence, but is undoubtedly still in the throws of the methodical and simple life that only a child can truly have. Before that fateful day when the unusual stranger appeared so suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, Seth led the secure and rhythmic life that comes with both ignorance and innocence. Seth having never left or even given much thought to life outside his small farm community, he had been sheltered from the true evils of the world. He had no concept of time or change, and had never needed one. That day, and that stranger, f orced him to become aware of things that were beyond his control and even made him question the very things that he had always held as the gospel truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A child’s coming of age is a universal and inevitable transition that Seth does not foresee or even expect, and until looking back on it almost thirty-five years later, he does not realize the true significance of his passage. That day Seth’s very foundations were rocked as his eyes were opened to the world and its ways. When the story begins Seth’s transition has already begun to take place, and the smooth and repetitive rhythm of his life that has always brought him so much comfort slowly begins to crumble. Even such a small and seemingly insignificant thing as not being allowed to go outside in June without shoes, something which he has always been able to do, puzzles and confuses Seth. The appearance of the odd and out of place stranger even further fascinates and bewilders the small boy. Seth’s world begins to spin even faster and stranger as he sees Dellie, a woman that he has always thought he knew so well and even refers to her as being methodical as a machine, violently strikes her son as he has never seen her do and later as Old Jebb questions Seth’s mother’s very words. Until that day, Seth has never considered the fact that things would ever any different than they always had been.

Androgyny in James Baldwins Here be Dragons Essays -- Here Dragons

Androgyny in James Baldwin's Here be Dragons The piece by James Baldwin titled â€Å"Here Be Dragons† was amazing and I definitely recommend reading it. Baldwin’s piece is mainly a plea for understanding. He argues that within every person there is a little bit of the opposite; for instance, inside every male is a little bit of femininity, just as there is some masculinity within every female. Baldwin also mentions how, many times, the things we fear are things present inside of ourselves that we wish were not. In several instances Baldwin discusses how he was made fun of by men standing in large groups and then once alone the men would try to get Baldwin to have sex with them. I believe those men clung to Baldwin because they felt the homosexual impulse within themselves, and felt that ...

Brazil Economy Essay

1. What are some of the advantages that a strong Brazilian currency does for its population, and what are some of the challenges of having a strong currency relative to another currency? Global economic forces have served Brazil well in recent years. As a leading exporter of raw materials such as Soya and iron ore, the South American nation has benefited from the Chinese-fueled commodities boom. The instability in exchange rates between currencies creates difficulties for international trade and investment, for business planning, and for national economies, with impacts on prices and inflation. 2. Explain why the Brazilian government is concerned about its balance of trade with China? They are concerned because more Brazilians are buying in China now which could damage businesses in Brazil. Brazil remains a complicated place to do business for foreign-based companies. Challenges include a highly complex and expensive tax and labor environment, burdensome bureaucracy, costly credit, lingering corruption and deep social imbalances. 3. What does a higher external demand for goods and services in a country do for the standard of living of its citizens? This would help them have a better standard of living so that they are able to buy their own homes. 1. Explain the role of capitalism in the 100-year growth of Nederlander concerts. Individual industry growth differ from each other in many ways. Indeed, no two are exactly alike. Some industries are dominated by booms. After a short recession, there is a rapid recovery that leads to a prolonged boom. Over a 100-year life of such a cycle, there might be twenty years of recession and depression followed by eighty years of prosperity accompanied by lesser fluctuations. The Nederlander’s have managed to stay in business for over 100 years which shows that being a small business with a well grounded foundation could be the key to success. 2. Why is Nederlander able to charge higher prices for small theater performances when audiences could pay less at stadium concerts? Because the space has limited seating but big name entertainment they are able to monopolize off of the consumer by charging higher prices to see a big name  entertainer. As a consumer I would pay the higher prices so that I am able to be in a smaller concert environment in my opinion less people mean less problems. 3. Would you expect the current slump in the U.S economy to affect Nedelander’s ticket sales? Why or Why Not? I don’t think it would have any affect on ticket sales, because even though the economy is in a slump we still crave entertainment, and socialization therefore people would find the money to do something that they would enjoy.

Huffman Trucking

Huffman Trucking Infrastructure Assessment Huffman Trucking is first major freight carrier that has managed to grow tremendously over the past few years (Huffman Trucking, 2008). The company has 925 drivers, 425 support personnel, 800 road tractors, and 2100 trailers. The organization offers various customers base and distribution capacity. The mission of Huffman Trucking is to increase the profit and become a growing, and adaptable company. Huffman Trucking plans to leverage the automated information system, and technology to provide better customer service and business performance. Information System InfrastructureHuffman Trucking is a major transportation company that has four facilities around the country. The organization anticipated that knowledge worker information systems infrastructure requires improvement and to solve this problem, organization implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The infrastructure of Huffman Trucking is as follows: Networks The corporate office of Huffman Trucking is in Cleveland, Ohio. The organization uses Avaya Digital Phone System at Ohio and Missouri locations, and private branch exchange (PBX) and plain old telephone system (POTS) at New Jersey and California locations.The organization uses different workstations with wireless bar code, scanner, shipper, and telephone at Ohio. The location at California uses Nortel Digital Phone System that supports voice overIP (VOIP) connected to an Ethernet connection. The use of Avaya phone is very beneficial for small and mid-sized organizations (Caroll Communications, 2008). Network Protocols and Topologies Huffman Trucking uses different network protocols, to send and receive data, like IPX/SPX, and TCP/IP. Huffman Trucking employs star-ring topology, and token ring topology.The existing infrastructure of Huffman Trucking includes mix of networks. The organization implements local area network (LAN), and wide area network (WAN). The four locations of Huffman Trucking e stablish LAN locally and WAN supports the connectivity of its four locations. The LAN implements Internet and Intranet facility to perform business operations. Network Security The network security at Huffman Trucking involves backing up the data that allows copying critical business data. The organization also uses physical security that includes video monitoring, and biometrics protection.The organization developed in-house system to track the employees for operational and financial data. Information System Huffman Trucking implemented human resources information system (HRIS) that manages employees at enterprise level. The organization analyzes the data regarding new hires, and existing employees’ performance reviews. HRIS provides four functionalities including capturing employee personal information, maintaining state and federal level compliance procedures, capturing employee/labor relations information, and tracking the applicants.HRIS system provides the organization a central place to capture, access, and keep employees’ and applicants’ records. Issues and Opportunities Huffman Trucking information system allows performing daily tasks. The information system provides the functionality for distributing, receiving, and tracking information. The information system also provides processes for sales, service, vehicle maintenance, ordering, scheduling, contracting, general ledger, and payroll. The problems of the information system include downtime, and incorrect information.The problems of information system result into severe issues such as wrong payroll, maintenance logs, and improper customer tracking. These problems affect organizational performance, and cause penalties. The management fears that the rapid growth, and the problems can result into loses, and thus resulting in not meeting the future needs of the organization. To meet the requirements, management has implemented ERP that integrates all the processes of the organizatio n.ERP also integrate all the four locations, and the business components like customer ordering, tracking the order, generating the bill, order delivery, distribution, and after sales service (Huffman Trucking, 2008). Huffman Trucking plans to track the vehicles with tracking devices. The tracking devices enables the organization to measure, analyze freight delivery, and performances. The tracking device ensures accurate delivery time, and tracking shipments on the way. The database at Huffman Trucking will allow capturing, and maintaining the information at its four locations.The database will also support the workers by providing the ability to track the trucks like when a truck requires maintenance work. The database can also capture the information generated from tracking devices and can help drivers to complete tasks on time. Huffman Trucking can make use of distance information and distribution schedule to guarantee the shipments. The trucks can have scheduled maintenance and can avoid problems due to non-maintenance. The database will help in maintaining records, inventory information, and vendor related ordering at appropriate time.Huffman Trucking plans to develop an information system, and database that suffice the requirements. Huffman Trucking plans to become a warehousing delivery supplier with providing the shipments just in time (Huffman Trucking, 2008). The implementation of just in time shipments, ERP, and vehicle tracking devices can enable Huffman Trucking to provide abilities to knowledge workers to improve its service. Huffman Trucking looks forward to improve productivity, better management and customer satisfaction with its connectivity between locations.To sustain company’s growth and focus on the customers, Huffman Trucking should build an understanding of decision-making process of customers. The company can avail the opportunity to initiate a customer audit that allows tracking of orders from ordering to shipment, and delivery . If Huffman Trucking has automated processes, and required information system then knowledge workers can manage the productive outcomes. Knowledge workers employ the automated systems effectively with the help of better decision-making, and appropriate infrastructure.Huffman Trucking future policies, designs, and practices can help in accomplishing the goals and objectives of the organization. Conclusion Huffman Trucking recognized that organization has facing severe problem with the increase in business. To meet the challenges, company has decided to implement an ERP that will ensure integration of business operations. The ERP will automate the business processes like customer ordering, tracking the order, generating the bill, order delivery, distribution, and after sales service.Vehicle tracking device can ensure accurate delivery time, and tracking shipments on the way. The tracking devices enable the organization to measure performances, and provide freight delivery analysis.Re ferences Huffman Trucking (2008). Huffman trucking. Virtual Organizations. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/PortBus. htm Carroll Communications (2008). Avaya Business Telephone Systems. Retrieved from http://www. carrollcommunications. com/

Photosynthesis And Cellular Respiration Review Answers

What is the equation for photosynthesis? CA + OH ; C6H1206 + 602 6. What are suspended in the fluid strata Of chloroplasts? Stacks of ayatollahs called grand 7. _ Photosynthesis/Diocletian Pathway_ is a series of linked chemical reactions from which energy from the sun is converted into chemical energy in the form of organic compounds. 8. What is the purpose of chlorophyll? Absorb light energy Why is it green? Green Color reflected 9. What can happen to light when it strikes an object? Reflected, Absorbed, and Transmitted 10. What happens when chlorophyll absorbs light?Electrons are raised to a higher energy level 11. Where do the electron from a chlorophyll molecule go when they move to a higher energy level? Electron transport chain 12. Electrons found in photosynthesis are eventually replaced by electrons from _photosynthesis II . 13. Where does the oxygen come from that is produced in photosynthesis? Water 14. What is the major gas byproduct of photosynthesis? Oxygen 15. Photosyn thesis occurs in the ethylated membrane and converts light energy into chemical energy. 16. What process provides the energy to produce TAP molecules? Photosynthesis 17.Ethylated membrane is where electrons return to their original energy levels. 8. Calvin_ Cycle creates the carbohydrates needed for energy and growth in photosynthesis. What other organic molecules are produced? Proteins and Lipids 19. Name the two prod cuts of the light reaction in photosynthesis that provide energy for the Calvin Cycle. TAP and NADIA 20. What does the Calvin Cycle require? TAP and NADIA Can it occur in light and dark conditions? Yes What does the Calvin Cycle generate? Glucose 21 . Where does the TAP for the Calvin Cycle come from for the production of carbohydrate molecules?Light Reactions of photosynthesis 22. Where do all the carbon atoms in organic lessees ultimately come from? Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere 23. Why is TAP important? Essential for all tasks necessary for cell's life 24. Wha t gas is produced in photosynthesis necessary for cellular respiration? Oxygen 25. What is the equation for cellular respiration? C6H1206 + 602 CHIC + OH + energy (TAP) 26. What process breaks down food molecules to release stored energy? Cellular Respiration 27. What occurs during glycoside? Molecule of glucose is split, two molecules of Pyrrhic Acid are made, and 2 Tap's are produced.Is glycoside an aerobic or anaerobic reaction? Anaerobic 28. What is the process that takes place when organic compounds are broken down anaerobic (without oxygen)? Fermentation 29. What is produced in muscles when you exercise vigorously in the absence of necessary oxygen? Lactic Acid 30. Name the three stages of cellular respiration. Glycoside, Krebs (Citric Acid) Cycle, and Electron Transport Chain What are the two main stages for cellular respiration? Glycoside and Aerobic Respiration Which stage prod cues the most energy? Electron Transport Chain 31 NADIA, CA, and FADDY are formed during the Kreb s Cycle. 32.What two aerobic stages in cellular respiration reduce most of the TAP needed for life, break down glucose into Carbon Dioxide, water, and TAP? Krebs Cycle and Electron Transport Chain 33. What are the end products of the electron transport chain in cellular respiration? Water and Tap's 34. Electrons combine with oxygen and protons to form water at the end of the electron transport chain . 35. When living cells break down molecules, what is the form of energy stored and energy released Stored as TAP and heat is released 36. What two molecules donate the electrons for the electron transport chain? FADDY and NADIA and H2O

Organizational Behaviorâ€A Definition Essay

Stephen P. Robbins states in the â€Å"Organizational Behavior 9/e† textbook that Organizational Behavior is a field of study, because many people in the organizational field spend time examining the behavior of people (p.1) . I learned in my prior Organizational Behavior class in undergraduate school, that Organizational Behavior is a â€Å"fractional field† of study because of the various disciplines that it encompasses. There are disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Economics, along with applied fields of study such as Industrial Psychology, Political Science, Labor Relations, Human Resource Management, and Organizational Development. For this reason, it is an â€Å"Applied Science.† Organizations themselves are ever changing, as are the people in them. The organizations adapt to change better than the people do. People are resistant to change, and are comfortable with what they know from past behaviors. Robbins states that, â€Å"thre e major aspects of behavior† are focused on when examining the behavior of people in work settings. The three aspects are â€Å"individuals, groups, and structures (p.1).† When examining individuals, there are three topics that are researched. These are how personality, attitudes, and motivation affect work (p.1). There is a lot of attention being paid to the behavior of employees of groups, because of the evolution of team formation over the last few years. Robbins states that people â€Å"work under a certain structure (p. 1).† This is where socialization and the organizational culture affect employees. Socialization is where an employee joins an organization, and forms expectations about what the organization will do for them, plus what they will do for the organization. The organizational culture is developed over time, and is a â€Å"pattern of shared values and beliefs.† There should be a fit between culture, people, tasks, strategy, and structure. This is why the research on Organizational Behavior is more of a â€Å"systematic study† than just relying on â€Å"intuition† alone (p. 1). It is believed that Organizational Behavior and Organizational Culture are tied together, and when the t wo are combined, the outcomes may affect performance. The best example that I have of Organizational Behavior, Culture, and Socialization being tied together in a work setting is when I worked for the Nutrition and Food Service (N&FS) Department a several years ago. The employees in the medical center kitchen were bonded together by  time in job. Most of the staff had been working together for years. They were not receptive to new employees, and I always loved to work. There were two or three â€Å"clicks† or groups. I was lucky and ended up with the â€Å"good employees† that liked to work. There was one group that were WG-3s and they thought that they were high enough in the organization that they did not have to do anything. I would do all of my work, and two other ladies, Carol, and Geraldine, would all get together and clean stock rooms and walk-in coolers. I had been told to slow down, because I was making the older people look bad to the supervisor. I told them that they were making themselves look bad. When I got a full-time job above some of the part-timers that had been there for years, I was â€Å"black-balled.† I had to tell my husband (married at the time) that they may call and tell him that I was having an affair (their favorite thing to do), and that he just had to ignore them. The old VA culture was one that employees could stand around and do nothing, while a few employees did everything. After a few employees of that service got fired, they learned that it was a â€Å"right to work† agreement and most have started to pick up the pace in recent years. Since I have been out of that job, I see the employees at break, and realize how much all have in common. I am in a wild position at this time. I have just learned that I was qualified for a job as a Supervisor in N&FS and am going to be scheduled for an interview. Since I know their past behaviors, I bet some of them are really hoping that I do not get the job, and the ones that told me to slow down, I bet they are really hoping that I do not get the job. References http://guest:guest@webct.prenhall.com/SCRIPT/Behavior/scripts/student/serve_page?920055142+Chapter1/notes3.htm. Robbins, Stephen P., 2002. Accessed from the Internet on March 5, 2002. Notes from prior Organizational Behavior lecture class from East Tennessee State University, 2000.

Alexander III

â€Å"In terms of both personality and policies, Alexander Ill did not posses the qualities necessary for a successful ruler of late 19th-century Russia† – to what extent to you agree with this Judgment? Whilst the Judgment could be considered well-founded, its validity is a matter of opinion, depending on how one defines the qualities of a ‘successful ruler' of Russia in the late sass, which policies contribute to this success and what, overall, makes a Tsar a success or a failure (if the matter can be categorized so dictatorially).Disregarding the technicalities of the Judgment, although Alexander Ill may not have assessed all the qualities that would have classed him as a successful Tsar, he was not entirely lacking in them – nor in his policies – therefore meaning that the statement is not entirely correct. Before discussing what made a successful 19th century Russian autocrat, it must be ascertained what ‘successful' entails: in this case, it would be achieving the aims of the autocrat/autocracy.The primary aim of an autocrat in the sass would be to preserve or extend the autocracy and its power both internally and internationally, meaning that there would be few or no concessions of power and that the Tsar would appear as a forceful, formidable figure to both its allies and enemies and in the eyes of citizens of the Russian Empire in both the motherland and its annexes. This was obviously extremely important to Alexander Ill, given his ‘Manifesto of Unshakeable Autocracy in April 1881.Secondary aims may have varied from Tsar to Tsar but for Alexander these were: the rejection of democracy and the reversal of Alexander SIS liberalism, which fitted neatly with the preservation of autocracy; the removal of opposition that had arisen during Alexander SIS reign, including crushing the threat of revolution; and the economic and industrial modernization of Russia, moving it towards becoming a ‘Great Power'.And of course, he would have to possess the support of the majority Russian people, though this was generally a given, as even – if not especially – those who had never seen the Tsar were convinced of his positions as ‘gods anointed' and their ‘Little Father'. Depending on how high a regard the Tsar is held in, it could be suggested that humanitarian aims were present however, for the purposes of this essay, this will not be included, as an overview of Alexander Ills reign suggest that whilst he made some inclusion for his workers and subjects, many freedoms and rights were compromised to further the ‘greater good'.Autocracy generally protects the autocrat from criticism of personal traits, though, if in possession of some or lacking in others, it may make the autocrat's rule easier or harder. To be both a highly autocratic ruler and to be successful, one would have had to appear as both ruthless and honest, likeable yet formidable, as the ‘little f ather' to the peasants whilst also appearing as working to protect the upper class and as incredibly patriotic, though not to the extent that it would disadvantage the country.An well rounded education in militarily, state and economic matters, though not technically a personality trait, would also be beneficial for a Tsar to possess, allowing him to be thoughtful and therefore to curb any headstrong impulsiveness he may have had. In terms of policy, depending on the Tsar's aims, how well they supported of achieved those aims and how well they were received helped his achievement of prosperity in his role as successful and popular policies make for a successful and popular rule.Despite this, it must be noted that although a Tsar had the potential to cake or break the country, advisors often tempered him, especially if those advisors had previously been influential in his life, meaning a Tsar's successfulness could be down to more than Just his personality or the policies he made. In terms of preserving the autocracy, and reversing the steps towards democracy his father had taken, Alexander Ill was arguably very successful, especially in his dealings with revolutionary groups and opposition in the sass and sass.After his fathers assassination by members of the terrorist group the ‘People's Will' – ‘Normandy Volta' – the Tsar ruthlessly cracked down on groups and organizations hat opposed him through the return of rigid censorship, exiles to Siberia and executions, such as the hanging of Alexandra Llanos and four others in 1887.The policy that allowed his authorities more power in pursuing opposition groups was the 1881 Statute of State Security, which gave the state the power to declare an area of the country under ‘extraordinary protection' and to therefore impose what essentially amounted to martial law: the banning of public meetings could be banned, the closing and restriction of schools, the extension of powers of the police especially the Koruna) and the arrest of anybody who was deemed ‘liberal' or in opposition to the regime.Furthermore, whilst the restrictions of censorship were resented by many (especially the revolutionaries, liberals and those calling for social change) it certainly did slow the spread of anti-tsarist ideas that had contributed to the dislike of autocracy and later the assassination of Alexander II. The combination of the restrictions on physically forming opposition groups and the restrictions on the spread of ideologies made it difficult for revolutionaries to even arm groups, let alone for them to actually perform any revolutionary actions.Whilst the methods through which Alexander Ill kept control of Russia were radical, conservative and incredibly harsh, they were no less effective for that and ensured a fairly stable, though oppressive, reign for him making him successful in his preservation of autocracy and the removal of the threat of revolution in his time. Econom ically and industrially, Russia was lagging behind Europe in the late sass.Alexander Ill intended to change that through a protectionist economic policy, imposing customs duties on imported goods to recover Russian's economy and allowing rapid industrial and infrastructural growth – the latter intending to an increase in the number of workers in industrial areas – and was fairly successful in the matter. He was also successfully frugal in accounting in state finances, though Russian's expenditure on debt was still fairly high.With his ministers Bungee, Witted & Yesterdays he achieved his aim of a major boost of progress both economically and industrially, whilst also attempting to improve agricultural production – evidence of this success being the 8% per annum Roth in Russian's economy. Antithetical to the progress made was the social conditions that went along with it. Living conditions in towns and cities were mostly poor and often factory work paid poorly, l eaving poverty, overcrowding and discontent to fester with the workers.In addition to this, though its efficiency improved, agriculture was exploited to the extent that major famines were caused, the largest in 1891 , as emphasis was placed on exporting the agricultural products, rather than letting peasants provide from themselves with them. High taxes were also placed on peasants to fund the instruction of railway lines, such as the Trans-Siberian Railway, and this furthered the poverty experienced by many in both developed and rural areas, though it did allow for improvement in the internal transportation of goods and of people (another successfully achieved aim).There was a definite lack of basic societal care in Alexander Ill, yet he was not entirely negligent in his role of the ‘Little Father' to his subjects: The Peasant Land Bank was set up in 1883, giving cheap loans to allow peasants to buy their own land; redemption payments were lowered, allowing extremely poor pea sants to move emend subsidence farming; and, in towns and cities, factories were legislated with working hours established and an inspectorate employed.In some ways, his work for the ‘greater good' could be considered more characteristic of a successful Tsar than humanitarianism would be as a Tsar's first duty was to God and his country, meaning that improvement of the country should be attempted no matter what the cost to its people (who were supposed to shared his loyalties, given his adopted slogan of ‘Nationality, Orthodoxy, Autocracy.As far as foreign policy goes, Alexander Ills title as the ‘Peacekeeper' Tsar is perhaps s deserved as his fathers title the Tsar ‘Liberator' was; though his policies successfully kept the peace, it was most likely not for pacifistic, humanitarian reasons (as far as we know, or can deduct) but rather to allow for Russia to improve practically. Evidence of this is that, although diplomatically peaceful, the Tsar opposed doctr ines of peace fairly strongly, preferring the view that a nation must be prepared for war in order to avoid it.No major wars occurred during his reign, and given the problems that the Crimean War had left in its wake, this was a definite success on his part. Ensuring a tentative peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary with the Three Emperors' Alliance with the renewal of it in 1881, Alexander Ill successfully gained security for the first few years of his reign.The circumnavigation of collapse of this from 1885-1887 due to conflict in the Balkans potentially avoided any major problems for Russia and instead left them option to pursue Franco-Russian policy to fill the vacuum left by Russian's estrangement from Germany & Austria-Hungary, earning another success for the Tsar in his foreign policy.Of course, the fact collapse of the Three Emperors' Alliance, along with the tensions n the Balkans (though a continuance from previous Tsar's agendas) could be counted as a failing on Alexande r part, but this is largely negated by his other successes, such his cautious avoidance of conflict with any European or Asian powers whilst gradually expanding Russian influence and power.Contrary to the success Alexander had with his foreign policy, a domestic policy that mostly failed and caused much resentment with in the Russian Empire was Rustication – the attempted unification of the Russian Empire under one ruler, one religion, one language and one culture. In abstract, Rustication would supposedly eave united the peoples of the Russian Empire and wiped out the threat of revolution and made Russia a dominant power in Europe, however all it did in reality was anger those whose cultures, religions or languages were being repressed, and spawn resentment towards the Tsar in all corners of his Empire.Obviously it was a policy that failed, given that it had been intended to quell revolutionary action and unify the state when, instead, it caused further divisions between the myriad of ethnicities present in Russia and actually grew revolutionary movements in areas like Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. For Alexander Ill to be classed as successful the personal qualities needed for a ruler and the policies that may have been needed to achieve his aims would have been a balancing act of epic proportions – something that only somebody who had been raised to be a ruler could manage to do with any degree of success.As the second son of Alexander II, Alexander Ill was not expected to become Tsar and was educated only to the standard of a Grand Duke of the period, the finer points of ruling a country were not taught to him until his brother Nicolas died in 1865. Despite him being described as a gruff, narrow minded and fairly crude (Queen Victoria described him as â€Å"a sovereign she does not look upon as a gentleman†) Alexander Ill was of true Russian character: a deeply religious, moral & honest man with an imposing figure and fiery temperament .These traits would have fitted the profile of a Tsar fairly well in abstract but, in reality, the coarseness of Alexander character prevented them from being viewed as such. Alexander natural conservatism was likely furthered by the assassination of his father by radicals, and by the influence of Photostatted – his reactionary tutor – ND that the dangers that liberalism connoted, given the numerous attempts on his fathers life, and later on his own.However, conservatism obviously was not a bad trait to possess in the late 19th century, as the previous Tsar's liberalism had granted freedoms to those who would wish to end autocracy and in return had been granted a caved in skull. Gruffness of nature was characteristic of Alexander and, whilst it may have looked upon degradingly by the other nobles of Europe, it gained him a certain kind of respect from his people as he gave not only an impression of solidity and strength, UT also one of rough-cut solidarity with his peo ple.For an long period of time, the Romano Tsars had been untouchable, not only as divine, but also in the distinctions of class between them and their subjects, therefore having a Tsar who was relatable, but not ‘soft', as Alexander II may have been thought of as, was highly desirable. As far as being liked or admired as a person, Alexander was well liked by sloppiness and many of the Russian peasants who felt a ruler who was suspicious of the west, highly patriotic and characteristic of the ideal Russian man was one they could purport, and consequently, one who would be successful.On a slightly humorous note, an example of a quality that may have proved endearing to the typical Russian worker was his love of drinking. Even after he was diagnosed with kidney problems and forbidden alcohol by his wife, Alexander continued to drink, using hidden compartments in his boots to store flasks of alcohol that, when his wife left the room, he Jokingly pulled out and swigged from. Alter nately, the lack of education and culture Alexander Ill displayed made him seem rather brutish; two traits that did not sit well with the ‘cultured' gentry who had ivied through the reign of his more cultivated father.Furthermore it seemed to go against autocratic, ruling-class propriety to have a crude, UN-gentlemanly, bear of a man ruling a country that – though tumultuous and uneven in its wealth – produced some of the finest architecture, art, music and literature in the 19th century. The late 19th century was a time when Russia was teetering on the brink of revolution, modernization and industrialization, and in keeping the revolution down whilst advancing the country fiscally was something that Alexander Ill did admirably ell, despite his flaws and failed policies.Though he may not have been a Tsar for the people, nor the ‘Liberator' his father was he, ensured the security of Russian autocracy for his reign (mostly through repression, at the expense o f liberties) therefore making him a successful Tsar overall, contrary to what the statement suggests. Additionally, though conservatism is often painted as a backwards, oppressive political view to hold, it can be argued that for Alexander Ill preserve his rule and economically/industrially bring Russia up to speed – ruling with an iron fist