Failure to Launch - 652 Words

Topic: Failure to Launch Question/Prompt: Discuss at least 2 reasons research is suggesting for young adults still living at home. This new phenomenon—young adults still living in their parents home well into their late 20s to early 30s—is proposed to be a result of many different reasons. Spend some time reading what experts suggest about this trend and address at least 2 reasons suggested. Contrary to popular belief â€Å"boomerang kids â€Å"or kids who fail to leave home, as they are called did not start during the â€Å"great recession† as numbers show. Research shows that this phenomenon has been increasing in number between the years of 1980 to 2008 (Adams, 2012). There can be several reasons that can be attributes to this. The go to†¦show more content†¦Grown children can benefit significantly from parental help. Young adults who received financial, every day and emotional support from their parents have reported clearer life goals and more satisfaction than young adults who received less parental support (Fingerman amp; Furstenburg , 2012). This closeness to parents, signals an overall change in the cultural climate of what relationships take place in people’s lives today versus in generations past. This change is made true by, delays in marriage, more Americans choosing to remain single, and high divorce rates, a tie to a parent may b e the most important bond in a young adult’s life (Fingerman amp; Furstenburg , 2012). However the negative side to this can also lead to adult children feeling stifled and there even older parents sometimes feeling as though the children will never grow up. Research shows that parents and grown children alike reported awkwardness, viewing intense parental support in adulthood as a sign of harmful over-involvement. Parents reported less gratification about their own lives if they believed their children were too dependent (Fingerman amp; Furstenburg , 2012). So although help is great, it is the idea that this help can in turn cause more good than harm that is the issue. With the economy not yet having fully come back full swing and an ever changing definition of marriage coupled withShow MoreRelatedFailure to Launch663 Words   |  3 Pagesmoving back home with their parents. This has been the case in the past and now it’s no different. There are several reasons for why young adults have returned home after leaving. In a presentation by Dr. Brooks she clearly states that children failure to launch because the lack of social and emotional development which causes them to dependent on their parents to help meet their needs (2014). According to Dunn (2012), as the economy struggles, it becomes more difficult for young people to gain theirRead MoreFailure to Launch Essay925 Words   |  4 PagesFailure to launch - According to Hala Al-Nasser reporter at USA TODAY, the biggest impact that make people stay home longer is because of lower income and less education. In the movie failure to launch, Tripp has a great job yet he stays at his parents house and doesn’t think about moving out. According to Riegels Interpretation of Development and The Family Life Cycle, there are reasons why Tripp refused to leave the nest. U.S. census data for the year 2011 showed that almost 20% of AmericansRead MoreAnalysis Of Ariane 5 Launch, The Software Failure1513 Words   |  7 PagesDuring Ariane 5 launch, the software failure occurred when an attempt to convert a 64-bit floating point number to convert a 64-bit floating point number representing the horizontal velocity to a signed/fixed 16-bit integer caused the number to overflow (become too big). The floating point number was too large to be represented in 16-bit (i.e. Ariane 4 software) and this hence caused a numeric overflow. The maximum value that can be represented in 16-bit is 32768. And the horizontal velocity whichRead MoreMeck Executive Summary1599 Words   |  7 Pagessuccess and failure of each stage during the FDA approval process; but it is not the cash flows that Merck or LAB will receive in the future. Therefore, $14 million is the maximum bid price that Merck should offer to license Davanrik. Merck has available resources to complete the dr ug testing, to manufacture and to market the drug; so it has higher bargaining power than LAB and can bid at a lower price than $14 million. According to Davanrik failure probability analysis, the overall failure is 85.45%Read MoreChallenger Case Study1338 Words   |  6 Pagescharacterize the broader context surrounding the January  1986 teleconference? What impact might  that have on the group’s decision making  process? The Challenger Launch decision on January 28th 1986, proved to be one of the crucial decisions ever made as it lead to one of space sciences most talked about disasters. The Challenger launch project was faced by a major financial constraint owing to the ongoing Vietnam War. Thiokol won the contract to build the SRBs since they asked for a lower emolumentRead MoreBackground Of Mission And Lead Up For Failure1630 Words   |  7 PagesBackground of Mission and Lead up to Failure NASA along with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) partnered up and rolled out to launch a sequence of space mission to probe neighboring planets such as Mercury, Venus, and Mars. The Mariner was considered as a robotic interplanetary probe to NASA and all space officials involved with this project. The Mariner was developed around the time of President John F. Kennedy’s administration, which was in the 1960’s. The United States was in a big race withRead MoreSpace Shuttle Challenger Case Study Solution1371 Words   |  6 Pagescountry. Based on investigation conducted by the Roger’s Commission, the O-ring seals in Challenger’s solid rocket booster (SRB) became brittle due to extreme cold temperature that caused the failure to fully seal the joint of the right SRB. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the decision made to launch space shuttle Challenger despite the issues about the O-rings raised by the engineers at Morton Thiokol, the manufacturer of the solid rocket boosters. This analysis covers the people who madeRead MoreThe Space Shuttle Challenger1683 Words   |  7 Pages The significant engineering failure that will be analyze is the Space Shuttle Challenger. In 1986, the Challenger faced many launch delays. The first delay of the Challenger was due to the expected weather front and presence of the Vice President (ENGINEERING.com). Since rain and cold temperatures were expected to move into the area, they didn’t want the Vice President to make unnecessary trips. However, the launch window became perfect weather conditions since the weather front stalled. The secondRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act And Its Corresponding Implementation Of The United States Of America Government s Healthcare Marketplace1611 Words   |  7 Pag esthe United States of America government’s healthcare marketplace (Healthcare.gov) has been highly publicized and deliberated since before its launch in October 2013. Several researchers have sought to provide possible responses and reasoning as to why the implementation of the project did not finish as expected. Factors contributing to the unsuccessful launch of the software has been attributed to problems with project management, staffing, implementation and technology which can be further brokenRead MoreUnited Cereal1477 Words   |  6 Pagesrequest to launch of Healthy Berry Crunch in France? Be sure to analyze both sides: Launch and Delay Launch (summarize in a table format and then discuss). Question 2. Does United Cereal represent an example of centralized or decentralized international management? Question 3. What do you think of Brill’s Eurobrand proposals? Should she authorize the launch of Healthy Berry Crunch as the Eurobrand? What concerns do you have? How do you resolve them? Be sure to analyze both sides: Launch and Delay

The Case Lawsuit Filed Suit - 1014 Words

Now through undersigned counsel, come Defendant, Lauris Hollis (Defendant), who respectfully request that this Court grant their Motion for Summary Judgment dismissing the Plaintiff s claims against him. Defendant move this Court for a Summary Judgment on the grounds that the Plaintiff has no cause of action, no right of action or no interest in the plaintiff to institute the suit and it should be dismissed. UNDISPUTED MATERIAL FACTS 1. The Plaintiff filed suit on April 7, 2015, in Livingston Parish for a 2004 loan made to Mr. Hollis through the CFS Private Education Undergraduate Loan Program by Charter One Bank, N.A. for $26,484.00 with a â€Å"Deferral Period Margin of 4.85, Repayment Period Margin of 4.85† and a Loan Origination Fee Percentage of 9.5. 2. Mr. Hollis is enrolled FULLTIME AS A CANDIDATE for a Doctorate of Philosophy, Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences. 3. At the beginning of each of the Fall and Spring semesters from 2010 to 2012, Mr. Hollis forwarded deferment forms for Privately Insured Loans to the American Education Services. 4. On April 28, 2015, Jeremy Nusloch an attorney at the firm of Couch, Conville Blitt received notice of Mr. Hollis fulltime enrollment at LSU; however, they refuse to dismiss the case even though the loan should be in deferment. 5. Thus, Couch, Conville Blitt continue to prosecute the claim against Mr. Hollis in bad faith. 6. CFS isShow MoreRelatedCase Analysis : Roley Filed Law Lawsuit Law Suit Against His Employer839 Words   |  4 Pagesbe terminated without just cause or in a violation of law affirmed Varone (2012). A fire chief who was fired due to an alleged incompetence filed a law suit against his employer. The facts, the issues, the ruling, the rationale, a perspective, and example in which the court’s decision might be cited are addressed in this paper. The Facts Roley filed a law suit against his employer because he was fired after a hearing during a public meeting when he was unable to prevent the board of fire commissionersRead MoreCase 2 Research in Motion Essay797 Words   |  4 PagesIn this case we will be talking about the company RIM (Research in Motion) and some of the Challenges they faced to protect their Intellectual Property. Research in Motion is best known as the developer of the Blackberry smartphone. Research in Motion was involved on several Patent Litigation with the different competitors. On 1999 Glenayre Technologies (formerly known as Glenayre Electonics) filed a patent infringement suit against RIM claiming that the Inter@ctive pager line used Glenayre’sRead MoreBusiness Ethics Paper997 Words   |  4 PagesEntertainer Shirley Jones filed suit in California against the tabloid company The National Enquirer, whose home office is based in Florida. According to the suit Jones wanted to sue for damages of defamation, invasion of privacy and emotional distress. It will be discussed how a suit filed in one state and the defendant lives in another. It will be discussed the type of paper The National Enquirer is. It will be discussed the ethics behind The Enquirer trying to evade the lawsuit by claiming that CaliforniaRead MoreSex Discrimination Law Suit Against Walmart861 Words   |  4 Pages Overview of the issue Can a class be made up of more than one million women under a single employer all over the United States? In 2001 female employees at Walmart filed a class action sex discrimination law suit against Walmart stores in the district court of Columbia. The case talks about discrimination going on in the workplace a group of woman who were discriminated by their gender. Betty Dukes and five other woman were being discriminated they were under paid and denied advancement opportunitiesRead MoreShould America Keep the Affordable Care Act?810 Words   |  3 Pagesget money for healthcare there are new taxes, on those who are paid more and also on young and healthy people. The ACA currently has had six lawsuits filed against it. The Affordable Care Act keeps getting delayed by the very administration that created it. Healthcare reform has cost lots of valuable money and time, caused confusion, and generated lawsuits challenging it. The Affordable Care Act is President Obama’s new solution to provide healthcare coverage to uninsured Americans. The theory isRead More We Must Put an End to Frivolous Inmate Lawsuits Essay1453 Words   |  6 PagesInmate Lawsuits Our forefathers were bright enough to establish a system of government with a series of checks and balances to maintain a balanced government. For the past decade a series of checks and balances has begun to fail our government. In our failing system of government inmates have taken advantage of the court system and have flooded it with an inconceivable number of frivolous lawsuits. Laurel Walters, a writer for the Christian Science Monitor, investigated inmates lawsuits and foundRead MoreThe Importance Of An Integral Workforce Within The United States Economy1704 Words   |  7 Pagesanalyze the rulings from previous court cases that used the FSLA to determine possible future outcomes when a legal issue involving the statue arises. Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo: Background The war between the working class and the elite took another standoff in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, which was brought before the Supreme Court in 2015. The ruling was announced on March 22, 2016 and awarded legal victory to Bouaphakeo and his fellow workers. The case granted the workers legal compensationRead MoreAge Discrimination Lawsuit and Case Study1027 Words   |  5 PagesII. PROPOSED QUESTION: Will David prevail in his age discrimination suit against ABC? II. SHORT LEGAL ANSWER: Yes, David will prevail in his age discrimination lawsuit against ABC because the behavior of the supervisor violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). III. RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF YOUR ANSWER * Jason, a 35 yr. old employee was promoted to foreman while passing over David and has beenRead MoreLegal Process Paper1254 Words   |  6 Pagesanti-discrimination law (although only a state law will extend the deadline for an age discrimination charge) (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,  n.d.). After a charge of employment discrimination has been filed with the EEOC the employer is notified that the charge has been filed and from that point there are a number of ways that the charge can be handled. Taken from the EEOC website are the different ways in which a charge may be handled: †¢ A charge may be assigned for priority investigationRead MoreLegal Process Paper1233 Words   |  5 Pagesanti-discrimination law (although only a state law will extend the deadline for an age discrimination charge) (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,  n.d.). After a charge of employment discrimination has been filed with the EEOC the employer is notified that the charge has been filed and from that point there are a number of ways that the charge can be handled. Taken from the EEOC website are the different ways in which a charge may be handled: †¢ A charge may be assigned for priority investigation

Work Life Balance

Question: What is work life balance in a organization? Answer: Abstract: The author in this essay presents the theory of work life balance and human resource management in the organizations. The essay is based on the case study of flexibility and work life balance. Human resource management is the management of employees in an organization to accomplish the goals of the company and also to increase the employee satisfaction. Work life balance is creating a balance between work and personal life. It includes working in office along with spending time with family. It is a choice between career and personal life. Flexibility means being flexible in organization regarding the working hours. It also means choosing a career of personal choice. At present many organizations and managers have started using the theory of work life balance and flexibility for their personal benefit and have shifted from original paradigm. Excessive working hours at office leads to increase in stress and it has great impact on the health of people. The number of hours or the time th at they can spend with their employees reduces. During the economic downturn employers can facilitate work life balance through proper communication and compensation to the employees that are being laid off. Creating a balance between work and personal life is essential in order to increase productivity and happiness of employees. Introduction: The primary aim of the essay is to analyze the theories on human resource management and work life balance and examine its effectiveness on global environment. The essay discusses the theories on flexibility and work life balance. It analyzes the effect of working extra hour on its employees and organization and how it can be harmful. Human resource management is the study of the management of employees and stakeholders in the organization working together to achieve one common goal and target. The essay is based on the case study title flexibility and work life balance: who benefits. The purpose of the essay is to answer the questions based on the case study. It analyzes the how employers could facilitate work life balance during economic downturns. It also discusses the implication of excessive working hours on the performance of employee and managers. The author will use various theories to support its argument and analyzes the case study to present its argument. Work life balance prioritizing the balance between work and lifestyle. The essay discusses how organizations achieve work life balance keeping the interest of both employers and employees (Smeaton et al., 2015). Body: Human resource management is the management of employees and human resources in an organization. It includes management of people, recruitment, training, and development, performance, providing orientation and developing skills of its employees. It is designed o maximize the performance of employees in the organization. The responsibility of the human resource team in an organization is to maintain employees, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, training and development and workforce planning. The main purpose of the human resource manager in an organization is to examine and analyze that whether all the employees in an organization is satisfied or not. It focuses on maximizing the productivity of employees in an organization. The main purpose is to manage human capital in an organization. The responsibility of human resource management is also to ensure the human safety of employees in an organization. The task if human resource management is to hire the employees that posses some value that is essential to the organization to accomplish its goal (Bratton Gold, 2015). Work life balance is creating a balance between work and human lifestyle. It means creating a balance of employees so that they can earn adequate income without hampering the responsibilities of employees towards its family. Work life balance is lifestyle choice. The theory of work life balance is to prioritize between career, ambition work and lifestyle, health, leisure, family and other relationships development. Managers of various organizations often indulge its employees to work for extra hour even without paying them for the job. The research shows that working extra hour accounts for a total of seventy one billion dollar unpaid work each year. When the employees in an organization have to give an extra working hour in an organization they have to compromise the hour that they could have given to their family and leisure activities. It is the relationship between work and commitment to other relationships in life. Balance of work life and personal life is essential for employee s. It is an essential tool for stress management and is also essential to increase the productivity of the organization as well as its employees. Work life balance includes leave arrangement is an organization so that employees can five some time to family and other personal relationships. In order to increase productivity it is essential for then people to take breaks and go on a vacation. Creating a right balance between work and life will increase efficiency by giving new positivity to life (Gangwisch, 2014). The main key feature of work life balance program includes giving flexibility to its employees to choose the career of their own choice. It is essential for the human resource manager to understand the fact that different people in organizations have different needs to manage and maintain its work life balance. Work life policy programs in Australia includes flexible hours, part time work, job sharing, working from home, employee assistance program, relocation service and granting casual laves so that employees can invest time for personal needs and family time as well. The organizations should also include granting sick leaves so that people who are sick can take rest and get well to work for next day with greater enthusiasm. The main benefits of work life balance programs in organizations are that it helps the employees boost its morale so that people give hundred percent to their work and are satisfied with their work. It also helps in improving the customer service and customer s atisfaction along with employee satisfaction (Healey, 2008). Maintain a good work life balance improves the productivity, efficiency, profitability, and accountability of the organization. If the working hours are flexible in an industry or organization then many efficient workers would like to work that will automatically help the firm increase its efficiency and productivity. The major challenges with the work life balance program are that it becomes difficult for the organizations to adapt the change. The conflict between the working groups arises in an organization. The valuable time of the managers in an organization is wasted since they have to research and re write the human resource policies according to the demand of its employees (Jones et al., 2013). Flexible work arrangement is the situation or schedule that is different from the traditional schedule in the work place. It is different from the normal working pattern in an organization. Flexible work arrangement includes flexible shift timings at office, flexible work locations and flexible work arrangements. It also includes change in the patterns of work such as split shifts or job sharing. The organizations or companies cannot reject the request of flexible work arrangement from some of its employees unless it can present any visible business grounds for its rejection. Only employees who have worked in an organization for a year or greater can request for a flexible work arrangement. Flexible work arrangement includes flexi time that includes flexibility in working hours or shift timing, part time work and job sharing where the employees in an organization divide the task. The main benefits of flexible working hours in an organization is that it has more control over time, and also allows the employees to spend more time with their family (Vandello et al., 2013). Flexibility work arrangement also benefits the employers as it can make more efficient use of facilities such as desks and computers. The main issues with flexibility are trust and supervision, communication, and fairness. The human resource manager should ensure that the policies on hours of work are clear and they should also keep track of hours worked in by the employees. Flexible work arrangement also includes work locations and working from home by using telecommunication and other resources. It is essential to consider whether flexible work arrangement is beneficial or not (Allen et al., 2013). Many organizations have realized the importance and benefits of flexible work arrangement. According to some recent research seventy nine percent of the organizations are indulging in providing greater work flexibility. Many organizations are introducing part time work and flexible working hours to boost the employee morale and efficiency of the firm. Flexibility is essential in organizations as it is critical part of employee engagement strategy and is required to develop diverse high work performance in workplace. Flexibility is also essential for employers as it reduces the cost. It also provides employees to spend more time with their family. The adoption of flexibility and work life balance program benefits the employees and employers and also requires the employees to work for longer hours sometimes. This is due to the requirements that the organizations set that make it compulsory for the organizations to work for longer hours. If flexibility work arrangements are misused by b oth the employers and employees then it can have negative outcome on organization. Most of the people in Australia are dissatisfied with the balance between work life and non work life. The research shows that many people have to work for extra hour without even being paid for it. They cannot give the valuable time to their family. Most of the people work for forty eight hours and sixty percent of the people do not take regular holidays (Masuda et al., 2012). The flexibility of work arrangement has altogether moved to a new pattern according to Juliet Bourke. Flexibility instead of spreading positivity at workplace is involved in spreading negativity moving away from original paradigm. Flexibility at work arrangement now means how the employers in an organization can now get more out of fewer people. The main aim of the employers in an organization is to cost minimization and profit maximization. When fewer people come to office the cost of providing them laptop and other resource reduces. So they engage employees in getting them worked for longer hours. The employers are now focusing on reducing the work week and work arrangement in order to retain the workers. Flexibility is not always beneficial every time as the employers puts the extra workload on the other people in order to compensate the flexibility applied by the other. In this case the workload on some people increases that leads to unbalance in work and lifestyle (Darcy et al., 2013). During the time of economic downturn the working hours of many employees is reduced so that they can balance work and life through flexible work arrangement. The salaries and wages are then paid according to the time that they deliver. But in organizations where the work culture is strong organizations realize that it would not be beneficial for the firms to reduce the working hour. Instead they lay off the workers who are not productive in nature during the economic downturn. Now since the firms lay off the workers it is difficult to find the employees with good talent. Employers often put work pressure in those employees who are committed towards work so this reduces the work life balance leading to less time availability. The policy of getting more work done form employees is not productive as the people often have to work under string stress condition. Hence in the view of saving money the firm often faces loss due to low productivity from employees. Flexibility also sometimes in creases the cost for employees. In the view to save time and travel cost few employees engage in working from home. This often leads to increase in cost as most of the time they have to teleconference that leads to lots of wastage on money and cost. To reap the maximum benefit from the policy of more out of less the organizations have to be efficient. For this the organizations have to be structurally efficient and the job roles need to redesign. Due to flexibility and more out of less policy the talented employees are not properly absorbed. Flexibility has moved from its original paradigm to an extent that is necessary and inevitable. Proper management of the organization could lead to proper efficient work force having work life balance (Hill et al., 2012). Excessive working hours in an organization has negative impact and implication on both managers and employees. It has negative implication on productivity on employees and managers. Excessive working hours can be in form of stretched long working hours, overtime or extended hours per day. Long working hours not only hamper the employees and managers but also the people associated with them that includes family members, and community. It hampers the employee performance and social abnormalities as well. Long working hours result in increase in stress, sleeplessness, fatigue, and health issues that has effect on the performance of the employees and organizations. Increased working hours also posses the problems for managers as it leads to increase in production cost and production of cheap quality of goods and services. Increase in work hours can lead to increase in health problems such as lower back injury, high blood pressure, mental issues, stress, fatigue and higher suicide rates. Increased working hours also increases the risks of safety( Fursman Zodgekar, 2009).. Most importantly increase in working hours leads to decrease in productivity. Studies show that if people work more than sixty hours in a week the productivity decreases by twenty five percent. Increased working hours leads to increase in stress that in turn leads to increase in customer dissatisfaction. The main result is seen in the fall in the quality of goods and services (Fagan et al., 2012). A study in United States showed that as the overtime of work increases by ten percent the productivity decreases by 2.4 percent. There are many reasons for lower productivity because of the increase in the working hours ("Flexible working arrangements Flexibility in the workplace - Fair Work Ombudsman", 2016). One of the reasons is fatigue. When employees are too tired and stressed physically and mentally they dont perform the tasks to their best ability. This results in the fall in productivity. When the work hour increases then the work rate slows down and unproductive time increases. Long working hours also leads to increase in absenteeism that directly hampers the productivity of the organization. It is not only the employers and employees that get affected but also the community because people get irritated working for longer hours so this has impact on the behavior that they show to society.Acoording to Saltmarsh Randell-Moon 2014).If the people are not provided with proper i ncentives for working extra it leads to demoralization of employees. In this case the administrative officers and higher authority in the organization should listen to the grievances of its employees and try to make them understand their roles and responsibilities. Manager should encourage the workers by appraising the performance and work of employees. Extra incentives should be given to the people who are using their valuable time in offices by investing the valuable time. Time management techniques needs to be established in organizations in order to mitigate the ill effects of overtime on health and productivity. Managers should encourage vertical and horizontal communication in organizations. The employees should be well motivated in order to want him to work for extra hour. Working overtime has many ill effects especially on the productivity and efficiency of the organization. Performance of employees and managers will increase due to overtime only when the workers are motivat ed and appraised for their performance by giving them extra monetary value and incentive (Christensen Schneider, 2015). Acoording to (Stavrou Ierodiakonou, 2015).During economic recession many organizations tend to lay off workers. It is essential for the organization to manage the remaining work force after lay off. The managers should keep in mind that the work and life balance of its employees is preserved or not. Work life balance during economic downturns can also be taken care of by the managers by providing monetary compensation to the ones who are being terminated for no valid reason. Managers can also use the insurance policies and retirement plans to benefit the employees and maintain their work life balance. The remaining employees in the business operations are the ones who would bring the organizations into competitive force. So these employees should be compensated by the managers so that they give hundred percent in their work to resolve the competitiveness of firm. It is essential for the managers to understand the grievances of employees and take proper financial steps so that the pe riod of recession is mitigated. It is essential to make the employees understand the positive impact of flexible working hours on personal life as well as organization. The employees who are being laid off should be made to understand the reason why they are being laid off and they too are essential part of the organization. It is essential for the organization to convey the employees that as soon as the organization will have enough resource they will be employed in the organization and will also be given extra incentive in order to keep them motivated. Proper allocation of resources in an organization is essential during economic downturn. Time management is essential to balance career with lifestyle. Flexibility work arrangement should be adopted in organizations so that the employees are satisfied and they can give time to their family as well along with work. It is essential for the employees to see everyone in organization equally. Discrimination of any kind is harmful. Proper work decision is essential for effective utilization of time and resources. Work life balance during the time of economic recession or downturn can be achieved by proper forming proper policies and strategies. The main responsibility is that of the human resource manager (Perlow Kelly, 2014). Conclusion: Work life balance and flexibility at work arrangement both has pros and cons. If it is managed properly then its result will benefit both the organization and employees. With the change in tradition the work load is also increasing. There are many ill effects of working overtime and main hamper is on productivity of employees and organization. In order to increase profitability and productivity it is essential for the workers to maintain the family as well as career. This can be maintained by properly managing time. The main role of human resource manager is to manage the employees and keep them motivated so that together they can work to achieve the goal of the firm. Both the employers and employees should work together to achieve one common goal set by the organization. References: Allen, T. D., Johnson, R. C., Kiburz, K. M., Shockley, K. M. (2013). Workfamily conflict and flexible work arrangements: Deconstructing flexibility.Personnel Psychology,66(2), 345-376. Anderson, D., Lewis, S., Lyonette, C., Payne, N., Wood, S. (2013). Work-life balance policies, practices and discourse and public sector cuts. Healey, J. (2008).Work-life balance. Thirroul, N.S.W. : Spinney Press, 2008 Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2015). Towards Critical Human Resource Management Education (CHRME): a sociological imagination approach.Work, Employment Society,29(3), 496-507. Brown, V. R. (2015).The Impact of Flexible Work Arrangements on Employee Engagement(Doctoral dissertation, Auburn University). Campbell, K. M. (2015). Flexible Work Schedules, Virtual Work Programs, and Employee Productivity. Christensen, K., Schneider, B. (Eds.). (2015).Workplace flexibility: Realigning 20th-century jobs for a 21st-century workforce. Cornell University Press. Darcy, C., McCarthy, A., Hill, J., Grady, G. (2012). Worklife balance: One size fits all? An exploratory analysis of the differential effects of career stage.European Management Journal,30(2), 111-120. Fursman, L., Zodgekar, N. (2009). MAKING IT WORK: THE IMPACTS OF FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS ON NEW ZEALAND FAMILIES.Social Policy Journal Of New Zealand, (35), 43-54. Hill, E. J., Hawkins, A. J., Ferris, M., Weitzman, M. (2001). Finding an extra day a week: The positive influence of perceived job flexibility on work and family life balance*.Family relations,50(1), 49-58. Fagan, C., Lyonette, C., Smith, M., Saldaa-Tejeda, A. (2012).The influence of working time arrangements on work-life integration or'balance': a review of the international evidence(No. 32). ILO. Flexible working arrangements Flexibility in the workplace - Fair Work Ombudsman. (2016). gov.au. Retrieved 17 May 2016, from https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/flexibility-in-the-workplace/flexible-working-arrangements Gangwisch, J. E. (2014). Work-life balance.Sleep,37(7), 1159. Jones, F., Burke, R. J., Westman, M. (2013).Work-life balance: A psychological perspective. Psychology Press. Kossek, E. E., Thompson, R. J. (2016). Workplace Flexibility: Integrating Employer and Employee Perspectives to Close the ResearchPractice Implementation Gap.The Oxford Handbook of Work and Family, 255.

Starbucks HRM Essay Example

Starbucks HRM Paper Human resource management function is a very crucial function in any modern organization that seeks to achieve its objectives including the task of ensuring that employees are motivated by use of effective performance appraisal techniques such as reward schemes. Such HRM function is very crucial to Starbucks Corporation in order to motivate its employees. This is because people are the most important asset an organization has as compared to other assets that aid in running the organization. Therefore for accomplishment of organizational effectiveness, performance appraisal is the most important critical factor that must be paid attention to by the management of any business firm wishing to remain competitive as well as remain international in scope; Starbucks Corporation is not exceptional from such an objective. Human resource has the responsibility to coordinate all the activities within the organization and they have to ensure efficiency in productivity of the organization hence firms should maintain a motivated workforce (Bjbrkman and Fey, 2001). This paper is dealing with how Starbucks human resource department can use performance appraisal technique to improve the performance of its staff. The paper is also aimed at equipping managers particularly those from Human Resource department of the corporation to look critically on the best ways of rewarding employees in the organization. Starbucks Corporation and its Current HRM Strategy Starbucks Corporation is a coffee company in Australia which was first opened in July, 2000 in Sydney and at the Central Business District as a subsidiary of the mother company in the United States. We will write a custom essay sample on Starbucks HRM specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Starbucks HRM specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Starbucks HRM specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Starbuck roasts high quality whole coffee beans and they sell them with other beverages as prepared in the Italian espresso beverages. The coffee drinks are richly brewed to give the customers necessary satisfaction and pleasure. One of the best known drink brands is the bottled Frappuccino ® which is enjoyed throughout the world. In Australia alone, the organization has been able to expand and now has 89 retail outlets in major areas of the nation such as Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Tasmania, Gold Coast, South Australia, and Brisbane. The headquarters for the Starbucks coffee company Australia is at the Frenchs Forest, New South Wales and it serves as the support centre for all the other stores in Australia. The retail stores offer people the finest coffee sourced from coffee farmers across the world in addition to great entertainment, music, good people and excellent customer service. This organization is the only retail international coffee store that has a unique brand that has a global recognition. Most of the customers get access to excellent room tables, comfortable sofas, chairs, bars and other accessories which fit the needs of everyone from the CEO of a company to the secretary of a company (Starbucks Corporations, 2008). This company endeavors to produce economic, social, and environmental benefits as a social responsibility stance for the communities it serves. This organization believes that it is possible to be good and do the best at the same time. Nevertheless, there has been a considerable criticism that Starbucks management has failed to be effective and efficient in its business activities because they have practiced unacceptable managerial activities of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. The company has not ensured that the respective managers of respective departments are well equipped with human, technical, and conceptual skills that give them an opportunity to integrate the managerial activities above in order to produce results expected from their departments. The absence of such skills by managers has led to the company performance decreasing in some of its potential markets (John and Keith, 1997). Starbucks Corporation has been criticized for not building a strong human resource relationship with its entire workforce who has failed to enhance the success of corporation. In fact there is speculation that the company does not recruit its employees based on their qualifications and their competence. They have not achieved effectiveness and efficiency because they have not developed their staff through training and have not adopted proper compensation systems that have in turn demoralized the employees in their work. Such employees have not been able to cope with effects of competition and thus they have produced poor results (Starbucks Corporations, 2008). Decisions regarding to employees, operations management have not been constantly revised by the management of the corporation in order to match international standards that will foster success in business environment. For example, employees have not been properly trained to cope with new changes like introduction in technology. However, many companies who deal with sale of drinks have also diversified and fight for market share with Starbuck Corporation, a development which has given the corporation rough time in coming up with viable marketing strategies (Starbucks Corporations, 2008). Human Resource Strategy and its role in Starbucks Human resource management in business terms is the coherent and strategic approach to the management of the working force of an organization. It combines academic, social and business practices in the application of techniques to manage a particular workforce. These practices are designed to go inline with the company’s goals, objectives, vision and mission with specific emphasis on growth and development. Starbucks Corporation needs to attract, maintain and also manage its employees effectively. There is an assumption that employees are just business assets in an organization, but human resource development professionals explain that, these employees have varying goals and needs in life which can be utilized by the organization to meet its targets while assisting the individual persons succeed in their careers (John and Keith, 1997). The following are some of the core functions of human resource management in Starbucks Corporation; workforce planning, recruitment and staffing, promoting industrial relations, personnel development and performance monitoring as well as training, compensation and benefit management. It is considered that the human resource practices used in strategic human resource management in Starbucks Corporation should enhance techniques, systems and polices developed in line with the performance appraisal management of the organization’s tasks. This performance appraisal of Starbucks Corporation is designed promote strategic planning and thinking in all aspects of employee assessment, problem solving and counseling (Maund, 2001). Good knowledge of employee behaviors, performance and needs helps Starbucks Corporation to deal squarely with diversity issues e. g. ulture, religion, race etc. in fact; studies have shown that, certain human resource practices in Starbucks Corporation have contributed both positively and negatively to firm performance through workforce alignment. It is also related to employee outcomes including; trust in management co-operation, higher commitment in workplaces as well as better employee efforts and involvement among other factors (Michael, 2006). Manpower planning within Starbucks Corporation is very critical in that, cases of either overstaffing or understaffing is detrimental in one way or another. The economies of scale for the business together with specialization orders are lost if the organization is understaffed. On the other hand, if overstaffing is sustained, it becomes a waste and also expensive for the organization. These factors are therefore part of the planning process being carried out by human resource development officers in Starbucks Corporation. For instance; they should ensure that the organization’s workforce is certainly enough to meet the general duty requirement Human resource strategy is referred to in a layman’s language as the management of the people who are working in an institution or an organization. This is done because employee performance affects how far or how successful an organization can be. Human resource strategy of Starbucks Corporation also involves the managers clarifying to the employees the organization’s goals and objectives. Studies have shown that, there is a unique relationship between the human resource management practices and techniques for a company and its overall performance (Armstrong, 2006). Starbucks Performance Appraisal and its Business Goals The success of Starbucks Corporation is mainly determined by its human resources and hence there is a need for a motivated workforce. In fact human resource of any firm has to be innovative, energetic, creative and motivated in order to remain focused in scope. Indeed any company including Starbucks Corporation should have guiding principles which help the employees to attain set goals and objectives. Such principles define what each and employee is expected to do thus attain their goals. Starbucks Corporation has such principles and such principles also points out how the company promotes trust, pride, professionalism, trust, teamwork and openness in their undertakings. Such principles however, do not concentrate much more on the issue of performance appraisal such as motivation which is a key factor in organizational success. Therefore this paper will attempt to reveal the importance of a motivated workforce as well as the different methods that can be used to motivate the workforce particularly in Starbucks Corporation (Hoyer, 2001). Research indicates that skills, knowledge and experience represent capital due to the reason that they enhance productivity. Companies invest in skills training and development to be competitive, but the failure to manage the person trained could be considered a great setback. Employee retention is basically essential in grasping a complete return on investment. Based on the human capital theory, it is imperative that companies invest in skills training and development, but they should also align the performance appraisal such as compensations and benefits of the person with his or her achievements. Research reveals that in many modern business organizations there is obviously a lack in recognizing the achievements of skilled employees. Without recognition and growth, there is no reason for the employee to carry on his good performance, or worse, to continue his service to the organization (Bjbrkman and Fey, 2001). Motivation can be assumed as the reason or the force behind why a person does what he or she does. Sometimes, it is also a means to make the person perform better and more efficient. Basically there are three assumptions in human motivation as established in research. The first one assumes that motivation is inferred from a systematic analysis of how personal, task and environmental characteristics influence behavior and job performance. The next one infers that motivation is not a fixed trait; but rather it refers to a dynamic internal state resulting from the influence of personal and situational factors. This means that motivation as one technique of performance appraisal may change with changes in personal, social or other factors. Finally, it should further be noted that motivation affects behavior which in turn will lead to poor performance by the employees (Buck, Filatotchev and Wright, 2003). As social beings, basic human interaction and communication are considered as relevant needs that should be attended to in the working environment. The rational and emotional aspects of a person enable one to be participatory and reflective on certain aspects of the operations in the organization. Social interactions are necessary so as to provide for the social needs of an individual. Since people are more than a resource of an organization, their active and contemplative nature will always be open and shown. Aside from the primary needs for existence, social interaction in the form of companionship helps in shaping the character of a person as a quality individual that is capable of doing complex things and acting complicatedly Performance Appraisal Management in Starbucks Corporation Research reveals that employee motivation is the key to the profitability and competitive success of Starbuck Corporation in the current business world i. e. particularly in the hotel industry. Research has shown that Starbuck Corporation dose not pay well its employees and thus they do not carry out their jobs well and in return the company’s performance has been negatively affected. In Starbucks Corporation; for instance, the employer-employee relations are considered not very important thus that the corporation failing to realize its mission effectively. In fact, it has been researched and found out that well paid employees of Starbucks Corporation have translated to satisfied customers i. e. with motivated workforce they do their tasks well thus retaining and attracting more customers. Hence, with improper policies and administrative skills utilized by Starbucks Corporation, managers have indeed created failed to create a satisfied workforce through such an appraisal performance technique. Starbucks Corporation employee performance appraisal technique has taken different forms that include the following: The first factor is of job security which is the primary driving force an employee Centres on while working; it is the ability to retain the job for as many years as possible (Hoyer, 2001). Personal organization and family budget go in line with job security concerns. When an employee is confident of his or her job security at the workplace, his performance is far much better than a case where he or she is not sure of being retained in the next year because he is motivated to work. With job security, some Starbucks employees have failed to know whether at the end of month he/she will be paid thus becoming demoralized to work. This implies that much time is wasted because employees are not okay and thus have do not have enough time to work for the company since they work as they think of quitting the corporation at one time The other factor that is suppose to enhance success in Starbuck is that of pay satisfaction; research indicates that people don’t work unless they receive pay for work done as a motivator which is therefore the key to employee satisfaction. Although employees are paid better than other employees of other organizations, Starbucks Managers normally do not use financial rewards to improve their worker’s performance. Good salaries equally translate to better work. Every worker would want to continue working for an organization which pays him or her well which has not been the case in Starbucks Corporation (Bjbrkman and Fey, 2001). Therefore Starbucks Corporation has not saved time since the management has to spend time of hiring new employees every time because the current employees are not secure and they have reason to look for other opportunities Another source of motivation is that of using rewards and gifts in order to inspire employees in Starbucks Corporation. Research indicates that rewards used by the corporation have been only very big inducements but the small gifts given to anybody have been ignored by the management thus its employees eventually don’t feel appreciated. For example a handwritten thank you note which can be utilized in Starbucks Corporation is normally appreciated and cherished (Foster and Harris, 2005). Everybody loves chocolate, and provision of such kind of rewards especially at the weekends and special days like Christmas and Valentine days, should help to build positive relationships between the Starbucks Corporation management and the employees. Research indicates that gift certificates such as birthday wishes are a morale booster to self-confidence of the employees. Starbucks Corporation has failed to offer sufficient logo merchandizes; for instance, in form of t-shirts, caps, mugs, pens, jackets and computer mouse pads thus not boosting the morale of the employees because they are not proud to be associated with Starbucks failure. In addition, Starbucks Corporation has not been utilizing motivational posters which are supposed to be strategically drafted for individual recognition for job well done. In most cases, people would want to know if their work has made some difference and therefore provision of such rewards by Starbucks Corporation should encourage them thus motivating the employees. Another way of appraising employees that Starbucks Corporation have not utilized fully is that of praising them; for instance if they have fulfilled their undersigned tasks effectively. The firms’ management has not strategized well since they even don’t keep the records of the performance of employees. Any employee who shows commendable improvement are not praised in the organizational weekly, monthly and also the annual meetings. Through this employees have not been motivated since they believe that they are not recognized by the organization and thus not improving their performance. However, this should not just be carried out in the formal meetings only, but managers should make time to meet with individual employees who are reported to have been performing better and praise them for the good work (Harzing and Ruysseveldt, 2004). Recommendations The main aspects of human resource strategy in Starbucks Corporation should incorporate the following areas; employee motivation and retention strategies, employee selection strategies and employee management strategies which in general encompass performance appraisal measures. This strategy if implemented simultaneously in Starbucks Corporation will create a family-like community and environment in the organization. From this study we can conclude that performance appraisal is a key factor to success of any organization including Starbucks Corporation. It should be noted that as a manager, your impact on employee satisfaction is great and immeasurable; therefore the management of Starbucks Corporation should look for convenient, cost-conscious and appreciated ways of performance appraisal such as excellent motivation structures in order to build a motivated, dynamic and committed workforce that will result in better productivity and profitability of the corporation. The most critical factor that results to poor management of many organizations including Starbucks Corporation is that of the inability of senior managers to provide necessary support for the accomplishment of organizations goals through utilization of effective performance appraisal techniques. It is substantiated that the behavior of many senior managers of Starbucks Corporation has contributed immensely to poor success of the organization. This is explicitly witnessed in the performance appraisal process. Senior managers have adopted behavior of self centeredness and they always think that they are the only one who makes viable decisions in relation to goals being attained hence resulting to low morale by existing workforce (Maund, 2001). This has resulted to lower level managers and employees not to perform quality work because they are always not motivated when carrying out their respective duties. The overall management of Starbucks Corporation should not that no matter how well the organization’s values and culture is drafted it requires the will of senior managers to maintain such performance appraisal values and cultures within the organization. The senior managers can change the attitude of their employees if only they can lead by example which will lead to good motivation and thus successful attainment of set objectives. Human resource is the most vital asset in Starbucks Corporation and senior managers have to concentrate their management efforts in their staff development in order to boost their morale and thus increase in productivity. Employees’ satisfaction strategies should be formulated in Starbucks Corporation in order to ensure smooth running of the corporation. It is the key to the economic success of Starbucks Corporation. Research has shown that a satisfied employee does his job well and in return the company’s performance is greatly improved (Hoyer, 2001). The HR department of Starbucks Corporation should formulate corporate and HR strategies that incorporate performance appraisal analysis and clarification of the corporation mission statement. The department should also offer guidelines to the rest of the management when considering how business should develop and in what direction it should be directed to. In this line the HR department should clearly ensure that the strategies developed in the organization should be the ones that direct efforts towards accomplishing the Starbucks Corporation basic mission or purpose (Armstrong, 2006). In order to enhance the activities of Starbucks Corporation, the HR department should redesign the HR department in order to remain competitive in the market place and to respond to any changes in the market place; Also strategic objectives that encompass performance appraisal measures of the organization should be formulated; this implies that the HR department should turn the mission statement in to supporting objectives for each level of management in the corporation. The objectives formulated should be directed to key result areas in the corporation where performance is necessary for business survival. The corporation key result areas that should be considered include; marketing, finance, production, human resources, physical resources, social responsibility, and profit requirement (Thomson and Rampton, 2003). Conclusion From Starbucks Corporation case analysis we can therefore deduce that, ensuring employee performance requires establishing a level of competence which the employee should be aware of as a target to be achieved. This is the measure that should be used by Starbucks Corporation managers in determining compliance with the standards and in identifying problems met by the employees in meeting such standards. For instance; in developing a performance appraisal technique such as efficient motivation structure to enhance the productivity of employees the manager will look at the competency problems of the employees and fashion the program to enable the employees to reach and even exceed the competency standard established for their work. This requires a great amount of perceptiveness on the part of the manager in determining what method of appraising will be most effective in improving employee competence (Thomson and Rampton, 2003). A considerable number of companies including Starbucks Corporation have developed into an essential part of the period of global competition, increasing development, improved business paradigms, and corporate re-organization. The continuing transformation from the traditional industrial framework with its hierarchical companies to a worldwide, knowledge-founded financial system and intelligent corporations, altering ideas regarding the social contract involving employers and employees, an progressively more adaptable pool of talent and a body of workforce, necessitates human resource (HR) strategies to realign and relocate itself in the vicinity of these drivers.

Postman Always Rings Twice Essays - English-language Films

Postman Always Rings Twice The postman always rings twice Author: James M. Cain Characterisation. Frank, a man who falls in love with Cora. He's a type of guy who's rough but smart. His passion for Cora makes him mad of love. Cora, the Greek's wife (He's always called the Greek in the book so I'll better call him the Greek, his real name is Nick) Cora is in doubt weather she would go with Frank or stay with her husband, the Greek. She chooses for Frank. Genre. This book is a short psychological novel. Narrative structure. It's a first person story and told in chronological order. The book spends about two or three months. Plot outlineThe story is set in a roadside sandwich joint in California, which has a living part, a filling station and a lunchroom part. When Frank arrived at the lunchroom the Greek offered him a job. Frank said yes, and immediately when he saw the Greeks wife Cora he felt in love with her. They made love to each other when the Greek wasn't at home. One day they made a plan to kill the Greek, the wanted to kill him in the bathroom but failed. The Greek fell on his head, but wasn't dead. They told the police it was an accident. After a week the Greek went out of the hospital, back home. But Cora and Frank drove away together. After a while Cora wanted to go back home. So she did. But Frank staid in town and three weeks later he met the Greek on the marked, the Greek asked him to come back to the lunchroom and work again. Frank left the town with the Greek and they drove to the lunchroom. When they got there, Frank met Cora again. They still loved each other so they made a new plan to kill the Greek, and spent the rest of their lives together. This time their plan worked and the Greek got killed. First the judge didn't believe their story about this "car accident". But Cora and Frank convinced the judge and they he pleaded them not guilty. Cora and Frank were happy that their plan had worked. Cora got pregnant and they made a ride in their car. But the worth ting happened, Cora got killed on that ride because of a car accident. But Frank survived, and the judge condemned him guilty for the murder on Cora and the Greek. Motive? Their money. Theme and explanation of the title. I think you can describe the theme as: God is punishing at once. (how do you say that in English?) The title means a warning for something unexpected. I liked the book because of the authors easy writing style. And it gives a good view of how far you can go for loving somebody else

Rape Simulator Video Games and Democracy Essays

Rape Simulator Video Games and Democracy Essays Rape Simulator Video Games and Democracy Paper Rape Simulator Video Games and Democracy Paper Is the rape simulator video game good or bad for democracy? Throughout human history violent forms of entertainment have existed alongside refined ones. In Ancient Rome, for example, when modern mediums of entertainment such as Television, video games, etc did not exist, gladiator fights were a popular pass-time. This prompted Saint Augustine to note that not only did people liked violence as passive spectators, but it has also induced in them a ‘fascination for blood’. Today, such violence-ridden games like gladiator fights are forbidden by law and social norms. But the ‘fascination for blood’, apparently inherent to human nature, is exploited by movie makers and video-game manufacturers. The movie titled Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe, is one example of this phenomenon; the controversial rape simulator video game produced in Japan is another key example. While the former is legally permitted and is accepted by mainstream audiences and commentators, the latter has not gained approval on both legal and ethi cal grounds. The game has been banned in the United States due to its perverse and obscene nature. For instance, players earn points for acts of sexual violence, including following girls (mostlty wearing highschool outfit), raping virgins and their mothers, and then forcing them to have abortions. (Moses, 2010) The public debate that the game has spurred has expanded beyond its utility, value, etc, to broader considerations such as its effect on the health of democracy. The rest of this essay will support the view that videogames such a Rape Simulator are not only hazardous for the players and the societies they inhabit, but their negative effects pervade to undermine democratic processes and institutions of a country. According to Aristotle’s theory of Catharsis, people release their violent pulsation by seeing them portrayed by other agents/actors. This way the pent up frustration is released, which could otherwise lead to violent behavior. Applying this theory to the video-game in question, one could deduce that playing the game will reduce the actual number of incidents of rape in society, for the real is substituted by the simulated. (End Violence Against Women, 2010) But actual facts are not consistent with the theory, as proved by scholar S.Feshback. He took 625 junior high school boys and asked half of them to watch a violent television program for 6 weeks. The other half was as to watch non-violent programming. At the end of 6 weeks, when teachers evaluated the students, no difference in aggressive behavior was observed. However, there was a decline in aggression among students who were previously assessed by personality tests to be more inclined toward aggressive behavior. Co nsidering that such students formed only a small minority, the Catharsis theory does not hold true for this case. Countering the validity of the Catharsis theory is the Aggressive Simulation theory, which states that people are inspired by what they see. Meaning that if they see violence they will reproduce it. In other words, what these video games do is to break down social barriers for those who are predisposed to such behavior. Since the maintenance of law and order is essential for the smooth functioning of democratic societies, it follows that perpetration of violent behavior (as a mirror effect of watching and simulating violent acts) will undermine democracy. (Alexander, 2009) We live in a world were we are constantly bombarded with information, most of which encourage us to buy this or that product. The power of marketing has already been demonstrated through the century long history of our Public Relations industry. Indeed, the PR industry and the media together wield huge power over the thoughts of citizens. In such a scenario, a person with a fragile mind, meaning someone who cannot make the distinction between what is right or wrong, receives massive exposure to violence through advertisements and other marketing campaigns, it can lead to disastrous consequences. These include acts of brutality, anger, savageness, torture, sadism, etc (all of these qualities are encouraged by Rape Simulator). Hence it is imperative that such games are censored or banned from public consumption. (Haydon, 2009) The fact that Rape Simulator encourages sexual acts with schoolgirls is a cause for concern, as it implies pedophilia. Although the game is meant for adults only, the objects of sexual desire depicted within it qualify as adolescents. The same criticism can be applied toward the sale of schoolgirl outfits in sex shops. Both of them are encouraging pedophilia and rape and inducing perversity and abuse, which are inconsistent with democratic concepts. We can no longer argue that it is it is not so bad for society, for it is just a game and it doesn’t harm anybody. In fact, based on the dangers to democracy we discussed so far, one can further argue that any video game that includes murder, war, robbery, gun shot should be therefore forbidden. (The Free Library, 2010) At least in these latter examples, one could come up with justifications. For example, one can justify robbery (to feed oneself or pay the rent to give a home to his/her children), one can justify shooting wi th a gun (to kill a murderer, saving lives), and one can justify war (which our government does it everyday). The rape simulator video game, on the other hand, is undermining the very integrity and foundations of democratic civil society. We should also keep in mind that censorship and freedom of speech are counteracting principles. But virulent forms of free expression such as the Rape Simulator game should be banned in the larger interests of democratic societies. This conflict is identified by sexual assault victims’ rights advocates as well. But they say that civil rights should not be abused in order to promote a culture of tolerance for rape and violence against women. (Haydon, 2009) On the other hand, banning or censoring any thing puts it on the spotlight, giving it free publicity that marketers are happy to see happen. In my own case, my first reaction when I heard about this game was to go â€Å"check it out†; and am sure such is the reaction of many players. Even if the game is made illegal, there are many ways for getting hold of it and playing it. Censuring it is not going to stop people to play it as it only adds publicity and attention to the game . However making it legal would also not serve the democratic purpose, as it would mean that society has lost its ethical compass and the sense of right and wrong. Hence, in conclusion, a tactful and nuanced dealing of the problem is required. Otherwise, democratic societies will steadily march toward decadence and anarchy. Bibliography Race Simulator game goes Viral amid calls for Censorship, retrieved from on 5th November, 2010 Leigh Alexander, And You Thought Grand Theft Auto Was Bad : Should the United States ban a Japanese â€Å"rape simulator† game?, Monday, March 9, 2009, Rape Simulator games and the Normalization of Sexual Violence, The Free Library retrieved on 5th November, 2010 from Harry Haydon, Rape Simulator sold in Amazon, 13th Feb, 2009, retrieved from Video game featuring rape pulled from Amazon, retrieved on 5th November, 2010 from Japan: Rape simulator games and the normalization of sexual violence, Say No- End Violence Against Women, retrieved on 5th Novemeber 2010 from Asher Moses, Rape Simulator game goes Viral amid calls for Censorship, March 31, 2010, retrieved on 5th November, from youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Da54Pu9dTJfQ

The general implications of launching a new product internationally IN Research Paper

The general implications of launching a new product internationally IN TERMS OF THE COMMERCIALIZATION PLAN - Research Paper Example Once a product is ready for production and has managed to successfully survive the development process, it immediately becomes possible for a business enterprise to attempt to turn the new product into a commercial success. Commercialization is generally described as being the cycle or process that is found to be involved in the introduction of a new method of production or end product into a given market with the aim of making a profit (National Research Council (U.S.) & National Materials Advisory Board, 1993, p. 13; Fortenberry, 2013, p. 266). During the commercialization process, a number of activities designed to aid in the sale and promotion of a product in both local and international markets are undertaken. Some of these include, the launching of the product and the subsequent heavy increase in the promotional and advertising activity of this given product in the market (Fortenberry, 2010, p. 284). It is also at this stage that the product’s distribution pipeline is se en to be filled with the product (Fortuin, 2007, p. 36). With respect to the commercialization plan, although there are a large number of key issues to be considered, there are in essence some key implications that can be seen to greatly affect the launching of a new product into the international market. These include; Companies can at times be forced to delay the actual launching of a given product in the market in the event that it anticipates that the product can be further improved before its launching, another key factor that can also cause product launch delays is in launching of a new product, the company risks critically cannibalizing the sales of some of its other products (Loch & Kavadias, 200, p. 392). Perhaps one of the most crucial determinants of the product launch of a given product in the international market is the situation in the global economy. The global economy is seen to be particularly sensitive to the influence of a large number of factors and while

Weekly Business Review #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weekly Business Review #2 - Essay Example Though this strategy means additional costs, the sales made will cover this cost. Nevertheless, according to the customer survey our services are good, so is our coffee, and our prices are rated as fair. Therefore, the management decision to adopt the cost leadership strategy is worth. According to Kazmi (2008, p.225), when a business adopts the cost leadership strategy, it automatically achieves differentiation in its services, in relation to price. The management has decided not to add on any extra costs in advertising, thus sticking to the previous mode of advertising in order to reduce additional costs. The daily receipt indicates that 1500 cups are being served on a weekly basis resulting to $4,055 in cash. We would like to increase the amount of coffee being served, and the hiring of an additional server to assist in serving all the customers will increase our sales. The local labor reports states that the average turnover rate has risen to 14% as compared to the previous week, which was at 12%. This could be due to workload and demotivation, thus, hiring an extra server is a great move. The management’s decision of not allowing any waste of coffee saves on costs incurred. In addition, the decision of not relying on fair trade advertising is a wise decision, as the newspapers have already advertised, hence saving on costs. Nevertheless, we have decided to replace light bulbs for $100 as a green initiative, other than replacing toilet, which would cost $600. The cafà © business is faced by the challenge of long queues, which is viewed as an advantage in some businesses but which could also limit the number of customers due to the time factor. In order to curb this problem, an additional server will be hired but time will tell. Nevertheless, the cafà © needs to make more profits and as a result, there is need to increase on sales. Therefore, with time, the management may result to increasing the small cup of coffee by a dollar to amount to $3 while

The Life and Legacy of William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

The Life and Legacy of William Shakespeare Essay Seven years later after their wedding, William Shakespeare was born in April 26, 1564 in Stratford (accepted birth and birth place) to Mr. and Mrs. John Shakespeare. William had eight siblings, and although he didn’t get a chance to meet all of them, they were still part of his family. Joan (Oldest Sister), the first child brought a huge amount of joy to the young, and ambitious couple, only to be dealt a dreadful blow shortly after her birth; On September 15,1558 Joan was baptized (only survived two months). Margaret (Older Sister), was born in 1562 and was baptized on December 2. Once again family life was devastated as the little Margaret only lived for one year. Two years after William’ birth, the Shakespeare’s fourth child, Gilbert was born. Gilbert was baptized at Holy Trinity on October 13, 1566, at Holy Trinity. He followed his older brother (William) to London where he established a good and successful career later in life. Joan (Younger Sister), was born in 1569, she was named after her oldest sister, Joan. She had a dissimilar childhood to her older brothers. She was known, like her parents, to be unable to read or write. Joans childhood would have therefore been close to the family and helping her mother with the chores. Anne (Youngest Sister), was born September 28 1571, when William was seven years old, Gilbert was five and Joan was two providing the three brothers and sisters with another sister. Another catastrophe struck the family in 1579 when little eight year old Anne Shakespeare died. Richard (Younger Brother), was born 1574 and baptized on March 11, when William was 10 years old, Gilbert was 8, Joan was five and Anne was three providing the four brothers and sisters with another brother. In 1578 his elder brothers were removed from school to help with the business and it is therefore doubtful that Brother Richard received much of an education. Edmund (Youngest Brother), was born in 1580, he was christened on May 3. He had four, healthy, living siblings; Brother William aged 16, Brother Gilbert aged 14, Sister Joan aged 11 and Brother Richard aged 6. He never had the chance to meet his other older sisters Anne, Joan (eldest sister), and Margaret. William Shakespeare Brothers Sisters. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.

Development of Hospital Management System

Development of Hospital Management System Introduction Hospital Management is a web based application to manage the activities related to doctor and patient. Hospital Management is based on distributed architecture. This involves the web services which receives request from the web based application and service processes the request and sends the response back to the application. Web services performs the database operations like insert, delete and update the information about the patients, doctors etc. This kind of distributed architecture is called as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). This application contains login form, patient registration, doctor registration. Hospital Management application allow patients to edit their information like patient name, contact number, address, disease from which he is suffering from etc. The concept of hospital management is very big. The scope of hospital management involves different modules like login module, patient info, doctor info, billing module, registration module and administration module. Login module will include the operation related to login, forgot password, password change, sending confirmations or alerts etc. Patient info module will include the details about the patient like patient history about his treatment and doctors involved in the treatment, details of medicines suggested by doctors. Billing Module will include the details of fees, mode of payment used by the patient to pay the fees. Registration module will allow the users to register their profiles. Administration module allows performing operations like creating the new users, performing password change operations, loading the information of doctors for the first time. Hospital Management uses sql server 2005 as the backend. The database is maintained on the remote server, this database h olds all the information related to the hospital. Abstract: Before SOA architecture, DCOM or (ORBs) object request brokers based on CORBA specifications were used to develop the distributed applications. DCOM is known was distributed component object model. DCOM is an extension of COM (component object model), DCOM was released in 1996. It works primarily with Microsoft windows. It will work with Java Applets and ActiveX components through its use of COM. Service Oriented Architecture is nothing but collection of services. These services are deployed at different servers at different locations. These services communicate with each other to perform required operations. The communication can be simple data passing. Service Provider: The provider will create the service using any technology like .net or java and publishes its information for accessing the outside world. The provider decides which service to be published and one service can provide multiple operations, how to price the services or without charge like free services. Provider also decides the category of the services. The most common broker service is UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) provides a way publish and discover the information about the services. Service Requester: The requester identifies the services using UDDI or any other service broker. The services provide the required operations then the requester should take it to the service provider for contract. Then requester can bind the services to the application and execute to get the required information. The principles used for development, maintenance and usage of SOA are Reuse, comparability, granularity and interoperability. Identifying the services and categorizing them. Monitoring and tracking. The specific architectural principles of SOA design are Service loose coupling Service encapsulation Service contract Service abstraction Service reusability Service discoverability PROJECT SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE: SCOPE Development of a computerized Hospital management system with the provision of flexible, accurate and secured access to data thus bringing in the highly useful end product for the users as well as for the management. OBJECTIVE To develop a system that maintains a sophisticated Hospital management details bringing out the flexibility and the ease with which the users can use it. To track and improve internal performance of the financial corporation thereby allowing the flexible and secured transactions to happen. FEATURES OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM In the existing system the data required for the Hospital management is maintained in records. These are to be updated according to the requirements of the customer. It takes time to search for the required data. All the details regarding the hospitals and its timings are hard to maintain. The work will be more so the systems need more number of crew to fulfill the requirements. There may be a chance of failure since it is manual. A simple fault of the system may lead to inconvenience and also cause a vast destruction. So these faults make the system less effective and performance of the system is very slow. Hence, there should be a system to overcome all these defects and provide the users with more facilities. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTENDED SYSTEM In the proposed system everything is computerized. The system provides all the details regarding the hospitals, its details, and soon. The users can search the required data easily within no time. A very less number of people are required to handle the system. The patients need not wait for long time to fulfill his requirement. There is no chance of any failure in the system, which improves the performance of the system and also increases the efficiency of the system. Though this system is very beneficial a minor failure in the server or else the computer leads to a major loss of data. PROJECT OVERVIEW The project performs the following functions In 1997, a team of Medical Professionals has set up the first hospital, it signaled the dawn of a new era in medical care. At the heart of this movement was a burning desire to practice medicine with Compassion, Concern and Care, with a single-minded objective the recovery of the patient. Today, with Multi-Specialty HOSPITAL across the state, and a reputation for humanitarian and selfless service of the highest order, Hospital enjoys an unbelievable amount of goodwill. A million smiles will bear testimony to that. At hospital, we operate on a physician driven model. This means that all the main constituents of the CARE movement the promoters, administrators and service providers are physicians. At the centre of the CARE model is the patient and the over-riding motive of all of Cares activities is to provide quality medical care at an affordable cost. Technology, Training and Teamwork form the very core of the CARE model. We emphasize on a comprehensive and continuous education and training of every individual involved in patient care. Every effort will be taken to ensure that our growth is one decided by the patients needs, and not one decided by our corporate requirements. Our hospital believes at: A patient is the most important person in our hospital. He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our hospital. He is a part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so. NEED FOR COMPUTERIZATION: The use of computerized hospital is to provide effective facilities to the people, which are suffering from any problems. The advantages are: Less cost No mediators Excellent services The main goal of this hospital management system is to achieve the people satisfaction. Hospital management system provides effective facilities to the people from any place in the world. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Software Requirement Specifications: Operating Systems : Windows 2000 Prof Database server : Sql Srver 2005 Programming Language : C# Hardware Requirement Specifications: Application Server Configuration: Computer Processor : Pentium IV Clock Speed : 700MHZ Processor Hard Disk : 40GB RAM : 256/512 MB Modem : 56KBPS Database Server Configuration: Computer Processor : Pentium IV Clock Speed : 700MHZ Processor Hard Disk : 40GB RAM : 256/512 MB SYSTEM ANALYSIS Existing System: In the current system the data required is maintained in records. They are to be updated according to the requirements of the users. It takes time to search for the required query. All the details regarding the hospital and its patients are hard to maintain. The work will be more, so the system needs more number of crew to fulfill the requirements. There may be a chance of failure since it is manual. A one fault of the system may lead to inconvenience and also causes a vast destruction. So these faults make the system less efficient and performance of the system is very slow. Hence, there should be a system to overcome all these defaults and provide the users with more facilities. In the current system if the user was suffering from any pain or etc heshe has no idea how to control the pain and suffering. Just they will be no idea for them and they become sicker and died more sooner And to know the availability for the treatment they have to go to hospital but mostly the government hospital doesnt give more facilities to the patient as the patients want from the doctors. But in the case of the private hospital the patients has to pay more fares for the treatment and they do more delays in the case of the treatment they will be more formalities to be fulfil by the patients which take lot of time waste. Proposed System: In the proposed system everything is computerized. The system provides all the details regarding the Hospital, doctors, patients, bed numbers, and fares also and so on. The user can search required data easily with no time. A very less number of staff is required to handle the system. The patients need not wait for a long time to fulfil his requirement. There is no chance of any failure in the system, which improves the performance of the system and also increases the efficiency of the system. Though this system is very beneficial a minor failures in the server or else the computer leads a major loss of data. FEASIBILITY STUDY In preliminary investigation we got the result that the computerized Hospital management system is feasible. This includes following aspects. Technical Feasibility: Technical feasibility is nothing but implementing the project with existing technology. Computerized Hospital management System is feasible. Economical Feasibility: Economic feasibility means the cost of under taking project should be less than existing system Hospital management system is economically feasible, because it reduces the expenses in the manual system. TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW .NET Framework The .NET Framework is a new computing platform that simplifies application development in the highly distributed environment of the Internet. The .NET Framework is designed to fulfill the following objectives: To provide a consistent object-oriented programming environment whether object code is stored and executed locally, executed locally but Internet-distributed, or executed remotely. To provide a code-execution environment that minimizes software deployment and versioning conflicts. To provide a code-execution environment that guarantees safe execution of code, including code created by an unknown or semi-trusted third party. To provide a code-execution environment that eliminates the performance problems of scripted or interpreted environments. To make the developer experience consistent across widely varying types of applications, such as Windows-based applications and Web-based applications. To build all communication on industry standards to ensure that code based on the .NET Framework can integrate with any other code. .NET FRAMEWORK HAS TWO MAIN COMPONENTS: The Common Language Runtime and the .NET Framework Class Library: The common language runtime is the foundation of the .NET Framework. You can think of the runtime as an agent that manages code at execution time, providing core services such as memory management, thread management, and remoting, while also enforcing strict type safety and other forms of code accuracy that ensure security and robustness. In fact, the concept of code management is a fundamental principle of the runtime. Code that targets the runtime is known as managed code, while code that does not target the runtime is known as unmanaged code. The class library, the other main component of the .NET Framework, is a comprehensive, object-oriented collection of reusable types that you can use to develop applications ranging from traditional command-line or graphical user interface (GUI) applications to applications based on the latest innovations provided by ASP.NET, such as Web Forms and XML Web services. The .NET Framework can be hosted by unmanaged components that load the common language runtime into their processes and initiate the execution of managed code, thereby creating a software environment that can exploit both managed and unmanaged features. The .NET Framework not only provides several runtime hosts, but also supports the development of third-party runtime hosts. For example, ASP.NET hosts the runtime to provide a scalable, server-side environment for managed code. ASP.NET works directly with the runtime to enable Web Forms applications and XML Web services, both of which are discussed later in this topic. Internet Explorer is an example of an unmanaged application that hosts the runtime (in the form of a MIME type extension). Using Internet Explorer to host the runtime enables you to embed managed components or Windows Forms controls in HTML documents. Hosting the runtime in this way makes managed mobile code (similar to Microsoft ® ActiveX ® controls) possible, but with significant improvements that only managed code can offer, such as semi-trusted execution and secure isolated file storage. The following illustration shows the relationship of the common language runtime and the class library to your applications and to the overall system. The illustration also shows how managed code operates within a larger architecture. .NET COMPONENTS AND FEATURES: .NET Architecture: Features of the Common Language Runtime: The common language runtime manages memory, thread execution, code execution, code safety verification, compilation, and other system services. These features are intrinsic to the managed code that runs on the common language runtime. With regards to security, managed components are awarded varying degrees of trust, depending on a number of factors that include their origin (such as the Internet, enterprise network, or local computer). This means that a managed component might or might not be able to perform file-access operations, registry-access operations, or other sensitive functions, even if it is being used in the same active application. The runtime enforces code access security. For example, users can trust that an executable embedded in a Web page can play an animation on screen or sing a song, but cannot access their personal data, file system, or network. The security features of the runtime thus enable legitimate Internet-deployed software to be exceptionally featuring rich. The runtime also enforces code robustness by implementing a strict type- and code-verification infrastructure called the common type system (CTS). The CTS ensures that all managed code is self-describing. The various Microsoft and third-party language compilers generate managed code that conforms to the CTS. This means that managed code can consume other managed types and instances, while strictly enforcing type fidelity and type safety. In addition, the managed environment of the runtime eliminates many common software issues. For example, the runtime automatically handles object layout and manages references to objects, releasing them when they are no longer being used. This automatic memory management resolves the two most common application errors, memory leaks and invalid memory references. The runtime also accelerates developer productivity. For example, programmers can write applications in their development language of choice, yet take full advantage of the runtime, the class library, and components written in other languages by other developers. Any compiler vendor who chooses to target the runtime can do so. Language compilers that target the .NET Framework make the features of the .NET Framework available to existing code written in that language, greatly easing the migration process for existing applications. While the runtime is designed for the software of the future, it also supports software of today and yesterday. Interoperability between managed and unmanaged code enables developers to continue to use necessary COM components and DLLs. The runtime is designed to enhance performance. Although the common language runtime provides many standard runtime services, managed code is never interpreted. A feature called just-in-time (JIT) compiling enables all managed code to run in the native machine language of the system on which it is executing. Meanwhile, the memory manager removes the possibilities of fragmented memory and increases memory locality-of-reference to further increase performance. Finally, the runtime can be hosted by high-performance, server-side applications, such as Microsoft ® SQL Serverâ„ ¢ and Internet Information Services (IIS). This infrastructure enables you to use managed code to write your business logic, while still enjoying the superior performance of the industrys best enterprise servers that support runtime hosting. .NET Framework Class Library: The .NET Framework class library is a collection of reusable types that tightly integrate with the common language runtime. The class library is object oriented, providing types from which your own managed code can derive functionality. This not only makes the .NET Framework types easy to use, but also reduces the time associated with learning new features of the .NET Framework. In addition, third-party components can integrate seamlessly with classes in the .NET Framework. For example, the .NET Framework collection classes implement a set of interfaces that you can use to develop your own collection classes. Your collection classes will blend seamlessly with the classes in the .NET Framework. As you would expect from an object-oriented class library, the .NET Framework types enable you to accomplish a range of common programming tasks, including tasks such as string management, data collection, database connectivity, and file access. In addition to these common tasks, the class library includes types that support a variety specialized development scenarios. ADO.NET ADO.NET IN CONNECTED MODE: ADO.NET provides consistent access to data sources such as Microsoft SQL Server, as well as data sources exposed via OLE DB and XML. Data-sharing consumer applications can use ADO.NET to connect to these data sources and retrieve, manipulate, and update data. ADO.NET cleanly factors data access from data manipulation into discrete components that can be used separately or in tandem. ADO.NET includes .NET data providers for connecting to a database, executing commands, and retrieving results. Those results are either processed directly, or placed in an ADO.NET Dataset object in order to be exposed to the user in an ad-hoc manner, combined with data from multiple sources, or remotes between tiers. The ADO.NET Dataset object can also be used independently of a .NET data provider to manage data local to the application or sourced from XML. The ADO.NET classes are found in System.Data.dll, and are integrated with the XML classes found in System.Xml.dll. When compiling code that uses the System.Data namespace, reference both System.Data.dll and System.Xml.dll. ADO.NET provides functionality to developers writing managed code similar to the functionality provided to native COM developers by ADO. The most important change from classic ADO is that ADO.NET doesnt reply on OLE DB providers and uses .NET managed providers instead. A .NET provider works as a bridge between your application and the data source. ADO .NET and .NET managed data providers dont use COM at all, so a .NET application can access data without undergoing any performance penalty deriving the switch between managed and unmanaged code. The most important difference between ADO and ADO.NET is that dynamic and Key set server -side cursors are no longer supported. ADO.NET supports only forward-only read-only result sets and disconnected result sets. .NET Data Providers: .NET data providers play the same role that OLE DB providers play under ADO, they enable your application to read and write data stored in a data source. Microsoft Currently supplies five ADO.NET providers: OLE DB .NET Data Provider: This provider lets you access a data source for which an OLE DB provider exists, although at the expense of a switch from managed to unmanaged code and the performance degradation that ensues. SQL Server .NET Data Provider: This provider has been specifically written to access SQL Server version 7.0 or later using Tabular Data Stream (TDS) as the communication medium. TDS is SQL Servers native protocol, so you can expect this provider to give you better performance than the OLE DB Data Provider. Additionally, the SQL Server, .NET Data Provider exposes SQL Server specific features, such as named transactions and support for the FOR XML clause in SELECT queries. ODBC .NET Data Provider: This provider works as a bridge toward an ODBC source, so in theory you can use it to access any source for which an ODBC driver exists. As of this writing, this provider officially supports only the Access, SQL Server, and Oracle ODBC drivers, so theres no clear advantage in using it instead of the OLE DB .NET Data Provider. The convenience of this provider will be more evident when more ODBC drivers are added to the list of those officially supported. .NET Data Provider for Oracle: This provider can access an Oracle data source version 8.1.7 or later. It automatically uses connection pooling to increase performance if possible, and supports most of the features of the Microsoft OLEDB Provider for Oracle, even though these two accessing techniques can differ in a few details—for example, the .NET Data Provider for Oracle doesnt support the TABLE data type and ODBC escape sequences. SQLXML Library: This DLL, which you can download from the Microsoft Web site, includes a few managed types that let you query and update a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 data source over HTTP. It supports XML templates, XPath queries, and can expose stored procedures and XML templates as Web services. The ODBC and Oracle providers are included in .NET Framework 1.1 but were missing in the first version of the .NET Framework. If you work with .NET Framework 1.0, you can download these providers from the Microsoft Web site. The downloadable versions of these providers differ from the versions that come with .NET Framework 1.1, mainly in the namespaces they use: Microsoft.Data.Odbc and Microsoft.Data.Oracle instead of System.Data.Odbc and System.Data.Oracle. ADO.NET Object Model: Its time to have a closer look at the individual objects that make up the ADO.NET architecture illustrated in Figure 21-1. Youll see that objects are divided into two groups, the objects included in the .NET Data Provider, and those that belong to the ADO.NET disconnected architecture. (In practice, the second group includes only the Dataset and its secondary objects.) Dataset (Disconnected data) .NET Data Provider Connection DataAdapter Command Data Reader ADO.NET Objects at a Glance The Connection object has the same function it has under ADO: establishing a connection to the data source. Like its ADO counterpart, it has the Connection String property, the Open and Close methods, and the ability to begin a transaction using the Begin transaction method. The ADO Execute method isnt supported, and the ADO.NET Connection object lacks the ability to send a command to the database. The Command object lets you query the database, send a command to it, or invoke one of its stored procedures. You can perform these actions by using one of the objects Executexxxx methods. More specifically, you use the ExecuteNonQuery method to send an action query to the database—for example, an INSERT or DELETE SQL statement—an Execute Reader method to perform a SELECT query that returns a result set, or an Execute Scalar method to perform a SELECT query that returns a single value. Other properties let you set the command timeout and prepare the parameters for a call to a stored procedure. You must manually associate a Command object with the Connection object previously connected to the data source. The Data Reader object is the object returned by the Execute Reader method of the command object and represents a forward-only, read-only result set. A new row of results becomes available each time you invoke the Data Readers Read method, after which you can query each individual field using the Get Value method or one of the strongly typed Getxxxx methods, such as Get String or Get Float. Remember that you cant update the database by means of a Data Reader object. The Dataset object is the main object in the ADO.NET disconnected architecture. It works as a sort of small relational database that resides on the client and is completely unrelated to any specific database. It consists of a collection of DataTable objects, with each DataTable object holding a distinct result set (typically the result of a query to a different database table). A DataTable object contains a collection of Data Row objects, each one holding data coming from a different row in the result. A Dataset also contains a collection of Data Relation objects, in which each item corresponds to a relationship between different Data Table objects, much like the relationships you have between the tables of a relational database. These relations let your code navigate among tables in the same DataSet using a simple and effective syntax. The DataAdapter object works as a bridge between the Connection object and the DataSet object. Its Fill method moves data from the database to the client-side DataSet, whereas its Update method moves data in the opposite direction and updates the database with the rows that your application has added, modified, or deleted from the DataSet. Connection Object: Whether you work in connected or in disconnected mode, the first action you need to perform when working with a data source is to open a connection to it.InADO.NET terms, this means that you create a Connection object that connects to the specific database. The Connection object is similar to the ADO object of the same name, so youll feel immediately at ease with the new ADO.NET object if you have any experience with ADO programming. Setting the Connection String Property the key property of the Connection class is Connection String, a string that defines the type of the database youre connecting to, its location, and other semicolon-delimited attributes. When you work with the OleDbConnection object, the connection string matches the connection string that you use with the ADO Connection object. Such a string typically contains the following information, The Provider attribute, which specifies the name of the underlying OLE DB Provider, used to connect to the data. The only values that Microsoft guarantees as valid are SQLOLEDB (the OLE DB provider for Microsoft SQL Server), Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0 (the OLE DB provider for Microsoft Access), and MSDAORA (the OLE DB provider for Oracle). The Data Source attributes, which specifies where the database is. It can be the path to an Access database or the name of the machine on which the SQL Server or the Oracle database is located. The User ID and Password attributes, which specify the user name and the password of a valid account for the database. The Initial Catalog attributes, which specifies the name of the database when youre connecting to a SQL Server or an Oracle data source. Once youve set the Connection String property correctly, you can open the connection by invoking the Open method: ADO.NET in Disconnected Model: In the preceding chapter, you saw how to work with ADO.NET in connected mode, processing data coming from an active connection and sending SQL commands to one.ADO.NET in connected mode behaves much like classic ADO, even though the names of the involved properties and methods (and their syntax) are often different. Youll see how ADO.NET differs from its predecessor when you start working in disconnected mode. ADO 2.x permits you to work in disconnected mode using client-side static record sets opened in optimistic batch update mode. This was one of the great new features of ADO that proved to be a winner in client/server applications of any size. As a matter of fact, working in disconnected mode is the most scalable technique you can adopt because it takes resources on the client (instead of on the server) and, above all, it doesnt enforce any locks on database tables (except for the short-lived locks that are created during the update operation). The following Imports statements are used at the file or project level: Imports System. Data Imports System.Data.Common Imports System.Data.OleDb Imports System.Data.SqlClient Imports System.Data.Odbc Imports System.IO Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions The DataSet Object Because ADO.NET (and .NET in general) is all about scalability and performance, the disconnected mode is the preferred way to code client/server applications. Instead of a simple disconnected recordset, ADO.NET gives you the DataSet object, which is much like a small relational database held in memory on the client. As such, it provides you with the ability to create multiple tables, fill them with data coming from different sources, enforce relationships between pairs of tables, and more. Data Set: The DataSet object is central to supporting disconnected, distributed data scenarios with ADO.NET. The DataSet is a memory-resident representation of data that provides a consistent relational programming model regardless of the data source. It can be used with multiple and differing data sources, used with XML data, or used to manage data local to the application. The DataSet represents a complete set of data including related tables, constraints, and relationships among the tables. The DataAdapter object, which works as a connector between the DataSet and the actual data source. The DataAdapter is in charge of filling one or more DataTable objects with data taken from the database so that the application can then close the connection and work in a completely disconnected mode. After the end user has performed all his or her editing chores, the application can reopen the connection and reuse the same DataAdapter object to send changes to the database. Admittedly, the disconnected nature of the DataSet complicates matters for developer