Human Sexuality Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Sexuality Book Review - Essay Example s up the interesting possibility that other cultures may consider Western sexuality to be odd or abnormal, in much the same way as earlier writers on sexuality have tended to accept the Western model as normal, while sexual patterns in other cultures are viewed as strange and exotic. This book is very useful to a reader because it offers a more composite human framework of sexuality rather than a model dominated by Western thought patterns. The authors view sexuality as a primitive heritage which has evolved over the course of time, both physically and behaviorally, as a means to cope with the changes taking place in the immediate environment. The focus of this book is this on the elements that all human being share in common as one species rather than in highlighting and focusing upon the differences in sexual behavioral patterns and attitudes across different countries in the world. Such differences, even where they occur, are to be understood and appreciated and used as a means to enhance out understanding of ourselves as different yet related groups within the same species. 2. This book also goes into an indepth discussion of sexual behavior in human beings. It covers many of the important issues such as the anatomy of the male and female bodies, puberty and adolescence and the sexual changes that occur during this period, pregnancy and childbirth and as well as issues related to the nature of sexuality as it changes with ageing. The book also discussed sexual positions and how sexual foreplay and mating patterns have developed in the human race over the course of our evolution from primates. What is fresh and different about this book however is that it examines these issues from an anthropological perspective, where the cultural context is also taken into consideration rather than viewing sexual progression over the life cycle as being an isolated event. In describing the development of sexuality and especially the institution of marriage, the book

Essay on Asymmetric Threat and Differences between International and

On Asymmetric Threat and Differences between International and Domestic Terrorism - Essay Example This form of intimidated has caused the nation to suffer economically as the security of the citizens is compromised while working thus affecting productivity. Terrorism is among the asymmetrical risks affecting the United States. The term asymmetrical threat refers to a threat where the group causing the terror is widely spread and operates within a shadowy network. The group is difficult to identify as it is camouflaged within the citizens living in the country. The organized groups are at times well funded and possess technology and weapons that are used to cause terror within the country. In simpler terms, asymmetric treats can be used to refer the technique of warfare that is not fair. The term fair in war can be used to refer to the use of surprise or unconventional weapon during the war. Asymmetric treat is successful mainly due to the use of the attacker’s strength to exploit the opponent’s weakness. Politics plays a significant part in the nature of terrorism w ithin a country. The United States have been attacked by many threats from Muslim nations. The world trade center came under attack from a Pakistani decedent in 1993 called Ramzi Yousef. The group parked an explosive filled rental van in the packing lot of tower one. His idea was to collapse the tower onto the second tower using urea nitrate. The bomb did a lot of  destruction but did not collapse according to Ramzi’s plan (Post, Ruby & Shaw, 2002). The paper will evaluate some of the asymmetric threats in the history of the  US and the cause of action taken by the government to counter these asymmetric threats. The government can act through legislative and executive means. This means that the legislative arm of government can create new law or the executive can make laws responding to the treat. One of the significant asymmetrical threats suffered by the US in the resent past includes the September Eleventh bombing of the trade towers. The threats become eminent due to the influence of the US on foreign Muslim nation and the war against terrorism. Prior to the bombing, a series of bombing aimed towards the US and its allies had been witnessed with bombing in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, claiming a total of 19 US casualties and a significant number of the nations citizens (Post, Ruby & Shaw, 2002). The organization responsible for this attack and the threat was the Al-Qaeda group headed by Osama Bin Laden. On September 11, the group hijacked four passenger airliners and attacked America’s trade center which doubled as a symbol of the nation’s economic and military strength. The air strike resulted to the destruction of the buildings and the  killing of 2,726 people on American soil. The action taken by the legislature was aimed at ensuring that such an attack did not take place again and capturing the mastermind of the attack. The public law 107-40 was among the law passed giving the president the power to use force necessary to elim inate any organization responsible. Laws governing judicial detentions were amended to allow secret detention. The department of homeland security was created during this period. The USA patriotic Act allowed the USA government to interdict terrorist and also a criminal statute against those harboring terrorists (Monaghan, 2000). The post World War II world raised increasing concerns regarding the communism threat. Those accused of communism and involvement with the

Philosophy in our daily lifes Essay Example for Free

Philosophy in our daily lifes Essay This essay will discuss how can we apply metaphysics to our daily life as students, including activities and philosophical situations that take place through the week. The writing will have a special focus on metaphysics, on how it highly impacts and relates to a high school student’s daily life, by using tools regarding this topic by Alain Badiou, Van Inwagen, Plato, Aristotle and The Matrix. Philosophy is the invention of new problems, however not all situations can be philosophically analyzed. That is why a current philosopher from metaphysics explains in his text â€Å"The Event† how are these situations identified, because currently a very crucial and polemique problem is that most of people think that philosophical situations are constantly affecting us in every single thing we do, which leads most people to mistaken normal standpoints as philosophical situations. Due to that, the author of â€Å"Thinking the Event † has made this writing to help people to stop using the term philosophy wrong. The three aspects that differ a normal standpoint with a philosophical situation are choice, distance and break. The first aspect means either picking to think or not thinking, when a complex and not regular situation takes place, which means choosing to research and get to know well the problem, or leave it how it is and walk away; the second requisite for a philosophical situation is the distance, which is the comparison of the actual situation which is commonly d etected as the truth and its farness from the power, which in regular situation there is no real distance or disagreement; the last condition is the break, which basically is to realize and accept how different is the event from reality as we know it. Cyber bullying and bullying are new problems that have grown exponentially in the twenty first century, because of the constant invention of technology and social networks. The stage of high school is a highly concentrated area of both types of bullying and other forms of molesting, however all of these according to the program of Bullying Stops With Me, one  out of four students is bullied, from which eighty percent of the times ends in physical aggression. To identify if this is a philosophical situation, the three requirements need to be present. The first one is the choice to think or not to, of why the bully is attacking the bullied; the second one is to find the distance between power and truth, in this case the power represented by the bully who is doing this because of any type of problems he has internally, that he projects towards the bullied, who represents the truth that has no reason to deserve the treatment of this teenager; the third is the break, which is being able to differ how bullying by this boy is so far from the ideal situation where he has no real problems with the bullied, who has to deal with the aggressive discharges from the damaged kid. The three conditions for a philosophical situation to be detected have been successfully proven, in a given event in a high school student’s life. This has been an example of a daily problem that many students experience in their studies at school, which after analysis it has been able to be categorized as a philosophical situation. After knowing how to differentiate regular problems from philosophical situations, it is easier to go deeper into philosophy and learn from one of its branches, which is metaphysics. Van Inwagen defines metaphysics as the study of ultimate reality, which shows a brief explanation of the topic, but still it contains a deep meaning in each word that conforms this definition given by the author. One great mind of this branch of philosophy is Plato, student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, who has deeply influenced many authors and philosophy as we know it today. Many high school students go through a very rough stage in their lives where the image of each person is always compared with the ideal one. These images are created or known through the ones that photoshop editors pick as perfect. They have a huge impact on the lives of high school students, which have created a substantial amount of problems to junior high students such as anorexia and bulimia among other problems because of the authors and editors and the figures that they have created to be the perfect ones and the ones that everybody should aspire to be. Plato discusses the ideal form or intelligible world and its influence on matter. This point taken by the greek philosopher relates to the perfect picture earlier discussed, of how the ideal image of a woman or man should be, which in consequence affects the matter or the scholars on their body, because they  want to resemble to those icons that the editors have created. This point is also taken by the movie of The Matrix when Neo is in the white room, seen as the residual image (perfect form of himself) which can be related to the ideal model that the world has cr eated of the human body, compared to the natural apppearence when he is in the real world, where he appears bold and his body is different. The relation of the photoshop form, the residual and the figure on the Matrix from the intelligible (Plato) world are things that highly influence a student’s life, which show how we are strange prisoners from these images, because these pupils are not common prisoners with shackles and in a prison as Plato mentions on his text The Allegory Of The Cave. Plato mentions the phrase â€Å"We are strange prisoners† because of the uncommon slavery that the world has made us be. This philosopher who lived thousands of years ago saw this polemique, that back then was present and after centuries it still is present in a high school student’s life and in a movie such as The Matrix. The film shows everyone as a prisoner from the program (the matrix), that was made by the machines to have all humans controlled so that they could take their energy. Taking into account this motion picture earlier mentioned, there is a relation between the real lives of each person in the matri x with the prisoners of The Allegory of the Cave. This text is about slaves shackled without any movement, who have been like that all of their lives, inside a cave where they see these shadows and a stories about them on a wall before them, with a fire behind to illuminate these shapes. One day the master decides to free one of the slaves who is taken outside the cave by force. Once the prisoner is out it narrates how difficult it is for him to get used to the light of the sun and the unusual world before him. For him to be able to adjust to these changes he starts by just seeing shadows, from that the moon and at the end the Sun. After his experience he gets back to the cave and he tells the other slaves what he lived and experienced, who later mocked him. At the end he gets to the conclusion that he rather be a poor servant with that knowledge than back in the shadows with ignorance. The Allegory of the Cave has six important symbolisms that relate to the lives of many high school students. The first one is the cave, which is the society, the knowledge and costumes that most of the people consider as the absolute truth; the second is the fire, representing the knowledge that society gives to each person, which shape  many lives of scholars through their acceptance of these; the third one is the prisoners that symbolizes the students; the fourth is the shadows, that are the things that learners think they know, which are perceived through their senses; the fifth is the shackles, representing the comfort zone where undergraduates stay due to the fear of being judged; the final is the light, where they can actually find the real knowledge. These symbolisms represent to be part of many of the lives that high school students have through their three years of study, because a great amount of these undergraduates constantly accept rules or truths that others implement on them. These situations reveal one very important problem that they experience when they try to belong to a group. They take the information that group gives them (fire symbolism) and that’s what they use as reference point to other activities they face through their day. As consequence they become strange prisoners from that information that is given to them, not allowing them to come out to the light (real knowledge) and experience the real world, which is way to different and more filled up with information about the world. In some cases there are students that notice that they are slaves of information that the groups give them and they decide to leave all that information behind and experience the real world, however for many it is very hard to get accustomed to the real world and its information due to the dramatic change, which in consequence leads them back to the world of shadows. Another greek philosopher named Aristotle, who made a huge impact on western philosophy discusses on his studies the four causes that lead a person to be virtuous. These causes are the material (material of what and object is composed of), the formal (the potentiality of what it can become or work for), the efficient (tools that shape the object) and the final (its purpose). These four causes are the ones that through reason lead people to accomplish their total actuality (ultimate purpose). The four causes are deeply related to a scholar’s life, as does any other human being, which can lead them to be virtuous people through the completion of the stages, however when teenagers try to fit in a club the causes seem to be farther away because of the shape that their lives take once they commit to belong to a group. High school is about fitting in and belonging to a society, where he or she relates to the people within, nonetheless these people usually try to belong to the high and social groups, which dictate a set of  norms in order to be part of it. These rules are usually doing drugs, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and relations hips with the opposite gender. They usually lead the subject to an acceptable place within the group, yet these requisites lead the person to move further apart from their causes and to a virtuous life. Peer pressure assumes an important role in this case, principally because the teenager desires so bad to belong, that he or she will do anything to accomplish their goal. This situation has created polemique, because once you enter high school no person wishes to be at the bottom, without being recognized socially, which builds another wall between the subject and the final cause depending on the type of group that a person wants to belong to and how far are the ideologies of the group from the ones of the person. Van Inwagen, a metaphysician debate on how appearances tend to be deceptive and that reality stands behind all these appearances. These, disguise the reality and they do this type of â€Å"scheme† through the misleading of what people sense. Many social groups and images that photoshop has ideally formed have highly disguised the truth of perfect and ideal body. In the case of groups they show how not having parents is better (appearance), yet these people suffer of psychological problems and loneliness (reality) which they tend to hide with the amazingness of not having elderly people caring for you, leading scholars to have problems with their parents because of the attention and concern that they have for them that it is bad seen in the teen society. Another case that can relate to the point of Van inwagen of appearances being deceptive is drinking and smoking, which is seen in social high school groups to be fine and without consequences (appearances), however drinking and drugs are another way to balance their lack of attention in parenthood (reality). For photoshop they disguise these models with perfect body, teeth, hair, skin among other things when the reality is that these models just stand there and let the photographers take pictures of them, which later are incredibly edited and placed on magazines and big announcements that serve the purpose of projecting an ideal form to sell advertisements among other things. Another important situation of an undergraduate is the effort and results they tend to have at school. Many students consider high school as a social network that leads them to a happy stage of their lives by partying and skipping classes, nonetheless they forget the importance of their education when they  fa il classes, which can be occasionally improved, however the way that students deal with failure is why they cannot succeed. Plato teacher of Aristotle debates that an unexamined life is not worth living because even though people experience some discomfort or pain this is only temporary and it is worth it due to what comes next. The â€Å"temporary pain† can be seen in this case as studying more and partying less, that eventually would lead to having good grades, getting into a good college and being successful. Yet if they remain in an unexamined life of ignorance they will live a different type of pain, which will remain there for all of their lives. This last phrase of different type of pain is related to a scholar’s life when he fails classes and eventually school, leaving him without his or her studies, leading to a bad employment and misery. That is why in the Allegory of the Cave, Plato in his conversation with Glaucon mentions how the slave that was set free and comes back to the cave says that he would rather live being a poor servant of a poor master with all the knowledge that bac k in the shadows. This shows in the student’s life that if he went out to the real world and saw what he could become and the truth about it, he would not rather be an ignorant teen that only parties who remains in the shadows because he can not see what can happen if he remains the same. To conclude this essay, it has been seen the different aspects that a teenager boy or girl on high school can have and how are they related to the different authors and movie of metaphysics. These authors have one thing in common which is seeking the truth, however their methods to guide them to the goal differ. The two main authors are of greek background, Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle focuses his methods and theory on the sensible realm and later on the intelligible realm, unlike Plato who uses these concepts the other way around focusing on the world of forms or ideal world and its influence on the natural realm. It is for each person to decide the view on which they stand, which could be philosophy being a set of footnotes of Plato; Aristotle being superior than Plato, because he took Plato’s ideas and improved them; or Plato focuses on abstract ideas and Aristotle is concentrated on concrete objects and its development, changes and purposes. This views are for each person to the decide focusing mainly on undergraduates and their philosophical situations and how they wish to deal with them by either choosing one of the views or remaining in the shadows. Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY Cohen, Marc. The Allegory of the Cave. 11 July 2013. 12 September 2014 https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm. Cohen, S. Marc. Aristotles Metaphysics. 11 June 2012. 12 September 2014 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/. Paul, John. 2 July 2013. 11 September 2014 http://2011bullyingprogram.weebly.com/bullying-statistics.html . Stanford Universuty. Metaphysics. 10 September 2007. 11 September 2014 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/. Thesaurus.com. Synonims. http://www.thesaurus.com/browse. Unknown. Notes on Alain Badiou’s Thinking the Event. 22 June 2012. 12 September 2014 http://de-bel-aizin.tumblr.com/post/25651855872.

Business operational plan of Apple Inc

Business operational plan of Apple Inc Apple Inc. designs manufactures and markets the personal computers along with other mobile communication services, music and digital players. It also provides hardware, software and networks solutions and peripherals. Apple Inc. sells its products throughout the world on its retail stores, online stores, through the third party wholesalers and its direct sales force. It also deals with the variety of Macintosh i.e. iPhone iPod etc. It provides the services of the complete software solutions on its iTunes stores. Its consumers are those who purchase its products directly, enterprises, educator and governments. This company is California based and founded in 1977. It has capability to design and manufacture its own operating system. Business operational plan of Apple Inc. Strategic plan sets up the business plan of a company while business plan in turn establishes the business operation plan. Operational plan is the key to run the entire business of company. Operational business plan covers the all areas of company including the finance, manufacturing, internet, operations, RD, human resources and marketing. Apple Inc. was known because of its lenient business thinking. Apple Inc. has the design, marketing and manufacturing services. Company develops designs and markets the musical players with important accessories. The business of Apple Inc. is managed on geographic basis. There are five operating segments of Apple Inc. such as America, Europe, Japan, retail and others. In US, Canada, UK and Japan Apple owned stores are currently operating. Like other organizations Apple Inc. all the departments are formed by the placing the similar functions in the groups. As described before the main divisions of Apple Inc. human resource, finance, marketing and productions are adopted by the functional approach. In each division the functional subsystem and departments create hierarchies. Operational management is linked with the production divisions activities. The people in Apple Inc. are grouped together on the basis of their expertise and resources. It enabled the Apple Inc. to learn from its functions. The present structure in Apple Inc. has focused upon those activities which reduce the costs and increase the flexibility in its operations. The managers in Apple Inc. have a greater control of the organizational activities and avoiding the tall and other several hierarchies. A relative flat structure of the Apple Inc. has decentralized the authorities and responsibilities of its management. The managers and employees at lower levels are encouraged to take part in fostering the companys strengths. The advantages of decentralization are numerous i.e. enhancing the planning, decision making and control processes. Apple Inc. has focused on its marketing operations on the major business areas like iPod and iTunes. The marketing department shows a great responsiveness to the outside world. The finance treasury division of Apple Inc. provides the financial policy to company. This department is responsible to handle the international capital transactions of company, liquidity guaranteeing and risk management. In Apple Inc. the role of the financial manager is crucial for the strategic management. The capital required for the RD is raised by the Finance division which maintains the innovation position of the Apple Inc. Internal problems of Apple Inc. were in the form of the sale force accessing directly to corporations. Apple Inc. relied on the 300 manufactures while IBM had 6000 to 7000 direct salesman. However the Apple Inc. has focused to establish more sales staff. Many issues concerning to these sales person were noted regarding the prices of products. Apple Inc. has also marketing problem as it failed to communicate the Macintoshs business image in market. The fact that marketing strategy was not according to requirements and did not make it more famous in market; i t also did not focus upon the technology. Products are manufactured on the basis of customers needs. Apple Inc. needed the fundamental importance of getting close to market. Apple Inc. possessed the organizational structure which too had the management problems. The production and shipment problems exist in Apple Inc. as the IBM its supplier experienced the manufacturing problems and delayed the shipment of various products. In a market the speedy delivery of products is critical. Due to the Apples key dependency on other companies put it at the competitive disadvantage. Human Resource in Apple Inc. has administrative tasks such as meetings, conferences, special projects and seeks the solution for the fast paced store environment. Discuss both the internal and external factors that impinge on the business operations plan. Apple Inc. has faced the serious challenges during the last 30 years but recovered from those serious situations with advent of innovation. Apple Inc. faces the threat of competition because of free services in market. A good business achieves the market share by creating better legal services to customers. It can be compared with the bottle water which is better in quality as compared to tape water which is in approach of every person. However there is legal competition ahead in market. No company was successful to attach the market the before the Apple Inc. did so. Better service is directly related with the new and better technology. Roxio was the first company which followed the Apple Inc. to produce the products on the concept iTunes Music Store. Sony and Microsoft are other big players of market to download the services. On the other hand Dell Computers are partnering with MusicMatch. Traditional retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart have presented their own plans. Apple Inc. is f acing the competition from these competitors and profiting the leading position in market. Copy rights issues are also concerned with Apple Inc. Apple Inc. faces the issues of jobs as a part of their system. Sales force for the direct access to corporation is required for the success of business operation plan. IBM has the direct salespeople more than 6000 while Apple Inc. relied only on the 300 manufacturers representatives. The reason behind the small number of sales force may be the selling Macintoshes at lower prices as compared to dealers (Brady, 1989). Economic Conditions Apple Inc. Economic conditions of world impact directly on the performance and financial results of Apple Inc. investor must not consider the historical trends for the future performance of Apple Inc. there are several reason behind this which pose the risks on business of Apple Inc. Uncertainty about the current global economic conditions are also posing threats because business could not continue due to tight credits, negative news about finance, decline in asset values. Apple Inc. sets the prices of its products to consolidate the Dollars value. Macroeconomic factors along with other factors affect Apples business operation plan. The demand can be influenced by the increase in prices of fuel and energy, condition of mortage real states markets, consumers confidence and health labour costs. These economic factors adversely affect the demand for companys product. It also affects the operating results and financial conditions of Apple Inc. Impacts of environmental and technological changes on the business plan of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. has made efforts to satisfy its stakeholders in various ways. It included all the environmental issues for its corporate governance. It has satisfied the employees, local communities and general public by minimizing the environmental impacts on its entire business operations; integrated the sound environmental, safety management and health practices. The environmental mission statement of Apple Inc. has integrated all above mentioned practices into all business operations to ensure that it offers technologically innovative products. Apple Inc. aims to communicate on the policy which provides the benefits of environmental consciousness, safety maximization, energy efficiency and health protection to its various stakeholders. In the HRM objectives Apple Inc. has adopted the strategies because of the consumers preferences as the external environmental force. The HRM of Apple Inc. has established the partnership agreements to keep the trust and fairness. The recruitment policy of the HRM is modified in the ways to adapt the external changes in environment. Therefore the higher number of skilled staff is recruited in the area of web development; web is considered a preferred medium for the technology professionals for applications. A positive work environment has proved that Apple Inc. is outstanding for the visionary products. The organizational competency of Apple Inc. is increased by the HRM. Apple the Inc. is in an exclusive position. It has produced both software and hardware; it cannot be analyzed only the PC manufacturing company. It is also providing the software solutions, server producer and online contents. Technology Advancement The changes in technology has affected the barriers of entry and impacted the business operations of Apple Inc. The changes in digital music industry are working now on common format to make them available for the music players. The reason behind the limiting the download contents is to determine the users acceptance of Apples product. Bundle of solutions are provided by the Apple Inc. with refined and good products. By providing high quality products to end users the technology sector is making changes rapidly. These are the diversified efforts which Apple Inc. keeps its design and innovation more focused with the use of best performance and prices according to the external and internal environmental changes. Due to its distinctive competencies like product design, innovation, educational skills and digital entertainment; company has acted as a leader in the digital lifestyle. Apple Inc. has used its strengths for the purposes of creativity, technological development and innovation. It has gained competitive advantage over other companies in the industry because it offers multiple products with lower values. Organizational structure and control system of Apple Inc. improved the information and knowledge availability. For the Apple Inc; innovation and technology are the key driving forces of its mission and strategy (Morden, 1993). For the effective operation management system IT is a driving factor and management information system is the basic requirement for the strategic development. Efficiency of operation management is improved by the use of IT as it increases the quality and availability of information and leads to cost saving (Ibid, 1993). Apple Inc. is using the SAP and ERPs systems to speed up the customers orders. Apple Inc. has implemented the i2 technologies (www.industryweek.com/currentarticles). Importance of good business operations planning to the overall success of the business at Apple Inc. Apple Inc. has many successful factors that determine its success in key areas of the operations. An important factor that is apparent is about the vision of the organization. It is true that creative energy always begins with vision. These organizations impact significantly on the world (Collins Porras, 2004). Apple has a very clear and purposeful vision which can be seen through the innovative products for the last many years (Senge, 2006). The main purpose of the Apple Inc. was to develop the computers for the world and making contribution to the world by its advance technology products. Beside this vision Apple Inc. takes further steps of actions which are practiced throughout the organization. In the Apple Inc. employees were able to lay the foundations to achieve the long term goals. They were able to start the business at small scale and contributed at a higher level. The company acted upon the Kotters model and understood the potential uses. The success of the Apple Inc. is attributed to the capability of the company making refinements and building the more powerful products. The company has changed the core nature of the business. The Apple Inc. innovated the (GUI), file folder and desktop metaphor. Kotters 7th step manifests by using the credibility to make changes in system, policies and structures (Kotter, 2007). Apple uses the core competencies which the employees have acquired through redefining the market segmentation. Apple has met many successes and overcome the challenges. Apple Inc. has made changes and implemented new policies because of changing trends of computer markets. Apple Inc. is a computer technology which is best known due to its innovative structure. It is focusing upon the production of personal computers. In the advent of evolving technology it has shifted into the electronic market. Apple Inc. operates its business in more than 170 retail stores in US, Japan, UK and Canada. It has produced more friendly computers for the consumers. All of the achievements at Apple Inc. are attained through the people who design and develop the products and staff at the retail stores. Why is the business operation plan important at Apple Inc? This business operation plan is important because it generates the steady increasing revenues and sending its products in the big markets of the world. Due to its good leadership the Apple Inc. achieved the high profile. Three manufacturing facilities are shaping the foreign operation in countries like Ireland and Singapore. Due to its internal strengths and successful business operation Apple Inc. has become a competi tive company. It has footed in the computer market with an innovative style in the computer market. It production system is well handled as the operating system is free of all tangles of the Microsoft operating systems. In the physical appearance, usability and specifications; it has given a large degree of control to company. Apple Inc. encourages the RD environment and constantly releasing the products as seen in the latest Mac mini and iPod. It has made the Apple Inc. a big innovative company and brings the creative and new ideas in the computer market. Capital Structure: Corporate policy has yielded good results. Apple has paid all the debts which suggested that desired operations of company and growth of company by equity and not by the debt. Managerial qualities and resources necessary for effective business operation planning The issues in quality of products attracted the attention of business. The management concept is rendered by the wave of successful entrepreneurship. Top managers are committed to make decisions before communicating fully with all those who are involved in it. When subordinates ask for the decision the top managers think about the organizational response towards the decision for strategic plan. Ways of decision making enhance the business operations and credibility throughout the organization Apple Inc. People love to purchase the products of Apple Inc. because of power, easier way to use and reliability. The business managers at Apple Inc. ensure the delivery of the products to companies according to their requirements. Business customer contacts the business managers and long term relationships are established between them (http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/retail.html#business). Apple Inc. management has the ability to sell its products having no supply chain system. It earn the revenu e by the selling the iPod devices and Mac computers. Its iTunes virtual stores are generating the revenue more than $ 1 billion every year (David, 2010, p: 72). The managers at Apple Inc. face the incentives of using the strategies to control the earnings in many traded companies. The managers are allowed to purchase the stocks. In this way the staff at Apple Inc. is encouraged (www.sec.gov). The management system of Apple Inc. has policies and procedures, responsibilities and roles of its managers. For example a best health management system is maintained by the concerned managers to ensure the safety and health of its employees. If any inadequacy is seen in this system then top managers adopt the corrective actions including the verification through audit processes. Apple procurement managers are responsible to manage the business relationship with suppliers and coordinate the Apples supplier responsibility auditor. Apple Inc. has five divisions to manage the products and marketing departments of the company. These five divisions are responsible to evaluation and manufacturing of the devices, software and hardware of computer system. The four support divisions also work to handle the marketing and post sale products. A new position of Chief Operation Officer was created by Scully to centralize the operations and involving the senior management in the daily business decisions (Annual Report, 1988). Human Resource (HR) is responsible for the safeguarding the most valuable assets of the Apple Inc. It handles the many programs of the company to achieve the companys goals. Human resource at Apple Inc. is also responsible to reach at the needed resources. The Apple Inc. has six important valued creation functions including the marketing, RD, finance, Human resource management, information systems and operations and logistics. The chain of activities required to transform the inputs into outputs are pr imarily concerned with actual design, manufacturing, delivery, marketing of products and customer support activities. The ultimate task of the RD resource at Apple Inc. includes the new innovation and use of technology which meet the customers requirements (Hill Jones, 2004). Information system at Apple Inc. is an important asset which provides the business assisting facility. For the success of the business operation plan the information system is a core to keep the business run online without any obstacles. Other valuable resources which have potential powers for the customers as well as the management at Apple Inc. include the servers which distribute the information about Apples products and create new internet resources for the mailing list, online feedback and further open the communication lines. From the above discussion it can be concluded that Apple Inc. is a well known development and business company of the world. Its success lies in its business operation plan which indeed depends upon the various necessary actions taken from the design of the product to sale of the product.

Online Communities Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Online Communities A community, according to The Living Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, is â€Å"a number of persons having common ties or interests and living in the same locality.† Apart from the local sense of community, a person can form a community with his or her co-workers, classmates or even a group of people with common interests. This unity is formed due to the subjects that link all of them together – those who work together, study together and have the same common interests. The size of these types of communities pale in comparison to the ones established online. Online communities include chat rooms, instant messenger services and discussion boards (also known as forums). What sets these forms of communication apart from e-mail is that users are free to interact in real time, where the communication occurs without any type of delay. What makes these online communities a lot more appealing, than the ones that are set in the â€Å"real world†, is the anonymity that the internet offers. Thanks to the anonymity, users are able to community without restraint in forums where they can be entertained, educated and most importantly find a sense of belonging. Online communities work well for several key reasons, the first being that it isn’t necessarily discriminatory due to its level of anonymity. Another reason is that it is more accessible for person with handicaps, such as the wheelchair bound or the hearing impaired. Distance is also important; instead of going across town to discuss the latest book of the month, readers with access to the web can meet online much more easily and more often. Another reason why online communities may be working so well is because people may feel less intimidated sinc... ...n. â€Å"Word of a Free Concert, Next to an Oft-Sold Bridge, Spreads Quickly.† The New York Times. 2004. 23 Nov. 2004. Prabhupada, A.C. Bhakitvedanta Swami. Bhagavad-Gita: As It Is. Los Angeles: Bhakitvedanta Book Trust, 1972. Various Authors. DAFF – The Dark Angel Fan Fiction Archive. The Archivists 2000. 23 Nov. 2004. Various Authors. Fan Forum – The O.C. Jelsoft Enterprises, 1998-2004. 23 Nov. 2004. Various Authors. Interference.com – U2 Feedback (U2 Fans, ‘Zine and More). Jelsoft Enterprises, 2000, 2001. 23 Nov. 2004. Weinberger, David. Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing, 2003. 95-97.

American Culture Essay -- Sports Baseball Cultural Essays

American Culture It’s game six of the American League Championship Series. I’m sitting in front of a bunch of baseball-crazed fanatics wetting their pants, because the Red Sox have just pulled ahead nine to six in the ninth inning. â€Å"Go Sox!† â€Å"Yankees suck!† â€Å"Dude, toss me another brewskie.† Americans are fans at heart. We root for the home team, wear their colors, jump up and down following a great play, and threaten the television after an absurd call. Sports have proven to be an integral part in the creation of community identity throughout the last half of the century. Furthermore, American sports both reflect and shape our cultural ideas. They are rarely considered â€Å"just a game.† Sports are packed with several meanings: they are displays of patriotism, consumer spectacles and even morality lessons. By observing sports and their impact on American society, we can learn much about consumerism, political developments (both domestic and in ternational), racial relations, social classes, equality for women, and of course, community identity, including the condition of our cities. Since the 1950s, American sports are one of the most important institutions for us to raise and work through questions of race, gender, and class. The corporations who control the media coverage of sports tailor their coverage to Joe Six-Pack; and thus there is a lack of coverage of elitist sports such as water polo, tennis and sailing. Because of the media's target population, we are besieged with commercials for beer, automobiles, athletic shoes and deodorant. Our hard-earned dollars are rarely tempted to go towards healthy food items or prudent savings (light beer is not a healthy food). Gas-guzzling SUVs, beer, chips and dip are the consumables t... ... in your backyard or in the street, you can play hoops at any public school yard, you can bat a ball in any sandlot, but where do young people get experience in a pool or on a tennis court? Who can afford a round of golf? Tiger Woods is an enigma in a world of wealthy country clubs and green jackets. Indeed, American sports are a metaphor for American culture. When viewed through the lens of peanuts and beer, one gets a gooey, nostalgic, "take me out to the ball game" sensation. But you only need look below the surface to get a more disturbing view of some of our culture's most serious ills. Corporate control and gender, race and economic bias run rampant in our beloved sports arenas. And the latest barometer that measures the health of our sports culture is the fact that our heroes hit the front page not for their abilities, but for their sexual indiscretions.

Feminism

â€Å"Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength† ( G.D. Anderson).Challenges that women face like domestic violence, gender equality in the business world, unfair maternity and reproductive issues, women require that both government and corporate America take notice and provide equality. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, and every nine seconds a woman gets sexually assaulted or beaten. Domestic violence is an utmost issue in the world and affects around 9 million couples. Domestic violence can be characterized as any type of abuse or harm inflicted on a person by their spouse or partner. Anyone can be a victim. Victims can be of different cultures, sex, race, and religion. The abuse can range from intimidation and name-calling to threats and physical/ sexual harm. It is not a new epidemic, it has been ongoing in history throughout all cultures. The Common Law of England permitted a man to beat his wife, provided the diameter of the stick so used was not wider than the diameter of his thumb, hence, the term â€Å"Rule of Thumb† ( Burnett). In the 15th century, the Catholic Church ruled the husband was the judge of his wife, and had all power over her. After centuries of domestic violence, in today's society there are athletes beating their wives in elevators, in homes, and publicly abusing woman on social media. What part of famous athletes beating their wives in elevators is okay? The number of American troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2012 was 6,488, the number of American women who were murdered by their current or ex male partners during that time was 11,766 (Vagianos). The number of women killed is almost double of the amount of casualties lost at war. The world has been inundated with millions of stories, but the stories don't go away and the problem will not stop quietly. The numbers involving domestic violence continue to rise every day. As stated previously, in every nine seconds a woman is getting beaten or sexually assaulted. On an average that is roughly twenty people per minute which also means 28,800, people a day are getting abused or sexually assaulted. The list could go on with continuously high numbers. Around 70% of these cases go unreported and of the ones that are reported, the victim has been assaulted or beaten by their intimate partner around 35 times before contacting the police. The main reason is because victims are terrified of coming forward. Women should not have to be so afraid to confide in authorities, but they hide it away because they believe it is a personal matter. While it might be true that women experience domestic violence more than men, still all in all, men can be victims of domestic violence as well. About one in seven men have been subject to sexual/ physical abuse by their intimate partners, and two in five gay/ bisexual men are subject to it (Vagianos). Society only hears what's on the news, about 85% of women being victimized, but nothing regarding the 15% of men being victimized. The only talk concerning men being assaulted are ones coming from the comedians about prison rape jokes. Society strongly stereotypes it as men as the abusers, and women as the victims which sometimes isn't always necessarily the case. In fact 46%, of male victims have a female perpetrator (Rosin). According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, maternity leave is time off from a job given a mother to take care of a newborn child. The first couple months of a newborn's life can be very crucial for both mother and baby as both of them need this time for bonding and adapting. The average maternity leave is around six weeks if a mother has a normal birth, or eight weeks if the mother has a c-section. With some companies offering a paid maternity leave, but most offering an unpaid maternity leave. Some companies offer a longer twelve week period, but the catch, it is unpaid. For a new mother, a twelve week maternity leave is sort of arbitrary because companies don't understand the difficulties of having a newborn. The major problem is that it is unpaid. Workplaces look at motherhood as a choice, meaning they refuse a paid maternity leave. This makes it harder for the families with low incomes who want to procreate, because this puts mothers in the spot of either working full time or staying home and having more children resulting in a financial strain for the family. The infant mortality rate can be impacted by paid maternity leave. Most countries have a lower rate, however, the United States has a rate of 6.1. A baby born in the U.S. is nearly three times as likely to die during her first year of life as one born in Finland or Japan. That same American baby is about twice as likely to die in her first year as a Spanish or Korean one (Ingraham).For each additional month of paid maternity leave offered in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), infant mortality is reduced by 13%, according to a new study by researchers from McGill University and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (Science Daily McGill University). That means for every 1,000 births, eight of them die. That seems like a little amount, but in the United States babies arrive every eight seconds, but worldwide there are at least 251 babies born per minute. Over the years women have overcome numerous obstacles in the workplace, but a never ending obstacle is gender inequality. At every corporate level women are continuing to still be unrepresented and make up a little less than half the workforce. That means four out of ten families have a female as the â€Å"breadwinner† compared to their male counterparts. Given in today's society there is a strong emphasis on women being the stay at home moms/caregivers while the men are earning the family income. If women are in the workforce they are less likely to have any type of â€Å"S.T.E.M.† occupations and more likely to have a job pertaining to caregiving like a nurse. According to the report, only 4.6% of women work in STEM occupations, compared to 10.3% of men (Van Kampen Law, PC). On average, women working full-time earn just seventy nine cents for every dollar men earn (Van Kampen Law, PC). This is because of the gender wage gap, the ratio of a male to females earnings. It can affect all types of women in different ways. For example, a black women would have to work for eighteen months to make the earnings of a white male in one year. They are paid sixty seven cents for every dollar that a man would earn. A hispanic woman would earn fifty nine cents. Colored women are being targeted with gender and discrimination in the workplace.