Playing monopoly Essay

Pretend to embrace a technology and become the major source for that technology like buy out the competitors. Declare it obsolete because your original way is better. Wait long enough for a technique or idea to be forgotten by the majority of people or just long enough that the majority of your followers are naive newbies. Bring out the old idea and present it as a new invention. For example, many things in Visual Studio . Net are presented as new ideas even though they have existed in RAD tools like Delphi for over a decade. Why this works? because the majority of new software geeks have no idea what Delphi is and didn’t know that you could do everything exactly the way Microsoft claims you can in their â€Å"new† invention. It is very much clear about incidences that Microsoft has been unethical in its approaches. Rather that applying their own thoughts, most of the products they have released by copying ideas unethically from other competitor’s products. Rather than having the fair competition in the market Gates always tried to monopolize the market. Though all the monopoly has brought him profit but ethically Microsoft didn’t 2. Some of the characteristics of the market that created monopoly market that Microsoft’s operating system enjoyed are as follows: Incorporation of various Microsoft applications like Windows Digital Media Player and Internet Explorer in 1995 with its operating system gave an advantage to the company as this monopoly worked out for them. Users using Windows didn’t want themselves to get into trouble of purchasing a different browser and different Media Payer. Users were also not ready to pay extra money for buying other companies’ applications, as all those applications were readily available with Microsoft’s operating system. Every company was releasing their applications and operating systems in the market and every time Microsoft was able to know their programs. Using those programs Microsoft created monopoly in the market by releasing advanced version of competitors’ products. As when Navigator came in 1994, Microsoft launched Internet Explorer which was borrowed from Spyglass Inc. and made it similar to Navigator. It incorporated Internet Explorer with Windows. Media player was also incorporated in Windows. Sun Microsystems’s Java was also licensed to Microsoft first and then Microsoft built its own Microsoft java permitting Windows Users to be compatible with it. In the software industry users did not want to shift to new products or applications until proper training and workshops are organized. Microsoft’s used good PLAYING MONOPOLY: MICROSOFT Javier Ian Gonzalez Lopez – 1449556 – 9zi strategies for training users. With the Installation disk, a proper tour of Windows is provided to facilitate user. Attorney General Janet Reno filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the court of Judge Thomas Jackson. Microsoft made the computer companies using Windows as their operating system not to license, distribute or promote competitive software products of other companies. It embedded Internet Explorer with Windows and thus demolished consumer freedom to go for any other Browser plus it also degraded windows performance. In the agreements with computer companies those using Windows, Microsoft wanted them to leave Internet Explorer as the default Web–Browser and didn’t allow installation of any other browser. The judge was having complete authority to take hard actions against Microsoft’s unethical business strategies. As per the case study it is evident that Microsoft has used various unethical business strategies to make their business profitable. Microsoft copied the copyright of Apple’s OS/2 and developed its own operating system on the same line. Moreover they forced users to use its Internet Explorer and digital media player. They suppressed the platform independent functionality of Sun’s Java by releasing Microsoft’s Java and making it cross platform language. In my view, government should not have sued Microsoft. Consumers were well satisfied by Windows which was evident from the market share of its use. So signing of agreement involves approval of computer companies and Microsoft and if computer companies have signed that agreement that means they weren’t having any problems and neither consumers upon implementing the agreement. So Microsoft just used a marketing strategy over here. Judge Jackson’s order was fair for the competitors as well as for the software industry because Microsoft has really invoked the monopoly situation in the market. It was essential to have fair competition in the market. As an operating system and applications are totally two different aspects and Microsoft should not club these two aspects. This order would have helped competitors and users to choose their favorite applications. From Microsoft’s point of view it was not the fair decision, as they never wish to separate their business into two domains. It was a marketing strategy adopted by Microsoft so that it can withstand with the PLAYING MONOPOLY: MICROSOFT Javier Ian Gonzalez Lopez – 1449556 – 9zi competition. According to them it also facilitated consumers for not spending their money in buying other corresponding software and also playing a risk of installing and uninstalling. According to the settlement between Microsoft and DOJ, Microsoft was asked to share its application programming interface with other software rivals and to allow users to hide Internet Explorer icon from the screen. It was asked not to prevent other competitors programs to install on its operating system and not to retaliate against computer makers in releasing their products. This settlement was officially approved by Judge Kollar-Kotelly on November 1, 2003. The decision was really fair for the competitors as well as users. The decision has created free competitive market in the software industry. It allows users to use other available applications and allow them to hide icons which they do not want to use. From competitors point of view market became much more open to release more products with advanced technologies. This move also helped people to think out of Microsoft’s box and helped to showcase their technical skills. As a result various new operating systems with better performance than Windows like Linux, Suse, Monopoly of Microsoft’s operating system has harmed everyone from users to computer producers. Due to unavailability of fair market the users were bound to use Microsoft’s operating system and applications. They were unable to hide icons of the Microsoft’s applications from their operating system. From producer’s point of view, they were not free to launch Windows compatible applications due to unavailability of Windows application programming interface in the market. The competition became minimal in the market due to monopoly enjoyed by Microsoft. Due to monopoly in the market one single company Microsoft was holding maximum market share. It hampered the technical advancement and innovation in the market as well. Some of the following public policies could be used to deal with monopoly †¢Government should issue some standards for a given technology/system/product which should be followed by everyone in the industry. †¢Anti-monopoly law can be created to prevent monopoly to occur in the market. †¢Some policies can be incorporated in the system to motivate and encourage newly launched companies to increase the innovation in the market. PLAYING MONOPOLY: MICROSOFT Javier Ian Gonzalez Lopez – 1449556 – 9zi †¢Some policies should be made to share information among the companies whose applications are inter dependant.

Automobile Industry Essay

†¢Key drivers of the automobile sector are economic conditions, governments and regulations, consumer demands and interests, globalization and technological innovations †¢Generally, if the economic conditions are constant and good, people will seems willing to buy vehicles more than ever in all around world. In contrast, if economic conditions are bad, sales graphs will reverse and companies start to lose money. Firms should decide right production numbers in every condition and this capacity exactly depends on economic circumstances. †¢People are more conscious about what they except from a car and firms must satisfy these needs to survive in this sector. Even luxury automotive brands start to produce low fuel consumptions engines, otherwise they will collapse rapidly. †¢As usual, globalization is one of the crucial key drivers of automobile industry like every sector. After the globalization, brands start to do partnerships with each other to enter the different markets and they develop new technological innovations more cheap and useful all around the world. †¢In addition to these factors, governments’ regulations are one of the major determinants of global auto industry. The country’s’ legislation about emissions, environment and recycling are the key factors of brands investments. In European Union, the mutual regulations order that emission rate is lower than other regions and as a result of that firms should produce accordingly to these legislations. The Automobile Market †¢The automobile industry has become important after the globalization because people want to travel with more comfortably, safely and rapidly with their cars. Concordantly, while automobile sector is developing in every part of it, the global transportation sector benefit from positively. For instance; Rolls-Royce is producing both plane and car motors and Volvo is producing car and sea boats engines too. So, firms help to enlarge and develop in every transportation tools, not only cars. †¢The automobile industry consists of fuel, tire, and insurance firms. Also, mostly the luxurious brands are working with ranking fashion companies such as; Gucci(Fiat) and Hermes(Bugatti) and sound system companies like as; Bang & Olufsen (Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin) and Naim (Bentley). †¢On the other hand, after the globalization, automobile brands start to work together in some regions all around the world. They invest more money on R&D departments and sharing their knowledge to improve all transportation vehicles. †¢Germany, United States, Japan and Korean producers are the bestsellers all around the world. These countries mostly take control all over the world. Such as: Volkswagen is one of the biggest companies in automobile sector and it has got several brands such as; Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti and Seat. Company produces car for every segment. †¢In addition, especially for the last decade, market start to tend to produce more clean motors which do not harm to the environment. Also, they try to produce completely using electricity engines for all vehicles and using solar panels. As a result of that, the concept of climate change cause occurs a new market in automobile sector. Key Country Markets †¢In this chapter of report, I will mention about Japan, United States, Germany and Korean automotive producers because Toyota and Honda from Japan are the best and most well-known brands, Volkswagen from Germany is the head of locomotive in this industry for all parts of it, GM and Ford are the biggest companies from United states and Hyundai, which is becoming more powerful in everyday from Korea. †¢Volkswagen is the second best seller in 2012 after the GM and they are in front of Toyota. Generally, German cars are best vehicles that showed by automobile specialists from all over the word in every segment. Volkswagen, (if we look at the Exhibit 1) has got several different brands like; Lamborghini, Bentley, Audi, Bugatti, Skoda and Seat. They have product range from low-consumption cars to the luxury vehicles, as a result of that they are producing well- quality vehicles. †¢Toyota and Honda are the most favorable brands from Japan against to American and German manufacturers. Toyota Corolla is the world’s best seller mass production model and Toyota has got successful models as like Corolla too. In addition, Honda is one of the biggest and accomplished gasoline engine producers. Also, these two Japan brands are investing their money on hybrid and electric motor more than ever other brands. †¢GM is best seller brand in 2011, they sold approximately ten million cars and they have got various vehicle models. GM has got various brands such as; Chevrolet, Opel, Vauxhall, GMC, Buick and Cadillac. Also Ford is the one of the biggest key driver of the market. †¢Hyundai is one of the most developing auto brands for last decade. They start to produce well engines, comfortable and good looking cars. On the other hand, Hyundai is one of the biggest partnerships of Kia (%49. 2) which is the second biggest brand from Korea. †¢As we can see clearly, these 6 brands from 4 country of the world are the leaders of this sector. Also, they own various brands in their group and they are using this superiority against to the other brands. Sector Trends †¢Brands should produce low-consumption engines and obey emission and governments’ regulations to survive. †¢Nearly all automotive producers are using same technology on their vehicles; they need to work on these researches together to be more beneficial for humanity. For instance; Mercedes-Benz and BMW are sharing R&D departments studies with each other and both of them working together to develop new technologies. †¢People are expecting more useful cars from producers like, they want both athletic and reliable vehicles, as a result of that firms has got new opportunities to create new model segments based on these requirements. †¢Transportation vehicles are developing in every day and automobiles is one of the crucial parts of this situation. Firms are increasing their sales number in every year and they need to satisfy their customers’ requirements in a perfect way. †¢Climate change is one of the determinants of this sector, so firms should pay attention to this issue seriously, they need to obey governments’ regulations and produce new technologies which will be not harmful for nature. †¢Hybrid and electric engines will be the most popular trends in this sector next decades; people would prefer clean engines and low-priced energy, so sector must be improved itself rapidly. Key Success Factor. †¢In this sector there are several success factor which is decided by people and worlds’ requirements; †¢Firms must produce more secure cars because, if we compare transportation systems, motorway is the most dangerous one and, the number of accidents’ proofs it. Brands should work together on security services. For instance; Volvo which is one of the securest brand on the world, claims that after 2020, any people will die in a traffic accident that drive a Volvo. †¢Engines success based on the fuel-efficiency, not harmful for the environment and being long-life. These conditions should be priority for brands R&D departments. †¢Practicality needs to be developing parallel with previous items. People do not want to send various tools in the future; they will only buy contently vehicles. The Future Outlook and Expectations of Automobile Sector †¢People will need cars in the future more than now, producers’ need to satisfy this demand with new technology engines, they should create alternative energy resources which will be not harmful for the environment and firms need to develop safety features to prevent traffic accidents. †¢In the future people need transportation systems because of the longer distances, in every transportation way need to develop it. †¢Brands need to improve driverless vehicles because market will tend in that way. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW The Automotive Industry Overview The automotive industry is one of the crucial sectors for humanity and it has been developing from industrial revolution to now. After the first engine was discovered in 1885 by Karl Benz, engineers found various inventions to make easier of people life. Industry had developed too much nowadays, engineers work on different technological tools and they need to show pay attention many different regulations in today’s world. At the beginning, the most important part was the engine but now automotive industry involves a wide range of business lines such as; manufacture, design, development, marketing and selling motor vehicles, motorcycles. Last year, there were approximately one billion cars which are registered on the world and this number is increasing sharply year by year. Parallel with that, consumes gasoline and diesel fuel multiply with every new car addict to the traffic. On the other hand, this sector employees thousands of people and creates new opportunities to undeveloped countries. In addition to these information’s about automobile sector, we should absolutely mention about the economy of which it creates and process. Currently, mostly the all automotive brands are owned by developed countries and they made their substructure investments all around the world, especially undeveloped countries. After the globalization, firms decide to set-up their factories at low skilled labor force countries. However, this decision affects both sides positively, producer’s limits cost and undeveloped countries’ economies start to develop. According to the OICA (The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers that, â€Å"If vehicle manufacturing was a country it would be sixth largest economy in the world. † in 2007. This shows that the contribution of automobile industry to the undeveloped countries’ economies. Also, the industries turnover 2 trillion dollars and if we comparing of this turnover of GDP with other economies in the world, proof that it can compete economic power of Italy, France or the UK. India is one of the greatest examples of the success at their economic improvement. Tata Motors, which Indian automobile brand owned Jaguar and Land Rover last year and they developed it perfectly in 2 years. After these 2 years, Jaguar and Land Rover increased their profitability nearly in half and when we think about these two brands are luxury brands, these numbers are spectacular. On the other hand, firms expanding nearly 85 billion dollars on Research & Development departments. These budgets shaped by customer’s demand, so this sector is one of the innovative ones and it still produce new technologies. However, automobile sector has got unfavorable situations like; economic crises. If we make a research about when firms sales numbers decreased or companies made loss we will realize that on that era, world or the some regions is in economic crises. For instance; last biggest economic crises in 2008, when we look at the production number, it will decrease nearly %12. 7 compare to the previous year. These numbers are same with the other economic crises and automobile sector affect from them firstly. Key Country Markets United States. Todays’ world America is the one of the world’s biggest automotive producer with two brand; GM and Ford. GM has got various sub-brands in itself from different segments. These two brands sell their cars all over the world and both of them are most knowable automobile producers. However, in 2008, worlds’ biggest economic crises occurred GM was nearly bankrupt in an unbelievable way. This means, world would lost one of the old and essential brands, thousands of people would lost their job and American economy got hurt again after the Lehman Brothers. Hopefully; government decided to help GM and they saved the firm quickly. Japan Toyota is the most valuable automobile producer in the world; its net value is 131 billion dollars. Also one of the models, Corolla is the best seller model one the world and it has been sold nearly forty million from 1966 to 2012. In addition to the Toyota, Honda is another successful Japan auto brand too. They have got accomplished sales numbers and firm is producing one of the best gasoline engines. According to the consumers, Toyota could be the best competitor against to the German auto makers. Firm is producing in same quality with Germans but they are selling them cheaper than German brands. This is Toyotas’ major successful strategy also, company uses Japans’ engineering and technology which is the worlds’ best ones. They produced worlds’ first hybrid car and investing a huge part of their money on electric, clean and cheap motors. Germany The locomotive of the industry is Volkswagen right now and it will not change for two or three decades. Only the Volkswagens’ value is 76. 3 billion dollars and company has got several brands like; Audi (28. 5 billion$), Porsche (15.3billion$), Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Seat and Skoda. This German brand is producing most usable models with low-consumption engines, low prices and the safety of German engineering. Volkswagen is shaping the trends of the industry and other brands are following it right now. Firm has got different models from every consumer group and they make it an opportunity to be successful in the future. Korean Asia’s’ economy is the world’s fastest growing economy in nowadays. They are growing better than Europe and United States, as a result of those brands of this region are developing too. Hyundai is only the one of them; they are creating new models, developing current models and enter new markets. The firm move considerably forward when we compare a decade ago, their substructure and technological systems improver very well, also; they are producing more reliable and comfortable vehicles. This Korean brand will be one of the serious auto brands in the future if they are going in that way. Economic Impact of Automobile Sector The automotive industry has a big impact on every economy, it consist nearly every economy in the world. Every country in the world has got a part from this sector and thousands of people work in this industry. It is really crucial for transportation sector because, firms are using or developing same motors on different transportation vehicles. On the other hand, auto sector has got great impact on countries economy. If a country has got a factory or some service area about this sector, it will include a huge part of country’s’ economy. For instance; America worked really hard to save GM from the 2008 economic crises, they spend too much money because, if GM bankrupted, America’s economy will affect in deeply (if we look at Exhibit 3). Also, Ford decide to sale Aston Martin and Volvo at this era, these two brand had not good sales number and they will be harmful for the company if they do not sale them. Automobile brands have a great impact on country’s economy just like banks, executives should be careful about this issue seriously because it can be affect from economic crises easily so, they need to take a decision in long-term. Market Segmentation The automobile industry has a got long operation process; it has various segments in it. Firstly, R & D department research what people need or what they want from a vehicle. After that, this part start to make prototypes or create stereotypes which engineers and designers can build on these examples. Designers work on cars aerodynamic, shape and how it looks. In addition, engineers work on substructure parts of the car such as; lights, engine, transmission and safety systems. While they are producing this prototype, they do various tests on car and finally they can send it to the dealers. Dealers, order number of cars and they prepare launches to introduce cars to the customers. After the sale of car, the service department starts to interest with car. They call them to the services periodically and customers can visit them anytime they have a problem with their car. Consequently, this industry has got major segment such as; R & D department, designing and crating new technologies, before sale and bring together with market and customers. Finally, service department take care about our cars problem. Five Force Analyses Threats of New Entrants The automobile sector is could be most risky market on the world because you need to much money to invest on it, heritage is really important for customers and this sector is the first sector that affected from economic crises. Otherwise, without any new technology or price policy you will not survive much long and if someone decides to build up an automobile company, he/she will definitely work with local government. On the other hand, if someone wants to get this sector, he/she has got a change with new technological features. For instance; Fisker and Tesla are the new entrants at this sector and they invest their money on clean, hybrid and electrical engines. They also try to design good-looking car with solar panels and other recyclable energies. Bargaining Power of Suppliers In this case bargaining power of suppliers is not really strong. It is not powerful as healthcare sector or another sector because if people do not want to buy a private car, they can choose other transportation ways or the can choose nothing. However, in healthcare sector people absolutely need doctors, hospitals or medicine to survive but it is not same for this sector. In addition, globalization affect make peoples’ life easier and humans are used to it and buying a private car became a priority after purchasing a house. Generally, if a person owns a house, he/she will buy a car with how much money he/she got. This is the strongest part of the sector; unfortunately it has got negatives parts too. Bargaining Power of Buyers These sectors’ trends and demand is shaped by customer’s preferences, so the bargaining power of buyers is really strong. If humans do not like a model, they will not buy it and producers stop to produce it but if they like it producer need to produce it as much as it can to be successful. Right now, the demand on this sector is low-consumption engines and be not harmful to the environment so producers start to produce models and engines in this way, otherwise they cannot be able to sell a car. Availability of Substitutes In automobile industry, the availability of substitutes is not actually but there is only one way to change it is create new substructure concepts in the sector. For instance; Tesla and Fisker do that in a perfect way, they only focus on hybrid and electric engines and people recognize them with these concepts at everywhere. You cannot change industry but you can be able to change its direction. Intensity of Existing Rivalry There are many brands on the market, even in one country own more than one automobile brand, as a result of that the intensity of existing rivalry is really high. As I mentioned before that, there are five leader brands in the market but other big or small brands are successful as like them too. The most important think is the design of the automobile but now it has got no meaning because firms are usually work with same designers and models are not changing too much even in different brands. However, the most competitive concept is price policy according to the government’s tax payments systems. Key Success Factors for Automobile Sector There are different types of key success factor for automobile sector are based on the region, substructure features, purchase power. Producers need to show pay attention to these factors because it will determinate their sales numbers and profitability. The most important factor knows the region very well. I mean dealers and head quarter of the brand should be aware of the consumers’ requirements. Also they need to sale cars which are not be against to the governments’ legislations. For instance; European Union has got sharp and certain laws about carbon dioxide emission, so dealers need to focus on engines which are consuming few. However, United States not sign Kyoto Protocol, so they do not have any legislation for emissions right now, dealers can focus on high mass engines. In addition to the region, substructure features are crucial for auto makers because people always want to buy a car which has got advanced features even they will never use them. However, conscious consumer will demand low-consumption engines and brands need to produce engines according to that demand. In other words, firms need to decide their target audience perfectly and producing substructure features with these conditions. Lastly, the third factor is purchase power. In my opinion, this factor is the most crucial determinant in this sector because every brand starts to produce in same quality vehicles. However they need to know country’s economies and sale their models in that way (if we look at Exhibit 4). For instance; America one of the highest purchase power countries in the world and they really like to own cool, luxurious and spectacular cars, they can buy two three or even more than these number cars. In contrast, European nations have got the same purchase power but they want to buy one or two cars and they are looking to being useful, low consumption and quality vehicles. The Future of Automobile Sector In the future, transportation systems will be developing in all around the world because people want to move from A to B faster, comfortably, safely and cheaply. Producers need to know these requirements and produce car with these features. Firstly, brands need to focus on low-consumption cars, I mean hybrid and electric engines because they are cheaper than current technology and governments provide laws for this situation. Secondly, they need to produce safety cars than now because people will demand on secure system in the future. On the other hand, they need to produce usable cars such as Audis’ All Road, they have been developed for all road conditions and you can use them only in one car. Consequently, people will never forget or reject driving a car but producers need to answer climate, people and governments requirements. If someone produce a car with low price and costs with cover a long distance in a comfortably they will become the most successful brand in the world.

A Skate Lesson Essay Research Paper A

A Skate Lesson Essay, Research Paper A Skate Lesson Have you of all time sat down in the park during the summer? Opportunities are you will see small kids, adolescents and grownups in-line skating. If you have no experience in-line skating, you may believe to your ego # 8220 ; I wish I could make that! # 8221 ; Well, don # 8217 ; t merely wish, do! After reading Alfie # 8217 ; s # 8220 ; A Skate Lesson # 8221 ; anybody may bask in-line skating. Safety is the most of import consideration when larning how to skate. Safe skating is gratifying skating. Get downing skaters should buy proper cushioning, as the hazard of hurt is rather high. Investing in quality cushioning will guarantee that your first experience will concentrate on skating, non trouble. Proper embroidering equipment includes: helmet, carpus guards, kneepads, and elbow tablets. Quality embroidering cost about 15-30 dollars per tablet, so budget 60-120 dollars for the whole bundle. It is really of import that you slip on your cushioning before you strap on the skates. Kneepads and elbow tablets have elastic sets that hug closely against your organic structure. Since these tablets need to be slipped on, they can # 8217 ; t be put on after your skates. Now it is clip to take a brace of skates. Even though you are a novice, it is of import to buy a quality brace because hapless quality skates do non offer a great trade of comfort and flexibleness. I recommend skates by Rollerblade or Roces. Rollerblade has good skates for novices because the boot has a flexible mortise joint. Besides, it is equipped with a particular easy to utilize braking system called the ATB brake. The ATB brake plants when you are in gesture and want to halt. To halt, merely unbend your articulatio genus and leg to go perpendicular to the land and the brake will come in contact with the land. To set on the skate: do certain that the lingua is inside the boot, wear long socks plus Don # 8217 ; t bury to set the tablets on first. Learning how to skate can be a fantastic experience if it is done with a friend. The benefit of skating with friends will do the experience more interesting and exciting. If you or your friend were to fall you know that there will ever be person at that place to express joy at you. They will ever be helpful and cry out gags and encouragement when needed. The mere presence of a friend will do larning a batch more merriment so if you were by your ego. Besides, in the event of exigencies, it is good to hold person with you for safety interests. Now that all of your skates and all of your tablets have been acquired, it is clip to larn how to skate. An easy manner to larn to skate is to get down on a level surface. A level surface will assist you to larn how to keep your balance and prevent you from turn overing backwards. Since it is about inevitable that you will fall, do certain you have something sturdy to catch on to. When you stand up you might experience imbalanced. Keeping on to a wall or another individual will assist you better your opportunities of returning to the unsloped place safely. The best manner to acquire started is to angle your pess like a pigeon. This will fix you to travel frontward. Indicating your toes off from each other will help in keeping your balance and assist forestall you from falling over. Traveling frontward is best accomplished by taking your natural lead pes, allow # 8217 ; s say your left pes. Push off with your left pes and utilize your right to take towards the way you want to travel. When you begin to decelerate down, force off with your right pes and lead with your left, this will convey your organic structure to the left. Since this gesture is done with an jumping form, it will maintain traveling in a forward way and let you to see the basic gesture of in-line skating. Once the forward gesture has been mastered, turning is following. A good method for larning how to turn is the side measure. Get down by traveling frontward utilizing the above stairss to steer you. As you want to do a bend, Lashkar-e-Taibas say left bend, lead with your left pes and force off with you right-except this clip wear # 8217 ; t to the full extend the leg to acquire the full gesture. Just take the small stairss good plenty to acquire you around the corner. Once these basic stairss have been mastered, here are a few advanced stairss for disputing your ego. An betterment to our basic forward gesture is the velocity crouch. The velocity crouch is an extension to the forward gesture of in-line skating. To make the velocity crouch, you must get down with the forward gesture. When get downing with your left pes, force off with your left and lead with right widening you left foot all the manner out supplying the most momentum. During this gesture, flex your organic structure frontward to diminish air current opposition, while singing your left manus all about parallel to your thorax with your right manus behind your dorsum. Alternating this gesture will let you to do usage of all of your impulse and impel up to maximum velocity. The crossing over move is an tickle pinking version of the side measure. The cross over can be accomplished if you have proper balance and a tolerance to falls. Falling during the crossing over is really common, minimized merely by pattern and finding. To make the cross over you need to pick up some velocity. Once you have gathered adequate velocity, and desire to turn left, put your right pes in forepart of your left pes. This will let you to pick up your left pes and convey in forepart of your right pes doing your organic structure to tilt into the bend. Making the crossing over will let you to turn with more velocity and efficiency so turning with the side measure. Practicing these stairss will enable you to bask skating entirely and with others. Now that you are equipped with this desirable accomplishment, you can pattern it all the clip and even venture into different subdivisions of the athletics such as off-road skating, aggressive skating and velocity skating, possibly the subject of my following essay.

Information systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Information systems - Essay Example For Aalsmeer Flower Auction the first thing that needs to be done is to analyze and obtain the information requirements for the auction site. In order to do this they must first device a strategy for information gathering. An information strategy is defined as the process for capturing, integrating, processing, delivery and presentation of information in a constituent in a timely manner (Majid, 2007). Thus, information and requirements gathering forms the foremost and the most important part of the development process. The first step in gathering information is to conduct user surveys and a companywide review so that the development team can gain a better insight on the problem domain and the kind of solution it requires (Hansen et all, 1999). The development team will conduct meetings with the board of Aalsmeer flower auctions to determine what kind of auction strategy they will follow and what key features will be needed in the end product. The case study requires us to develop an online auction for buyers and sellers to interact, place orders, set prices and then receive goods through a distribution channel. Aaslmeer has to record the data for the financial transactions, customer details, distribution channels and ratings for individual customers and suppliers. The prices in the online auction will be set using the demand and supply mechanism. Buyers will bid on the products and sellers will determine the best the bid and then sell the products to the highest bidder. The auction will start off with a base price, which is then increased consequently when buyers bid on the product. The bidding process ends after a stipulated time and the highest bid becomes the selling price. The prices of different products will be stored in a database. The prices will usually follow world prices for flowers and related products, which

Religious Controversies on Contraception and Ethics Essay

Religious Controversies on Contraception and Ethics - Essay Example Religious groups such as Wheaton College claim that ACA policy that faith-based institutions should cover contraception is a violation of their religious freedom. However, these institutions forget that as much as a careful consideration is demanded by freedom of religion, so does the right of employees and students to obtain safe and affordable healthcare services. In other words, institutions like Wheaton College may be right to protect their religious freedom; however, they should consider the unethical bit of denying students their rights to medical coverage. Moreover, just as commented by Hollinger, there is much that can be commended in the Biblical teachings that sex is fundamentally procreative. However, birth control can be given defense through the use of contraceptive devices that are fundamentally not immoral. Wheaton College before exercising their complete removal of birth control coverage should consider this aspect. WHO estimates that provision of contraception to wom en living in developing nations can prevent 54 million unintended pregnancies, 7 million miscarriages, and 26 million abortions (whereby 16 million would be risky abortions). WHO therefore emphasizes that this would prevent infant mortality and maternal mortality (79, 000 maternal deaths). Generally, these statistics prove that most women rely on contraceptives for medical purposes, for instance, women may rely on birth control pills to help the lower menstrual pain, prevent migraines, and treat excessive bleeding.

Healthcare Systems Around the Globe Research Paper

Healthcare Systems Around the Globe - Research Paper Example The French have were found to have the most efficient healthcare system in a report released by the World Health Organization in the year 2000. The report was notorious within the United States as the country was found to have the highest expenditure, however, was ranked 15th in its overall efficiency (Folland, 2006). This paper will make a comparison between the French and American healthcare systems. Health Statistics and Costs: Comparison between U.S. and France Firstly, the analytical data obtained from the two countries illustrates the difference in their efficiency. According to the report released by WHO in 2011, France has a population of approximately 65 million and a life expectancy of 81,8 years (World Health Organization, par 1). Females in France have a slightly higher life expectancy of 85 years whilst the males have an expectancy of 78,5 years. This places the country 10th in the world. The United States has a slightly lower life expectancy with females at 80,67years a nd males at 74,89 years (World Health Organization, par 1). The United States is ranked number 33 in the world life expectancy rankings. The United States has a mortality rate of 8,25 per 1000 population whilst France has a rate of 4,10 (World Health Organization, par 1).The leading causes of death in France include lung cancer, coronary heart disease, breast cancer, stroke and Alzheimer’s. ... Health Care Financing: Comparison between U.S. and France Healthcare in the United States is financed through both private and public sectors, whilst the funding in the French healthcare system is largely controlled by the government (Shi and Douglas, 2009). The French government funds approximately 70% of an individual’s healthcare costs and in cases of long term care all the patient’s costs are covered. Citizens may also obtain supplemental coverage from private insurers who are frequently nonprofit organizations. The French government spends approximately 11,2% of the country’s GDP on healthcare. The United States spends 15% of its GDP on healthcare and when considering cost per capita, this equates to almost double the amount spent by France (Shi and Douglas, 2009). In addition, citizens in the United States spend more money on pharmaceuticals and hospital care than the French. Healthcare Administration: Comparison between U.S. and France Healthcare in Americ a is overseen by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The provision of health insurance by the American government is carried out through Medicaid and Medicare which were established in 1966. As mentioned above, the French healthcare system is largely controlled by the government through the French National Health Service. This service refunds patients their healthcare costs and the citizens are expected to contribute depending on their income. Health Care Personnel and Facilities: Comparison between U.S. and France The United States has one of the lowest physician per capita ratio with approximately 731Â  000 physicians, equating to approximately 2,5 physicians per 1000. There are approximately 26,669,603 nurses which equates to

Turning point jerusalem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Turning point jerusalem - Essay Example By being in several distinct spots in the holy city, Jennings managed to present certain essential facts through stories that relate and strive to identify similarities of contexts among the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. With this approach, the viewer feels the significant connection among these three religions despite opposing beliefs especially as the anchor included Abraham's story in association to the Jews and Muslims alike. Indeed, he placed adequate amount of relevance for each view based on the impact created by Jerusalem's history among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. There seems a point where the three major religions attempted to converge and reconcile each others' differences in a common setting only to discover further conflicts emerging so they had rather settled with the authentic set foundations. (b) In general, do you think the video has a biased outlook against certain group? If yes, explain such specific reported stories, if not, explain why. In my opinion, whil e Peter Jennings aimed to examine the roots of complications between the Arabs and the Israelis in the holy land, he traveled to regions in Jerusalem where remarkable accounts of battles or conquests preserve their essence. With an objective purpose, he used these findings to help the audience establish their rationalization of the events and judgment that necessarily should rely upon factual basis. Very delicately, he demonstrated the skill in uncovering archeological pieces and sites of evidences in an expository and impartial manner. As such, the anchor directed viewers to concrete examples, both past and modern, by walking the path which Jesus took prior to crucifixion in his time, witnessing a scene of Jewish protest within a Muslim community, as well as visiting a specific place where about six communities of Christians contended among themselves with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the subject of their raging. It only exhibits how people signify values behind religious pr inciples by communicating this concern through the type and degree of action, besides traditional practices, they acquire or get into as they express respect or reverence in bold and sometimes violent means. Whether they have by far progressed or drastically changed in other ways on coping with modernization and advanced demands of the culture out of the original conflicts may be reflected on the current state of affairs. Without having to manifest in the video his conviction or where his faith mostly lies, P. Jennings demonstrated an unbiased reality of what had actually taken place through the course of encompassing times and it truly mattered that as an audience, I caught a glimpse of the life in the special land considered as the holiest of cities. I can also figure that it is inevitable to compare religious groups and evaluate which stands in harmony or profound agreement with and thus must be favorably responded to by humanity. Likewise, the reporter displayed a sense of appre ciation for each small or big group of Jews, Muslims, and Christians who occur to understand the precious value of their faith and existence. I recall a portion of the report in which an ancestral quest by Jewish couple inspired them to diligently work by tedious exploration research within the excavation formed underneath their residence. Similarly, a Palestinian family who are all Christians in commemoration of the Easter is quite

Affects of globalisation on children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Affects of globalisation on children - Essay Example For a child a happy home is the heaven on the earth. It turns to the saddest part of life when they are left as orphans on the street for no fault of theirs. Parents are no able provide essentialities whether physically or mentally through all the corners of the world as the world is a small global village.The surrounding environment to which the child gets exposed could mould their attitudes. And this can be highly influenced by globalisation through various options. Their communication levels, their capabilities, their positive traits and their negative qualities can be monitored, and rectified with all the security.If a child has a special diseases and needs some group of blood or bone marrow or any thing else or any serious health query it can be placed on the net and it is a global news within no time and there is more than 90% of chance that the problem could be solved. An organization for drought hit children has opened site on the net to collect relief funds through email and it successfully collected lot of funds. But all this is possible only to those who are rich. What about the poor families who cannot afford a computer or have enough knowledge to help themselves to come out of the problematic situations So the globalisation is justifying only the rich and catering their needs. Health is wealth and the proverb is but for those who don't have wealth may die for medicine when seriously ill. Also World Health Organisation conducts health check-up camps and often helps out the needy. One thing can be appreciated; these camps have eradicated to a great extent as much as 90% the Polio among children by giving Polio drops freely to all. Present dreadful disease Aids, which is affecting children, are experiencing a very secluded life. The health camp organizations are providing them dormitories but still a global awareness is needed to protect children falling prey to such diseases that are infectious. Those who don't opt for family planning are providing very poor quality of life for their unlimited children. Education Standards Poor standard may result in a poor talent of the youth. So the young generation needs a good standard of education for them to shine in the fields that they are interested. They are kept in good disciplined and are imbibed good habits, a good friends circle and a good social life. But too much long hours of dedication towards school and study hours can be cause for their stress and strain that they don't deserve. Financial Access Those whose have a special interest for child's development can go for loans and other sources and schemes which are specially meant for children's education and marriage in insurance companies and trusts etc. and also some government policies for girl child's education and marriage. Modern technology Children use computers for video games with lot of interest and enthusiasm. And recently World Games Authorities, which conducts competitions annually. They also use Internet and many electronic toys, which needs some intelligence. Children are also given computer education right from the school days. Ideal childhood This is the period have no care and anxiety. They must get something to eat, something to wear and something to enjoy. Child hood is the best part of any ones life. One is the monarch and every one fall at the beck and call. The lovely tricks of childhood, the innocence, the obedient attitude, the devotion for parents, elders and gurus all come from a

Quality Management High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Quality Management High School - Essay Example Focusing on intangible effects on processes and ways to optimize and reduce their effects. Examination of the way the organization applies the product aimed at improving the product itself and Broadening management concern beyond the product. TQM is mainly concerned with continuous improvement in all work, whether in strategic planning and decision-making or at the supervisory level. It is based in the belief that, mistakes are avoidable and their effects are preventable. It leads to continuously improving results, in all aspects of work, as a result of continuously improving capabilities of workers, processes and technology. TQM is very key to achieving efficiency in the health sector in that it ensures that an organisation maintains a quality standard in all aspects of its business and undertakings. This involves doing things the right and therefore eliminating wastage and losses from the organisations operations. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency, in the United States government for protecting health and safety of the Americans and other needy people throughout the world. CDC concerns itself with prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases, injuries or workplace hazards, and environmental problems.

Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Microeconomics - Assignment Example 1b) Marginal rate of substitution of food for water is the quantity of water a consumer is willing to give up to have one additional quantity of food, keeping the level of utility unchanged. MRSw,f = MUw/MUf where MUw is marginal utility of water and MUf is marginal utility of food. The value of MUw when W=1 is 4 and value of MUf is 1 as derived from the utility function. Therefore MRSw,f = 4 which is a constant. Therefore the consumer is willing to give up 4 quantity of water to have one additional quantity of food. 1d) At the given budget constraint, the consumer optimum is that the consumer ends up buying 4 units of water and 1 unit of food. The slope of indifference curve > the slope of budget constraint. We get the corner solution. The graph is given below: The consumer optimum is given by MRS= Pw/Pf. The MRS is 4 and the ratio of prices is 1. Therefore the marginal rate of substitution is not same as that ratio of prices. This is because the goods water and food in question are perfect substitutes. Here the consumer buys in extremes. He either buys 4units of water or 1 unit of food. With the given income of 4, he buys 4unit of water and 0 unit of food. To get the Marshallian demands for x2 and y2 where x2 is the quantity of X good purchased by consumer 1 and y2 is the quantity of Y good purchased by consumer2, we set up a Lagrangian function: Z= u(x,y) – l(Px.X+Py.Y-M2) where l is the lambda i.e lagrangian multiplier. 2c) Suppose there are two consumers in the market. For consumer 1 the demand curve is P= a-b Q1 and for consumer 2 the demand curve is P= c-dQ2 where a,b,c,d are constant. To get the market demand curve we have to solve the individual demand curve first. For Consumer 1 the demand is Q1= (a-P)/b and for consumer 2 the demand is Q2= (c-P)/d. The market demand is Q= Q1+Q2. Therefore Q= (a-P)/b +

Minimum Wage Essay Example for Free

Minimum Wage Essay Increasing the minimum wage has been considered to be one factor that results in higher unemployment rate. Various authors on this subject outline different views on the effects of increasing the minimum wage on unemployment rate. One study shows that effect on increasing the minimum wage varies in different economies. Another says increasing wage rates does not affect unemployment rate. And, there are also studies which indicate that there is an effect although not that significant in affecting occupation loss. This paper aims to present issues that will provide clear views on whether an increase in the minimum wage results in higher unemployment rate. Wage rate is the representation of the non-existent to the slightest bargaining power of the workforce (Bernstein and Schmitt, n. d. ). Increasing the minimum wage is done to alleviate poverty. (Macpherson, 2005; Bernstein and Schmitt, n. d. ). Its main goal is to help low-wage workers uplift their income and cope up with the rising cost of living (Page, et al. , 1999). However, it has been criticized because of its ill effect on employers’ business. It has been said that an increase in the minimum wage rate would cause unemployment. There had been studies about the effects of the minimum wage rate hike, but they do not point out to one outcome. Different economies have different outcomes when subjected to minimum wage increase (Fields and Kanbur, 2005). Different countries have comparative results when an increase in the wage rate is implemented. However, it will certainly be effective for the low-wage earners. An analysis made by Burkhauser and Sabia (2005) showed that an increase in the minimum wage rate has not been effective as far as poverty alleviation is concerned because the increase was given only to low-wage earners. Other workers earning higher wage but were also within the poverty level were not granted similar increase, as such only those employed in minimum wage rate jobs were able to realize the benefits. The effect of the wage rate, in this case, does not necessarily address the needs of those with low incomes. Not all people that are in need of the wage increase are working at a minimum-wage earning occupation. Increasing the minimum wage is also believed to be favorable for the poor working men and women. However, its effects are far from helpful, in fact, increasing the minimum wage is hurtful to business and may result to unemployment. The wage hike will cause the salary of low-wage jobs to be equivalent to the salaries of those in higher job levels. Since these jobs have higher requirements in terms of skills, the least skilled are more likely to be laid off from work. A minimum wage rate hike and its effect on unemployment were seen in the study of Brown (1988 as cited by Burkhauser and Sabia, 2005). An increase in the wage rate caused a small decrease in the employment of teenagers. The decrease upheld the theorized increase in unemployment rate for an increase in the minimum wage rate. A study also showed that it is not a matter of how much the laborer is earning, the salary that a worker receives, which will improve in case of a minimum wage increase, but the employment status of the worker. These workers are more likely to be dismissed when a company suffers loss, in the form of higher operational costs, as a result of minimum wage hike. (Deere, 1998). The study further showed that not all workers earning a minimum wage rate are actually poor and may not in need of the increase (Burkhauser and Sabia, 2005). Most of the workers that will benefit from wage increase are the young workers, aged 24 or younger (Macpherson, 2005). The workers that are aged 24 or younger are mostly employed in these minimum-wage earning occupations. In addition, a higher wage would mean more interested workers but due to the surplus of workers, a crowding out would occur or less hours of work would be allotted per person. This would result to a decline in the earnings of each worker (Page, et al. , 1999). Macpherson’s study (2005) in Pennsylvania indicated that an increase in the minimum wage rate would really be costly for employers and thus, lead to mass laying-off of workers. Few firms are able to continue operation given the increase in wage rates, hence only few workers are needed. The company may retain more workers but may reduce the working hours for each employee. In both cases, the low wage earners are the ones affected because they may get the desired increase in wage but may end up spending little time for work, hence reducing their income. However, a study indicated that retail jobs are the only jobs which prove that higher minimum wage rates decrease the employment (Fox, 2006). For other firms, it would be better to engage in other programs that may promote increase in work-hours instead of increasing the minimum wage rate to motivate employees. One way to alleviate poverty is to consider the family income of low-wage earners. Extending non-monetary benefits will somehow improve the lives of minimum wage earners and can be given to them in lieu of the wage increase. (Burkhauser and Sabia, 2005). Minimum wage hikes are beneficial to workers and companies alike. It keeps the workers to stay in the company for a long time, thus developing loyalty to the job. Although granting an increase in wage to workers may add up to operating expenses of a company, still it is benefited in the long run because it will not incur cost on training new workers. Fox, 2006). Periodic grant of an increase in the minimum wage rate is needed to augment workers’ income, such that they are able to cope up with the rising cost of living. The slightest increase in their wages raises the workers’ economic well-being since it makes them more capable of financing the most basic needs of the family. This is particularly true for workers who are the heads of the households (Burkhauser and Sabia, 2005; Bernstein, et al. , 1999). An increase in unemployment is not necessarily caused by an increase in the minimum wage rate (Fox, 2006). A classic example in this theory was the increase in the minimum wage rate in the years 1996 and 1997 that did not lead to the dismissal of teenagers, which were believed to be less skillful workers (Bernstein and Schmitt, n. d. ). If the increase in the wage rate does cause a significant decrease in employment, there would have been larger decreases in the employment over the years (Card, 1992 as cited by Fox, 2006; Bernstein and Schmitt, n. d. ). Wage hike does have psychological effects on workers such as: higher productivity, decreased turnover, lower recruiting and training costs, decreased absenteeism and higher morale, which are believed to offset the costs of increasing the wage (Bernstein and Schmitt, n. d. ; Card and Krueger, 1995 as cited by Fox, 2006; Bernstein, et al. , 1999;). Increasing minimum wage rate even attracts employment (Clinton, 1995 as cited by Burkhauser and Sabia, 2005). The effect of increasing the minimum wage rate on the rise in unemployment rate is generally small and statistically insignificant (Bernstein and Schmitt, 1998 as cited by Fox, 2006). Decreases in the unemployment rate may also be caused by the wage hike, but only to a small extent. A more likely cause of unemployment is the performance of the economy (Chipman, 2006 as cited by Fox, 2006; Costales, et al. 2000), one of which is the existence of a deflationary gap. It is a situation wherein the aggregate expenditure of the economy is less than the full employment level of income or output, hence suggesting the existence of unemployment (Costales, et al. , 2000). In fact, empirical studies show that the employment on firms which implemented the higher minimum wage rates are higher than those without the raise, which both have positive and negative effects (Burton and Hanauer, 2006 as cited by Fox, 2006). The negative effects of more employment were stated in preceding pages of this report. The overall positive effects of the increase in the wage rate set a sense of value for low-wage workers’ employment and uplift their living standards. (Fox, 2006). It serves as one of the tools in poverty reduction because the primary goal of the minimum wage policy is to increase income of the low-wage earners (Burkhauser and Sabia, 2005). Raising the minimum wage rate affects employment opportunities. It makes job seekers less likely to get a job while those who are already employed are expected to retain the employment. (Deere, 1998). Firms who do not have the money to shoulder additional wages for an increase in the minimum wage rate are usually the ones who are against the implementation of wage hikes. This is the primary cause of laying off of workers and the increase in the unemployment rate. This also is the cause of firing less skilled workers because firms opt to retain the workers who are more skillful. However, if the firms are able to sustain the costs, the increase will be both beneficial to employers (moral uplifting and better performance of the employees) and to the workers (higher income for basic needs). Increasing the minimum wage of low-salaried workers is part of the bargaining agreement between the workers’ union and the company. It is given in the hope of alleviating poverty. However, study shows that it may not be true in all cases because some companies may opt to adopt work allocation among workers which could mean limited time for work meaning limited income on the part of the affected workers. Though increasing minimum wage may result in higher operating costs, the increase is not the only factor that affects the employment status of workers. Effects of increase in the minimum wage vary in different economies, hence the country’s economic performance directly affects unemployment rate due to the presence of deflationary gap. Increase in the minimum wage rate does not directly affect the unemployment rate, but rather, it affects the costs of the firms. In turn, these firms which cannot operate at a higher cost screen their current workers and cut those who have little experience to maximize their returns. However, there are firms which value the welfare of the workers and treat it as part of the working costs included in the production. Thus, they consider additional costs, resulting from wage hikes, negligible. Therefore, increasing the minimum wage does not result in higher unemployment rate.

Hospitality Industry PESTEL Analysis

Hospitality Industry PESTEL Analysis The process of conducting research on the business environment within which the organization operates and on the organization itself, in order to formulate and implementation of strategy for future business operations can be mentioned as Strategic analysis of hospitality organization. To do the assessment can use number of tools to process of strategic analysis, including PEST (sometimes PESTLE) for analyze external environment and, SWOT analysis use for the internal environmental scanning, and Michael Porters five forces model use to assists to understand the competitive forces, the attractiveness and current position in the industry. An effective way to know the past, present and future potentials regarding the industry development is analyzing the industry background as the part of strategic analysis. The External analysis can assess the factors affecting the industry to be existed including political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental which have great impacts to run the business and use PESTLE analysis. In any industry which it is domestic or international, whether relating to products or services, the rules of competition are personified in five competitive forces of entry of new competitors, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and rivalry among the existing competitors. According to Porter, one of the crucial determinants of firm profitability is industrial attractiveness. In this assignment, a strategic analysis of the Galadhari hotel which is in hospitality industry has been done through the combination of both theoretical and practical facts regarding this property including organizational background and industry background of this hospitality sector in Sri Lanka, an assessment of the forces affecting the external environment (the use of PESTLE analysis) and an assessment of the attractiveness of this industry (the use of Porters 5 forces) regarding the future strategic action to grab more hospitality market share. Background of the industry and about Organization By concerning about the Sri Lankan market of tourism there can be seen growth in the tourist market. All this euphoria gives rise to the doubt about whether Sri Lanka Tourism is well on the way to recovery and growth or not. For the last seven months that ended July this year (2010), arrivals are up almost 50% year-on-year (YOY) (341,991), with income also keeping pace at 69% growth (Quarter 2; US$ 244.5 million). The hotel and travel Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) index has been increased by almost 200% for 2009. Today tourism is running on everyones minds, and it is difficult to open a local newspaper without seeing at least one written article on tourism. The reason for the dramatic improvement in Sri Lankas tourism data is the victory of war in May 2009. This would be a remarkable result when compared with other regional tourism destinations. Another reason for this improvement was the leader of the terrorist has killed and there is reason for cautious optimism that the social situation in Sri Lanka can improve rapidly. We can hope the company can take advantage of the peace dividend by increasing the number of destinations the airline serves. Hotel Galadhari is one of the leading five star luxury hotels in the Sri Lanka. The story of the Galadari Hotel, Colombo which opened its doors in 1984, is a splendid tale of continual improvement of product and highest standard of quality in hospitality over the past 25 years. The vision beliefs of the hotel is firmly grounded in extending a true personalized service to all our guests, laced with an unforgettable luxury hotel experience with the finest traditions of international hotel-keeping. The Galadari Hotel, Colombo, meticulous about maintaining the privacy of its guests has drawn in many an elite personality from around the world such as heads of government, prime ministers of leading nations, royalty, well known sports music personalities over the past two and half decades. Situated in Colombo city with many a historical building within walking distance and a panoramic view of the magnificent Indian ocean, the Galadari Hotel offers a rich blend ofÂÂ  service and quality in five star luxury living with 450 room super luxury hotel in Sri Lanka that overlooks the Indian Ocean and is adjacent to the Presidential Secretariat, Banks and the World Trade Center, with easy access to the shopping areas in Colombo. In hotel they are so many facilities are available, coffee shop lobby bar, chines restaurant, Scheherazade Arabic restaurant, pastry shop and garden terrace, karaoke, pub and also have health club and pool, body care and massage therapy ,bed-and-breakfast hospitality properties are available to accommodate the guests and the basic requirements of their comfortable stay. Hospitality sector is a great source of income generation for the new investors.For instance, annual turnover (in2008) was Rs. 164 (million), operating profit (in2008) was Rs.13.65(million), growth in turnover (in 2009) was 25 percent, number of rooms is 450 rooms, average occupancy rate was 80 percent and growth in local hospitality sector is 15 percent. Now, it is easy to understand that how much revenue earning Galadhari hotel in its sector of hospitality. Mission of Hotel Galadari We are exceptional operators of contemporary 4 and 5 star hotels and create value in every encounter with our owners, guests and associates. Vision Exceptional and personalized service, exceeding expectations, and inspiring a connection to our brand in the experiences we provide. Values Exceptional Service Company understand that the value can be created with every encounter and this is reflected in its superior standard of service. Integrity honest and straightforward in our interactions with hotel owners, guests, colleagues and the communities in which hotel operate Respect Hotel Galadari respect the objectives of our stakeholders, the values of its guests, and the cultural difference in the locations that it operate. Teamwork and Passion We bring our individual expertise, creativity and passion for industry as a Hotel Galadari team member. Continuous Improvement Hotel is innovative and utilizes best practices to continually improve its management techniques, and the quality of products and services. Strengths and Weakness Strengths Visitors from Western Europe also prefer to stay in hotels in the southern coastal belt where the main attraction is the beaches. So Location of the Hotel Galadhari is strength to the organization to enhance their businesses. There has also been a downturn in the arrival of Indians, who prefer Colombo hotels. Colombo city hotels have been able to maintain higher occupancy levels than hotels on the southern coastal belt because of more business travelers, and special visitors such as those coming for conferences. Hence Galadhari also have more business opportunities in the Colombo city. Since then the leisure sector has under-performed hugely, and Galadhari hotel has more facilities to spend the day more leisurely. Well expertise work group has Galadhari to give satisfied service to their customers Weaknesses The location of the hotel is in the high security zone in Colombo which is Located in Galle Face Green promenade and with views over the Indian Ocean, this property offers a high level of service and security. Hence it could get difficulties to the tourists. Situated right next to the World Trade Center and the Presidents Residence, the hotel enjoys the most secure part of the city. The distance to hotel between airport is very far and gets more time to re ach hotel. It could cause to the business conferences which are held in the hotel. The main purpose of the established of Galadari Hotel is to attract the overseas seminars conferences to the Sri Lanka. Because of the distance to Airport and hotel is too far and get more time to reach to the destination. And also the traffic on the roads is mainly impact to the time it takes to come to the hotel. Because of these reasons the main purpose has not been achieved. Galadhari has only few room facilities and they have enough land to build new hotel rooms in their own land. Hotels Galadhari has high gearing, high costs to maintain staff, and for refurbishment. Factors affecting the external environment in hospitality In strategic planning, external analysis of hospitality industry has been done with the use of PESTLE analysis and Porters 5 (five) forces in defining the strategy, making decisions on allocating resources to pursue the strategy. Source: http://www.sltda.lk/sites/default/files/Statistics_book.pdf (Access: 15th September 2010) Source: http://www.sltda.lk/sites/default/files/Statistics_book.pdf (Access: 15th September 2010) PESTLE Analysis (P)olitical Factors In Sri Lanka it is socialist republic, state. The government is a mixture of the parliamentary and presidential system. Head of the state is president and current President is Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksha and he is the chief of armed forces and head of government. When the companies formulate and implement the strategies the political arena has a huge impact upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. We have to concern about how stable is the political environment, influence of polices, laws that regulate or tax your business, What is the governments position on marketing ethics, governments policy on the economy, government view on culture and religion, government involvement in trading agreements. State has main responsibility to facilitate to the tourists and funding to the tourism products development projects and do promotions to attract the tourists to the country. On the other hand government has to encourage local and foreign investors to invest their money to develop tourism products and liberate taxes. To growth of the tourism infrastructure facilities are directly affect. So government has the main responsibility to develop and maintain infrastructure. Educated workforce in international standard is also important to give good and satisfactory service to the customers. Because of that government has make rules and regulations to standardize. A change in government party is directly impact to the any industry in the country because their policies it will effect to run the business. When the government strict their security policies it highly impact to the Galadhari hotel. Because tourist who are coming to the hotel. It leads to waste time and may be getting bad image among the tourists. The Tourism Act No 38 of 2005 came into effect in October 2007. With the flow of the new Tourism act, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966, which was in effect for the past 41 years, was replaced. In terms of the requirements contained in the new act, the Tourism Development Fund was officially constituted, with 2 main sources remitting finances to the fund. By way of 1/3 of the Airport Tax collections and 1% of the Turnover of all Sri Lanka Tourist Board registered establishments. The Act provided for the setting up of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, thereby replacing the Sri Lanka Tourist Board. (E)conomic factors In Sri Lanka it has open economy and the Gross Domestic Pproduct grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% in the country. In Sri Lanka service sector is strong in the economy and it indicate 58%, fro agriculture its 12.8% and from industry 29.2%. Almost everyone talks about Sri Lanka tourism being the engine of growth and expects it to play a pivotal role in the economy and it has improved in 6% in this year. Tourism give benefits to the economy as well as it are the cost to the economy. Tourism process also involves economic costs, including the direct costs incurred by tourism businesses, government costs for infrastructure to better serve tourists, congestion and related costs borne by individuals in the community. Economic impacts are also become crucial factors in marketing and management decisions which are directly effecting. Communities therefore need to understand the relative importance of tourism to their region, state or community. Tourism provides great opportunities for regional development particularly for regional areas undergoing structural change. Being a labor intensive industry, with the right motivation tourism can deliver great employment and training opportunities particularly for young people who like to be professionals in this field. (S)ocial Factor Sri Lanka being a multi-religious, multi-ethnic country with a population of 22 million pluss Lankan culture is a rich blend of the interaction of diverse cultural patterns both indigenous and derived from, trade, religions which are Buddhism 69%, Islam 15%, hinduism 8%, Christianity 8%. The cultural patterns of Sri Lanka today show the lasting impact of a diverse range of cultures.. The overall culture is largely the result of the impact of the introduction of Buddhism, more than 2,300 years ago and Hinduism the second most prevalent religion in Sri Lanka. This does not erase the heavy influence of Hinduism, together with the lesser impact of Islam, and Christianity. By concerning about the education background the literacy rate of 92%, and 83% of the total population having had secondary education in the country. Sri Lanka has one of the most literate populations amongst developing countries. Tourists appreciate the hospitality of Sri Lankan People. When the hotel Galadhari provide the services like cabare dancing, supplying prostitutes are not suitable to the Sri Lankan culture. The bad effects of the tourism can said that tourism has affected the values of our people, particularly our youth. It is true that some tourists engage in anti social acts. Some of the tourists are drug addicts or perverts and corrupt our youth and they spread incurable diseases such as aids. But we should keep in mind that all the tourists are not black sheep. (T)echnological Factors Technological factors are also important fact which effect to the hotel industry in many ways which are comprises the utilization of the latest inventions and technologies facilitate the business activities which are digital telephone facilities, broadband Internet connection, Wi-Fi technology, multimedia projector, LCD screens, online reservation systems, property management software and online information exchange program (Point of Sale) etc. Now a days technology is rapidly changing in the world day by day. As the five star hotel Galadhari should doubt to the new technology in the market. It will help the organization to have competitive advantages. Technology can used to reservation, online services like online booking, do the promotions. The rapid development of technology is affecting the businesses in Sri Lanka and all over the world. Changes in the technology have changed the way businesses operate i.e. Internet booking for tickets and holidays. Faster changing development in technology creates a need to react quickly for different businesses in order they want to maintain the competitive environment by providing the same innovative services, which their competitors are offering. Distribution of products by the use of technologies. (L)egal Factor When concerning about the legal factors include tourism act, discrimination law, consumer law, employment law and health and safety. These factors can affect how a hotel operates, its costs, and the demand for its products in tourist industry. The Tourism Act No 38 of 2005 came into consequence in October 2007. With the flow of the new Tourism act, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board Act No 10 of 1966, which was in achieve for the past more than forty years, was replaced. In conditions of the supplies controlled in the new act, the Tourism Development Fund was legally constituted, with two main sources remitting funds to the fund. By way of 1/3 of the Airport Tax collections and 1% of the earnings of all Sri Lanka Tourist Board registered establishments. Attracting and promotion is handled by the Tourism Promotion Bureau. Tourism HRD functions and the Hotels School operations are undertaken by the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism Hotel Management. The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau was also restructured as a statutory body like other Institutions to be managed by an independent Board of Management (E)nvironmental Factor Hotel Galadhari is situated in the Colombo and in Colombo it hasnt proper drainage disposal system and the hotel dispose its drainage to the sea. Because of that so many environmental issues occurred around that. When we promote tourism there are thousands and thousands of tourists unleashed annually in the country, without proper planning, there is bound to be serious environmental and sustainability issues. Such large-scale and fast track growth has to be carefully planned and managed within specific tourism zones to prevent environmental and cultural degradation. Individual hotel developments will not suffice. Such well-planned, large-scale tourist resorts can be designed to encompass sound sustainable environmental practices (e.g., common self-contained sewage disposal facilities with recycling of water, solar lighting for resort public areas, no-build green belts within resorts, etc). Such organized and well-managed, large-scale developments contained in several designated zones will help mitigate most of the possible negative fallout of the socio-cultural and environmental aspects. Building and subsequent maintenance should be under strict environmentally-sustainable guidelines. Hotel industry directly affect to the environmental pollution in the country. As the five stars category hotel, Galadhari has the responsibility to protect our environment and also developments in the country and have to think about the pollution Assessing the Attractiveness of the Hotel in the Industry Threat of new entity According to tourism act the new entrant has to abide by this regulation to establish a hotel as well as charges for the services. In the business arena, the number of competitors increases when any business organization makes good profit and has a good potentiality for future. According to current situation, entry barriers are high and exit barriers are low, few new firms can enter into the industry and poorly performing firms can easily exit. After the war Sri Lankan government has opened the market to new investors to invest their money to build new hotels as the hotel industry is now booming in the country. In that situation so many hotels are building in the north area and customers willing to go in those areas. New entities are use new technology and specialist knowledge to develop their business and it may be affect growth of the business of Galadhari hotel. There are factors related with the threats of new entrants in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka which are as follows- Easy credit facilities for new entrepreneurs in hospitality industry and Legal supports from the government for local entrepreneurs Infrastructure development Policies for foreign investors to establish world-class organization including tax exemptions, ownership, duty, tax law and remittance, National Tourism Policy and Vision to boost up the tourism and hospitality industry, Fewer numbers of competitors in the current marketplace. (Only 5 five-star hotels in Sri Lanka). Higher profit margin Threat of substitute products As the hotel industry specifically targets on accommodation, entertainment and fooding facilities, the substitutes of these facilities may include other food industries (fast food and restaurants), entertainment (bar, discos, clubs etc.) and for accommodation facilities sharing with private establishment (visiting friends and relatives) and others related with accommodation facilities. Every customer looks for high perceive value in their owned products. Substitute products are goods and services from outside a given industry that perform similar or the same function as a product that the industry produces. In this context, many organizations focus on their competitors rather than substitute products and the market share declines concurrently, therefore the market strategies should be flexible to cope with such threats. In the hospitality industry, the substitutes may include various types of guest houses, inns, motels, private-owned guest houses, condominiums, small boutique hotels, bread-and-breakfast hotels and apartment hotels which might be the threats for a specific star-category hotel like Galadhari. In this current marketplace, there are many substitutes of the star-category hotels in Colombo for accommodation Jaj -Samudra, Gall face Hotel, Hilton, Mount Lavinia,.; for food KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, BFC, Pizza Corner, Dominos Pizza etc.; for entertainment night Clubs, many more which might distract the customers rather than the hospitality industry to have the products and services of a hotel. Competitive Rivalry among existing players In the conventional financial mock-up, contest between rival companies drives profits to zero and is not ideal and companies are not simple inactive price takers. Rather, companies struggle for a competitive benefit over their rivals. The strength of rivalry among firms varies across industries, and tactical analysts are paying attention in these differences. In this current competitive period, the tough contest among business organizations increases when number of competitors are in the same marketplace based on their products categories, target markets, types of services, financial affordability, volume of the organization, profitability and potentiality of the market trends for long term business. In this case, price discount, special offers, lower profit margin and turn down in the market share are generally occurring between competitors. In Colombo, the rivalry among competitors is really high as this hospitality is a booming sector in Sri Lanka and only few competitors in the five-star category hotels in Sri Lanka to serve the customers. Moreover, the customers are trying to defend each other through products variation, service quality improvement, defining new target markets, exploring new products innovation and development and providing exclusive facilities to the guests. The competitive rivalry is happening in hospitality industry in the Sri Lanka and it is also affect to the hotel like Galadhari. When the company implements their strategies they should have Varity in their products and services. Bargaining power of suppliers The suppliers can play one of the main roles in developing or declining the reflection of an organization .When the suppliers are more, the bargaining power of them generally goes down whereas fewer suppliers can demand more benefits from the organization. Suppliers are those firms or individuals that provide contribution into the creation of an industrys production on time. It could be in forms of resources and raw materials, services, employment, direct products and others obligatory stuff by the organization. Now a day most of the services have out source in the companies. In the hotel industry, the suppliers are involved in various departments including rooms, food and beverages, IT, guest and travel bookings, security assurance, property management, transport, ensuring business facilities etc. The suppliers in case of hotel of Galadhari is including travel agents and tour operators for guest reservations as well as corporate clients, educational institutions for manpower supply, IT firms for property management software and IT solutions, local importers for international food and beverages supply, security agents for safety and security, local rent-a-car for special arrangement etc. Bargaining power of customers One of the main parties is customer in every organization. Customers mean consumers or intermediaries those who buy the production of an organization to have or resell it to someone else in the market. If there are various products and huge competition, customer bargaining power rises up and vice versa. The bargaining power of customers depends on some factors like requirements of the customers, time and convenience to the desired destinations and thus, they can easily toggle into another product. By considering the hotel industry in Sri Lanka, the bargaining power of customers are very high and they have enough options to toggle into another hotels by comparing in terms of costs, quality of service, product categories and special offers provided particularly for group bookings and long-term stay. Sometimes Galadhari hotel has rack rate of the hotel facilities. In the pick seasons like December, the bargaining power of the customers becomes lower and lower. When in the tourism season the hotel has unbearable customers and their bargaining power also very high in this season. 7.0 Conclusion The process of conducting research on the business environment within which the organization operates and on the organization itself, in order to formulate and implementation of strategy for future business operations can be mentioned as Strategic analysis of hospitality organization. To do the assessment can use number of tools to process of strategic analysis, including PEST (sometimes PESTLE) for analyze external environment and, SWOT analysis use for the internal environmental scanning, and Michael Porters five forces model use to assists to understand the competitive forces, the attractiveness and current position in the industry.

An Analysis of J.M. Coetzees Disgrace

An Analysis of J.M. Coetzees Disgrace The novel Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee has attracted wide readership and analysis since its first publication. Set in the post-apartheid South Africa, the plot revolves around the main character David Lurie, a divorced 52-year-old professor who earns a living by teaching communication courses at the Cape Technical University. The resounding conflict in the novel is introduced right from the first paragraph where readers learn of Luries insatiable sexual appetite. He had affairs with the wives of colleagues; he picked up tourists in bars on the waterfront or at the Club Italia; he slept with whores (7). Luries relationships thus surround women, many who end up in engaging in sexual activities with him. In this paper, the themes of arrogance, disgrace, and reconciliation are explored by reviewing Luries interactions with the women in the novel. Despite the portrayal of the female gender as objects of sexual gratification, the characters Soraya, Desiree Isaacs, and Rosalind signify, to a re asonable extent, the rejection of male hegemony on sexual matters. A critical analysis into the life of David Lurie reveals a character whose greatest flaw rests in the inability to control sexual drive. Readers get an idea of the flaw in the first paragraph when Lurie is introduced as a divorced, 52-year-old man who, to his mind has solved the problem of sex rather well (1). We also learn that the problem that Lurie alludes to above has been solved through his sexual relationship with Soraya, an exotic Muslim prostitute working for Discreet Escorts. Whereas the two are committed to a ninety-minute sexual session every Thursday Afternoon, their engagement is clearly devoid of love and enjoyment, especially from the side of Soraya. Elizabeth Lowry, an editor at London Review of Books, finds the relationship of Lurie and women as exploitative. She submits that, both the prostitute Soraya and Melanie-Melà ¡ni are used women and, significantly, they are both dark (Lowry 15). Money is what drives Soraya to honor this appointment. In fact, the objectific ation and commoditization of Soraya body is revealed from the knowledge that a single sexual session takes a duration of ninety minutes and costs a total of R400 (Coetzee 2). The relationship between Lurie and Soraya however ends in a state of disgrace for both characters. Disgrace being a theme which underpins much of the story, Lurie first instance of disgrace happens when he catches the sight of Soraya walking with her two sons along a street that he frequently walks. The glance of Soraya and her two sons live a lasting impression in Luries mind that, in as much as he would like to forget, the two little boys become presences between them (6). Evidently, the reality of Soraya double life leaves Lurie at a state of shame when he tries to imagine what the two sons and their father would do if they discover what he does with Soraya. The feeling is even made worse by the fact that he himself has no son and is divorced. Shame, regret, and dishonor cloud the minds of both these characters. Lurie speaks of she [Soraya] transforms herself into just another woman and him into just another client (Coetzee 7). It is also in this reality that Lurie comes to terms that he might just be a subject in the prostitutes gossip. McDonald (2007) puts this new reality into perspective by submitting that the illusion shattered [that is when Soraya eyes met that of Lurie] is not of her objectivity, but of his own subjectivity, as he becomes aware of how she sees him (McDonald 20). For the first time, he appears embarrassed of his age body as prostitute tend to shudder over older clients (Coetzee 8). Another theme that Coetzee reveals through the relationship of Lurie and women is that of arrogance. Arrogance entails an overbearing attitude directed to people who are perceived as inferior. This arrogance brings to light the hegemonic gender relations between men and women. For instance, after Soraya rejected Luries tendency to regain dominance over her, Lurie re-asserts his dominance when he asks rhetorical questions: what should a predator expect when he intrudes into the vixens nest, into the home of her cubs? (Coetzee 10). McDonald (2009) suggests that objectifying Soraya through the use of animal metaphors was a strategy used by Lurie to reclaim dominance and authority (21). Even though the details surrounding their Luries marriage to Rosalind are scarce, we can gain a wind of Luries arrogance in the marriage set-up through the thoughts that run through his mind. For instance, in an attempt to justify his sexual escapades with Soraya, he appears to suggest that; who needs a w ife, home or marriage when ninety minutes a week with a womans company are enough to make him happy? This is arrogance of the highest order especially to women who, in marriage setup, tend to be very loyal and submissive. Arrogance is further revealed through Luries encounter with Desiree Isaacs. Despite the fact that he has visited their home to make apology for sleeping with Melanie (a student from his class), one cannot help but wonder how again Lurie still views Desiree through lustful lenses. He for instance describes her as the beauty and the desired one. He even imagines the two of them [Melanie and Desiree] in the same bed: an experience fit for a King (164). However, still through Luries relationship to Soraya, Desiree Isaacs, and Rosalind, the theme of reconciliation is explored as even male hegemony in gender relations is rejected. For instance, Luries makes an attempt to reconcile with Soraya by tracking her to her home. Soraya rejects this and in turn demands [commands] Lurie to never phone her home again. Desiree on the other hand finds it very hard to reconcile with an old man who had messed up with her sister. In as much as the family had discussed about Lurie and his planned visit, Desiree still thinks that he is unwanted visitor. She simply cannot come into terms with the reality that her sister, Melanie, had slept with this old man. The process of reconciliation between Isaacs, particularly women, is complicated by the gender sexuality that comes into play. We for instance read of Luries apology when he, with careful ceremony he gets to his knees and touches his forehead to the floor (Coetzee 173). This gesture however leaves t he mother and Desiree unmoved. It can be argued that the rejection of the apology has more to do with the elements of insincerity. According to J.M. Austerities (2016), it is argued that the gesture neither transcends not negates the predicament of gendered sexuality because, a few lines later, we see Lurie experiencing again the current leaps, the current of desire as he looks into the eyes of mother and daughter (J.M. Austerities 160). Nonetheless, Rosalind depicts a woman who has gained control over her life and is willing to reconcile with her husband but not necessarily emotionally. She openly expresses distaste for Luries sexual escapades with Melanie. She says, The whole thing is disgraceful from beginning to end. Disgraceful and vulgar too. And Im not sorry for saying so. (45) Through Rosalind, we see a woman who is not afraid to stand up against a man who had divorced her. However, we can also sense an aspect of Rosalind that is determined to reconcile their differences and be on civil terms. For example, she expresses concern over an article in the Argus news article discussing Lurie. By telephoning and urging Lurie to steel himself, there isa sense of a woman who is on a reconciliation mission. In conclusion, the themes of arrogance, disgrace, and reconciliation are explored in light of gendered-sexual relations between Lurie and characters Soraya, Desiree Isaacs, and Rosalind. Objectification and commoditization of women as sexual tools are the source of Luries arrogance. His character eventually disgraces him when he becomes the objects of self-shame and public ridicule. Because of Luries hegemonic views when he comes to gender relations, the process of reconciliation is complicated to those who cannot explain or accept his behavior. Works Cited Coetzee, J M. Disgrace. Penguin Publishing Group, 2017. Internet resource. J.M. Coetzees Austerities. New York. Routledge, 2016. Print Lowry, Elizabeth. Like a dog. London Review of Books 14 (1999): 12-14. McDonald, William E. Encountering Disgrace: Reading and Teaching Coetzees Novel. Rochester, N.Y: Camden House, 2009. Print.

Assignment: Mythology Research Project :: essays research papers fc

Assignment: Mythology Research Project   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In The Yoruba and Madagascar myths of creation, the beginning of the world was a formless Chaos which was neither sea nor land. Orisha Nla, also called the Great God, was sent down from the sky to the Chaos by Olorun, the Supreme Being. His obligatory mission was to create solid land and to aid him in the accomplishment of this task, he was given a snail shell, a pigeon, and a five-toed hen. After the earth and land were separated, a chameleon was sent with Orisha Nla to inspect his work and report to the Supreme Being. Olorun was satisfied with the good things reported to him and sent Orisha Nla to finish. He planted trees, Olorun made rain water fall from the sky and grew the seeds into a great forest. The creation of earth took four days and on the fifth Orisha Nla rested from his work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Orisha fashioned the first people from earth for Olorun, but only the Supreme Being was able to give them life. Orisha Nla hid in his workshop trying to watch him, but a spell of deep sleep was cast onto him so that only Olorun knew the secret. He made the first man and woman and their daughter and her husband. The rest of the human beings descended from the them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As time passed, the Creator noticed that as humans multiplied and prospered, they gave thanks to Mother Earth but forgot about him. He decided thenceforth to take the souls of half the humans signifying a tribute.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the myth, Why Men Must Die told by the Zulu's of Natal in South Africa, we are told how because of a slow moving tiny animal man-kind suffered and still does of mortality. The first man on earth, also a god, sent the chameleon to give humans the message that they will be like the gods and never die promptly. Because he took too long to travel to mankind and spread the good news, he sent a viper out of annoyance with the message that he changed his mind and they will not live forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Egyptian creation story my group has studied, everything descends from Nu, the sea. His son Ra, becomes the Creator and makes a god for everything in our world: Shu, the wind god, his consort Tefnut, â€Å"The Spitter†, brought rain, Seb, the earth god, Nut, goddess of the firmament, who were the parents of Osiris and his consort Isis, and Set and his consort Nepthys.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story also tells about sins that people had since their earliest