The Message Of Babi Yar Essays - The Holocaust In Ukraine

The Message Of Babi Yar Essays - The Holocaust In Ukraine The Message of Babi Yar There are very few people in the world who are willing to go against the popular trends and do what they feel in their hearts is correct. But Yevgeny Yevtushenko is one of those people. In his poem Babi Yar, he tells the story of the modern persecution of the Jews, focusing on atrocities like those of the massacre at Babi Yar and the pogroms at Beilostok, and also the general anti-Semitism that killed men like Dreyfus and pervades the entire Russian people. The poem uses many literary devices, such as graphic imagery and contrasts, while painting a very clear picture of the scenes of pure horror. Babi Yar is written in many different voices, all of which, however, have the same message. The author starts off with his own perspective, then goes on and describes certain people in modern Jewish history whose lives will forever be remembered as symbols of the time. At the end of the poem the author comes back and speaks in his own voice, yet this time he delivers a message to his people about how they have committed a large number of these crimes against the Jews, yet think that such actions are pure and good for Russia. By switching from the voices of those who were so afflicted by the persecution to a voice of accusation, the author effectively points out how foolish the arguments of the Russians are when they try to point out any validity in killing millions of Jews. The poem starts out with a description of the ravine at Babi Yar. However, all it says is that there is nothing to describe. It calls the steep ravine, which is the grave sight of one hundred thousand people, the only memorial that is there. This frightens the author, because the massiveness of the tragedy deserves at least some recognition. Then Yevtushenko realizes that fear is a part of Judaism, something that is as old as them, and therefore originating with them. He says that he too must be a Jew for he is afraid of what his people and his society have become. Many years ago, in the "ancient days," it would not be such a shock to see the Jews enslaved in Egypt or crucified as a means of torture and death, but even in modern times the same things are going on-he still has the marks from where the nails pierced him. The author has used classical examples of Jewish persecution which every one knows is gone in the physical sense, but show how they still exist in the theoretical aspect, as the persecution is still occurring. In the next three ezzas, the poem takes the ezdpoint of three figures whose stories are pertinent examples of what Yevtushenko is trying to rely in this poem. First the voice of Dreyfus is used, and the ezza describes how horribly and unfairly he was treated, and how the country and its leaders turned their backs on him. There are two important literary devices used in this section. First the author puts the word "pettiness" on a line by itself. This is used as a declaration of what the author feels anti-Semitism is based on. It is because of pettiness that Dreyfus was accused and further because of pettiness that he was not pardoned when it was proven that he had not committed any crime. The next important device is the description of ladies with their umbrellas. This is an image to the wealthy aristocracy of France, who not only turned their backs on Dreyfus and did not help him, but also increased the effort to have him punished unnecessarily. The next Jewish figure whom the author singles out is a boy from the town of Bielostok, where one of the most horrible pogroms ever took place. The entire ezza focuses on the image of how bad the people were who participated in the pogrom. Using graphic images of blood spurting all around and of victims pointlessly begging for mercy, the author clearly shows how wrong the pogroms were and wrong his countrymen were for allowing them to occur. A device the author uses in this ezza is contrast, as in

The Basic English Grammar Rules eBook (PDF)

The Basic English Grammar Rules eBook (PDF) The Basic English Grammar Rules eBook (PDF) The Basic English Grammar Rules eBook (PDF) By Daniel Scocco Last year we had a series called English Grammar 101, where the basic grammar rules were covered. Many readers asked if it was possible to transform that series into an ebook. We thought that the idea was good indeed, and started working on it. Maeve edited the whole thing, adding examples and formating the sections. The ebook (in PDF format) is finally ready, with 34 pages of content. You can download it free of charge. Below you will find the content of the e-book and the subscription form to request your download link. eBook Content Heres a breakdown of the sections you will find in the eBook: Introduction Section 1: Sentences The subject Predicate Praises and clauses The object The complement Section 2: Parts of speech Noun Pronoun Adjective Verb Adverb Preposition Interjection Conjunction In order to download the ebook you simply need to subscribe to DailyWritingTips email list. We only send out one email per week, on Tuesdays, and we only send useful content that will help you to improve your writing skills. Topics covered range from English grammar to punctuation and style. After subscribing your email address below you should receive the e-book download link within a couple of minutes. Subscribe below to receive a download link via email Heres how our email containing the download link looks like. Obviously joining our email list is free and you can unsubscribe anytime you want. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar 101 category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101Latin Plural Endings10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing

Strategic Financial Management 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Strategic Financial Management 2 - Coursework Example Question one. Calculate the adjusted present value (APV) for the project, correcting any errors made in the net present value estimate above, and conclude whether the project should be accepted or not. Show all relevant calculations. (25 marks) Before any attempt should be made to prepare the adjusted present value of the proposed project, Rattle Co must carefully study how the given projected cash flow statement for four years was made, to know where some should remain because they are already correct or whether they need further adjustments. When the needed adjustments are known, the framework is established to do the same with each item in the prepared cash flows, asking whether it should be adjusted or not. Starting with the revenue, it appears that one critical issue would be whether it should be presented with inflation or net of inflation. The answer would depend on what discount rate is used. If the discount rate is with inflation, then the revenue must include the inflation. In the case facts, the inflation was given however, if the discount rate is used with the real rate, i.e. not the nominal one, then presenting the net of inflation of the inflation rate is the proper thing. The 8% inflation rate increase for revenues and 4% inflation rate increase for cost of sales become irrelevant. Working capital requirements appear not to be reflected in the given cash flow. These need to be determined, as they are a factor in any decision. A business cannot operate without working capital. Since the amount of working capital at the beginning of each year is 20% of the forecasted revenue per year, just multiply each given sales figure per year, then it is possible to generate a working capital requirement per year. As computed in the revised and adjusted projected cash flow in Appendix A, the working capital amounts come to  £4,606,000,  £7,320,000,  £9,814,000 and  £5,428,000 for

Judaism , Christianity and Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Judaism , Christianity and Islam - Essay Example Knowledge of God and certain religious practices have been handed down from one generation to another even before the age of written history. In the case of the three monotheistic religions, oral traditions have been documented in scriptures, and for which the claim to divine inspiration and revelation had become a common basis of faith and devotion. The Hebrew bible detailed the story of Israel in the light of the covenant between God and His people, and depicts a continuing saga of that relationship and of the saving acts of God. Christians, on the other hand refer to the Old Testament (sourced out from the same Jewish bible) as historical documentation of salvation and prophesies over the coming messiah. The fulfillment of such prophesies and salvation, however is contained in the New Testament which detailed the teachings of Christ, His death and resurrection, and ascension to heaven, including the spread of Christianity shortly after He went up to heaven. For Muslims, the very w ord of Allah, was revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. According to Muslim tradition, after this ecstatic experience Muhammad was able to recite exactly what he had been told. The term Qur’an, which means recitation,† occurs several times in the text itself; the term refers either to a fragment of the revelation or to the entire collection of revelations that are known as the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam (Microsoft Encarta) . All scriptures, each creed uses, tells us the story of the promise God made to Abraham, â€Å"I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore† (Genesis 22:17 - JB). There and then, the verse became the basis as to why the three religions are collectively referred to as â€Å"Abrahamic.† Both â€Å"Jews and Muslims, as well as Christians, trace

Emotions & Brody Essay Example for Free

Emotions Brody Essay Brody (2001) defines â€Å"emotions as motivational systems with physiological, behavioral, experiential, and cognitive components† (p. 15). The author adds that â€Å"emotions have a positive or negative valence and also vary in intensity or arousal levels, from mild to strong† (p. 15). Emotional expression indicates outward manifestation on an individual’s face, while emotional experience is a state of feeling that only the individual knows it (Brody, 2001). Emotional expression may either play a role as a self-communicative function or may reflect the behavioral and physiological arousal together with the emotional experience (Brody, 2001). Expression of feelings may help an individual to determine the characteristic of an emotional experience (Brody, 2001). Factors that influence facial expression rely on the individual who expresses the emotion, the individual who perceives the emotion, the message expressed in each channel, and previous experience (Ekman Sullivan, 1991). Facial feedback pertains to patterned proprioceptive feedback coming from the muscle activity in the face or from integrated expressions in the face (Ekman Sullivan, 1991). According to Ekman and Sullivan (1991), the facial feedback hypothesis is an important determining factor of the experience of emotion. The authors add that the facial feedback hypothesis contends that an individual can utilize information from his or her own facial behavior to figure out what he or she feels. The facial feedback hypothesis also claims that the expression of emotion causes autonomic, hormonal, and behavioral alterations that initiate the experience of the emotion (Brody, 2001). Facial expressions are being utilized by individuals as clues as to what emotions they are experiencing or in making judgments concerning their attitudes (Brody, 2001). A positive facial expression show more positive reactions such as understanding instead of anger, than those individuals who are showing angry facial expressions (Brody, 2001). Emotional experience happens when unforeseen changes in personally significant goals are realized (Stein, Hernandez, Trabasso, 2008). The situation that surrounds an emotion starts when a precipitating event happens and warns an individual to some type of alterations in a personally significant goal (Stein, Hernandez, Trabasso, 2008). An emotional episode is defined as a â€Å"sequence of events that includes the precipitating event; appraisals of the change in the status of a goal; the physiological and neurophysiological reactions that occur in relation to the change; the emotional reaction itself; and subsequent appraisal, planning, and behavior sequences carried out to cope with the impact of the goal change† (Stein, Hernandez, Trabasso, 2008, p. 575). An emotional response of an individual should continue to be expressed or experienced if new meaning is realized from discovering a repeated event in order for the event to be connected to new information not previously accessed (Stein, Hernandez, Trabasso, 2008). Appraisal theory contends that emotions rely on understanding the adaptational relevance or personal significance of a situation (Parkinson, 2001). Appraisal is influenced by several factors such as perceptual, sensory-motor, and cognitive processes (Parkinson, 2001). Furthermore, appraisal processes are believed to happen between input and output in a cognitive system of an individual (Parkinson, 2001). They are influenced by an ongoing dialogue, in which interpersonally distributed cognition was used to achieve emotional conclusions (Parkinson, 2001). When an individual describes his or her experience based on a given emotion, he or she has a tendency to manifest distinctive patterns of appraisal corresponding to the given emotion (Parkinson, 2001). This means that an individual’s everyday emotional representations are linked with relatively consistent attributes of appraisal profiles (Parkinson, 2001). References Brody, L. (2001). Gender, emotion, and the family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Ekman, P. O’Sullivan, M. (1991). Facial expression: Methods, means, and moues. In R. S. Feldman B. Rime (Eds. ), Fundamentals of nonverbal behavior (pp. 163-199). Cambridge University Press. Parkinson, B. (2001). Putting appraisal in context. In K. R. Scherer, A. Schorr, T. Johnstone (Eds. ), In Appraisal processes in emotion: Theory, methods, research (pp. 173-186). USA: Oxford University Press. Stein, N. L. , Hernandez, M. W. , Trabasso, T. (2008). In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, L. F. Barrett (Eds. ), Handbook of emotions (pp. 574-586). United Kingdom: Guilford Press.

David Hicks Speech :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  David Hicks was a 34 year old black male. He was on death row in Texas from December of 1987 to April of 1988, sentenced to die by lethal injection for rape and murder, on April 25th 1988, of his 87-year-old grandmother, Ms. Ocolor Heggar. David was only a suspect because he was near her house at the time of the crime. There was no indication that he had been inside ¡Xexcept, for DNA evidence. The DNA test determined that similarities between sections of DNA removed from David ¡Ã‚ ¦s blood and DNA recovered from semen in Ms. Heggar ¡Ã‚ ¦s house would occur only one time in a total of 96 million people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the evening of Ms. Heggar ¡Ã‚ ¦s death she was alone in her house. Eddie Ray Branch, her grandson, testified that he visited his grandmother on the day that she was killed. He was there till at least 6:30 p.m. Lester Busby, her grandnephew, and David Hicks arrived while her grandson was still there and they saw him leave. They then went in to visit with Ms. Heggar. While they were there, Lester repaid Ms. Heggar 80 dollars, which he owed her. They left around 7:15 p.m. and went next door to a neighboring friend ¡Ã‚ ¦s house. David Hick ¡Ã‚ ¦s went home alone from there to get something but returned within ten minutes of leaving. Because he was only gone for 5-10 minutes, prosecution theorized TWO attacks on Ms. Heggar because he could not have killed his grandmother during this 5-10 minute period alone. At 7:30 p.m., 15 minutes after the two had left, an insurance salesman called to see Ms. Heggar. He knocked for about 2 or 3 minutes and got no reply. Her door was open but the screen door was closed. Her TV was on. He claimed to have left after about 5 minutes and then he returned the next morning. The circumstances were exactly the same. With concern, he went to the neighbor ¡Ã‚ ¦s house and called the police. His reasoning for being there was because the grandmother ¡Ã‚ ¦s family had taken out burial insurance three days before she had died. David had strong ties and a compact relationship with his immediate family. During the course of the trial, the evidence was presented which seems to clear him: „h Several hairs were recovered from the victim; tests revealed that they were not from David Hicks. One was found to be consistent with Asian hair, another consistent with Lester Busby, the grandnephew.

A day in the Life of Arab

In the summer months of 1985 I was in Beirut, Lebanon on a two months vacation where I met some good people. Ahmed is a grade school teacher in Beirut and I meet him barely one week after I arrived in Beirut, when I was hanging around, pondering about the historical significance of Mount Hermon as it was mentioned in the Biblical history.He lives in the outskirt of Beirut a few blocks from where I am living and he has a deep knowledge of the Lebanese history and culture. One time, I ask Ahmed about what he thinks of Israel, as the Biblical text seemed to point out to Israel as God’s favored nation. Ahmed would usually flare-up when the issue concerns Israel.As I read on some of their historical literature I have learned that despite of the relative wealth of Lebanon, its leaders were divided into three main groups on some national issues.The first group wanted Lebanon to be part of France, while the second group called for the integration of Lebanon with in the framework of Ar ab unity, and the third wanted independence of Lebanon from France. As I was analyzing the political situation in Lebanon during this time, I realized that it was the spirit of Arab nationalism that had prevailed, as most of the Lebanese believed Lebanon is an inseparable part of the world. I noticed that most Lebanese are devout Arab nationalist and their cultures were distinctly in the context of the Arab world. One of its writers even wrote that Lebanon was culturally influenced by the Mediterranean and by the ancient people that inhabited this basin.  As I go around the cities, faces of western influences were evident in most cities through the many facades particularly in the main cities. The Arab traditional lifestyle which revolves firmly around the family, socializing, and hospitality were exactly the case in most families, although those living outside the city especially in the remote areas, retained their old customs and tradition. As I had observed, Lebanese people are generally literate and Lebanon has one of the most technically prepared, and educated populations in the Middle East.In matters of food and drinks, most of Lebanese cuisines were a combination of the European cuisine and the eastern spicy. The Lebanese traditional dishes still exist in many places, which are simple preparations, using grains, pulses and vegetable and fruit. A Typical Lebanese meal on the other hand is the mezze.This is a thorough spread of forty or fifty hors d’oeuvres or simply a salad bowl. However, unlike in other Arabian countries, Lebanese people were the most frequently disturbed people by war, by invasion and annexation of different countries surrounding her. Lebanon at one time was under French government and at some other period was invaded by Syria and Israel. Despite of those troubling wars, and internal chaos, the Lebanese people was thriving economically.In my observation however, despite that this country is an Arab state many of its inhabitant s are Christians and at some times was governed by a Maronite Christian but was assassinated in February 2005. As I analyzed the social and cultural life of the Lebanese society I found out that the root of internal chaos in Lebanon was, there is an unresolved character of the Lebanese national culture.Was the character of the Lebanese society Arab and Muslim in orientation or Christian and Western? There are several strong communities competing to gain control of power in Lebanon such as the Maronites, Christians, the Nusayris, the Antioch Turks, and Bedouin, which reveals the multi-culturism of the Lebanese society that in my view, this multiculturalism should be clearly understood by its people in order for them to gain peace within, and in international relations.ReferenceLebanonhttp://www.arab.net/lebanon/

Absolute Poverty

POVERTY What is poverty? Poverty is the economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain certain minimal levels of health services, food, housing, clothing, and education generally recognized as necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living. What is considered adequate, however, depends on the average standard of living in a particular society. Relative poverty is that experienced by those whose income falls considerably below the average for their particular society. Absolute poverty is that experienced by those who do not have enough food to remain healthy. However, estimating poverty on an income basis may not measure essential elements that also contribute to a healthy life. People without access to education or health services should be considered poor even if they have adequate food. CAUSES OF POVERTY One of the greatest challenges facing many least developed countries especially in the African continent is the worsening scourge of poverty with its attendant effects of unemployment, malnutrition, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS and destitution. There are many causes of poverty complex and multi-dimensional in nature. They involve among many others gender inequality, economical, political and social exclusion. Therefore any intervention measures designed to respond to the challenges above should be judged by their ability to positively make a significant dent on poverty at a micro level (lower levels of society such as the households or individual levels). There should be a clear linkage between macro level policies and micro level impacts in terms of reducing poverty or at least providing an environment for poverty reduction. Such a policy should be able to facilitate the delivery of basic needs to ordinary citizens and these include access to affordable food, health, education, shelter, water and sanitation, public information among many others. No one should be alienated from these basic and fundamental human rights on account of one’s poor economic status. IMPACT OF POVERTY ON BUSINESS OPERATIONS When a person doesn’t have disposable income he/she make purchases of commodities, goods and services. Therefore many cannot increase their sales. Production output drops. Some companies put their staff on short time. This further reduces disposable income. Financial sectors do not grant credit to low- income earners therefore the financial market suffers. Inflation rises. The GDP of the country drops. The price of goods and services increase. The people with low income and those that receive social grants do not have enough many to but commodities. Companies that do not make high turnovers cannot plough moneys back into communities for social upliftment. ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY BY THE GOVERNMENT Aid refers to the net flow of official development assistance provide by governments, international agencies, and public institutions of the industrialized countries. The term is also used to encompass help (both material and technical) provided by non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and voluntary agencies to countries and people in need, particularly for disaster or emergency relief. The overall portfolio of assistance of a donor, or the range of aid I provides to a particular country, is often referred to as its aid programme. The various recognized categories of aid such as: Bilateral aid * Project aid * Grant aid * Technical assistance * Emergency aid/Disaster relief * Food aid * Voluntary aid GLOBAL POVERTY! IS BUSINESS THE ANSWER? When activists discuss the way less developed countries have missed out on the benefits of globalization, Multinational Corporations are often portrayed as the villains. But to some, they are the solution and the only one. CONCLUTION In conclusion I would just like to say that we, as South Africans, need to show the world that we are strong and we are better prepared for global turmoil than we previously were. WE ARE HERE TO STAY!! Absolute Poverty POVERTY What is poverty? Poverty is the economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain certain minimal levels of health services, food, housing, clothing, and education generally recognized as necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living. What is considered adequate, however, depends on the average standard of living in a particular society. Relative poverty is that experienced by those whose income falls considerably below the average for their particular society. Absolute poverty is that experienced by those who do not have enough food to remain healthy. However, estimating poverty on an income basis may not measure essential elements that also contribute to a healthy life. People without access to education or health services should be considered poor even if they have adequate food. CAUSES OF POVERTY One of the greatest challenges facing many least developed countries especially in the African continent is the worsening scourge of poverty with its attendant effects of unemployment, malnutrition, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS and destitution. There are many causes of poverty complex and multi-dimensional in nature. They involve among many others gender inequality, economical, political and social exclusion. Therefore any intervention measures designed to respond to the challenges above should be judged by their ability to positively make a significant dent on poverty at a micro level (lower levels of society such as the households or individual levels). There should be a clear linkage between macro level policies and micro level impacts in terms of reducing poverty or at least providing an environment for poverty reduction. Such a policy should be able to facilitate the delivery of basic needs to ordinary citizens and these include access to affordable food, health, education, shelter, water and sanitation, public information among many others. No one should be alienated from these basic and fundamental human rights on account of one’s poor economic status. IMPACT OF POVERTY ON BUSINESS OPERATIONS When a person doesn’t have disposable income he/she make purchases of commodities, goods and services. Therefore many cannot increase their sales. Production output drops. Some companies put their staff on short time. This further reduces disposable income. Financial sectors do not grant credit to low- income earners therefore the financial market suffers. Inflation rises. The GDP of the country drops. The price of goods and services increase. The people with low income and those that receive social grants do not have enough many to but commodities. Companies that do not make high turnovers cannot plough moneys back into communities for social upliftment. ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY BY THE GOVERNMENT Aid refers to the net flow of official development assistance provide by governments, international agencies, and public institutions of the industrialized countries. The term is also used to encompass help (both material and technical) provided by non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and voluntary agencies to countries and people in need, particularly for disaster or emergency relief. The overall portfolio of assistance of a donor, or the range of aid I provides to a particular country, is often referred to as its aid programme. The various recognized categories of aid such as: Bilateral aid * Project aid * Grant aid * Technical assistance * Emergency aid/Disaster relief * Food aid * Voluntary aid GLOBAL POVERTY! IS BUSINESS THE ANSWER? When activists discuss the way less developed countries have missed out on the benefits of globalization, Multinational Corporations are often portrayed as the villains. But to some, they are the solution and the only one. CONCLUTION In conclusion I would just like to say that we, as South Africans, need to show the world that we are strong and we are better prepared for global turmoil than we previously were. WE ARE HERE TO STAY!!

Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Essays

Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Essays Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Paper Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Paper On the second day of the conference, Samson valued her dream of a new store model that was aligned with health wellness and makes the pharmacy the star of the store. Rite Aid had a new marketing theme, With us. Its Personal, This consisted of a more welcoming corner entrance In the store as well as change to the exterior of the store to look warmer and Included a covered drive through pharmacy. The Interior of the pharmacy was to Include wider aisles and nicer waiting areas for customers. At the end of the conference, Samson reiterated Rite Aids six goals: Marketing, merchandising and ammunitions programs supporting Its Neal ; wellness positioning; Hilling, training and retaining quality store associates; Optimizing the chains infrastructure; Unveiling a new store prototype; Rationalizing the store base; and, Pursuing growth opportunities (Long 2004). Rite Aid continues to value the importance of customer service and puts programs in place to stress the importance of greeting customers and assisting them with their purchases. Rite Aid recently implemented new technology to help employees perform tasks faster and easier which will give them ore time to focus on the customer. In 2012, Rite Aid increased the amount of money they spend on training their employees on their customer service skills. (Rite Aid 2012) Another strategic action that Rite Aid has taken to execute its strategy is the consistency of their training to their employees. Rite Aid created the Rite Aid University to bring their entire employee training in one area and under one rooftop make sure that what they are teaching their employees is staying consistent over time. The Rite Aid University has over 75 different training programs from employee management and time management to being taught to use the pharmacy automated dispensing system. (DEER 1998) By keeping their employees training consistent and investing in the newest technology, Rite Aid is taking steps to maintain a cost leadership strategy. Another strategic step Rite Aid has taken is implementing the wellness + loyalty program in 2010. This is a free program for customers that provide incentives to members who enroll based on how many points they accumulate for prescription purchases. You are able to achieve a Fold, Silver and Bronze level in this program. Rite Aid stated that those involved in the wellness + have higher purchases than their non-member customers and they also achieve larger prescription retentions. Wellness + members can also able to receive more rewards and additional savings for future shopping trips. Rite Aid continues to add more enhancements to this program making it more appealing to their customers. They recently added Loader which is a coupon management program and Rite Aid is the first drug retailer to implement this program. This allows customers to save, manage and redeem Rite Aid and manufacturer coupons available throughout he internet via their wellness + card (Rite Aid 2012). Rite Aid has also formed a strategic alliance with NC under which they have opened over 2,100 NC stores- within-Rite Aid-stores NC is a leading nationwide retailer of vitamin and mineral supplements, personal care, fitness and other health-related products. (Rite Aid 2012) Customer Service is the main target for Rite Aid along with technology. Rite Aid stores have implemented a common information system. This new system allows customers to fill and refill their prescriptions in any Rite Aid store throughout the country. Also, customers are now able to order prescription refills over the Internet through www. Irritated. Com or over the phone and they have also added a mobile phone app that gives them the same options as their online website. Rite Aid continues to enhance their technology to better serve their customers. (Rite Aid 2012) All of these steps that Rite Aid has taken are critical to the companys success and helps to keep them on the path of a cost leadership company. Rite Aids strategic alliance with NC, their wellness+ loyalty program and their common information system and new technology could possibly be sources of temporary or sustainable nominative advantage. To evaluate whether they have a sustainable competitive advantage we must use the BRIO framework. First we will we evaluate Rite Aids strategic alliance with NC. We ask ourselves if the alliance is valuable. Meaning, Do resources and capabilities enable a firm to exploit an external opportunity or neutralize an external threat? I believe the answer to this question is yes. Next, we ask ourselves if this alliance is rare, is It currently controlled by only a small number of competing firms? The answer to this question would also be yes. Regarding the question of immutability, do firms without a resource face a cost disadvantage in obtaining or developing it? Yes. Lastly we ask ourselves if a firm is organized enough to exploit the full competitive potential of its resources and capabil ities. I believe that Rite Aid is able to exploit the potential of this strategic alliance. Therefore, Rite Aids strategic alliance with NC is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. (Barney Westerly, 2012). Next, we will evaluate Rite Aids wellness+ loyalty program. I believe this program to be very valuable but due to the brand loyalty. I also believe that this program is rare. Although, Walgreen has a similar program not many other drug retailers currently have a program this beneficial to their customers. Although this program is valuable and rare, I do not believe it would be costly to imitate. Therefore, Rite Aid only has a temporary competitive advantage over its competitors. Rite Aid also incorporates new technology in their stores. They currently have a common information system as well as smart phone applications and online filling and refilling of prescriptions. I believe their use of technology is ere valuable. Most people now prefer to use the internet and their phones for tasks such as these. It is a convenience to customers who do not want to have to go into the store to deal with their prescriptions. Although this is very valuable in the society we live in now, it is not very rare. Many drug retailers are pursuing and currently have the same technology that Rite Aid does. Because of this, Rite Aid only has competitive parity. Rite Aid and Environment Based on my research of Rite Aid, I do believe that the companys strategies and abilities fit within the drug retailer industry environment. Although many strategies they are pursuing are also being pursued by their top competitors, Walgreen and C.V., they are maintaining competitive parity within the industry. These strategies include their development of technology through managing prescriptions online and smart phone applications. Rite Aids main focus is their customer service and they are able to build brand loyalty through their wellness + program. Although Walgreen NAS a salary program, IT Relate AI Is addle to craw In customers to use their program instead then they will build that loyalty with their customers and have the ability to keep them returning for future purchases. In the industry analysis, my group concluded that the drug retailer industry average level of anticipated performance is high due to the Porter five forces model showing that the risk of entry by possible new customers is moderate because the four barriers to entry are somewhat established. The intensity of rivalry within the industry is moderate. Although product differentiation being low increases the threat of rivalry here are millions of people who need drugs so this reduces the threat. The bargaining power of buyers is moderate, as is the bargaining power of suppliers and the threat of substitutes is very high because of general merchandise stores, supermarkets and superstores. Although Rite Aid is not the industry leader in this industry, I believe that they are positioned to keep growing within this industry. I feel that their strategic alliance with NC, who is a well-known nation-wide retailer, will help them continue to grow as well as their continuing use of technology, their ointment to customer satisfaction and their consistency in employee training.

The evolutionary reason reading is hard †and why thats good news

The evolutionary reason reading is hard – and why thats good news This is why reading most documents feels like hard work There’s one thing about reports that people never seem to talk about. Even after 21 years, and training more than 50,000 people to write well, I really cant recall anyone bringing it up. And that secret is this: reading is hard. I don’t mean we find it difficult to read our email or text messages, or even social media. (Though there’s an awful lot more to doing that than you think.) No, I mean reading reports, official guides or any other vaguely technical document is hard. Hard reading is a feeling that’s familiar to us all. We’ve all been there. It’s Friday afternoon and you’re hunched over a dense document, trying in vain to decipher page after page of turgid text. Each sentence seems like an effort as you strain to wrap your head around just exactly what it is the author is meaning to say. More coffee hasn’t helped. You’re now on your third attempt to read the current paragraph and yet – somehow – the words just aren’t going in. And you’re still on the first page. It’s about as enjoyable and effortless as trudging around Ikea on a wet Saturday afternoon – with a hangover. And yet, those words that seem to get lost between the page and your brain are exactly the same ones that someone else thought were the best way to convey important information from their head to yours. Mind-boggling cost I’m not saying this is a new issue – far from it. But these days we have the technology to create these things in vast numbers. Just think how many times something very similar to the above scenario must play itself out in an organisation. The mind boggles at how much that must cost. Yet this is an opportunity as well as a challenge. Reports that are easy to read rise to the top and make way more impact than the rest. They stand out simply because they are different from the majority. And, rather than being a drain on mental resources, they leave us plenty of brain space to consider their implications and make quick decisions on what to do about them. Producing them is easier said than done though. If that were not the case, then everyone would write them and I would have no need to write this blog post. A report thats easy to read is the exception – simply because that’s the type that most people struggle to produce. But theres one important factor here thats easy to overlook. Reading anything is something of a miracle of biology. Understanding that is the key to getting your documents to the top and really making an impact. As you’re reading this, something incredibly complex is going on in your brain. You are looking at greyscale symbols on a screen and converting them into ideas. Abraham Lincoln called it ‘the greatest invention of the world’ – communicating thoughts to the mind through the eye. A human invention And yes, it is an invention. This is not something we evolved to do. We actually evolved to communicate vocally and face to face, over hundreds of millions of years. We’ve been communicating through symbols, what we now call reading, for less than five-and-a-half thousand years. That’s barely a heartbeat in evolutionary terms, and certainly not long enough to have evolved brain structures dedicated to the task. Instead, we take apparatus that we evolved for a whole variety of other situations and co-opt it into deciphering a seemingly endless string of squiggles and dots. We are utilising our brain’s structure for something it was never meant to do. (And on that Friday afternoon, it probably feels like it.) No artificial intelligence can match this feat, even now. You see proof of this every time you answer a website’s demand to confirm that you’re not a robot. That simple statement placed on the site as a graphics file rather than text is all it takes to differentiate you from a cyborg. Narrow focus: your eyes scan text by taking four or five narrow snapshots every second (Dahaene, 2009) Even capturing the words to process is incredible in itself. The fact that you seem to do it easily is just an illusion. In reality, as you are scanning this text, your brain is instructing your eyes to take four or five snapshots every second (known as saccades). There’s only one small area of your retina that has a high-enough resolution to take these pictures (called the fovea), which means that the snapshots themselves are small, too – occupying only about 15 per cent of your visual field. If you stop and freeze your gaze at any one point, you’ll see that you’re only actually focused on one or two words. Each word is then split into fragments, to be reassembled later. And that’s just the start of it. Next, the brain processes the words in the area that all primates – not just us but our monkey and ape cousins – use to recognise symbols and shapes. It’s no coincidence that the shapes most commonly found in nature are also the most common shapes across all written languages – T and L. These shapes (in various orientations) are the most frequent not just in those that use the Roman alphabet – such as English, French, German or Spanish – but Bengali, Thai, Chinese and even the hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians. We then cross-check this information against our database of words. Those we recognise get processed down one neural pathway; those we don’t, we mentally pronounce before checking to see if we recognise the sound pattern. We then choose which words we think we’re reading and that (finally) triggers the thought process. Its incredibly complex and to complete it in a fraction of a second takes a lot of brainpower. With most documents, it probably feels like it. You can almost hear the cogs grinding round as it happens. But not all reading feels like hard work. Sometimes you simply don’t notice the cognitive effort going on behind the scenes. In fact, there are many things we read that don’t feel like reading at all. We simply get lost in the flow (even if we didn’t intend to). And that’s the stuff we return to again and again. This doesn’t mean writing that material is easy, of course. Far from it. The old saying ‘easy read, hard write’ has never been more true than when it comes to writing good documents. Make it easier The trick is to write them with the brain in mind. Use good design to make them easy on the eye. Incorporate lots of white space. Use narrow columns that are easy for the eye to scan across and move onto the next line quickly. Use short, powerful words in between the technical ones. Note that this is not the same as eliminating all jargon. Jargon is fine as long as you’re sure that your audience will understand it. But don’t make the process of reading any harder than it needs to be by trying to impress your reader with flowery language. (As Leonardo da Vinci said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.) Instead, state things as simply as you can, so that the brain doesn’t have to waste cognitive energy on deciphering what you mean. Devise a structure that flows logically. Draw people in at the beginning with a captivating introduction and then keep your reader reading with a document that flows easily from beginning to end. And then finish as powerfully as you started, so that your interaction with the reader doesn’t stop there. You want them to continue thinking about what you’ve written long after they’ve closed the document. Your aim should be to get into their heads, to set up camp in their brains. Communicate your thoughts to their minds through their eyes in as straightforward a way as possible and you’ll really get them thinking. Take this approach consistently and your documents will be in the small minority that resonate with your readers. They may even thank you for it. But even if they don’t, they won’t forget it. And that will put you in a very strong position. References Dehaene, S (2009). Reading in the brain: the science and evolution of a human invention. London: Penguin Liversedge, SP, and Findlay, JM (2000). Saccadic eye movements and cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4(1): 6-14. Kemmerer, D (2015); The cognitive neuroscience of language. Hove: Psychology Press Rubin, GS, and Turano, K (1992). Reading without saccadic eye movements. Vision Research 32(5): 895-902. Spoehr, KT, and Smith, EE (1975). The role of orthographic and phonotactic rules in perceiving letter patterns. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance 104(1): 21-34. Image credit: LookerStudio / Shutterstock

Ethical Issues in Health Information Technology Essay

Ethical Issues in Health Information Technology - Essay Example Administrators have a responsibility to behave ethically and respect the confidentiality of the information they maintain, acquire, and use in their roles an organization agent (Berner, 2008). When administrators lose the privacy of confidential information, and the incapability to control how patient’s information is disclosed and used there are potential liabilities that he or she is susceptible to. If one violates the ethical principles, it does not imply automatically that he or she has violated the law. An individual’s actions are subjected to peer review to see whether his actions were justified. If not the individual will be subjected to the legal process where he or she can be charged with causing harm to the patient. Disclosing a patient’s confidential information without the proper procedure is wrong, and the employee may face the full force of the law. However, to minimize the risk that comes with disclosing confidential information the following procedures should be followed. First, the patient should be told the consequences or harm that may come with disclosing the information so be aware of them. Second, appropriate consent of the patient and the health care institution should be provided before disclosing confidential information. Additionally, confidential information can be disclosed without the patient’s consent when the law mandates or permits the procedure for a valid purpose (Layman, 2003). Layman, E. (2003). Health informatics: ethical issues. Health Care Manager, 22, 2–15. Retrieved from

Cultural Impacts On HR Activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cultural Impacts On HR Activities - Essay Example This esssay stresses that economy is the second dimension of culture. In this case the production and distribution of the wealth is to be considered. Anything and any item that has value can be regarded as wealth and it is worthwhile till its value is lost and it becomes scarce. This category can also include the goods and services. However, in this case the goods are considered until they provide the services that they are supposed to. This paper makes a conclusion that the multicultural international work force needs to be created for the international operations. The specific example that can be quoted here is that of the multinational firms having their headquarters in the united states. The American managers are sent to the overseas countries to carry out the overseas assignments where they face the cross cultural challenges. Culture here plays the strongest role as the cultural backgrounds teach the managers the manners and the ways to react to a situation. Beliefs and the behaviours are the end products of the culture. The human resource training is being given to the mangers to understand the facts and the sensitivities related to the different cultures. The appropriate and the most suitable intercultural services is the need that should be realised by human resource managers in modern times as here the right selection will be a determinant of the organizations’ success. The global village has opened newer and better opportunities for the organizations to grow by making more intercultural contacts that lets these organizations grow.