Romeo and Juliet Study Guide Questions and Answers Essay Example

Romeo and Juliet: Study Guide Questions and Answers Paper Prologue: In what city does this play take place? Verona, Italy Prologue: Why are Romeo and Juliet called Star-crossd lovers ? They are not destined to be together Act 1 scene 1: Who is fighting at the beginning of the first scene? Sampson, Gregory, Abram, and Balthazar( servants of the Capulets and the Montagues) Act 1 scene 1: Who tries to break up the fighting? Benvolio Act 1 scene 1: What threat does the Prince make to Lord Montague and Lord Capulet? That the next person to start a public brawl will be put to death Act 1 scene 1: Benolio and Montaguue describe the way Romeo has been acting. What do they say about him? Gloomy, cries a lot, not talking, seclusive Act 1 scene 1: Why is Romeo so sad? He has unrequited love Act 1 scene 1: What is Benvolios advice to Romeo? To move and find a new girl Act 1 scene 2: Why does Capulet think it will be easy for Montague and him to keep the peace? Because they are both old and tired Act 1 scene 2: What does Paris ask of Capulet? Juliets hand in marriage Act 1 scene 2: What is Capulets first answer? No, she is too young Act 1 scene 2: A bit later Capulet appears to change his mind about Pariss question. What does he tell Paris? Paris must win her heart and Juliet must agree. Then he will marry them Act 1 scene 2: What is the name of the woman Romeo loves? Rosaline Act 1 scene 2: What do Romeo and Benvolio decide to do? Go to the party Act 1 scene 3: How old is Juliet and when is her birthdate? 13 about to be 14, and Lammas Eve at night Act 1 scene 3: When Lady Capulet asks Juliet how she feels about the marriage, what is Juliets answer? Its an honor she dreams not of Act 1 scene 4: According to Mercutio, who or what is Queen Mab, and what does she do? She is a small fairy that gives dreams to men wherever she lands Act 1 scene 5: What does Romeo think of Juliet when he firsts sees her? That he has not seen true beauty till this night Act 1 scene 5: How does Tybalt recognize Romeo? By his voice Act 1 scene 5: How does Romeo find out about Juliets name? He asks the Nurse and she tells him

Free Essays on Hamlet, Sanity Vs. Insanity

In the play Hamlet, sanity is a major theme that is used to reveal the truth about who people really are. As defined by the dictionary, sanity is â€Å"the quality or statement of being mentally sound and healthy.† Hamlet is a prince in Denmark. He is raised to be noble and groomed to be the future king. Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, enlists the help of his advisor Polonius to assist him in ruling. Polonius’ daughter Ophelia is of noble status because of her father’s position. Hamlet and Ophelia are the primary characters in the story for which sanity is an issue. In the story, Hamlet is sane, but his behavior leads others to believe that he is insane, or crazy. Ophelia on the other hand, could definitely be considered insane, as her behavior dramatically changes throughout the story. The desperation of her behavior due to her love of Hamlet causes her to go crazy when she is not able to handle Hamlet’s actions that lead her on to believe he is also interested in her. In the second act of the story, Ophelia walks into her room to find Hamlet sitting by the window with his clothes undone. Ophelia seems baffled at this action because it was so out of the ordinary. At this point, Ophelia had not revealed that she had feelings for Hamlet. When she saw him, she stared at him and he left the room. When Ophelia tells her father, Polonius, about what has happened, he is upset. Ophelia tells Polonius how she rejected Hamlet, and Polonius replies, â€Å"That hath made him mad.† (Act 2, Scene 1, lines 120-123) That was the first implication in the story about others thinking Hamlet was crazy. The next occasion Hamlet provided for others to believe he was crazy came out in the 3rd act of the play. As Hamlet was walking through the castle he came across Ophelia reading and pacing in the foyer of the castle. This was typical behavior for Hamlet, but when he saw Ophelia doing this, he thought he was being set up and that Po... Free Essays on Hamlet, Sanity Vs. Insanity Free Essays on Hamlet, Sanity Vs. Insanity In the play Hamlet, sanity is a major theme that is used to reveal the truth about who people really are. As defined by the dictionary, sanity is â€Å"the quality or statement of being mentally sound and healthy.† Hamlet is a prince in Denmark. He is raised to be noble and groomed to be the future king. Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, enlists the help of his advisor Polonius to assist him in ruling. Polonius’ daughter Ophelia is of noble status because of her father’s position. Hamlet and Ophelia are the primary characters in the story for which sanity is an issue. In the story, Hamlet is sane, but his behavior leads others to believe that he is insane, or crazy. Ophelia on the other hand, could definitely be considered insane, as her behavior dramatically changes throughout the story. The desperation of her behavior due to her love of Hamlet causes her to go crazy when she is not able to handle Hamlet’s actions that lead her on to believe he is also interested in her. In the second act of the story, Ophelia walks into her room to find Hamlet sitting by the window with his clothes undone. Ophelia seems baffled at this action because it was so out of the ordinary. At this point, Ophelia had not revealed that she had feelings for Hamlet. When she saw him, she stared at him and he left the room. When Ophelia tells her father, Polonius, about what has happened, he is upset. Ophelia tells Polonius how she rejected Hamlet, and Polonius replies, â€Å"That hath made him mad.† (Act 2, Scene 1, lines 120-123) That was the first implication in the story about others thinking Hamlet was crazy. The next occasion Hamlet provided for others to believe he was crazy came out in the 3rd act of the play. As Hamlet was walking through the castle he came across Ophelia reading and pacing in the foyer of the castle. This was typical behavior for Hamlet, but when he saw Ophelia doing this, he thought he was being set up and that Po...

Leader ship class 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Leader ship class 3 - Essay Example This can be done through the study of all the employees and their competitive performance in the recent seasons and events within the organization. The wage record over last few seasons is of importance and allows making decision in a more professional manner. All the bonuses and increments so added are compared against the performance delivered by the individuals. This in parallel with those who have had good performances yet little lift up in the financial aspect can also be encouraged and accommodated through the layoff schemes. The decisions must not be based only on the financial aspect, rather the productivity, the overall benefits to the organization and other factors. The old age pension scheme, those who are of little value and have showed inclination towards self retirement may also be considered for a lay off. The annual budget values must also be taken into account against the given set of number of employees and the subsequent decision of

Appeal letter Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Appeal letter - Personal Statement Example In midst of finding my identity and recovering from cultural shock, my grades suffered inevitably. My past is my past. The positive element is to be hopeful about the future. I understand that education is a privilege, not a right. Opportunities are extremely difficult to come by because so many people miss on their first opportunity. However, my goal is to be a better student in all facets and utilize a second chance to harness my academic education. I am dedicating all my time to my academic performance, attending peer tutoring, and have signed up with groups to extend my learning. Socially, I am trying to focus on my cardiovascular health as I heard that it overall stimulates the nervous system and will enhance my mental focus. Lastly, I am enhancing my diet in rich fruits and nuts, the main source of brain power to ensure that I do my best. My only focal point in life is to be a better student. Given an opportunity, I promise to make a second chance my best one

Strategic position analysis and strategy evaluation of a Chinese Essay

Strategic position analysis and strategy evaluation of a Chinese organisation - Essay Example It has controlled the business desktop market and PC market with 87 percent of market purchasing desktops and 84 percent PCs from China manufacturers in 2006 (Salter, 2012). Started out in 1984, it is the largest computer manufacturer within China while second largest globally. The name Lenovo, coined in 2004, is a combination of ‘Le’, meaning ‘legend’ and ‘Novo’ which means ‘new’. As the name depicts, the new legendary organization was formed with mission to introduce new and unique products in markets (Liu, 2012). This was followed by the acquisition of the PC Division of IBM in 2005. Acquisition of a company, that was the inventor of the personal computer industry in 1981, lent credibility to Lenovo and enhanced customer exposure. In 2006, Lenovo attained and set up important investments and centers in China and launched its brands outside of China for the very first time. The entire computer business industry in China flourished from $660 billion in the year 2004 to $779 billion in 2007 (Lenovo, 2013). In this paper we critically analyze the strategic position of the company in the relevant industry as opposed to its major competitors and use different tools to assess its performance over the years. LENOVO’S STANDING IN THE INDUSTRY Lenovo deals mainly in manufacturing of laptops, desktops, ultra-books, tablet PCs and other computer accessories such as headphones, microphone, mouse, keyboard, monitors and server machines etc. It achieved a 19 percent share in the world of computers and notepads. Dell and HP account for 21% and 54% of the whole market respectively. As of today, HP is the market leader in manufacturing of PCs, followed by Lenovo, Dell and Acer (Sun, 2012). Few years back, Lenovo was a heavy loss-making concern in 2008; with turnaround performance, today it is a profitable venture flourishing as we speak. However it did so not through implementation of new strategies; instead, it focus ed on toughening the areas where it needs strength and relied on tried and trusted solutions instead of investing into new experimental measures. It is in a rapid expansion mode and has introduced a new strategy, namely ‘PC+’ whereby it shall depart from its core competence of manufacturing PCs and shall diversify horizontally into other type of devices such as mobile data technology without affecting its current products where it excels. Currently, Lenovo is the second largest manufacturer of PCs, holding 13.50% of market share after HP which holds 17.70%, and has a stable sales growth rate of 30%. However, its profits are growing less than proportionate to the industry trend. The market share of Lenovo in PCs sector is growing while those of Dell and Acer are getting lower. Analysts are of the view that soon it shall outperform HP in near future considering its growth rate of 16.6% as shown in 2011. Within China, which serves as home to Lenovo, it holds a market share of 28.80% only which is although the highest but can be easily improved through knowledge of local conditions and cost-reduction programmes. Revenue generated from Chinese markets constitute to 42% of the total sales made annually by Lenovo across the globe (Singh, 2013). The company has a lack of profitability growth which it should counter through economies of scale and innovation. Innovation has always been Lenovo’s saving grace and the amount of research and development budgets and expenditures allocated to this head define how the

the business model of Apples itunes

the business model of Apples itunes Evaluate the business model of Apples itunes. In particular you should address:- 1. To what extent can the itunes business model be described as an ecosystem and what is the role of IT in enabling the collaboration between Apple, its economic partners and consumers? 2. How does itunes compare with competitors? 3. What new technologies could disrupt the current market by enabling a new form of business model? Introduction Business model in a basic sense deals with the method of doing business in order to generate revenues by which a company sustains itself in the competitive market place ( (Rappa, 2009).According to (Amberg Manuela) analysis on music industries, there are lots of media websites and companies following different business models fallen prey to file sharing tools and peer-peer networks which allow consumers to illegally copy and share the content for free. As a consequence , companies like Apple iTunes and Sony Connect have come up with internet based business models based on pay-per-download and dependent on the technology of the supplier for whom long-term customer relations are very crucial and customers are allowed to use the digital media content particularly with regard to technology of the supplier thus getting advantage and benefitting from selling hardware components because the offer of digital media content advances it. These business models replace the traditional business m odels which are generally based on selling physical media.This paper shows the fair understanding of Apple iTunes business model for its dominance over the current music market and tries to describe the business model with respect to ecosystem and compares iTunes with its key competitors in the market. The biological term ecosystem in this paper refers to the IT ecosystem. (Iansiti Richards, 2005) describes IT ecosystem as network of organizations that drives the creation, innovation and delivery of Information Technology products and services. According to (Cusumano, 2008) the term ‘Platform, is defined as â€Å" Foundation product or key technology in a system like the PC or a web enabled cell phone and should have relatively open technical interfaces and easily licensing terms in order to encourage other firms to contribute complementary product and services. So this can be accounted to an ecosystem around the platform and the platform becomes more valuable when the exter nal entities creative more innovations around it. This should cause more users to adopt the platform and more complementors to join the network. iTunes as an ecosystem Online music hit a new milestone after Apple computer,Inc.(Apple) launched the iTunes application in January 2001 follwed by launch of 1st generation iPod and 2 years later online music store in April of 2003.The two businesses, the production of MP3 players and the online music shops were initially considered as different units and after the invention of new hardware iPod these two businesses were merged. iTunes is a software designed with an intuitive and user friendly interface and iPod is an hardware designed with an eye on fashion. These two together helped Apple to enter and succeed in the music player market infact actually cross promoting the iPod hardware device. Because of their service and innovation Apple retained to grow in the online music field in a better way when compared to its key competitors like Dell, Sony and Samsung( (Li Chang). According to (Schonfeld, 2009) statistics, iTunes have now sold 6 billion songs and 10 million different tracks are now available on iTunes. iTunes is software and iPod is hardware as said by (Li Chang) are two different business units and Apple conjucts these two different products into one new business model. Using ecology to analyze this model(iPod and iTunes) it has set a nice example for ecotone between two species to drive the music industry into new ecosystem. A strong platform is apparent from the combination of both the software and the hardware. The below shows the evolution of new ecosystem with combination of two stand-alone ecosystems. ‘Most companies today inhabit ecosystemsloose networks of suppliers, distributors, and outsourcers; makers of related products or services; providers of relevant technology; and other organizations that affect, and are affected by, the creation and delivery of a companys own offering†¦.. as said by (Iansiti Levien, 2004) shows how business industry can be closely compared to biological ecosystem. Like every individual in the biological ecosystem every organization in the business ecosystem shares the fate of the network as a whole regardless of that members apparent strengths. Comparing this with the Apple business, iPod is not really an innovative technology by itself but the company creates a new ecotone for digital music where all the hardware(iPods) and software(iTunes) are related to it enhances its platform. According to (Koster, 2007) There is a continuous decline in the traditional sale of music sources like retail music stores and the on-going music industries ar e restructuring themselves by merging with other partners to face the loss of revenues and to adopt with the new business strategies and models in the music industry to compete with the counterparts. Even in the digital music world today, legitimate music downloading is continuously changing. Initial music sites have very strong limitations on access catalogs of music, on what could be done with the downloaded music, number of copies, time limits, where to copy. Though Apple iTunes works on this model, it is successful in negotiating a very large music catalog from the four labels from its music site. He says that one large advantage and success for Apple is because of its hardware device iPod where normally music is stored and playback. The revenues from iPods sales continue to grow after the introduction of iTunes. Though Apple had gotten permission from four majors to store their music on its website for consumers to download by promising the copyright protection authority DRM, i t is now planning to get away with DRM because they make the downloaded or recorded music very cumbersome for the consumer. This is evident from (Johnson, 2009) article on web which says By the end of the quarter all 10 million songs will be DRM free in iTunes and iTunes plus, said Phil Schiller, Apples senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. The blog witten by (Vitalari, 2009) clearly examines at the 21st century business model adopted by Apple to become successful in the market. He believes that business platforms are the root cause for cumulative business performance. Apples competitive business platforms is the main drive for innovations like community formation, mass collaboration, social networking, ecosystems, real time analytics, transparency etc. The iPhone App store was launched in July 2008 and today iTunes store is a total set of all forms of the digital media including music, games, software application, podcasts and video assets . As his explanation, the driving factors for Apple success and points out that the effective business platforms have few key ingredients:  · iPods, iphones are not just products instead they represent individual business platforms and they create an ecosystem surrounding the product which means they create a common understanding for business transactions, technical specifications, interface standards and requirements. With the iPhone this includes all of the sub-contracted manufacturers, but more importantly it includes iTunes, the app store and app developers.This results in creating a transparency which enables and facilitates hundreds of participants to collaborate asynchronously and independently.  · This leads directly to the second point, which is that the business platform then helps to generate untold business analytics for the platforms owner.This is because of the elements of the business platform are networked and generates valuable information about the product, ecosystem and participants. Apple used this analytics to fix, improve and enhance the product and finally delighting the customers.  · This in turn creates a community of practice surrounding the business platform, as the collaborators learn how to make better things. IT in enabling collaboration with partners and consumers As a cofounder of Apple, Steve Jobss vision was to create new and different products to consumers and his notion of â€Å"one person-one computer became visionary responsible for Apples reputation for innovation and mission became changing the world by bringing the computers to masses (Richard D Vohr, 1998).Apple came back with reinvention of personal computer with Macintosh in 1980 after igniting the computer industry revolution with inventing Apple II and it is commited to bring the best computing experience to all the fields starting from students, educators, professionals and consumers all around the globe with its innovative software hardware and internet offerings. This Apples mission statements indicates it focuses on innovation and personal computing experience( (Pearlson Saunders, 2009). Apple From 1987-1997 the company suffered due to some major internal problems which affected the strategic leadership and its operations but after Steve Jobss second turn as CEO, company fixed operational problems and regains its innovative leadership dramatically. Few changes like manufacturing outsourcing and improving inventory became straight forward matching Dell, the industry leader.It moved to open industry standards rather than proprietary hardware interfaces that it had maintained for 15 years and thus in a minor way Apples product strategy became more open( (West Mace, 2007).As per ( (Apple Computer, 2006) Apple derives its competitive advantage again by its innovation giving iPod as an example. Apple entered the market with iPod in 2001and by end of fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005, iPods sales gained 33% of the total revenues. The factors which are accountable to their success and uniqueness are its computers based on its own operating system, which enabled further area of innovation.Its Mac OS operating system focuses on more simplicity and seen as graphically sophisticated. (West Mace, 2007)Recent trends have seen increasing strategy convergence be tween Apple and Microsoft .For its video game business, similar to its rivals Sony and Nintendo Microsoft buys the processor but designs its own hardware and software without licensing them to others.Meanwhile ‘Zune, Microsofts music players try to compete successfully to attain equality with Apples iPod. This shows Apple pursued a vertically integrated strategy in its music business. Vertical strategy is single firms controlling the entire platform. Apple leveraging its Macintosh installed base to establish iTunes music store and building iPod business on top of that and now iPhone business shows its expansion into adjacent markets and this loyal installed base makes any company easier to branch into a related market and this becomes a lesson for the other companies and Apple aims at satisfying the costumer not just upgrading the costumers what they have today like the other companies do. When ATT decided to make offer to iTunes many other mobile industries criticized it for making too many concessions to Apple. Due to this offer ATT gets benefit from Apple in two ways , one is Apple increases the average monthly bills for the customers who switch from ATT to iPhone and the second one is it causes existing people to switch from existing carriers to ATT as its the exclusive carrier for iPhone( (The Apple iPhone:Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry, 2008). Digital Record Management systems are uses to encrypt the data does not allow illegal or non authorization download of music and currently there are two main formats used for protect downloading of music. One is fairplay and the other is WMA. Fairplay is Apples proprietary technology where it secure the data encrypted in AAC( Advanced Audi Coding) format. WMA is Microsofts Windows media audio video encoding platform. iPods can play only those stuff which are secured through fairplay format and Apple has refuse to lincense this fairplay to other retailers and so it is difficult for iPod users to download music from other retailers other than iTunes music store. But recently Realnetworks in US came up with a package which allows iPod users resident in US to play secures music from Realnetworkss music store Rhapsody. Apple got furious with this and accused Realnetworks of ‘Hacker tactics and Ethics and reported to investigating on that for violating the intellectual rights. If apple is capable of putting an end to such violations then the indispensability of fairplay could be established( (The iTunes music store: does competition law hold the key to closed shop?, 2004) According to insights into IDCs lifesciences by (Swenson Golden, 2005) Apple products are getting attracted by the life science researchers who actually migrated from linux and unix platforms because of the dual nature of Mac OS and its estimated historically that the life scientists have been twice or thrice more likely than the average computer user to Apples Mac platform as client computer thus representing attractive market for Apple. It has announced about its collaboration with airlines which includes Air France, Continental, Delta, United and KLM to integrate the in flight entertainment systems with iPod and taking the current entertainment provided in these airlines to a next level for better travel experience( (Apple_Partners_with_Airlines_for_iPod_Integration, 2006). Sets Apple as an interesting example for not being an open source model in its business strategies but is thought b of being a highly proprietary company from its earlier years. Now it has jumped into open sou rce and have started projects both inside and outside its corporate firewalls. Apples OS X was a open source because it was based on Darwin. Its developer website said that Apples open source projects let key developers to customize and enhance Apple software and through this open source models it allows Apple engineers to collaborate with open source community to come up with better and more reliable products (Goldman Gabriel, 2005). On September 2007, Apple and Starbucks announced their collaboration on Apple letting costumers at Starbucks wirelessly browsing, previewing, buying and downloading music from iTunes music stores at Starbucks on their iPods enhancing Starbucks retail coffee experience by helping customers with discovering new music instantly (Rothman, 2007). These examples shows how Apple is spreading the digital media revolution with its technologically profound products. Apple believes in fully integrated and completely digital learning environment which makes conte nts to move from from application to another and easy to collaborate and share ideas. Integration even reduces the burden of technology challenge. So Apples IT team rather than spending time and money on how to get things working feels it worthwhile to dedicate the same on providing capabilities, innovations and resources for its institution (Everything Apple means everything just works). iTunes and Competitors: The majors competitors for Apple are Google and Microsoft Corporation and other competitors include Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu, Samsung Electronics, Sony and Toshiba. Apple is designing software and hardware systems that delivers a greater user experience. Google is giving away operating systems to companies that license windows mobile today. Microsoft needs to think about their business models to compete in such a race where it probably has to decide whether it wants to compete in devices or operating systems and doing both is again at a risk which requires business models that are outside its core competencies( (The Apple iPhone:Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry, 2008). There is a partial collision between Apple and RIM in smartphone business in which Apples device is a entertainment centric whereas RIMs product is a communication centric.Though each company is growing into each others space Apple is got the advantage because infrastructure establishment would be too large for RIM and beside that RIMs image is all wrong for that instead it is much better to defend and grow its market by adding more features and types of business communications to Blackberry. Comparing it with Nokia, Nokias challenges are more about challenges. They sell hundred of millions handsets every year at low costs. But without it, Nokia will be really hard pressed to match with the iPhones user experiences. Competitors such as Diamond multimedia, with its Rio brand portable media players were successful in the market until Apple displaced them and all the credits for such a domination goes to the business model of the company by offerings users a seamless music experience by combining its iPod devices with iTunes and online iTunes store. Users were taken away by its value proposition and Apple had to negotiate deals with the major record companies to establish the worlds largest online music library, there giving the twist for the company to earn most of its revenue s by selling iPods while using the integration with the on online music store to protect itself from the competitors( (Osterwalder Yves, 2009).Smartphone users are going to increase in number in the next few years increasing in the PC functionalities supporting data services and voice and this is going to drive smartphone markets and Apple launching the iPhone which meets most of the required functionalities made it to third position in the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008. As there is rapid change in the technology there is introduction of new products with competitive prices, features and performance characteristics by all the competitors and out of all, mobile communication industry highly competitive with well funded and experienced competitors. For example in 2009, Nokia launched a new online media store in competition to Apple and this has resulted in price erosion which is now threatening to lessen the market share of the company( (DATAMONITOR, 2009). What new technologies could disrupt the current market by enabling a new form of business model. Apple has become the leader in the music world revolution and it justifies for its closed source system, keeping its digital music platform proprietary making it incompatible by other system by saying that it was the main reason in convincing its music labels and artists allowing them to sell their songs through iTunes assuring that those would not be pirated. But many analysts claim that that closed system was the reason for its previous failure in the computer business and Microsoft gained the masses with their open systems and now that is being seen as a gamble in this highly cometetive technology world (Williard, 2005). According to survey done by Rubicon Consulting Inc on the Apple iPhone users shows that about 43 percent of the iPhone users feels that the device would be more elegant if there is a physical change to the iPhone by adding adding a keyboard or a keypad either by making the device smaller or larger and about 40 percent of the users complain about the browser proble ms and the notably with those using Adobe flash and this shows that mobile data devices has always been segmented and its impossible for any single hardware design to please everyone. This could be an opportunity to Apple to increase its share by serving those customers by giving more importance to value propositions for their products which is again a part of business model and at the same time its an opportunity for its competitors to steal that share by addressing segments Apple failed in( (The Apple iPhone:Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry, 2008). Apple corporation itself has many problems but loss of competitive differentiation due to its Enterprise sytem is not counted in that because of its strong brand and its distinct operating system. For many of the other computer manufacturers cost and service are more vital for their differentiation than their products but for Apple this seems to be a unusual case says (Davenport, 1998). ‘Disruptive Business Models are emblematic of our generation. Yet they remain poorly understood, even as they transform competitive landscapes across industries (Osterwalder Yves, 2009). Conclusion: According to Sankar Dhinu, Apples senior manager of Emerging Technology, to be competitive in worlds high tech industry, one should make use of the facilities like available economic advantage of the manufacturing and distribution and Apple success goes with its interaction with dozens of trading partners , starting from resellers to distributors and OEM manufacturers which in turn helped it to form a global supply chain. Due to increased competition Apple is also facing many pressures and already working towards less limitation and freer access of digital music. Thus majors themselves are getting involved in those changes and Apples CEO Steve Jobs has called for an end to DRM because they make use of downloaded and recorded music very inconvenient and cumbersome for the consumer.( (Koster, 2007) Biblography: Amberg, M., Manuela, S. ANALYSIS OF E-BUSINESS MODELS FOR DIGITAL MEDIA . (2006). Apple Computer. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Apple_Partners_with_Airlines_for_iPod_Integration. (2006, November 14). Retrieved December 1, 2009, from www.digg.com: http://digg.com/apple/Apple_Partners_with_Airlines_for_iPod_Integration Cusumano, M. (2008). Technology Strategy and Management, The Puzzle of Apple. DATAMONITOR. (2009). Apple Inc. Company Profile. Davenport, T. H. (1998). Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System. Harvard Business Review OnPoint . Everything Apple means everything just works. (n.d.). Retrieved december 1, 2009, from www.images.apple.com: http://images.apple.com/education/leaders-administrators/the-apple-ecosystem.html Goldman, R., Gabriel, R. P. (2005). INNOVATION HAPPENS EVERYWHERE. In R. Goldman, R. P. Gabriel, Open source as business strategy (pp. 3-5). San Francisco: Morgan kaufmann. Iansiti, M., Levien, R. (2004). Strategy as Ecolgy. Harvard Business review. Iansiti, M., Richards, G. L. (2005). Information Technology Ecosystem Health and Performance. Johnson, B. (2009, January 6). Apple drops DRM copy protection from millions of iTunes songs. Retrieved from www.gaurdian.co.uk: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/06/apple-drops-itunes-copy-protection Koster, A. (2007). Music Industry: Toward A New Business Model? Journal of Business and Economic Research . Li, Y.-R., Chang, Y. Is the success of iPod Purely Accidental or Inevitable A Business Ecolgy Perspective. Osterwalder, A., Yves, P. (2009). Business Model Generation. Self Published. Pearlson, k. E., Saunders, C. S. (2009). Strategic management of Information Systems. In k. E. Pearlson, C. S. Saunders, Strategic management of Information Systems (p. 25). John Wiley and sons. Rappa, M. (2009). BUSINESS MODELS ON THE WEB. MANAGNG THE DIGITAL ENTERPRISE . Richard D, F., Vohr, J. (1998). APPLE COMPUTER, INC. Rothman, W. (2007, september 5). Apple partners with Starbucks for free WiFi Access to iTunes Music Store. Retrieved december 1, 2009, from www.gizmodo.com: http://gizmodo.com/296696/apple-partners-with-starbucks-for-free-wi+fi-access-to-itunes-music-store Schonfeld, E. (2009, January 6). iTunes sells 6 billions songs , and other fun stats from the Philnote. Retrieved from www.techcrunch.com: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/06/itunes-sells-6-billion-songs-and-other-fun-stats-from-the-philnote/ Swenson, M., Golden, J. B. (2005). Apple and Life science research : Enabling Technologies. Life Science Insights, an IDC company. (2008). The Apple iPhone:Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry. (2004). The iTunes music store: does competition law hold the key to closed shop? Vitalari, N. (2009, August 10). Apple and the Rise of Competitive Business Platforms What Other Companies Must Know. Retrieved from www.wikinomics.com: http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/10/apple-and-the-rise-of-competitive-business-platforms-what-other-companies-must-know/ West, J., Mace, M. (2007). ENTERING A MATURE INDUSTRY THROUGH INNOVATION: APPLES IPHONE STRATEGY. Williard, C. (2005). Apple worms its way into the music industry.

Interactivity In Art Essay -- Art Design Artistic Essays

Interactivity In Art Abstract: This essay examines the nature of interactivity in the arts through a cybernetic model, to arrive at an understanding of how interactive artworks can maintain and augment the subjectivity of the viewer. The cybernetic discourse foregrounds the relationship between the physical artifact (machine and/or work of art), the participant/spectator, and information/data/content. By examining the shifts in focus from each part of the cybernetic equation, several models for interactivity in art emerge. In a search for a definitive and user-centered working model of interactivity in the arts, a logical place to look is at the history of cybernetics. Cybernetics, defined by Norbert Wiener in Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine as â€Å"†¦the entire field of control or communication theory, whether in the machine or in the animal† (Wiener 11) contains a number of pointers to a useful model of interactivity. The origin of the term cybernetics from the Greek, meaning â€Å"to steer†, implies a reciprocal relationship between external forces, the machine, and the human to maintain a condition of homeostatic. In a work of interactive art, as in Wiener’s description of a bee-hive, the secret of its organized action lies â€Å"in the intercommunication of its members† (156). A second fertile site to mine for understanding the nature of interaction in the arts is the traditions and conventions of the art object itself; at how the art object is thought to project feeling and meaning , to change across time and culture, and to involve the viewer, temporality, and artist in a dynamic interchange within an aesthetic dimension. Toward these ends, I will address two questions:... ...n, 1999) Susanne K. Langer, Mind, an Essay on Human Feeling, John Hopkins University Press, (London, 1982) John C. Lilly, M.D., Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer, Julian Press Inc, Crown Publishing Group, (New York, 1969) Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media, MIT Press, Leonardo Books, (Cambridge, 2001) __ On Totalitarian Interactivity (notes from the enemy of the people, http://www.manovich.net/text/totalitarian.html, 1996. Heinz von Forester, â€Å"Molecular Ethnology: An immodest proposal for Semantic Clarification, † Observing Systems, 2nd Edition,, Intersystems Publications, (Salinas California 1984) Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, Autopoesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living (Dordrecht: D. Reidel 1980). Perry Hoberman, Faraday’s Garden, http://www.hoberman.com/perry/pages/faraday/list.html

Meaningful Learning Essay

The importance of education cannot be emphasized enough, as it is the driving force behind our nation’s competitiveness on the global market, and the foundation of our status as a world leader. However, alarming recent statistics conclude that the level of education in our country is rapidly declining. This is the result of repeated failures by various governments to reform our public schools, by using methods that focus on small-part fixes rather than on changing the system at the core. The American public education system has a set of structural problems derived from the level of political involvment. In order to serve their own long term business interests, top CEOs and big corporations invest billions of dollars in our public schools, and in return they are allowed to influence the content of the education programs. In order to be successful, education reform should be free of politics, and it should be up to the experts to decide the direction of curriculum, and what methods are used to assess readiness. Grades and test results are important tools to assess knowledge, but equally important is meaningful learning inspired by competent teachers and exposure to the arts. Millions of students enrolled in the American public schools are not receiving a complete education, mainly because students’ and teachers’ performance is reduced to numbers, such as grades and test results. In order to meet the national standards, educators are under immense pressures to produce certain results, and children are mislead in thinking that if they get high scores in english and math, they are successful products of the school system. And so, under current reform, educators often lose sight of what’s important, and that is developing the child’s individuality by aiding them explore all aspects of themselves and the world around them. As a result, students no longer learn with pleasure, or for their own benefit and for the beauty of knowledge. Critics argue that â€Å"Children will race to the top when they discover passion and purpose from the inside, not because of extrinsic rewards like test scores, grades, or trophies† (Price-Mitchell 2). A child’s education should be molded around their pesonal qualities, interests, and aptitudes. In order to find out how to spark a student’s interest in the academic material, and decide what methods to use in order to motivate them, a teacher must primarily know the child’s likes and dislikes. That way, the educator should be able to connect the curriculum with examples from the student’s personal life, and things that the child can relate to. At the same time, the student will also get to know themselves and their environment better. Through self exploration, the child can find their true vocation. Self-knowledge also teaches students how to use their strenghts and how to overcome their weaknesses to improve academic performance. Therefore, in order to improve both students’ and teachers’ achievements, the public education policy should shift its focus away from high test scores, and enforce meaningful learning inspired by self-discovery. An effective school system should free teachers of the burden of restrictive polictics, and allow them to inspire meaningful learning in students, by utilizing their own personal traits, knowledge and skills. People always search for the best quality service they can get: the best doctor, the best lawyer, or the best accountant. Quality is even more relevant when we think of someone as important as the person in charge of our children’s education, which eventually dictates their path in life. That is because in a young student’s mind, the connection between their overall school experience and their teacher’s persona is so strong, that it sets the tone for their entire educational career. There are even instances when a child prefers the safehaven of a classroom, as opposed the grim reality of a bad neighborhood or a troubled household. That’s why a teacher should be more than just an instructor, they should become a child’s mentor, by developing a caring and compassionate relationship with each student. By connecting with kids on a personal level, a good teacher can taylor their technique in accordance to their students’ various interests and potentials. By arousing kids’ curiosity to the curriculum, teachers can motivate students to come to scool, and do well. Critics argue that good teachers are becoming an endangered species in the American education system, mainly because of misguided school politics â€Å"driven by the arrogance of reformers who are convinced that teaching is a simple process of delivering content. That approach is likely to increase test scores, simply by pressuring teachers to teach to the test. But †¦ t’s also likely to interfere with teachers’ ability to lure students into learning† (). Most professionals come into this field of work eager to make a difference, but even the most enthusiastic teachers lose their motivation to excel when they are met with stumbling blocks like standardized teaching methods, teaching to the test, or peer incompetency. Teachers lose their drive to do a good job when they are not allowed to conduct lectures in the way they see fit, but instead, by having to follow a factory type model. Educators lose respect for a system that does not respect them as capable individuals, and requires them to lose their identity and become as impersonal as production line workers. Continuing in the trend of measuring success by test results, teacher quality is also being wrongly assessed, and so our teachers are judged mainly by their students’ test scores in core subjects, even if those results don’t always reflect the students’ true level of education. Moreover, having to make up for their peers’ incompetency only adds to the general frustration. Lazy teachers take advantage of bureaucratic measures like tenure or reassignments, which often doubles the work load for capable teachers, and causes them to surrender under the pressure. Indeed, there are teachers who are just inheretly incompetent, but in most cases, poor teachers are just victims of bad school politics themselves. That’s why a good teacher should be allowed to develop and implement their own technique, unobstructed by counterproductive education policies, in order to guide students towards academic success. Art plays a major role in a nation’s cultural identity, and therefore, it should also be a significant part of children’s scool curriculum. A well rounded education shapes a student’s distinctive personality, and going beyond academics, it should also cultivate appreciation for visual and performing arts. Art education instills in students many qualities that cannot be otherwise be taught, like persevearance, attention to detail, leadership, and setting a high bar for personal excellence. These attitudes are crucial to the proper development of one’s work ethic. Extensive research sheds more light onto the importance of art education in connection to improved academic performance. â€Å"In music we see a lot of connections between studying keyboards and understanding mathematical concepts. We see drama as a way to help early readers develop their comprehension skills. When they have an opportunity to act out the story, they gain a greater comprehension in reading† (Baker 260). Art is fun. It is gratifying. Therefore, unbeknownst to them, the little learners deepen their cognitive skills just by practicing their artistic talents. Students can then use those skills to excel in other areas of the curriculum, by relating science projects to easy-to-understand examlples from the art world. Moreover, fun art programs can be utilized as motivation to bring kids to school. Teachers can improve attendance by craftly alternating fun art sessions with science lectures. Lastly, art education in schools is neccessary for children with extraordinarry artistic abilities, but who are academically challenged. By including creative education in its structure, our school system gives artistic students the opportunity to develop their abilities, and choose a career doing something they love. Thus, due to its versatility, art training helps students not just to gain high academic achievements, but also establish their individuality as valued members of the society. Today’s students will be tomorrow’s professionals, and as adults, they will have a major responsability to our nation’s progress and prosperity. But by then -warn analysts- they might not have the abilities to deliver the needed results, and the culprit is the current approach of our education system. Due to the recent financial crisis, school budgets have shrunk, and as a result, many teachers have been laid off, and schools have eliminated many art programs from their curriculum. Art advocates warn that children educated by the American public schools are not getting enough art education. The design of our current curriculum completely disregards the importance of art education for students’ future, by focusing soley on literacy and numeracy. â€Å"With the emphasis on reading and math skills aimed at passing the tests, school curricula are narrowed, depriving students of valuable exposure to the arts† (Taylor 2). Economic progress is made possible through innovation, and human creativity is at the root of all innovation. A new product comes to life when its creator first envisions it, and then uses their scientific knowledge to bring it to reality. There are countless industries that rely on both science and creativity, and amongst the most notable ones are the entertainment, fashion, and automobile industries. In fact, the perfect example of how visual art and science can be used together successfully is information technology – one of the most profitable industries in the world. Our country’s groudbreaking achievements in that technological field are one of the reasons for America’s competitiveness on the global market. This is proof that cognitive knowledge is necessary to our nation’s development, but it is not enough to drive progress. Therefore, by developing students’ artistic abilities hand in hand with their scientific expertise, the American school system should produce well rounded individuals, capable to promote the economical growth necessary to our nation’s prosperity for generations to come. A well rounded education should come down to a student and a teacher armed with the right tools for success: the teacher’s expertise and a balanced curriculum. The direction of our education system is majorly influenced by political interests, and ruled by the misconception that one size fits all. Yes, with the current strategies, we are producing great businessmen, but not every student is fit to be a businessman. The curriculum should be structured in a way that it can give equal opportunities to all the other students to discover what they’re good at and what they like. Otherwise they won’t be able to keep up, and would eventually drop out of school. That means America would become a nation of businessmen battling for the few jobs available in that field, and school dropouts living a life of poverty and crime. It is a grimm outlook, but also one that seems not far away. That is why our education system is in urgent need for an intervention, especially in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, as our country is searching for a new direction. Minimizing the pressures of political involvment in America’s public schools should allow educators to perform their jobs free of pressure, to help children develop into knowledgeable and innovative citizens who will ensure our nation’s competitiveness in the 21st century.

Is our behavior is ethical Essay

As generally known there are great difficulties concerning this question. The problem really lies in defining the term ethics. Once this has been defined (assuming it is possible) answering the question above is rather simple. One only has to ask whether a behavior is in accordance with that definition or not. Hence in this essay I focus on defining ethics, as far as possible. Socrates was the one, who first introduced the concept of ethical philosophy by claiming that his slave boy, whom he had discovered actually was able to think on his own, should since he was human be treated in a humanitarian way. Many philosophers have since the ancient Greek civilization given their subjective views on the question of what ethics is. To get a better grip on this question I think one should first look at the extremes. One philosopher in this category is Nietzsche. He claimed that ethics are laws created by the weak to protect the weak and that these laws are hindering the strong and creative from reaching his/her full potential. This might sound cruel; nevertheless I think he does have a point. In nature all the weak genes are extinguished due to natural selection, while the moral laws, which man created, will save these defective genes and eventually make us weaker, perhaps resulting in our extinction. Ethics is also a major problem when it comes to scientific progress. It is not allowed to do experiments, which is in any way painful, to human beings. This indeed has not been good seen from a scientific point of view. Especially in the field of psychology, where humans are the subjects examined, does the ethical rules make it difficult to carry out important experiments. Nietzsche meant that discarding some moral laws and acting more instinctively would be good for mankind in the sense that this would give more space for irrational thinking. On the other extreme we have those who claim that there are ethical principles, which one should follow no matter the circumstances. Christianity is one such â€Å"philosophy†. The Bible was meant to be a complete ethical constitution with laws or principals applicable to any situation one might come across. These laws and principals are summed up in the Ten Commandments, which are according to the Christians rules everyone must follow in all situations. Utilitarianism is a third extreme view proposing that the ethical correctness in a behavior should be measured in its consequences, i.e. an action is good if it increases the sum of happiness in the world. There are problem with this perspective, however. Applying this claim as our basic rule of thumb the next question would be; how do we know what amount of happiness is caused by a certain behavior, and how can we measure it? Since we do not even have a good definition of happiness (it is a very subjective term) this seemingly simple rule turns out to be rather complicated and evasive. These three perspectives all seem reasonable when first explained, though serious flaws exist in each perspective. What would the world look like if leaders, in possession of weapons of mass destruction, would act in accordance with their animal instincts? Christian rules also appear imperfect when put into an extreme situation. Imagine yourself standing in a street corner; suddenly a terrified person runs by, two seconds later another out of your mind looking man with a knife raised over his head comes and asks you if you saw in which direction the first man went. Should you tell him the truth? If you are a true Christian you should, since lying is wrong according to the Ten Commandments. The utilitarian perspective seems good since happiness will increase. However, wouldn’t this ethically otherwise horrible action such as World War 2? It has after all had many positive effects such as the creation of the United Nations i.e. the long tern effect has increased happiness on the earth. A world ruled according to this principle would also mean an end to all individual rights. If killing someone would make people happy then it would be justified to execute that individual. Anders Rasmussen, D1099019 My conclusion so far is that it is wrong to make ethical laws or principals; there will always be situations such as the ones exemplified above where it is not appropriate. I think that ethics is subjective and should remain so, since creating laws will most likely lead to misinterpretations and a more inhuman society. Ethics is after all one of the prime things that makes us human. This though is not to say that we should live in total anarchy, people that obviously do harm to mankind should be punished. I believe in rules as long as they don’t take away the individual responsibility. Accepting that ethics is something each individual has to take into consideration in each situation the next issue would be what tools are we in possession of when deciding the ethical correctness in a certain behavior, and more importantly, what tools should we use? John Stuart Mill, a famous utilitarian, claimed that it is through reason, and reason only, that one should decide what to do. Using logical reasoning one should derive as many consequences as possible and measure the happiness they bring and upon these grounds we should decide what to do. Reason I think is very important when it comes to decisions. It is much more objective than the intuition, which is our second tool. To say that we should only use reason, however is to underestimate our intuitive moral sense. Usually when making a decision we have an inner voice that tells us what is good and what is bad. Totally discarding this intuitive feeling, as Mill proposes, is to deny that it is often right (looking at visible the consequences). Freud’s personality theory illustrates our intuition very well. He said that our personality is made up by the ego, the superego and the Id, the ego representing the reasoning and the two latter our intuition. The Id is the animal-like, innate, egoistic instincts seeking satisfaction by uttering sex and aggression energies. The superego is our moral values, which has been inflicted upon us by our surroundings. If the intuition was just a mixture of these two quite opposing forces I would as John Stuart Mill not trust it, but I think that most people are able to separate these two forces from each other and tell, which will is coming from the Id and, which is coming from the superego. It could be seen as a struggle within between the devil and the angel, where we are the ones who have to decide who we should listen to. As long as we do not let the Id (our innate needs) get the upper hand, but instead listens to our superego, the intuition is a very useful tool when taking hard decisions. There are some problems though about the superego. If our values are inflicted upon us by the culture in which we have grown up (a Christian would probably say that they are given to us from God) and thus differs from one culture to another (we can by looking at the world tell that this is the case!) clashes might occur when different societies meet. Since different subjective meanings about what is right and what is wrong will be shared by one society. It is in such situations, when the intuition fails to settle argument, that we should use our more objective tool†¦ the reasoning. Conclusion: First of all we should not create a strict ethical constitution telling us the exact answer to the question â€Å"How do we know if at all that our behavior is ethical?† We should not let the moral philosopher become an engineer. Instead it is the individual that should, in each unique situation, use all available tools and act the way he or she finds most appropriate in the particular situation i.e. â€Å"how do we know, if at all, that our behavior is ethical is a question which will have different answer in different situation and we must therefore ask ourselves this question as often as possible. This is not a â€Å"perfect† system, and it will always create conflicts among us. Still I think taking away all moral responsibility is to take away what makes us human. Truly believing that you are acting ethically is as ethical one can ever get, as a human being. References: Richard.D.Gross (1996): Psychology – The science of mind and behavior, third edition, Hodder & Stoughton Bryan Magee (1998): Story of philosophy, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London Mastering philosophy, second edition (2001), Anthony Harrison-Barbet

buy custom Wal-Mart’s Key International Human Resource Practices essay

buy custom Wal-Mart’s Key International Human Resource Practices essay Wal-Mart is one of the leading organizations in todays corporate world. Its progressive achievements are greatly attributed to the culture and organizational behavior assumed in the organization. One of the most valued departments is the human resource department. Staffing and recruitment in Wal-Mart is a bit diverse. This is because, Sam Walton, the owner of Wal-Mart, believes that his employees are the most valued asset of his organization. Hence, treating them well makes them feel valued, hence, motivating them to work hard and treating the customers well. This is strategic concept since every organization must enhance employee motivation in order to ensure high productivity levels. Sam values his staff so much that he changed his human resource department name to people department. Before Wal-Mart stores expanded to the large organization it now is, Sam used to visit the stores once a year and he would talk to his customers and staff. His employees, on the other hand, would walk to him and they would talk like they were old friends. This kind of attention and his down to earth attitude motivated the employees, and, in turn, they portrayed it to customers. This resulted to a good public image. He treats his employees as family, which has led to increased number of employees, though there have been several law suits against Wal-Mart due to gender discrimination against women (Soderquist, 2005). Recruitment in Wal-Mart stores is done, when new vacancies arise. For instance, in case of a death of an employee, retirement, transfers, promotion, in case there is a new store being opened, or when there is a need of new technology or talent (new breed) in the organization. In this process, senior managers are involved in identifying and hiring great talent as required by the organization. Employees normally sign a cntract to agree to be ready to go for transfer in case of a promotion, which is not easy for female employees. This means the terms of employment are usually clear beforehand to employees. When a need for new employee arises advertisements are made to outside job seekers only if the needed employee cannot be found within the organization. Otherwise, if a vacancy arises, the first priority is given to the qualified employees within the organization. International organizational training and development programs are provided and supported by managers and supervisors. They are involved in identifying and training the needy employees of the organization, hence, improved service provision and personal development of employees, which leads to motivation. Training is organized by managers in their different division or branches, then they consult with the main office or branch and decisions are made on whether to hold on job training or off-the job training or to hold seminars, according to the amount of resource available and the needs of employees. The employees are also trained on the culture, leadership development and diversity is practiced within the boundaries, which lead to right ethical and sensitive behaviors towards the employee and customer, hence, good public relation and growth of the organization (Paauwe, 2004). Wal-Mart leaders from all around the world are trained in Walton institution to learn about the uniqueness of the company culture. The institution provides management skills and helps in developing talents of it customers. The organization is located in different countries like Brazil, Canada, China, and Japan, United Kingdom etc., hence, giving most of Wal-Mart employees a chance to join and attend classes. Training takes place during orientation of new employees to help them cope and familiarize themselves with the organization quickly and easily, hence, quality of work proovided. This kind of training makes employees feel valued. Expatriate training program helps managers and supervisors know how to treat companies employees as the most valued assets of the organization. The program helps them know the need of being divers and people oriented as well as result oriented. Wal-Mart assists in career development of it employees, e.g. through training programs, orientation, team work and career assessment. The only problem that this company is facing is labor turn over due to poor salary and wages and lack of paying attention to employees career needs; they only attend to those needs, when unions intervenes. Though they have been very keen in ensuring that service delivery is effective, they are still struggling with law suits from the employees union. Training programs assist employees to better perform their duties and responsibilities, hence, improving services, provided to the customers of the company. This theory was said and practiced by Sam Walton. He believed that when employees feel valued in a company, it is translated in their performance, which will be reflected back to the company performance (Coburn, 2011). From the above analysis, it is clearly evident that the management of Wal-Mart stores is on point in regards to meeting employees needs. This has translated into high productivity levels. Also, it is clear that leadership is an important part of an organizations success. Waltons leadership style of being extremely close to his juniors has enhanced both horizontal and vertically communication. This, in turn, has helped in the level of motivation of employees and productivity of the organization. This leadership style is one that should be emulated by firms all over the world in order to attain great results. It is evident that valuing the human resource department is an extremely crucial strategy in order to be successful. Buy custom Wal-Mart’s Key International Human Resource Practices essay

Social Class College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Class College - Essay Example In mapping the prospects of this nursing student, a future professional, one does see where the possibility strongly exists that economic and social opportunities will be readily available. Because of the socio-economic connections (because of social and market structures) these factors will have an effect on the future life chances of such a person (Savage, 74). Social class structures and demarcations have been somewhat eroded with the advent of generalised education, yet the distinctions still exist. As an educated person, one will have the ability and opportunity or chance (as propounded by Weber) to access not just different economic classes, but other groups and cliques whose defining characteristics depend on the very education that they have in common. Mike Savage has pointed out that persons (termed human capital) usually get paid an amount that reflects the amount of investment placed in the development of their skills (67). As a nurse, one will be a professional and will most likely get paid accordingly. In 1998, professionals earned an approximately 95% more wages than their clerical counterparts.

Financing Health Information Technology in Health Services Research Paper

Financing Health Information Technology in Health Services Organization - Research Paper Example The paper also examines the cost-effectiveness and cost efficiencies together with outcomes of implementing health information technology. According to Clarke (2009), health information technology (HIT) has emerged as a critical aid to the transformation of health care service provision. It serves as an electronic health record, a platform for information sharing and a data warehouse. It is also a clinical decision-making support system and a physician practice management system. It also serves the critical functions of scheduling and billing. Organizations considering implementing a HIT system have to critically consider the possible Return on Investment in the chosen system. Returns vary in timing, value, certainty and in recipient. These returns may be either financial or non-financial like better health outcomes, safety owing to legible records and better quality of life. There are also other returns that accrue to other parties rather than the one making the investment. These include patients who get to avoid hospitalizations, and networking benefits that accrue to other actors in the system. Some of the key HIT system functions include decision support for health care providers, electronic health records, computerized data entry, results management and administrative functions. To determine the Return on Investment, one has to look at the different components of the health information technology system and examine their effects. According to Kolodner, Cohn and Friedman (2008), paper-based information management has very limited capacity given the large volume and complexity of transactions in health care, the need to integrate new scientific approaches and technologies and other aspects of information management. Systems such as the Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) simplify the management of information and seamlessly integrate co-related data for easy information access. The RIO of